make all job-specific traitor items available to all jobs at a cost

[pizzatiger]

I always thought the QM's and if you want to push it, heads should get a second Surplus crate that works like the old one did where it can give you any item in the traitor pool including job specific ones. This would make up for the Qm's losing sole access to the surplus crate

[Vitatroll]

Speed Injector, Charge Hacker, Maneater, Chainsaw, Compactor, Analyzer, Power Gloves, Portachemicomp, Syndibot, Conversion Chamber, Butcher Knife -- These are the job-specific items that aren't in crates.

Of those, all but the analyzer, chainsaw, and knife would be useless to most people. I guess the chemicompiler and maneaters could be useful, but maneaters are easier as botanist and nobody uses the Portachemicomp. The chainsaw and knife probably wouldn't be in the crate for the same reason a csaber isn't. So really, we're not missing out on much. In fact, we're probably better off.

I think the biggest offenders are basically the one's grayshift mentioned. I'd be for making chameleon bombs unscannable (if they are) and dropping their price to 3-4. A clowncar would just have to be blocked. You can get them pretty easy in crates anyways. I mean, I'm pretty sure I remember somebody getting three in a crate once.

[atomic1fire]

I think if you're going to give people access to any tator item, you should maybe rethink how ordering traitor items works.

Introducing The Arms Dealer Update

Because of interest in various tator products which are relatively easy to smuggle for some jobs but stupidly difficult to smuggle for other jobs, the syndiecats came up with a free market solution. Turn real cash into telecrystals and adjust prices based on someone's current job. Staff assistants have the biggest barrier to entry, since all the fun stuff is priced well out of their range.

Telecrystals can also be converted back into cash, if you just want to buy crap from the station and do things solo, or have stolen a tator PDA and want their money.

BALANCE: criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot, and buying a lot of tator items tends to get you on the radar of the police and military, so you want to make purchases only during low periods of suspicion conveniently stored on the pda. Bombing the ever loving daylights or riding around clown cars and abducting people drives up attention, while laying low and avoiding excess death and harm makes it easier to make large purchases. Suspicion levels can also randomly jack up and down based on events that take place off station, to prevent meta-gaming by security or the crew. Some items may be unable to be purchased during periods of high suspicion. Surplus crates can still offer good swag though, to encourage people to buy them.

This gives theft a solid benefit, since you can steal a lot of money, turn it into crystals, and then buy some cool gear, but it also prevents excessive clown cars.

[Camnui]

I think if you're going to give people access to any tator item, you should maybe rethink how ordering traitor items works.

Introducing The Arms Dealer Update

Because of interest in various tator products which are relatively easy to smuggle for some jobs but stupidly difficult to smuggle for other jobs, the syndiecats came up with a free market solution. Turn real cash into telecrystals and adjust prices based on someone's current job. Staff assistants have the biggest barrier to entry, since all the fun stuff is priced well out of their range.

Telecrystals can also be converted back into cash, if you just want to buy crap from the station and do things solo, or have stolen a tator PDA and want their money.

BALANCE: criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot, and buying a lot of tator items tends to get you on the radar of the police and military, so you want to make purchases only during low periods of suspicion conveniently stored on the pda. Bombing the ever loving daylights or riding around clown cars and abducting people drives up attention, while laying low and avoiding excess death and harm makes it easier to make large purchases. Suspicion levels can also randomly jack up and down based on events that take place off station, to prevent meta-gaming by security or the crew. Some items may be unable to be purchased during periods of high suspicion. Surplus crates can still offer good swag though, to encourage people to buy them.

This gives theft a solid benefit, since you can steal a lot of money, turn it into crystals, and then buy some cool gear, but it also prevents excessive clown cars.

Shake shrubs until gold bar falls out, search couches for cash, get them sweet tator tot items.

[medsal15]

Or just play slot machines.

[Roomba]

I've always thought that the main problem with balancing anything around money is that for the most part, earning money in this game is really messed up. For 90% of jobs, the amount of money they have is purely a function of how much time they've spent on the station. The Cap/HOP can steal the entire station budget within thirty seconds of roundstart, and only QM/Mining/Engineering can easily earn more money simply by doing their job - maybe the medical crew and botany if you run a sideline selling stuff to shady offstation dealers. Most of the tasks that get you lots of money easily tend to be stuff like e.g. quietly holing up in a corner and hitting a slot machine, stuff that doesn't make for very engaging rounds. Let's not go back to the days where nothing happened for about forty minutes, then a traitor wielding a million dollar artypod burst in and blew up the station for another hour.

As for suspicion being a good balancing mechanic? Just yesterday a changeling ate the entire north side of the station in full view of several officers and the captain, none of which did anything to stop them. Balancing anything via making sec more likely to crack down on it is never going to work, largely because it relies on sec not being terrible. Even if they aren't, there's nothing stopping a guy from loading up on rampage gear and quietly finishing off the officers, then going hog wild because there's nothing stopping him.

[atomic1fire]

I've always thought that the main problem with balancing anything around money is that for the most part, earning money in this game is really messed up. For 90% of jobs, the amount of money they have is purely a function of how much time they've spent on the  station. The Cap/HOP can steal the entire station budget within thirty seconds of roundstart, and only QM/Mining/Engineering can easily earn more money simply by  doing their job - maybe the medical crew and botany if you run a sideline selling stuff to shady offstation dealers. Most of the tasks that get you lots of money easily tend to be stuff like e.g. quietly holing up in a corner and hitting a slot machine, stuff that doesn't make for very engaging rounds. Let's not go back to the days where nothing happened for about forty minutes, then a traitor wielding a million dollar artypod burst in and blew up the station for another hour.

As for suspicion being a good balancing mechanic? Just yesterday a changeling ate the entire  north side of the station in full view of several officers and the captain, none of which did anything to stop them. Balancing anything via making sec more likely to crack down on it is never going to work, largely because it relies on sec not being terrible. Even if they aren't, there's nothing stopping a guy from loading up on rampage gear and quietly finishing off the officers, then going hog wild because there's nothing stopping him.

I was thinking of it being more in terms of an "outside the station mechanic"

Like you want to buy a clown car and have the money, but half the items on your pda are locked because no space smuggler wants to send it to you, or the cost of sending it to you is much higher based on some station damage or random luck. E.g you get a text message saying that Dave the smuggler just got arrested and your clown car has just been siezed. Sort of like how the Stock market system already works.

I was just offering one idea of a overhaul.