Goonhub
10-20-2024, 09:36 AM
I come from an RP perspective, and often play with characters that are commonly set to arrest / flagged for a variety of reasons, so I get cuffed fairly frequently as a player, too.
First off, as a SecOff, I very rarely resort to cuffs. 9/10 times you can get an antagonist to follow you to interrogation, uncuffed. This is really important to note because it means that they will play more relaxed because they have agency, and you as a SecOff can rest assured that even if it comes to a gunfight, the culprit will at worst kill an officer, but won't be able to escape custody.
The only time I cuff individuals is when they're rampaging, refusing to cooperate, or when there's multiple culprits in a fight at the same time, in which case it's difficult to keep them from running off and not losing track of one or the other without shutting them down and taking them in. Oftentimes that's quickly followed by being port-a-brigged, and many times afterwards being exiled or killed. In this case, being cuffed is equivalent to "You've lost, you've had your fun and you got caught."
What I'm saying is, SecOff cuffs need to be strong, because they very often spell the end of someone. In the majority of cases where people resort to cuffing you, it's to spare killing you outright. Cuffs are used to shut down antagonists. That's why Werewolves are typically "Kill on sight" because you cannot shut them down easily. And if you make antags be able to wiggle out of cuffs in Security, I'd argue either they'll try to kill you, or you'll have to kill them.
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On the flipside, when I get cuffed, it's primarily via Beepsky. While they are easy enough to avoid, you will occasionally get downed and cuffed. I do think there's an argument to made at least to allow people to break out of ziptie cuffs while walking, because typically you are cuffed in a hallway, with no means to open any doors, and will frequently get shoved. Yes, you can lay on the ground to shuffle out, but when people see you lie on the ground they may think you're dying and will try to carry you to medbay, which will also interrupt you.
There's also a case to be made to add a little cuffed icon above people's head, or some other indicator that shows "this person is currently cuffed". That might help already in a variety of ways.
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To summarize:
No, uncuffing should get interrupted via walking.
Yes, ziptie cuffs (via Beepsky) should be an exception to this.
Maybe we can display a "cuffed" indicator on the sprite more clearly, or via overlay.
First off, as a SecOff, I very rarely resort to cuffs. 9/10 times you can get an antagonist to follow you to interrogation, uncuffed. This is really important to note because it means that they will play more relaxed because they have agency, and you as a SecOff can rest assured that even if it comes to a gunfight, the culprit will at worst kill an officer, but won't be able to escape custody.
The only time I cuff individuals is when they're rampaging, refusing to cooperate, or when there's multiple culprits in a fight at the same time, in which case it's difficult to keep them from running off and not losing track of one or the other without shutting them down and taking them in. Oftentimes that's quickly followed by being port-a-brigged, and many times afterwards being exiled or killed. In this case, being cuffed is equivalent to "You've lost, you've had your fun and you got caught."
What I'm saying is, SecOff cuffs need to be strong, because they very often spell the end of someone. In the majority of cases where people resort to cuffing you, it's to spare killing you outright. Cuffs are used to shut down antagonists. That's why Werewolves are typically "Kill on sight" because you cannot shut them down easily. And if you make antags be able to wiggle out of cuffs in Security, I'd argue either they'll try to kill you, or you'll have to kill them.
---
On the flipside, when I get cuffed, it's primarily via Beepsky. While they are easy enough to avoid, you will occasionally get downed and cuffed. I do think there's an argument to made at least to allow people to break out of ziptie cuffs while walking, because typically you are cuffed in a hallway, with no means to open any doors, and will frequently get shoved. Yes, you can lay on the ground to shuffle out, but when people see you lie on the ground they may think you're dying and will try to carry you to medbay, which will also interrupt you.
There's also a case to be made to add a little cuffed icon above people's head, or some other indicator that shows "this person is currently cuffed". That might help already in a variety of ways.
---
To summarize:
No, uncuffing should get interrupted via walking.
Yes, ziptie cuffs (via Beepsky) should be an exception to this.
Maybe we can display a "cuffed" indicator on the sprite more clearly, or via overlay.