Nerf packets for fucks sakes.

[vampirate]

Just make HoS lockers and Armory doors unpacketable. The whole "something does a couple bad things so let's leave it in the game so neutered it isn't worth doing" philosophy has left a lot of things in the game that used to be fun but now never get used cause they're not worth the effort.

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Let people be have ways outside of being robust to be OP. FFS don't make the game solely about who is the most robust.

[Sidewinder7]

I have a not completely terrible idea for the whole packethacking situation:
For public access doors: No authentication required to open
If the door does have access requirements: If the access level has an associated netpass, require that in some way.

Put the netpasses in appropriate places for people to find:
Give RD the a research netpass(Maybe that's what prman uses?)
netpass_heads can be found on the auth disk
Give HoS near-exclusive access to netpass_security, and make that the one needed to crack sec lockers/boxes/the armory

Not every locked door would need one (maintenance and less sensitive departments like botany/catering)

If done correctly, this could change the challenge from memorizing the packet values to acquiring the access codes. Varying degrees of challenge could be used for acquiring the codes: For example, the med/sci netpass might be acquirable through some clever use of dwaine (see prman example above), but the much coveted (all access?) security netpass would likely need to be stolen from the HoS himself, likely putting it out of reach of non-traitors.

[Frank_Stein]

Yeah I think pulling passes from disks would be a good way for the high security, with needing to engineer ways for them to use the disks in a way that lets you sniff the packet.

[aft2001]

I personally don't think HoS-level access should be unpacketable, though that can be an acceptable short-term fix.

To reiterate my earlier comment, I **strongly** believe packet science should be actually fun. Maybe my sense of fun is weird, but I'd prefer having to take time and mental effort to perform calculations or cross-reference data you've gathered, as well as some good ol' fashioned brute force, to actually access anything.

I've made a few comments in the past on the Gooncord, so I'd be happy to share some further thoughts:

1) Implement additional security that requires *math*. Math is slow, mentally painful for some, and is a bit inaccessible, so it'll overall reduce the amount of people willing to do it, either because they don't have the time, or because they just hate math. I'm not TOO comfortable with this reasoning (particularly the part where people won't do it because they hate math), but it's not like other mechanics don't exist around this - Botany, to me, is extremely tedious, and I don't like it nor delve into it for that reason, despite how powerful it can be.
To go into actual detail, here's some examples!
- Low-level doors (maintenance, civilian department) would provide an *equation*, unique to that airlock, when you query them with a specific command. This is a sort of key, but not really. In order to get the door to do anything, you have to include the answer to the equation in your packet.
- Medium security doors (med/sci/engi) would have a system of equations, and subsequently multiple variables you'd need to include the answers to in your packet, as well as department-specific netpasses.
- High security doors (sec, command, head access [NOT AI/HoS]) would have additional security requirements, such as all outputs from the airlock being 'corrupted' (identical to detomatrix packets), making it difficult to figure out the equations themselves. Netpasses for the doors would also be MUCH harder to acquire.
- Max security doors (HoS/AI) would have all of the above security systems, on top of possible things like: Ping immunity (they will not respond to pings), functioning on randomized frequencies, complex systems of equations, and potentially an AI-restricted netpass that can only be found if the AI actually uses it or gives it away (for whatever reason), or through other methods (perhaps encrypted files on the mainframe or the auth disk).

To reiterate my previous comment and build off of this, I 100% think that the AI should, of all roles, be *the* most capable to do any sort of packet/network science and hacking with. Not only does it make sense ICly (it's a fucking computer), but the near unlimited access to: Airlocks, lockers, the mainframe & SU, APCs, terminals, buddies, telescience, wireless communications, etc., potentially *all at once* thanks to multiple windows and no range limitations imposed by hands, really do lend themselves to creating a role that can bend the network to its will, but not take full advantage of it. Sure, it can set the buddies to purge with just a control script it made, or sniff PDA communications, or fake messages. But, the AI can't have hands to pick up a rifle it stole from the armory, and it doesn't gain anything from using packets to fuck with doors except lost time.
As a quick edit, perhaps the AI should be able to change a netpass? It could make an announcement, informing everyone that it's done something a bit fucky, and it's up to the AI to explain that it's just trying to make some packet nerd's life a bit harder. Of course, this should have a MASSIVE cooldown, and could easily tie into the Cycles point system concept I've been harping on about for months.

Though, that last paragraph is already a long tangent *on top* of this already long post.
TL;DR:
Packet science/hacking/maintenance should be fun and engaging to those willing to take on a more math-based system when compared to most other mechanics, but shouldn't be able to be abused so much that it becomes unfun to fight against, and this can be done by making it time-consuming and requiring math/calculations.
Oh and, make the AI the Head of Networking please, thanks.
- Sincerely, an AI main.

[Boxta]

Along with my other post on this same thread, I think packets should be able to control lots of things, because lots of things have computers in them. Basically, some ideas for making the network more secure

Lockers: Make them require Netpass_security, brung up in another thread. There should be a few ways to get this netpass, Im thinkin A, the authdisk, Which should always have all the codes on it. B, Wireless cracking, where you use the ping tool, and the packet sniffer to get a encrypted packet which has to be cracked, C, and wired cracking, Basically, take X locker or crate to a data terminal, wrench it down, then, send the current packet to open lockers to it, just on the wired network. B should be the second hardest, with c being the easiest

Doors: Make each door require differnt things: I think afts post on doors is a good way to do it

I also think we should draw from the game of hacknet { https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacknet }, Ive played it before and it does a really good job of making a compleing story and making it actually seem like your hacking through computers and not just entering a few commands to get SU access