I was reading the wiki on WY and noticed that bellow every department explanation it said something about needing for example one year in the company to apply etc. So I thought why not give the player the ability to apply for these departments, have access to some early on and as they gain experience to unlock more? The CL was supposed to be on the Almayer by coincidence either way. I find it a bit lacking that there’s no background on them what so-ever and it would certainly aid their RP and character development.
So my idea is this:
The CL will now use the [X-XX] job system as shown at the board in WY wiki page. They of course will not have access to the highest rank since it doesn’t make sense for a division director lets say to be on a shitty USCM ship. I’d say most anybody can get is Executive specialist. The new CLs will start a trainee at either R&D or Special service division. As they play and do hours in the role they will advance to junior executive in either of these departments. Then they will have the ability to join Corporate relations and communications division. When they become senior execs they can access PMC dispatch and economics division (though I’d recommend and application for PMC dispatch). Depending on their performance the will be granted seniority status for the[X-XX] system. The way that will be measured is paper work. An optional task for the CL, paper work will be something like a minigame so that the CL can have something to do anytime there’s nothing to do. Now each division will have its perks and abilities. R&D will be able to make contracts with research that will give them some chems to make and in return they will get the points from the chem, money and research grants. The better the executive the more the chems available. Of course we are speaking of a number between 1 and 4. They can also be tasked to retrieve special data disks from the planet. Special service can deal with less important matters like say the chef needs a delivery of ingredients made. The executive will then make an order not on req budget and the shipment will appear on the ASRS lift. The communications division can have a minigame in the CL computer to connect the dots as in connecting 2 different departments that need to communicate. Or have the marines set up the T-comms tower so that you can make a long range transmission. Corporate relations may be a bit tricky to find anything not event like that can become a task so say you have to sign a bunch of pre-printed form that are just lying around in CL office. Finally when they become executives, the Economics department that will be basically solving funny math problems since that’s what the department is or check forms if they are properly written (check for errors). And the PMC dispatch which is probably the most influential of all, since the CL will be able to call in PMCs without an admin. Thus I recommend the application. They will each time be able to call in a PMC squad and if the admins allow after they get faxed, a whiteout ERT (though I suppose that is the same as providing IA as standard issue. The admins have a word on that). Whiteout will become available only for Executive specialists and only yet again if admin permits it.
So basically the idea is an expansion of CL role that can adds a more positive impact of the CL on the game while not tipping the balance of the game as it is. More RP, more lore and a more exciting shift not just for the CL. There may be couple of things that are out of line so please let me know
I mean it doesnt really make sense, wouldnt they all be corporate relations since their purpose is to monitor the USS almayers interaction with their colonys?
Not necessarily. Solaris ridge, LV-624, Trijent Dam and more are WY colonies. Corporate relations are of external affairs. After all it is supposed that the CL was on board by coincidence. That’s why we can expand their background
They don’t mean the CL just tripped onto the Almayer, they mean that it’s a coincidence that they’re on a ship responding to a WY colony distress call (well sometimes a WY colony).
Overall a good idea to increase RP/Add some lore so bald CLs don’t have to invent something, but the “Corpo can send in PMCs without asking admemes” should atleast have a button for admins to prevent the corpo-sent PMCs from spawning. While they could of course be used for RP, I don’t really wanna see CLs going “I totally accidentally commited assault/kidnapping/major contraband/any other typical corpo crime, barricaded inside my office and now MPs are breaking in for null reason and are even threatening to shoot me over comms because I killed one of them in SELF DEFENSE, so I call in PMCs to shoot my way free, they have no right to arrest me!”
After thinking about it a bit more I thought I’d change that. It’s going to be more like if a PMC dispatch exec is on board the ERT is always gonna be PMCs. I will think of that some more
I think giving a CL a way to rocus on a particular aspect of the round and give them some unique tools for each aspect is a really cool idea.
I think it would serve well to either have it so that players get certain aspects automatically, but others can be applied for and whitelisted or otherwise earned.
It would be cool to see each department have its own goal as well, ans the CL is rewarded for completing that departments mission for the round.
R&D it could be finding a chemical that Wey Yu is on the lookout for (we already have a form of this on server) and they are given grants as a reward for each demanded chemical or project.
Intelligence could be rewards for collecting blackboxs, wey-yu encrypted data, or containing certain dead xenos within the CLs containment unit. The reward for this could be extra tech points, or unlocking unique tech tree options for the mission that relate to Wey-Yu.
