Libraries! Do we want them! Where do we want them!?

[AgrippaHera]

On the discord, a good handful of people expressed interest in adding a library to the station. We figured it fits well as a hang-out location, a murder location (just think of the murder mysteries!), and a good spot for the oh-so-underused bookshelf. There were a few opinions, but I think we settled on the idea of replacing the chapel with a library on at least a couple stations (Aloe suggested perhaps donut2/cog2/others maybe If i recall correctly.) Or to add it onto the chapel. I wanted to put the idea down in a more permanent setting, and in a place where more than just RP players look!!

To summarize:

IDEAS:
- Replace Chapels with libraries (I think we can let the chaplains keep their jobs, however. It can be a religious library ^^) (Pros: Less space! Cons: No chapel )
- Add a library to chapels (Pros: We keep the chapel, room for librarian gimmick job. Cons: needs more space)

WHY IS THIS NEEDED?
 A lot of players don't visit the chapel. I believe part of this is that the chapel doesn't serve much use for the average player. On RP, this is exacerbated by the fact that not many people want to RP out their character having religious beliefs. This change could allow both those who want to RP other things and those who want to RP having a religion to visit the library to have reasons for visiting. Additionally, I think encouraging players to write books and keep them in the persistent bookshelf is a positive thing for the community (I love player written things, like the notice-board!).

I don't think it wholly solves the issue of the chapel being barren of activity, but I think this could still play along with the player-project to modify the chaplain role. Incenses and libraries go along nicely, and who wouldn't want to sip a brew made by the chaplain while they read a player-book about rockworms ?

[DisturbHerb]

I may be pro book nook, and I'm all for introducing more libraries to rotation maps (donut3 my beloved), I can't say I'm convinced by integrating it into the Chapel; especially in a scenario where we could lose it entirely.

Mixed use crew areas in the same vein would be fun though. Maybe consider repurposing the nerd dungeons?

[AgrippaHera]

I may be pro book nook, and I'm all for introducing more libraries to rotation maps (donut3 my beloved), I can't say I'm convinced by integrating it into the Chapel; especially in a scenario where we could lose it entirely.

Mixed use crew areas in the same vein would be fun though. Maybe consider repurposing the nerd dungeons?

I, personally, prefer keeping it attached to a job. Maybe a librarian gimmick job could suit it well, but I think chaplains may appreciate an extra/repurposed(if we were to change the nerd dungeon) area.

[Waffleloffle]

I'm a fan of giving the crew more public-access places to Hang (god I want every map to have a public garden so bad) and would love a nice library area on most maps... didn't consider it before but having it fold into and refurbish the nerd dungeon just makes a lotta sense. I do agree that having it be chapel-specific is kind of a hard sell but it's not impossible, seeing as the chapel serves as general-purpose Event Space in many rounds

I think there's another major issue, though, besides mapping constraints: the books we have... aren't really worth reading. the grand majority of the prewritten books are instruction manuals, and outside of those, there's maybe... 3? 4? books resembling something people would actually read for fun. user-written books would be great (provided yahoos don't permanently remove them from persistent bookshelves) but the ui of the printing press? absolute ass. you can write more expressively formatted prose with a higher character count on a single sheet of paper. the printing press NEEDS several improvements before people are gonna want to use it, I think

[Kotlol]

The idea is neat, but giving it to the chaplain and removing the chapel is kinda... "Eh"

Sure the chapel does have the bookshelf most of the time and the book printer, but... I never felt like they belong there.
Donut 3 has a sorta library but no one uses it....

[Dhaidburt]

I'm against turning the chapel into a library, since that takes away what alot of RP chaplains love to do: REDECORATE!
No more meat cathedrals, clown churches, or plant palaces. It's what can draw more people into the chapel in the first place, vs a library that could either be stocked or full of books you can just buy from a vendor.

The idea is neat, but giving it to the chaplain and removing the chapel is kinda... "Eh"

Sure the chapel does have the bookshelf most of the time and the book printer, but... I never felt like they belong there.
Donut 3 has a sorta library but no one uses it....

Seconded. Everyone knows where it is, but it's still really unused.

[Glamurio]

I'm a fan of giving the crew more public-access places to Hang (god I want every map to have a public garden so bad)

Technically every map has the owlery, nothing stopping you from putting down some plant trays there and planting stuff. Though I agree that the ability to have more natural soil would be neat.

The idea is neat, but giving it to the chaplain and removing the chapel is kinda... "Eh"

Sure the chapel does have the bookshelf most of the time and the book printer, but... I never felt like they belong there.
Donut 3 has a sorta library but no one uses it....

