stop the gasmasks meme

[KingOfThePing]

Many people wear a gasmask "just because" or "just in case".

 

To put a stop to this there is an easy solution. Make them use filters, when one runs out it does not provide the protection a gas mask offers. After discussing in dead chat we thought about 10 minutes per filter. Of course, don't make filters available en masse. Maybe a little beep or other sound effect to indicate when a filter is about to run out (60 seconds remaining, maybe). Gasmasks shouldn't just give you tear gas immunity, and the protection they offer from gasses for free, all the time. They should probably also not be able to be hooked up to internals anymore, to accompany this change.

 

Like, comment and subscribe below to discuss.

[Nantei]

I don't see many people wear gas masks all the time at all without good reason. Removing their internals hookup also makes very little sense while simultaneously making them extremely niche. People wearing gas masks constantly is already covered by the rules as a comfort thing, so ahelp it if you see people wearing them for no good reason and it bothers you.

[Rushodan]

There are two sides to this argument, which I will address below:

Pro:
Having a filter mechanic could be kinda interesting honestly, with some text that comes along near the end being like:

'The mask begins to smell strange, indicating the filter is near the end of it's life'.

Or something like that. Then again, having an air tank 'should' allow you to bypass the filters if required because again, it is still a finite source which either doesn't last long, or has to take up a backpack or suit slot.

Against:
Is it really needed? On a station where people sometimes run around in EVA suits the entire round and simply toggle o2 on and off as required are gas masks really the issue here? Let's not forget that the only people this will mess with are antags who are less likely to have access to filters as science and the ISD would more than likely have ample supply. Let's not forget this is hundreds of years in the future...if you wanted to go for a realism argument. I am sure they found something better than activated charcoal by then.

At the end of the day, space is always going to have people which do unrealistic things. If you spot this behavior ahelp it, as there might be a good reason why someone is doing something that you would consider 'a meme'.