Task Force command could have a relatively difficult mission but a cool story line. I imagine they have an initial goal such as correctly estimating the position of the hive, or convincing the co to sanction Wey-Yu joint operations planet side, and on completion they unlock the ability to call in a task force whos equipment improves with playtime (rank in the department), and a new mission such as collecting a live xenomorph, or acquiring an infected persons and extracting them.
These are just a few ideas but I agree the way we see Weyland-Yutani on the server isnt the way theyre portrayed in the lore. On server theyre just there, an annoyance that sometimes gets some spotlight in an event or when a chemical is found. But in reality any interaction with Xenomorphs is a big flag for Weyland-Yutani and they will use bribes, deception and elite task forces that are well trained and more well equiped than even colonial marines to get what they want. They are the winnera of a Megacorporaton war, and have more territory throughout the galaxy than most nations. They should have more influence than some NDAs and be shown as a capable tyrant.
Adding new ways for the CL to be involved in the mission planetside, even if its locked behind a whitelist would really help give the game a new flair.
Im willing to help write a pitch document if this is genuinely something CM is willing to pursue.
That is honestly a really good idea. It would give some departments some much needed goals. RnR alone is 100% motivation based. Every “goal” you have there is self set.
But in generall @The_Swatter this is just an amazing idea. It would make CL so much more fun RP wise. It is already the sillly RP role. So only makes sense for it to get more fun fluff added. Like being abel to set a background for a character that has ingame effects is always a great idea. It just gives people that like to RP more tools to do so. Even if its barley anything its already worth it.
Best exampel for something like this i can think of is in Darktide. You can set a guardsman background to being from cadia. Only really gives you another eye color option and some diffrent voicelines. But that is already amazing.
To think that something like this allows players to craft a character and have there RP effect the round is just great. And i know you can make the argument that people migth then just take meta pics and ignore the RP. But i kinda doubt those people will play much CL anyway. So who cares?
Already working on a google doc with specifics. So far I’ve finished the Spec service division. Made a few dummy costume tasks for it and rewards for each one. Will go to R&D now. All I’ll tell ya is you get research grants if you finish all your tasks in your shift
Ok so my initial idea was to introduce some dummy paper work as a task to counterweight the perks each department has. Simple stuff like putting signatures or writing yes or no. Apparently (and obviously) that won’t stand well with players. I however am I having a hard time as is to find a way to counterweight these perks. I am even considering not adding perks at all and for this to just be “show” thing that can be only for RP and character lore.
I need help with finding said counterweight. If you want please put your suggestions out. I do feel there could be something good to come out of this idea. It’d be a shame if it was let go
Your division is company **** up. That’s why you got the Almayer deployment.
It would be like your boss going “Everyone applaud our top performers. Jim is going to Berlin, Jenny to NYC, and John to London. Oh it’s you… by the way - your place is also picked. You are going to Karachi. Pack your bags and leave today.” Oh and this coincides with you have made a serious mistake a few days ago.
On a serious note, make up a draft and suggest the change I guess? It could be interesting.
I think dummy paperwork would work well if you make it papers-please styled (if you’ve played that game) where you’re cross referencing documents and looking for mistakes and inaccuracies. Rather than just filling out a bunch of nothings.
Could add in rewards for doing paperwork like Briefcase charge refills (low ones to avoid ultrazine spam), clothes, paperwork trinkets like the loadout items, or Wey-yu branded stuff. Think plushies, mugs, pens, that sort of thing. a lot of the clutter from the colony would work for this i think.
my idea was this for special service division but you get a separate req budget (limited) for each form that you can order things with from req. Gonna need the QM to authorize it though. Spec service division is good on tasks. Its R&D that I’m stuck with taskwise
Finding certain properties in chemicals? Making a certain chemical, as in making a chemical that has certain traits to it. Corrupted Xeno eggs is a big one.
Still think it’d be cool to give researchers the background choice like Doctor/Surgeon has where they’re either UA or Wey-Yu contracted.
to do new chems means more points. I was thinking that this would be more of a reward than a task. The properties one is a good idea. But to have them do things like corrupted xeno eggs is a stretch. To do that there is need for authorization from the CO. However if they make em there can be a task to secure one egg. Or to secure eggs from normal hive. I pay marines as Cl to do that for my own RP. They are company assets after all. Good one.