This is the big one here. Libraries are cool, in theory. We have a library on Donut3 and it doesn't see much usage, perhaps because it's a bit out of the way but still. I think that if we added libraries, people would flock there for a while because it's new, and then continue to ignore it. There needs to be, imo, some kind of mechanical reason why people would want to be there.

Books and bookshelves are great, perhaps even writing new books with many of the things not properly documented anywhere safe for the wikipedia.

[Lord_earthfire]

Technically every map has the owlery, nothing stopping you from putting down some plant trays there and planting stuff. Though I agree that the ability to have more natural soil would be neat.

And felling these goddamn trees. They limit the owlery so much.

On topic, i am all for adding a livrary to the chapel and expanding the bookprinting and bookshelf system. I would like to keep the chapel as-is. The thing is it's the biggest place on station to redecorate and repurpose and many departments could get a load of this and becone more empty and customizeable. Also, due to this, it's like the prine-place for syndicate assaults/bog conflicts. It's a great place fir the one big confrontation.

[TDHooligan]

the bookshelves are cool, but they're always empty or filled with prefab books. your best bet is to put loads of copies of your book in there so they last more than 3 shifts.

idk. perhaps there needs to be a better way to keep your books stocked in bookshelves. maybe particularly high effort books should be syndicated and kept stocked aboard all bookshelves?

[JOELED]

I don't fully understand how the persistent bookshelf works right now, but I've tried putting things on them and they always end up disappearing within a day or so  --  Maybe some more clarity on how that feature works or a reworking of it to make it easier for there to be player-written books stocked and available could pair well with this?

[Aakriti]

I don't fully understand how the persistent bookshelf works right now, but I've tried putting things on them and they always end up disappearing within a day or so  --  Maybe some more clarity on how that feature works or a reworking of it to make it easier for there to be player-written books stocked and available could pair well with this?

Hi friend
In terms of the persistent bookshelves, I'm in the same boat. For player-written books to thrive, clearer criteria or a revision would be ideal. Please improve user-generated material!GB whatsapp Apk

[Lord_earthfire]

I don't fully understand how the persistent bookshelf works right now, but I've tried putting things on them and they always end up disappearing within a day or so  --  Maybe some more clarity on how that feature works or a reworking of it to make it easier for there to be player-written books stocked and available could pair well with this?

That's because someone else takes it out and forgets to put it back again.

[Meggal Bozale]

I think adding libraries would be awesome!!! (But a player project for the mapping effort required.)
Definitely don't replace the chapel with them, having it be a civilian dept. room like in Donut 3 would be ideal IMO.
May need to restructure EVERY FREAKING MAP to make room but oh well that's the price for new stuff.
Persistent bookshelves are fun, but I never see em' or read em' cos I dunno where they are. Libraries are a pretty good way to make it clear.

[sunkiisu]

I feel like everything I wanted to say got said, but to generally say it, I do agree having a library area in more places would be great! I dunno about replacing the chapel, because even if it doesn't see much use it does again serve as a nice place that is good for events, or quiet rp if you need somewhere to step out from the chaos of the station, etc.. And player written books would be nice! I wish there were more books in the vending machine, honestly. But persistent bookshelves are interesting, even if I don't quite understand them myself

[AgrippaHera]

the bookshelves are cool, but they're always empty or filled with prefab books. your best bet is to put loads of copies of your book in there so they last more than 3 shifts.

idk. perhaps there needs to be a better way to keep your books stocked in bookshelves. maybe particularly high effort books should be syndicated and kept stocked aboard all bookshelves?

I enjoy that last idea, Maybe have player-books be sent to the goonhub?

---

Technically every map has the owlery, nothing stopping you from putting down some plant trays there and planting stuff. Though I agree that the ability to have more natural soil would be neat.

And felling these goddamn trees. They limit the owlery so much.

On topic, i am all for adding a livrary to the chapel and expanding the bookprinting and bookshelf system. I would like to keep the chapel as-is. The thing is it's the biggest place on station to redecorate and repurpose and many departments could get a load of this and becone more empty and customizeable. Also, due to this, it's like the prine-place for syndicate assaults/bog conflicts. It's a great place fir the one big confrontation.

I totally agree about keeping the chapel, now that I've thought about it. I think I like the idea of reworking the nerd dungeon the most out of all the ideas here.

---

I think there's another major issue, though, besides mapping constraints: the books we have... aren't really worth reading. the grand majority of the prewritten books are instruction manuals, and outside of those, there's maybe... 3? 4?

(it doesn't help that all the player written books on 4 were wiped by accident somehow )