When do you use the robuddys?

[ju45he]

I'll play sillycons or RD and be trying to constantly fit them in everywhere I go. I try and sell them to people for various reasons, purposes, and even let them customize the buddy a bit. Most of the time they say no though, and I'll just be setting them to heckle on everyone I dislike. Sometimes I like to make a horde and tell people to punch me for a big surprise, and they'll get gassed, tased, blinded, pied, and drugged in a second. 

I'd like to hear how YOU use them, or why you don't use them and let them collect dust.

[Lefinch]

I preface this with: Ultimately they don't interest me personally but I think it's great they're in the game and some people love them: But I don't, and I rarely touch them.

I learned how to do the basics with them for mentor stuff, and some basic experimentation with the ammo fabricator for shenanigans. However, I'm not a huge science player and generally feel that robuddies ultimately have limited routes of application for gimmicks. I am ultimately either telling them to follow people, telling them to attack people, or telling them to hang out with me. You can do a lot of fun things with that (and I think the examples you've listed here are really good ones) but ultimately they're a bit like pods to me: You've got some customisation going on and they can be very cooll but ultimately I'm just driving around in them or shooting at people in them, and that doesn't personally interest me as a player.

If I could do more nice stuff with them: Steer them around like a LOGO turtle, make them say things to people, so on, I might have more interest. I might also not. The good thing about ss13 in general as well as goonstation is that it's entirely okay to just not be all that interested in the mechanics of one subdepartment: There's plenty of others to try. It's also great some people are interested in things that others aren't.

But you wanted an answer, so there it is! Perhaps reading through the thread as other people reply will inspire me to rethink my interest in robuddies, or if I'm lucky an encounter with your characters!

[Kotlol]

My problem with Robobuddies is their accessability.

You gotta have SUPER DWAINE USER access. Know all the DWAINE Codes (I hate DWAINE)
And then .... you can finally program them via very slow and obtuse matters.

But the real reason I do not use them or like em is....
WHY THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS NOT PART OF ROBOTICS?!

In some maps it's right NEXT to robotics even. How is it Robotics isn't allowed to touch the robobuddies or redesign and program them? I even see most simple bots like Medibots to be "Robobuddy like"

And sure you don't want to give Robotics the way of controlling robobuddies for their own protection as antags.. but as it is now.. no antag uses them ANYWAY...cause why would they?

Personally I think A: They need to be a robotics thing.
B: Needs to have a simple interface anyone can use from Robotics.
C: Only robobuddies with certain "tools" can be authorized by heads.

Now we get robotics able to spread robobuddies everywhere.
Remember the mining bot? MAKE IT A ROBOBUDDY robotics can make and miners can remote control.
Mules? SAME THING!
Medibots? Go for it.

It gives Robotics more to do... and more robobuddies like a watering robobuddy for botany is always welcome! And this also leads to more sabotage on them.
And they won't take away Borg stuff, since borgs will always be faster.

[Silent Majority]

Roboticists being given the buddies and ability to build mules would be cool.

I'd like if we could make different kinds of buddies to more goofily simulate other bots. Since as is they're all just slower securitrons.

A way to make it so they stayed in one area rather than thr entire ship would help.

When robbudies gather at the bar and they all bad mouth super protector friend, but shut up if he wanders in is one of the funniest things ever.

I have actually had my life saved by ais assigning me a protector buddy

[KikiMofo]

In the old days the RD would just make a bunch of robuddies and have them always following and guarding so if someone attacked them a swarm of robots would attack.

[Kateaclysm]

I really love the concept of them - customizable, personalized small robots that you can deploy into having several different roles? Amazing. Their implementation is really old, however... And I think without a significant revamp, they'll never be something i'd use outside of niche scenarios. It is odd that they aren't a robotics thing, though. If they ever are reworked, I'd love to see robotics take over their maintenance and construction instead of science.