Goonhub
09-23-2023, 04:38 PM
QMs have multiple ways to ship their goods around the station. Whether it be through the MULE, Belt Hell, or by delivering on foot. But these ways are relatively redundant due to the power of the Cargo Transporter, and QMs will only ever use this as their means of shipping Cargo, leaving the MULE unused for anything outside of gimmicks, and Belt Hell only being used by the Clown that wants to get around the station more funny. In addition, the Cargo Transporter being accessible to a few other departments also makes their other methods of delivering goods to Cargo equally as redundant for the same reasons. The Cargo Transporter being able to teleport Cargo instantaneously from one destination to another is still great QoL and I'll never propose for its removal, but I will propose for it to be gated somewhat and not be accessible from round start.
So what I propose is this:
The idea of this proposed change is to get QMs and the rest of the crew using other means of Cargo transportation early in the round to deliver their goods around the station, to provide Cargo with another money sink to spend their money on, and to get QMs out of their department and interacting with other players. A more active Belt Hell early in rounds could also lead to some Antag shenanigans with them stealing, or blocking Cargo at specific spots in the Belt Hell. Could also lead to some funny accidents involving someone getting decked in the face by a stray Cargo Crate and taking heavy brute damage. Of course these can all still occur currently, but will definitely occur more frequently with the gating away of Cargo Transporters.
A workaround to the lack of Cargo Transporters could also be fixed with Engineers setting up MechComp Teleporters. I personally see this as just as good and as valid as setting up a Cargo Transporter network and it accomplishes the same thing. Gets players interacting with other players and requires an amount of effort to get working. There are definitely even more work arounds that I am not thinking of. But anything to make the gameplay loop of shipping Cargo less static, the better.
So what I propose is this:
- All Cargo Telepads and Cargo Transporters are no longer present on stations at round start.
- For 100k (spit balling a price), QMs can buy a Cargo Transporter Starter Kit that comes with two Cargo Telepad Frames, and two Cargo Transporters and a Soldering Iron.
- QMs will then have to go to the department they'll want to link to the Transporter Network and deploy a Telepad there and hand over a Transporter. This gets QMs out of Cargo more and encourages them to interact with the crew.
- Telepads can still be Mech Scanned, but they now require a telecrystal to fabricate.
The idea of this proposed change is to get QMs and the rest of the crew using other means of Cargo transportation early in the round to deliver their goods around the station, to provide Cargo with another money sink to spend their money on, and to get QMs out of their department and interacting with other players. A more active Belt Hell early in rounds could also lead to some Antag shenanigans with them stealing, or blocking Cargo at specific spots in the Belt Hell. Could also lead to some funny accidents involving someone getting decked in the face by a stray Cargo Crate and taking heavy brute damage. Of course these can all still occur currently, but will definitely occur more frequently with the gating away of Cargo Transporters.
A workaround to the lack of Cargo Transporters could also be fixed with Engineers setting up MechComp Teleporters. I personally see this as just as good and as valid as setting up a Cargo Transporter network and it accomplishes the same thing. Gets players interacting with other players and requires an amount of effort to get working. There are definitely even more work arounds that I am not thinking of. But anything to make the gameplay loop of shipping Cargo less static, the better.