Goonhub
11-15-2021, 09:58 PM
The Issue
An issue that a few folks have been noticing recently due to the recent tide, is that a lot of newer players are jumping into AI for the first time, or jumping into it as their first job period, not knowing what to do, not sending any Mhelps, and then leaving the game soon after, leaving the entire round without AI Support if no one notices the lack of an AI due to it not being immediately obvious when one has left the game. We all know how useful the AI is for EVERYONE on the station, and we also know how detrimental it can be to everyone, and lacking one due to the person playing the AI having left the game can be very frustrating for all players.
The Suggestion
So a spitball suggestion that I have, if it is possible to code in, would be to have CentComm send an automated message around 5 - 10 minutes after the original AI player disconnects, notifying the station that they are currently lacking any AI support. The message could be something along the lines of, "A lack of activity in the stations AI Unit has been observed. It is advised that crew members work to provide a backup AI Unit as soon as possible." Probably with a bit more flair than that. This gives all players confirmation that their AI has in fact left the game, and gives Robotics staff an immediate heads up to start working on a new one if they haven't already been informed of the lack of one before the announcement has been made (and granted that they aren't all dead).
Why do I think this is needed?
This is something that would be a good QOL change for everyone involved. Taking into consideration the nature of both servers, and how chaotic both can be, it is never really on the mind of the crew to permanently keep track of their AI and make sure they are actually presently in the game. A lot of standard requests can be chalked up to just the AI missing a request and thought nothing of. Sec asking the AI to track a target, and getting nothing in response is bound to raise a few eyebrows also and may end up resulting in the AI being checked on to confirm if they are still there. But there are plenty of times where this is simply not possible to do due to the nature of the round, resulting in all heads either being dead or hiding and not being able to really go out of their way to make sure that the AI is actually connected. This announcement adds that safety net needed to potentially keep AI support in the rounds, and actively gives Roboticists more to do as a result.
An issue that a few folks have been noticing recently due to the recent tide, is that a lot of newer players are jumping into AI for the first time, or jumping into it as their first job period, not knowing what to do, not sending any Mhelps, and then leaving the game soon after, leaving the entire round without AI Support if no one notices the lack of an AI due to it not being immediately obvious when one has left the game. We all know how useful the AI is for EVERYONE on the station, and we also know how detrimental it can be to everyone, and lacking one due to the person playing the AI having left the game can be very frustrating for all players.
The Suggestion
So a spitball suggestion that I have, if it is possible to code in, would be to have CentComm send an automated message around 5 - 10 minutes after the original AI player disconnects, notifying the station that they are currently lacking any AI support. The message could be something along the lines of, "A lack of activity in the stations AI Unit has been observed. It is advised that crew members work to provide a backup AI Unit as soon as possible." Probably with a bit more flair than that. This gives all players confirmation that their AI has in fact left the game, and gives Robotics staff an immediate heads up to start working on a new one if they haven't already been informed of the lack of one before the announcement has been made (and granted that they aren't all dead).
Why do I think this is needed?
This is something that would be a good QOL change for everyone involved. Taking into consideration the nature of both servers, and how chaotic both can be, it is never really on the mind of the crew to permanently keep track of their AI and make sure they are actually presently in the game. A lot of standard requests can be chalked up to just the AI missing a request and thought nothing of. Sec asking the AI to track a target, and getting nothing in response is bound to raise a few eyebrows also and may end up resulting in the AI being checked on to confirm if they are still there. But there are plenty of times where this is simply not possible to do due to the nature of the round, resulting in all heads either being dead or hiding and not being able to really go out of their way to make sure that the AI is actually connected. This announcement adds that safety net needed to potentially keep AI support in the rounds, and actively gives Roboticists more to do as a result.
