is blob rounds ending instantly when the blobs die a good feature y/n

[Lady Birb]

from talking on the discord this seems to be a highly contentious feature and I have created this thread so we can discuss if this feature is necessary and should stay or if it is poo and should be removed

[GORE]

Sprinkle pure blob rounds with some antags.

[Caro]

I have mixed feelings about this

I've experienced multiple fun blob rounds with both the crew and the blob having even chances to win. But I also witnessed A LOT horrible blob rounds that ended 10 minutes into the round because the blobs were discovered early.

Since merging blob with mixed (action) would just make blob a very rare antag, I'd suggest something similar to what Gore said, blob gamemode should be reworked into a gamemode with guaranteed blob spawn but also with a few other additional antag spawns, without shuttle being automatically called after blob gets defeated.

It would spice up the rounds a bit, since the crew's focus would be torn between antags doing antaggy things and blob eating the station

[Mouse]

I'll be honest, I don't really get the reasoning. Revolution and Nuke end early and you almost never get people suggesting that those round types continue. Part of me feels like the call to have blob rounds continue after blob defeat is a proxy for a dislike of blob itself.

[DJ-Fireball_did_this]

It seems like the solution would be to make the ending of blob take a while instead of extending the ending sequence.

[Frank_Stein]

I'll be honest, I don't really get the reasoning.  Revolution and Nuke end early and you almost never get people suggesting that those round types continue.  Part of me feels like the call to have blob rounds continue after blob defeat is a proxy for a dislike of blob itself.

For me, Nuke is appropriate to end before that happens when either the nuke is destroyed, the nukies die, or everyone blows up. In almost all scenarios a significant portion of the station will be destroyed and people will be dead

Which, can also be the situation with blob but that's not guaranteed.

Tbh though I think both Rev and Blob aren't consistent enough to warrant a round end each time, and would like to see them changed to lean one way or the other

[GORE]

I'll be honest, I don't really get the reasoning.  Revolution and Nuke end early and you almost never get people suggesting that those round types continue.  Part of me feels like the call to have blob rounds continue after blob defeat is a proxy for a dislike of blob itself.

For me, Nuke is appropriate to end before that happens when either the nuke is destroyed, the nukies die, or everyone blows up. In almost all scenarios a significant portion of the station will be destroyed and people will be dead

Which, can also be the situation with blob but that's not guaranteed.

Tbh though I think both Rev and Blob aren't consistent enough to warrant a round end each time, and would like to see them changed to lean one way or the other

To be honest.....if the station is destroyed on a blob round most damage to the station is caused by scientists not giving a damn about,...

1. Hellmixing the blob the mere second it was found it,...
2. Hellmixing the station due to the hellmix.
3. Hellmixing friendly crewmembers because somehow bombing the station and other crewmembers is supposedly tolerated a tad more than on other rounds.

I might be opinionated here and don't wanna drift too far off-topic. But I hate hellmixing someone so easily --> boredom.
Also.......if the stationeers themselves caused most damage the damn engineers should patch that hole up and security should brig that scientist.

You have a small 7x7 blob sitting in maintenance and the next second all of the main hallway is missing due to one chem-mix. Argh~

[Roomba]

The thing about blob rounds is:

A- people need to be encouraged to fight the blob, because they’re the sort of threat that needs All Hands On Deck to handle. Having the round instantly end encourages this, because people know that with a blob about there’s no time to carry out their own personal projects, so they go fight the blob so that the round ends more quickly.

B - a good chunk of the station is wrecked and uninhabitable after the blob is defeated, and most people would still rather call the shuttle and start a new round than stick around and repair it. Also, the people who the blob ate are Capital-D Dead, unless they got clonescanned earlier (and even then, who ever bothers with that?)

[GORE]

Regarding A:

The BLOB as an entity or thing is seemingly taking over areas of the station. Could the incentive of the general populace to fight the BLOB be siphoned from even larger areal effects a BLOB has on the station? A BLOB taking over one zone of the station could perhaps receive some effects - so that it has a feasable effect on the surrounding zones?

By zones I am regarding the different air-tight rooms next to one which is already infested by the BLOB.

[Take CogMap1's Cargo-Pod-Bay as an example]
If Cargos-Pod-Bay would inhabit a Nucleus or even a single tile of a BLOB (effect increasing with more BLOB tiles present) it would affect the surounding zones.
The surrounding zones would be Mining and QM. Some visual and gameplay affecting effect could be given to Mining and QM.

[CogMap1's Bar-Medbay infested by BLOB]
Surrounding zones

[WHAT EFFECTS?]
Well some sort of de-buff? Perhaps choosable by the blob itself?
Not too powerful but just slightly annoying so that some people who would ordinarily not fight the blob would receive a hint to its presence close-by - and have some sort of reason to fight the foul creature.


-General small slime sprites spawning in the affected zones? Just like decals - no entities but just some fancy hue affected decals.
(-Option for a chance to randomly slow-down people in an inhabitated and affected zone temporarily. Accomadated by a visual slime effect on the player temporarily affected.)
(-Option for a chance to draw some power from the inhabitated Zones and affected zones APCs.)
(-Option to reduce the breathability of the air in the inhabitated Zones and affected zones.)

Here we got one effect that would be always present and three options for the BLOB to choose from. Key on these parts would be balancing - turn it down enough to be heck of annoying but not really a game-changer in fighting it.

- - -

Regarding a follow-up on A:
More people fighting this beast due to more noticeable effects on larger areas on the station from the get-go.
Simply - more people fighting it means more team effort and that would be great.
See.......now one might add a buff to the BLOBs defence regarding instant-kill mixes...and damage taken in general.
BLOBS would have a larger area they effect from the start....so why not make sure the BLOBs expand slower but are harder to destroy? Tankie but slow-crawling alien gels known as BLOBs would be weak regarding focused strikes but farily resistant against individual ordinary efforts.

That would surely require a heck of a lot more balancing.
But at least I think that the first part of my response packed a nice idea for this monster.

[DJ-Fireball_did_this]

The crew doesn't need any more incentive to mob-assault a blob. They generally do.

[GORE]

The general effect I threw in as a thought would also give reason to counter-balance the slowness of my proposal to make the BLOB more tanky but slower to spread.

With it being slower to spread it would be less noticeable - but is that really a good thing? I doubt so - it is fun to see any sort of effect from a station-wide affecting danger. Take a rogued AI for example - easily enough the station could rot in pitch-black-darkness for quite a while. That is at least a visually noticeable effect and shapes the mood.

I think a more general noticeable effect on larger station areas could be potentially really fun - oh yeah - I forgot to post two pictures to drive my point home with them zones,...

Let me quickly post'em.





Big angry face --> Slime INFESTED/ INHABITAT area (Nucleus or even just simply BLOB tiles by numbers)
Scriggly lines --> AFFECTED ZONES

[DJ-Fireball_did_this]

Honestly at that point is it still blob? It seems like it could be some other RTS antag. Maybe one involving mobs/critters.

[GORE]

At what point? Which of those points I made struck the line? Mind elaborating?

[DJ-Fireball_did_this]

Like when it's more centeralized, slower and having effects beyond where it directly grows.

[GORE]

Most problems BLOBs experience arise from how easy it is to focus one from the get-go and kill it. Be it alone with any type of fire or chem or with a team of people using simply chairs and fire extinguishers.

BLOBs could seriously use some buffs.