A little Question and Answer Thread.

[Vitatroll]

I've remodeled that area by adding a hobo-burn chamber using the injectors and admins haven't seemed to mind (yet). Occasionally blowing up the loafer with a fuel pipebomb (1-tile I think) after some idiot runs the same mass loafer for 4 rounds straight probably isn't gonna be a problem. Considering how most admins feel about the loafer, you might just want to drop a wish if somebody is being annoying -- you never can predict just where those tricky black holes might spawn.

[ZeWaka]

you never can predict just where those tricky black holes might spawn.

That one time was legitimately random. I swear.

[ferriswheel1]

The loafer is immobile. The best you can do is plop a canister bomb directly on top of the loafer and then run for the hills.

Will do!

[Roomba]

What exactly can you do about telesci metagangs? You know the type - 4/5 players teaming up several rounds in a row, one of them usually joining as HOP/Cap and granting the rest all-access at roundstart, before they rob mechanics and sec blind and spend the round looting the adventure zones. Attempting to stop them usually results in them promptly getting released and tossed in the brig yourself, and then rounds go on for hours because they hold the shuttle hostage until they get what they want. It's not really true metagaming and certainly the sol nerds would never have gotten as far as they did without some degree of coordination, but the same few nerds doing it every round with impunity gets old.

[Noah Buttes]

What exactly can you do about telesci metagangs? You know the type - 4/5 players teaming up several rounds in a row, one of them usually joining as HOP/Cap and granting the rest all-access at roundstart, before they robbing mechanics and sec blind and spend the round looting the adventure zones. Attempting to stop them usually results in them promptly getting released and tossed in the brig yourself, and then rounds go on for hours because they hold the shuttle hostage until they get what they want. It's not really true metagaming and certainly the sol nerds would never have gotten as far as they did without some degree of coordination, but the same few nerds doing it every round with impunity gets old.

Adminhelp that shit.

It's one thing to have a coordinated team as part of a solarium adventure, but being an asshole while doing so is unacceptable.

[Superlagg]

What exactly can you do about telesci metagangs? You know the type - 4/5 players teaming up several rounds in a row, one of them usually joining as HOP/Cap and granting the rest all-access at roundstart, before they robbing mechanics and sec blind and spend the round looting the adventure zones. Attempting to stop them usually results in them promptly getting released and tossed in the brig yourself, and then rounds go on for hours because they hold the shuttle hostage until they get what they want. It's not really true metagaming and certainly the sol nerds would never have gotten as far as they did without some degree of coordination, but the same few nerds doing it every round with impunity gets old.

Turn off the mainframe, preferably once most of them are on the other side. If they might turn it back on, find a way to delete the bridge APC or mainframe, or start clipping wires in the bridge. The teleporter is useless without the mainframe, and even power cycling it off and on will leave it unusable for about a minute. If you've killed the bridge APC and want the shuttle, use the console in the CEs office, then smash the console.

If all goes right, telescience will be beyond pissed and there's nothing they can do about it!

[Mordent]

What exactly can you do about telesci metagangs? You know the type - 4/5 players teaming up several rounds in a row, one of them usually joining as HOP/Cap and granting the rest all-access at roundstart, before they robbing mechanics and sec blind and spend the round looting the adventure zones. Attempting to stop them usually results in them promptly getting released and tossed in the brig yourself, and then rounds go on for hours because they hold the shuttle hostage until they get what they want. It's not really true metagaming and certainly the sol nerds would never have gotten as far as they did without some degree of coordination, but the same few nerds doing it every round with impunity gets old.

Is this a problem on LLJK2 as well? It's definitely one on LLJK1; I get that people want to do telescience because life aboard the NSS Destiny can get dull after a while on extended, but the problem you mention is totally a thing.

It's worse when they keep recalling the shuttle when people die on the ship - let alone those on telesci - or getting pissy that no one is able to because all of the heads are busy doing telesci. I've seen rounds with a massive engine fire and perhaps ten people dead because of it over the span of twenty minutes, and the three or four command staff keep recalling the shuttle because they're telesciencing. Keep in mind that outside of events LLJK1 rarely gets over a dozen consecutive players at the moment, and you can see the extent of the problem.

I've done telescience in the past, it just doesn't really interest me, so I'm always on the ship trying to hold together the pieces while all of the folks with authority and access are off galivanting elsewhere. It's also not always bad - sometimes they do respond to actual requests to do their real jobs (e.g. sort out access, make command decisions) - but I'd say 75% of the time I simply don't see the captain/HoP outside of the first and last ten minutes of the round, and if I do it's because they're wanting one of their telescience buddies cloned or healed up.

In terms of fixing the problem (and yes, I do think it's a problem when only a select few players get to play how they want to the exclusion of others), I tend to simply insist on a shuttle call when appropriate, being somewhat obstinant and stubborn when told to recall it (I'm often the CoM). Throw in some "standard procedure" RP fluff around it and generally they agree to the call in 10 minutes.

How does the telescience bunch get to actually do their thing without me doing this? Actually show your face on the station for ten minutes here or there and go through the backlog of things that you were meant to be doing - settle disputes, sort out payroll, adjust access, re-issue IDs, check your department is intact (I've seen the RD come back at the end of the round and wonder where all of his scientists were and what happened to the research hallway... they died in a huge explosion caused by toxins that flooded most of research with all-consuming fire that we've just barely managed to contain, let alone fix, which we've been frantically talking about over the radio for ages) - and respect the fact that there are more players on than you. Yes, right this second the telescience group could make up 2/3rds of those online, but there have been a whole bunch who signed up and left shortly after because they either died and got bored waiting or couldn't get anything done because of the lack of their department head/HoP/Captain.

