Allow borgs to speak and hear while flashed

[Ikea]

Title says it all, dont think this would cause many balance concerns, and also being chainflashed in security while being unable to say "PLEASE WALK" isnt fun

[Bartimeus]

I dont see how this could be abused and it just lets borgs scream at you for not respecting grounded flashers. Sounds neat!

[kyle2143]

Maybe it should have robot talk disabled but not regular speech?

[Technature]

There's the possibility of a cyborg alerting people that a previously unsuspicious person just flashed them and is doing bad things.

Perhaps have it prevent non-local communication in general instead.

[Zafhset]

Honestly, flashes are super common and flashed borgs are already completely crippled and at the mercy of anyone who has one.

Let them interact with the people trying to off them or defend themselves verbally.
Antags have to strategize on how to kill players silently - killing borgs quietly shouldn't just be a two step flash and bash.

[Ikea]

Yeah borgs tend to only have recovery while rogue, and when non rogue an antag can easily kill em with a flash, with no counter on the borgs part. Im fine with borgs being able to go "HELP MAINT" or whatever, humans can already do that when they get stunned, and humans dont get instantly 30 second stunned when hit with a baton unlike borgs with flashes. Not to mention with the lack of a cloner for borgs and with borg gibs being easily overlooked, dying as borg generally matters much more then dying as a human.

[aft2001]

There is also 0 indication of when a borg is stunned in this way. People will be lying down when stunned in such a way, but borgs just continue to stand there, unable to respond. This being resolved is a big deal, as well as resolving the points Ikea presented.

Perhaps flashes should not stun borgs but instead blind them? I'd like for them to still be stunnable, but flashes remaining a genuine counter to rogue borgs even with a recovery module by making blindness not immediately recovered by a Recovery module while still allowing said borg to move would be great. Electrical attacks (batons and tasers) and EMPs already BOTH stun and damage borgs; I don't see why flashes have to stun them as well when that niche is already fulfilled. But, there isn't a way to reliably cripple a well-prepared borg, which also isn't great.

[Technature]

I'm against any massive changes to the flash personally.

The borg has the weakness that if someone wants to kill them for any reason then they're probably out for the round, and the flash is incredibly debilitating, but borgs have the station itself as their weapon. Robust borgs can bolt or even electrify doors behind them while they're being chased. A lot of things that hold people down is laughable to a Cyborg due to every borg having basic tools. And that's just the absolute most basic defenses. God help you if the borg is smart enough to have nasty chemicals to stab into people, or if they have traps ready to shake off or even kill their pursuers, such as things left behind by traitors. Hell, activating the teleporter after you pass through it is a great way to potentially set anyone chasing you on fire, or worse.

And all of THAT is if only the cyborg is subverted, and not the entire AI system. Rogue Borgs that have the attention of their fellow Rogue AI means that if no one caught on to the AI yet, the borg can be supported with most of the tactics mentioned above without fear of having to click on something at high speeds. The teleporter for example can be set up ahead of time, and if the AI knows no one is on their Robospeak frequency, they can guide them to places to separate and kill people themselves.

[Ikea]

Flashes are okay as is, area flash could be nerfed to just slowdown instead of a instant stop. Tasers should probably not stun (or at least not instantly) considering it takes like, 2 shots with a taser to kill a borg

[childd]

Have borgs not speak normally but instead spout out gibberish nonesense automatically when flashed

[Oremir]

Disabling annything other then local seems fair enough.

[coolvape]

itd be fun if borgs spewed out error/rebooting messages if they attempt to talk while flashed

[MetricDuck]

Have borgs not speak normally but instead spout out gibberish nonesense automatically when flashed

itd be fun if borgs spewed out error/rebooting messages if they attempt to talk while flashed

I love this idea, maybe the odd word could get through a heavily corrupted/redacted message like some kind of temporary accent

[Flourish]

Good idea.