Goonhub
03-14-2015, 08:28 PM
Preemptive disclaimer: This is another post in which I rant off the top of my head. As a result, the below content may or may not contain some holes in its logic.
I can frequently be seen playing as an AI and I'm typically glad to play as a cyborg, and this might be just my own personal and weird opinion, but one of the things that I appreciate about playing as a robot is actually the lack of freedom.
Sometimes, playing Space Station 13 is like playing Minecraft. You're given a wide open space to work with, you're given a multitude of tools to work with, you're given an environment filled with people with their own goals, and you're sort of told to just sort of go. There are some times where I legitimately have no idea what to do in some rounds, and playing as a robot alleviates that because your job revolves around the actions of others. Particularly as an AI; literally everything you do is defined by what the crew tells you to do. A similar dynamic exists in the security department: Their job is to react to the actions of others.
The only problem comes when you don't have any orders to follow, because then the entire purpose of a cyborg is wasted. I recall a particular round where a traitor was killing people and syndieborging them...but gave them absolutely no orders aside from a general "go do whatever". It was extremely disappointing and got him major flak from the people he had borged. Turning someone into a cyborg carries an underlying assumption that you have a job for them to do or that there is otherwise a purpose that they can serve. It's when the cyborg has no purpose that it becomes boring, pointless, and unfun.
Having a lack of free will does not always equate to not being entertaining, it's just a different mindset to be in. Cyborgs being bound by laws is not something that all players like, but some players appreciate the rails to drive along. Or maybe I'm the only weirdo who thinks that, I dunno. Hopefully it at least makes sense.
I can frequently be seen playing as an AI and I'm typically glad to play as a cyborg, and this might be just my own personal and weird opinion, but one of the things that I appreciate about playing as a robot is actually the lack of freedom.
Sometimes, playing Space Station 13 is like playing Minecraft. You're given a wide open space to work with, you're given a multitude of tools to work with, you're given an environment filled with people with their own goals, and you're sort of told to just sort of go. There are some times where I legitimately have no idea what to do in some rounds, and playing as a robot alleviates that because your job revolves around the actions of others. Particularly as an AI; literally everything you do is defined by what the crew tells you to do. A similar dynamic exists in the security department: Their job is to react to the actions of others.
The only problem comes when you don't have any orders to follow, because then the entire purpose of a cyborg is wasted. I recall a particular round where a traitor was killing people and syndieborging them...but gave them absolutely no orders aside from a general "go do whatever". It was extremely disappointing and got him major flak from the people he had borged. Turning someone into a cyborg carries an underlying assumption that you have a job for them to do or that there is otherwise a purpose that they can serve. It's when the cyborg has no purpose that it becomes boring, pointless, and unfun.
Having a lack of free will does not always equate to not being entertaining, it's just a different mindset to be in. Cyborgs being bound by laws is not something that all players like, but some players appreciate the rails to drive along. Or maybe I'm the only weirdo who thinks that, I dunno. Hopefully it at least makes sense.