[Ed Venture]

What exactly can you do about telesci metagangs? You know the type - 4/5 players teaming up several rounds in a row, one of them usually joining as HOP/Cap and granting the rest all-access at roundstart, before they rob mechanics and sec blind and spend the round looting the adventure zones. Attempting to stop them usually results in them promptly getting released and tossed in the brig yourself, and then rounds go on for hours because they hold the shuttle hostage until they get what they want. It's not really true metagaming and certainly the sol nerds would never have gotten as far as they did without some degree of coordination, but the same few nerds doing it every round with impunity gets old.

Adminhelp it. Some would argue it is metagaming and if they are acting this way round after round then that's shitty. Some admins yell at people for holding the shuttle hostage.

[ferriswheel1]

What exactly can you do about telesci metagangs? You know the type - 4/5 players teaming up several rounds in a row, one of them usually joining as HOP/Cap and granting the rest all-access at roundstart, before they rob mechanics and sec blind and spend the round looting the adventure zones. Attempting to stop them usually results in them promptly getting released and tossed in the brig yourself, and then rounds go on for hours because they hold the shuttle hostage until they get what they want. It's not really true metagaming and certainly the sol nerds would never have gotten as far as they did without some degree of coordination, but the same few nerds doing it every round with impunity gets old.

Christ, these people are the reason Telesci gets bombed so much and has such a bad reputation, this and non-traitors who use telesci to steal everything not nailed down. I'm of the opinion that telesci should work around the round length, rather than the round being extended for telescientists benefit. If you haven't accomplished what you wanted to when a shuttle call is needed, then anything else should be left to the next round. It's ruining telescience for others as people will now bomb the mainframe simply because they've seen some shitty behavior from scientists in the past.

[Nnystyxx]

People are just deathly obsessed with figuring out what the fuck is up with sol/the debris field/bradbury, and when a round's over, any extensive and dangerous progress you made is gone, that's why people get so anal about it

Accomplishing certain things requires ping-ponging between basically every telesci location and nearly getting killed in many fascinating inescapable ways

[Erik]

What exactly can you do about telesci metagangs? You know the type - 4/5 players teaming up several rounds in a row, one of them usually joining as HOP/Cap and granting the rest all-access at roundstart, before they rob mechanics and sec blind and spend the round looting the adventure zones. Attempting to stop them usually results in them promptly getting released and tossed in the brig yourself, and then rounds go on for hours because they hold the shuttle hostage until they get what they want. It's not really true metagaming and certainly the sol nerds would never have gotten as far as they did without some degree of coordination, but the same few nerds doing it every round with impunity gets old.

You could bomb the ever-living shit out of telescience.
Or you could simply a-help it.
Or you could just turn the mainframe off.

[Nnystyxx]

I would like to helpfully say: don't fucking bomb telescience, thanks, the rest of research & the surrounding hallway does not need to be shit on and permanently depressurized. And nothing short of actual destruction will stop telescience nerds from working their post, so I'd say go with the mainframe or, if it's really that paralyzing, ahelp and see if they get shamecubed or something.

EDIT: You're probably seeing more of that in the actual server since the lowpop servers generally used for testing and solarium nerds went down.

[Vitatroll]

1) I make sure the rest of the crew wants to go home.
2) I make sure the telsci crew are non-compliant hitlers.
2a) If solarium related, I deride them for being weak nerds who can't complete solarium in 60 minutes.
2b) If it's 'something new' I tend to give them a little break. I mostly side with the majority, though.
3) I make a well-hidden copy of teleman and delete every other copy of teleman on the mainframe.
4) I snip some wires.
5) I snip more wires.
6) I continue being derisive. This actually helps, or I wouldn't do it.

Solarium research was meant to be meta. The actual research was meant to be done over many rounds. The actual bad end can be done in under 30 minutes with a group. It can be done in under 60, quite easily, by a solo practiced nerd.

Bradburry (or *other) research was also meant to be meta. That is, information shared over many rounds. Now that it's no longer 'new' it's research shouldn't be pushing passed an hour.

Lastly, I'd say, make sure you aren't the non-compliant hitler by shutting down telsci. I've seen people do this at 10 minutes in because 'fuck telsci'. That's just plain grief. There are people who hate certain jobs to the point it's become a meme. It's a bit sad, really.

[Nnystyxx]

That's fair enough, with the meta stuff. Still, I will say one thing:

Don't fucking bomb any department as a non-antag, no matter how much you dislike them.
It's literally just grief and you WILL get in trouble and I WILL consider you Hitler


The worst metagrudge thing I've ever done was tossing a metal foam grenade in artlab because of Nerdy Collins' Very Bad No-Good artifact spam and that guy actually got in trouble for totally unrelated matters like a round later.

[ZeWaka]

Adminhelp it. Some would argue it is metagaming and if they are acting this way round after round then that's shitty. Some admins yell at people for holding the shuttle hostage.

Yeah, don't let people not call the shuttle in a round that has been going on for hours. If you are unable to get any research done in an hour, then you should focus your efforts on making your experiment process more efficient rather than focusing your effort on the shuttle recall button.