Arrow768 Posted July 9, 2016 Posted July 9, 2016 My idea is to add a command support "department". They are responsible for ensuring that command is able to make better decisions and provide them with the information they need. The following areas fall into their responsibility: Command Coordination Recon ICT The head of the department is the "Commander of Support Operations". He is a head of staff but holds no power in any decision that requires approval by command. His job is to present the gathered information to command and allow them to make a better decision. Of course he is able to give a recommendation on what to do in a certain situation, but he has no power in a vote. Details on the areas of responsibility: Command Coordination: Right now when something happens, someone screams "help" over coms. Command Coordination (ComCor) is there to provide the departments with as much information as they can gain about the thread. ComCor will make a recommendation on what forces to dispatch to a specific threat/situation. They also have the ability to act as a emergency call center if the relevant heads of staff wish to set one up. ComCor also takes over the duties of IA such as staff reviews, departmental audits (if those are required) and keeping CC informed about the situation on the station Recon: Usually what happens now, is that information comes in as someone spots something somewhere. If you are lucky you can get them to tell you a location. The recon branch of the command support department is tasked with HumInt (HumanIntelligence) and SigInt (SignalIntelligence). HumInt: This can be as trivial as investigating stuff that is mentioned over coms and can go to fully equipping the first responders of each department with equipment to transmit audio and vido data back to the command center and thereby enabling ComCor to make better suggestions. SigInt: They are equipped with various items that allows them to: See the radio channel usage (Maybe a waterfall display) Triangulate radio transmissions, by using a gps and a receiver that displays the angle to the transmitter. Additional ideas ? Information and Communication Technology Tasked with the maintenance of the computer and communication systems and possible ties into this suggestion: Malware As well as archival and retrieval of all records Command Support Facilities: The Command Support department will have a few rooms around the station: The Control Room - Is the main base of operations with separate areas for ICT, Recon and ComCor as well as a office for the departmental head. 2x Server Rooms (Main/Backup) - These server romms contain all the important equipment from ICT such as the access control server, the records server, ... The server rooms are redundant and on different z-levels (or the opposite side of a z-level) so taking out the server rooms will be quite difficult but also bring a high reward with it, if someone actually manages to pull it off. Maybe merge it with tcoms ?
Carver Posted July 9, 2016 Posted July 9, 2016 This isn't the military. I don't see why a Corporate Research Laboratory needs an entire department dedicated to shit the crew and heads should already be doing for each other. (That is, providing information.)
Arrow768 Posted July 9, 2016 Author Posted July 9, 2016 This isn't the military. I don't see why a Corporate Research Laboratory needs an entire department dedicated to shit the crew and heads should already be doing for each other. (That is, providing information.) Using this argument I can remove every single department except RnD from the station. Why would a research laboratory need a dedicated engineering department ? - If something small breaks call the janitor and if something bigger breaks call headquaters to send someone over to fix it. And power can be provided with the solars. Clean Safe Energy. Oh and it would be nice if you would actually read more then the first paragraph of the suggestion before posting something.
Nanako Posted July 9, 2016 Posted July 9, 2016 hey man, chill out I agree with carver to some degree, this seems kind of a military thing. Having a dedicated engineering department is necessary because you're on a station in deep space, far from help. The supermatter afaik shares a dual role of both function and research, it's a living prototype. Medical is needed because when people get wounded treatment has to be immediate Mining is kind of extraneous, it'd probably make more sense to just have resources directly shipped in, but that's the only one that fits with that logic i think. Command Coordination is the AI, it exists for exactly that purpose. The Captain is the alternative human version of a departmental coordinator. That's two levels of redundancy, a third imo isn't needed (though we do often have many cases where one or both of those isn't filled) Recon is the detective, and security officers, and the warden watching security cameras. Tracking down people who call for help is their job. Though i would say its really dumb that they don't have access to a crew monitor. Advanced stuff like radio triangulation might be interesting, but it might also just make validhunting easier, and rounds shorter as a result of antags getting caught quickly An IT department is something many people have wanted for a while, because logically it fits. But mechanically there's not enough of a role for it, in order for it to exist, more content is going to have to be created to support it, and more depth and problems added that they can solve. A lot of ideas have been thrown around, but i've not seen many that don't just seem like pointless makework and adding problems for the sake of having them. It would need some serious focus on design, and a lot of work to implement. That's a big project, you could take it on if you feel up to it. Recon and coordination though, these people would be redundant to some degree, overpowered to some degree, and in any case only useful in cases of raider assault and serious antag activity. They are pretty overtly advanced security features designed to deal with complex threats, and players in those roles are going to find themselves awfully bored whenever someone isn't immediately assaulting the station. Personally i don't think those two would make a great contribution to RP, to the pace of rounds, or to enjoyment of the people playing them much of the time. Perhaps though, the two of them could be combined into one role, a Commander/First Officer. Think riker or spock, the captain's right hand man. With most of his authority and responsibility, but more focused on the micromanagement than the big decisions. Maybe a superior to other heads of staff, but overruleable by majority vote rather than unanimity
Carver Posted July 9, 2016 Posted July 9, 2016 Oh and it would be nice if you would actually read more then the first paragraph of the suggestion before posting something. I did. This department exists purely to do things that should already be done by other departments and entities. Who provides information? The AI and various departments, depending on what information it is. Who investigates and gathers details? The AI, Security, and Internal Affairs, depending on what the investigation in question is about. Who maintains the comms and computer systems, as well as records? The Chief Engineer for the first two, HoP for the latter. Also, no, you can't remove every department with my argument, because the ones present are key personnel. The station is private property, thus it has Security. The station requires maintenance, thus it has Engineering. Research requires materials, thus it has Supply. People work on the station for extended periods in various life-endangering jobs, thus there is Medical. All of these departments mesh together, providing each other information and keeping the station maintained and each other in good health. This entire department suggestion is just a layer of redundancy, one that is not required. As a final example, there were once telecomms operators. They are no more because it was a job that did literally nothing 95% of the time.
The Stryker Posted July 12, 2016 Posted July 12, 2016 It's a bit much for a whole department, but I think you can roll ICT and ComCor into one job (or two if malware is serious is enough) because having one guy just to look and see who insults NT in the bar is a bit much. On the other hand, making it just one guy would stop it from taking over everyone's job, and making sure that there's always work to be done. Would this be a white listed job?
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