NPC monkeys nerf

[Haprenti]

In reaction to this thread : https://forum.ss13.co/showthread.php?tid=13104

Probably unpopular opinion, as people seem to like this form of self-inflicted grief. Not unlike light grenades, though more forgiving.

The "new player gets gutted by the local monkey" joke hasn't been looking fun to me at least past the first few times. That's another chance to loose a new player who's yet to get interested in the game. To me, it's very frustrating when I inadvertently attacked them and I just have to interrupt whatever I'm trying to do and just wait, giving me time to reflect on how much fun I'm having not getting gutted. The joke gets old fast.

To keep monkey barrels as they are, add a "buff monkey" monkey variant that would be what current monkeys are.
And for those who would need current monkeys for something, add a monkey steroid chem or something that makes a nerfed monkey into a buff monkey.
So you can keep, for instance, making rage cages or whatever that involves fighting monkeys.You could also prank unsuspecting coworkers into killing themselves by not noticing that the monkeys they're about to grab are buff. 

Nerfed monkeys could have less stamina and be clumsy. Or cancel aggression faster, after a few punches. The duration of the aggression could be proportional to the damage done.
It could be more complex, like aggression stopping at certain health thresholds (but still resetting if you keep attacking past one threshold).

A bunch of different things could be done.

In short(er) :

- default monkeys get nerfed.
- new type of monkeys, buff, that are current (or even pre-stamina-nerf) monkeys, for monkey barrels
- a new steroid-something chem to turn nerfed monkeys into buff ones, for shenanigans that would require some.

You can downvote now, thanks for reading.  

[Slacker Magician]

Monkey barrel monkeys arleady *are* buffed, both statwise, and AI-wise.

[Technature]

I dunno, unless you go out of your way to die to monkeys where no one can hear the violence happening, chances are someone will find you and help you in some way.

NPC monkeys just don't seem that difficult to deal with, and can be avoided by avoiding jobs that deal with them in the first place (I think the Chef is the only recommended beginner job that has them?).

[Lady Birb]

(I think the Chef is the only recommended beginner job that has them?).

Geneticist.

[Drago156]

I think maybe changing around their aggression procs could work out a little bit, like when you level 1 grab them they don't instantly freak out and swarm you, but otherwise I think the monkeys serve a fitting lesson that not everything is a straightforward and easy thing and that you'll get away with it unharmed, this is a station full of crazy lunatics and hazardous alien life, and I feel the monkeys help play to the chaos in that sense.

[mbc]

one thing of note is that monkeys do have reduced stamina. i believe their cap sits somewhere around 150 or a bit lower? you should be able to beat any monkeyAI 1v1 if you start in good health and you stand there and keep punching


-"The duration of the aggression could be proportional to the damage done"

decent idea, it is a little silly that you slap a monkey once and they'll beat you into crit regardless. Its actually quite easy to fight NPC monkeys in my experience, most players' problem is that they dont fight and just let the monkey hit them repeatedly ( i guess assuming they're going to stop at some point? )

[Superlagg]

Monkeys are great robusting practice! They can be used for non-antags to work on their defensive clicking, to test how your drugs and armor stand up to an extinguisher, to see what it takes to beat someone into submission, all sorts of stuff that only really work on something *roughly* as sturdy and surly as another crewbie.

Also, monkeys tend to leave you alone after they slam you unconscious or into shallow crit. Sometimes they don't, but they ~usually~ stop long before you're too mangled to save. And, it's pretty obvious when someone's having a monkeytussle, what with all the whacking and screaming. A keen player can tell by the rhythm of the beat if a player's losing the fight, and this attracts other people to save them (or laugh at them, then save them).

Plus there are plenty of ways to safely kill monkeys. You could hit them with a zero-damage object (they don't mind!), you could toss them the Russian Revolver (load it first!), you could *pull* them to an airlock and nudge them into space (careful not to follow them!), you could instakill them with a blast of superheated firefoam (also works on the crew!), and so on... ...though a couple of those ~might~ be bugs.