Manta's dead

[Danger Noodle]

Just as a disclaimer the following is from the perspective of the classic servers.

People don't want to play on the same map over and over again, most maps can be boiled down to big and very big circles (cog1, oshan, cog2, donut3, kondaru) so some of these can feel similar if you play them multiple times in a row.

So people may want to reach for an alternative to the circular maps, these include:
Horizon is very large but good for antags and most "stationary" jobs.
Atlas is out of the question as on most rounds you can't even play on it
Destiny is pretty good
And then there's manta, it's okay-ish to play on as a normal crewmember so even some people that don't like the map might vote for it because people don't expect to roll antag most of the time, there are of course a bunch of inconveniences and annoyances as a crewmember sure but it's nothing round ruining just frustrating. Now the major problems start when you get chosen for antag. Good for you! Right? Yeah not really, maint is a bad joke, rwalls and electrifed windows really limit your breaking and entering capabilities, there are almost no AI blindspots so good luck escaping sec, the ship is usually moving so you literally can't escape without either getting a jetpack and a whole bunch of other stuff which takes a lot of effort or swimming to the bottom of the map and praying that the spawn point isn't being camped by critters and if you didn't get a pickaxe you might be stuck in there with no way out. Oh and that cool syndicate assault vessel with torpedos? You can't even use them effectively, the station can effortlessly counter you by hitting one button. (tbh shields should get a major rework but until then this is still a problem)

[DioChasek]

Thematically and conceptually the design of manta is great. It feels like a cool futuristic submarine. From a gameplay perspective it’s not only unfriendly to antags. Wanna do an off station construction project, good luck keeping up with the ship since it is always moving. Wanna build inside instead good luck finding space that isn’t being used for something else( ever have a round where multiple people rushed the construction zone?)
Then there is the singularity placement what a brilliant idea right next to escape hopefully if moves away from it when it inevitably gets setup incorrectly every 3rd round. Rewiring manta is also a chore with all the junction boxes and crisscrossed wire setups.
The bar and kitchen aren’t connected which is also another negative, sometimes the bartender steps out/blacks out from a toxic drink, it sure is great to be able to at least give everyone a shot of tequila as the chef in the meantime.
It does have the clown dinghy which can be blown up by the torpedoes. That is a positive.