Suggestion: AI/DWAINE Interaction Micronerfs

[Karakoran]

Solution 1 would be interesting but would also take time away from all the chaos that comes with the first 5 minutes of the round (clone scanning, planning, getting robotics to get you a shell, people waking up where they don't have access..) taking the AI out of their protective casing so they can use a computer seems weird too.

Side note, again not familiar with dwaine or much at all right now, but does teleman give out packets when it's used? Could be a way to combat it, just seeing where things are being teleported to, from the AI to any poor schmuck stuck in space.

Sorry for the confusion. Basically, on all maps, the AI Core spawns above a data terminal and is screwed down. On all maps, (except Donut 2, Mushroom, maybe a couple others), this data terminal is also wired into the mainframe. The idea would be that the AI should always have access to the mainframe at round-start, just as it does now. However, if the AI moves - like hiding somewhere on the edge of the map in space - it would then sever that data terminal and lose access to DWAINE. 

Teleman does use packets to inform the telepad to alter coordinates or perform a function (e.g. scan), so you can control it that way. Even something as simple as constantly resetting the pad should break its functionality. Using it to identify locations is a bit less doable, though. The pad receives commands for console coordinates to receive/send/relay/portal/scan with, so (1) you only see where things are going from/to and (2) you would have to interpret those console coordinates into real coordinates with the offsets (very doable but an obnoxiously slow intermediary step).

To be honest, in the 1,5 years i am playing on this server i have never seen a single AI weaponizing the telepad.

Besides that, there are many ways to fight one using it and only a few are lenghty. E.g. deleting teleman or simply snipping cameras. The ultimate solution would be to just get rid of the mainframe. Or cutting the connection between mainframe and telepad.

In general, the problem is people are simply not used to fighting dwaine users anymore. Besides the telepad, the weaponized use of dwaine, without much effort, is very limited nowadays.

Reading the other posts here, I do agree. It seems pretty rare since only a few people would even know how it's done, and none of the ones I've met seem to have the malice to do it repeatedly. It's just, when they do, it can be so effective. I worry that the knowledge will eventually proliferate and it'll become a chore. But maybe I overestimate the enthusiasm for DWAINE, as a certified fanatic.

The real secret you can always use is to pry the plating beneath the telepad tile and cut the cable coming off the data terminal. The downside is you have literally seconds to do it before you get warped to certain death.