Spy mode - Official Discussion Thread (Wonk)

[CaptainBravo]

for the love of fuck stop centralizing gangs in QM. it is the opposite of fun to have spoons at knives at your disposal while an enemy gang has folded sec or a head into their gang and ordered literally all of the weapons.

[atomic1fire]

Why not add privacy shutters to QM so that in the event of a gang war, the QM's can just fortify themselves assuming the gangs haven't raided eva and armory.

[CaptainBravo]

i guess because gangs can also be located in Sec, which is equally boring and unfun for literally every other gang

[Shoddy]

Here's an idea.

No more special items for spy's. not even a signal jammer.

To me this is what spy mode sounds like. eavesdropping on conversations, assassinating one person, stealing top secret nanotrasen plasma machine prototypes and stealing some sensitive NT archive data ( like the accidental destruction of china) or subverting the AI.

To me the spy mode is a great way to expand the silly story of SS13. i find that the story of Syndicates VS NT is actually really cool and i'd like to see some kind of mode where you aren't in some stupid deathmatch with other syndicate officers just because.
THAT said please re label the current spy mode gang wars and remove all syndicate equipment and implanters, have it based solely on trust/ loyalty and your brutality and tenacity.
And for the love of god no more Emags. :ugeek:

[Readster]

Guys, I've got it.
You want spy mode to be about stealth? You want it to be about small battles in the background and espionage? Well here's how you do it.
1) Spy leaders only get 3-4 implants, they have a small team, this way they don't go around implanting everyone
2) Heads of staff are pre-implanted with CentComm implants and are immune to spy implants, this goes for sec too.
3) The crew is encouraged to detain spies, not kill them, and alert sec when they get them. Taking a spy in for questioning rather than killing them there can be useful, especially if they get their implant removed at robotics. This could lead to some fun rescue missions.
4) and possible the most important change to make it about stealth. Spies are NOT allowed to kill civilians. They would be one of the only antags who aren't given a free pass to a murder spree. I'm not sure how to do this exactly, perhaps a score system or maybe a strike system where after X number of murders they're spy implant kills them. By doing this the spies would have to avoid getting caught because the crew can attack them but they can't attack back, at least not to kill them.

If you do this then the spy items can be stealth items, like smoke bombs or sleepy pens. Maybe a type of flash grenade that makes all in range temporarily blind, even with sunglasses. With these changes, mainly #4, Spy would become the stealth game mode it needs to be rather than a free for all brawl.

Not all Antags need to be killers.

[enforcer9]

Not all Antags need to be killers.

BLASPHEMY!

[jflan17]

So instead of killing, spies would put people in crit and leave them in a locker somewhere. Same difference.

[BlackPhoenix]

So instead of killing, spies would put people in crit and leave them in a locker somewhere. Same difference.

That, or people would know to take spies on in groups of <(Number of allowed kills) because the spy would just have to deal with it or explode trying.

[Readster]

If they left someone in crit in a closet they'd probably end up dying eventually. Anyway that's what gadgets like the sleepy pen are for, get caught? Send them to sleep.

[atomic1fire]

I think this had been suggested for revs before, but I think it's probably a unique approach to the whole espionage/sabotage thing.

Add burn notice/macguyver type stuff to the game for spies.

Obviously there should be some well thought out restrictions to prevent abuse from normal players (e.g a message that pops up saying "you have no idea what to do with these things", for certain item combinations)

Bring back picklocking lockers with lightbulbs. Because it's kind of funny and also because it gives spies some commonplace tricks they can use in pursuit of being different from traitors. They still have to steal a HOS id, or hack the door to get in, but that means good spies will already be good at the game.

Only tell spies how to do these things, and leave a few for them to discover themselves.

Obviously someone's going to aim for borderline ridiculous when it comes to spy tricks, but that's what makes the game fun.

The game needs more fun item combinations, and spies who should start out with no tools whatsoever, only their wits, should be the perfect role to discover those.

[Cogwerks]

Yeah, I'm leaning strongly towards removing the traitor radios for spies. Keeping the knife, but maybe gonna change some functions of it.

[supernorn]

I'd like to see the emag remain but instead changed to be a one use item (or finite use). The emag right now is amazing and pretty overpowered, so if you had to think carefully about what you'd use it on that might balance it out.

[Weavel]

What about a recharge function on the emag? 4 uses, slap it in a recharger to fill it up again. Means it can still be very viable but not quite as easy to just sprint through everywhere with.

[Coolguye]

What about a recharge function on the emag? 4 uses, slap it in a recharger to fill it up again. Means it can still be very viable but not quite as easy to just sprint through everywhere with.

If you're using the emag more than 4 times in a round you are more than likely abusing it anyway. The only exception I can think of right now is if you're a bonkers Roboticist and you mass-produce medbots to go apeshit on people.

I maintain that emagging the cyborgs is an awful idea and you deserve it when the cyborg takes the opportunity to knock you over and wail on your groin with a crowbar for the next 20 minutes.

[jflan17]

What about a recharge function on the emag? 4 uses, slap it in a recharger to fill it up again. Means it can still be very viable but not quite as easy to just sprint through everywhere with.

If you're using the emag more than 4 times in a round you are more than likely abusing it anyway.

Bridge to HoS office to Brig to Armory to Armory lockers is what, 7 or 8 uses right there? And that's the FIRST place most people go during Spy rounds, currently.