Let xenos talk in XOOC. Good for:
-Mostly just explaining mechanics to players asking things in hivemind. Sometimes someone asks “where to go” or something in hivemind and you’re not close enough to use LOOC for example. This would just provide an OOC channel so I don’t have to say “alt click the queen tracker” or something ICly.
-Referencing/talking about human things to other xeno players. We’re “roleplaying” xenos, but we are still humans behind the screen and idk about others but I would like to be able to reference human things sometimes; things you might be able to get away with as a marine, but not a xeno. Having access to XOOC would just reduce the amount of LRP things said ICly.
I also don’t think it would have much effect on the game or metaknowledge, since unlike marines xenos only have the one communication channel anyways, so it’s not like saying things in XOOC will give knowledge to people they wouldn’t otherwise get from hivemind.
If someone asks where to go on hivemind, you tell them through the hivemind where to go.
You can tell them through the hivemind about the queen tracker as thats not metagaming.
We have discord for that an OOC when the game ends you also have LOOC and byond.
Having a single channel for xenos is trying to stick to lore, as xeno’s are connected through the hivemind and act on the will of the queen.
Do marines also deserve access to MOOC as they need to teach new players?
Just unlock normal OOC during rounds and remove all metagaming rules, for “effectively” training new players.
if you can’t help them / dont have time tell them to use MentorHelp 
-I’ve found LOOC usually to be enough when teaching a new marine, since 99% of the time I’ve found a bald player they’re usually wandering around in the cryo room and don’t know where to go or what to do.
-Don’t think I’ve ever seen a bald marine player ask about game mechanics or technical things in a comms channel before, and there’s usually not a need to since marines are almost always within range of someone else. Unlike xenos, where there isn’t really a centralized place new players stick to (like prep room for marines). New xenos often just leave the hive and wander aimlessly around a large map with relatively fewer xenos nearby to help them.
-I didn’t mention it for marines because I imagine some people would raise the concern of metagaming since marines have multiple channels of communication, and it might be a way for people to pass on info to other squads or roles that would otherwise not reach them icly. Personally I doubt it would happen, if you want to argue for marine access to MOOC go for it but that is kind of it’s own subject.
It’s not a matter of being unable or not having time to help them. If I see someone unsure about something I’ll gladly take the time to answer their question, I’m just saying it would be nice to have a channel where we can answer peoples’ questions regarding technical things OOCly and not ICly.
Lots of new players don’t even know about mentorhelp, I know I didn’t when I started playing, I certainly can’t tell them to “use mentorhelp” over hivemind, and trying to track someone down and tell them to use it is kind of counterintuitive- might as well just help them if you find them at that point.
Not everyone knows the maps or callouts by heart.
I’m not saying its metagaming, I’m saying “alt click the queen compass” is kind of LRP, just want a way to say it OOCly. I just said giving XOOC shouldn’t be a concern for metagaming since xenos use one channel anyways, unlike marines.
Trying to track down some bald XX like this is infinitely harder than just helping them in the moment, that’s just making it unnecessarily complicated.
I’m not against having one hivemind channel, it does make sense lore-wise, I’m just saying because we have the one channel I don’t think having an XOOC channel would really affect anything
LOOC
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You have to be within proximity of them to use LOOC. If they’re in the middle of nowhere in some corner of the map, and you run all the way there to use LOOC to tell them to mentorhelp you might as well help them yourself at that point.
I’ve personally been noted for answering questions from new players on hivemind before because it referenced game mechanics, but I was not remotely in a position to go to the player to answer them in LOOC. Stupid reason to note, but whatever. As was pointed out earlier, marines don’t have this issue because of the huge population they have available and the fact they are often centralized, especially with being on a (relatively) safe ship that doesn’t expose them to much danger.
XOOC for xenos can easily be policed if abused and players can be permanently muted from it if needed.
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So following the latest uproar about someone getting noted for saying “no slots” in hivemind, is there any room to consider XOOC access to all xenos and/or a removal of roleplay standards for a non-roleplay faction?
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