Every 20 minutes, you get a 1 minute warning. After that minute, a mandatory work break is in effect. A work break lasts 3 minutes.
During work break, crew is expected to show up in bar, dorms and theater, get some food, and have a nice time. Halls are also fine but sus.
All crew members except heads and security are expected to show up.
During work break, security has all access and uses the time to check workplaces for suspicious activity.
Not showing up opens you up to sec investigation unless youāre stuck (ie offstation job like miner or explorer, or otherwise in space). In such a case you should still report your status using a radio.
Work breaks can be ignored in states of emergency. If thereās a known rampant threat, or if station is being repaired, the break can be called off. In such a case, command just has to state it, best done using an anouncement.
Those who are missing are set to arrest and open to searching no matter the alert. Jail time, too, but it only lasts until the end of the break. Sec and Command can use PDAs, the AI, and cameras to check on crew.
Obviously, itās not just about arrests. If youāre dead somewhere this means people will realize it as well due to a total lack of response.
Why it is a good idea
Opens chances for general RP. Gives more purpose to chef and bartender, as well as the entertainers.
Opens chances for inter-departmental dealings.
Lets security actually investigate departments, with a time limit. Detective is going to have a field day.
Also means that hiding your illegal stuff (either as a shady crewman or an antag) matters way more now.
While it wonāt help people look for bodies, it will raise more awareness about missing crew.
NT rules over all. Some say the break is just part of a conspiracy to keep crew under control.
āUhh yeah its break time go to bar or smtn i have to check your departmentā
āNo you cant stay in maint or your department you need to be in barā
āno i wont delam your SM and steal insuls what are you talking aboutā
THIS IS WHAT THE FEDS WANT
SUIT SENSORS ARE THE FIRST STEP
WAKE UP SHEEPLE
also isnt bar/theatre/dorms too small on some stations for high pop considering most of crew will be there
āno i wont delam your SM and steal insuls what are you talking aboutā
Finally, a job for the lawyer?
also isnt bar/theatre/dorms too small on some stations for high pop considering most of crew will be there
Bar + theatre + dorms + halls isnāt. Even on babystation.
Oh, and nothing stops people from snitching to sec. So staying means you have to hide so crew doesnāt notice you, then get away with sabotage before sec arrives, while hoping no oneās watching you.
Not as cheesy as it seems. Might be easy mode on lowpop, but antag already is.
Hmm, today I shall maxcap bar during the mandatory break. Thereās no way this could end poorlyā¦ I think this is a neat idea but the grief potential is huge, expect chemical grenades.
I understand that the idea is it being mandatory but this just leaves a bad taste based on later points.
Uh no. Thereās a reason sec needs to have a reason to ask for bag checks, etc. Moreover, they can just ask the Head of Staff, which adds the benefit of increased surprise(provided thereās even anything for security to catch in a department.
These would probably heighten the alert level. Leading to my next point:
Yeah, no. Yikes. Regardless of alert level? Open to search and arrest? For being dead or something? Terrible idea. This is approaching martial law levels of security activity, which is only reserved for red alert.
Most departments are self-sufficient, and outside few cases, is little reason to deny any sort of service to another department.
This isnāt a nations round.
Unless I missed something, most people keep stuff already stowed on their person. Unless they catch a chemist leaving a beaker of meth or something like that, thereās not likely a lot to find within departments.
Things Iād Change
Aside from above:
I think this being scheduled undermines the disruptive intent of this. Make it a decently high-probability random event, for better effect.
Tbh your better bet would be overhauling hunger, removing food from break-rooms within depts, and a general shift in players hearts to seek RP.
Unfortunately, while adding time/space for RP can help, I just donāt think the playerbase is in a position where this will have itās intended effect, and when it does, the point of this would be rendered moot.
Everything I was going to say was pretty much covered by Tim, this is shitsecs wet dream giving them a reason to arrest and search people over petty shit. If antags need to bring people out of their department, use CRAB-17 or something there are tools to do this without negatively impacting everyone else.
This reminds me strongly of Town of Salam for some reason, also I think it should be 5 minute breaks. Just sounds better being a whole number like that instead of 3. That and I donāt like how strict it is, especially considering itās just three minutes. I think having station wide breaks would be nice, but part of trying to implement that is to force players to play like this.
This sums things up with how I generally feel about this. I like the idea of it, youād just have to overhaul a few different mechanics to shift people toward doing this. That and sometimes it feels like people go around doing meaningful RP like this atm, you could dangle something in front of them like a 5 minute break from working long hours (at least in-game the time span of the shift is like multiple days I think) that IRL people would take in a heart beat, and the playerbase would rather ignore it and go back to breeding slimes or looking over fusion.
Also sec officers abuse space law already and powertrip on technicalities, I donāt want to then experience them RPing as middle school hall monitors as they arrest you for being in the halls instead of eating at the cafeteria 6.2 seconds before the break ends
Iām not going to pretend to speak for the playerbase, but I play this game to do a job, because I actually ENJOY the jobs I play. I hate things that FORCE me to not do my job, especially when they donāt give me something else to do in the mean time.
Do you really think people are going to come up with interesting role-play just because you force them all into the bar? Iād legitimately rather take the search than leave my workplace, especially if Iām working something like Ambrosia Gaia that dies if you walk away from it for a snack, because the only āinterestingā things thatāll happen in a crowded spess bar are bombs and slime core shenanigans with a chance of corgis.
Those damn weeds. For a plant that has a chem that is the literal lifeblood of plants, it sure loves to attract weeds to kill it. The amount of time Iāve been distracted teaching others botany or even just sec bullshit to just see tower caps growing where the Ambrosia Gaia use to be, taunting me, is probably the most frustrating part of any other jobs. Willing to bet credits on that, cause I donāt think there is a single job that has a aspect that needs to be that babied. Only thing that could be more tedious is being HOS or warden (though mostly when the officers are shitters and there is no HOS), but even then as a warden you donāt experience the same taunting feeling of Fly Amnista being ready to harvest in your hydroponic bed by the time you done dealing with any other bullshit.
Maybe have the bar/kitchen have the opportunity to trigger āHappy 5/10 minutesā to encourage people to go there. They can use it once a shift and it triggers a station announcement.
While Iām reading most of the criticism in good faith, cartlordās shitpost stands out.
Iām not going to pretend to speak for the playerbase, but I play this game to do a job, because I actually ENJOY the jobs I play
Right. You must enjoy all the jobs that end with -ist. ie ones designed to never interact with anyone. Well, have fun with your singleplayer jobs in a multiplayer game, i guess. A bit of a stinker coming from a miner main, but at least that needs a modicum of skill.
Iād legitimately rather take the search than leave my workplace, especially if Iām working something like Ambrosia Gaia that dies if you walk away from it for a snack
also from tomato
The amount of time Iāve been distracted teaching others botany or even just sec bullshit to just see tower caps growing where the Ambrosia Gaia use to be, taunting me, is probably the most frustrating part of any other jobs
Get weed adaptation from starthistle, put it on gaia (any plant), it becomes weed immune. I actually use this to max out plants easily roundstart, because i can get max yield with mutagen without caring for weed stats, then use saltpetre for speed and potency.
because the only āinterestingā things thatāll happen in a crowded spess bar are bombs and slime core shenanigans with a chance of corgis.
See: chemist and scientist hour requirement. People will get banned for griefing. Making them unable to get away with doing it on alts would help. This is a job system issue, not an issue with this suggestion. (You can already grief like this, it just takes some patience)