If we do push the deployment time to 30 minutes I posit that we let a small sub-section of marines deploy at the 20 minute mark. Provided the survivors use marking flares, a radio backpack or some other means as a beacon, let specific marines deploy via something like drop pods, paradrop, or some other lore friendly method. In order for there to not be 50 marines dropping, restrict the initial number of parachutes to say 10-15 or whichever number is deemed “balanced.” If it is drop pods, make it so the launcher has limited fuel so that only the designed number of marines could deploy.
This Quick Reaction Force could be designated culturally such as always being assigned to Delta or mechanically such as creating a Gamma squad as a “fifth squad” that is restricted in size. I know that command can create Echo but I’d hate to force them to set up a QRF every round as it would eat up a lot of time and seems counter productive to pushing the deployment time back to provide more RP time.
My Reasoning
a) Makes survivors more responsible for their rescue aside from waiting solely on a timer.
b) Provides potential rescue for the survivors and not condemning them to death at 30 minutes.
c) Lets shooter/fob builder marines deploy quickly to let them fight while RP focused marines RP.
d) Gives the xeno something to do instead of waiting 30 minutes.
It’s an intriguing idea that @TheeBiggest has hit on. I’d hate to just shout it down without any effort to see if it can be made viable and implemented in a way that doesn’t cause too much down time. I do agree that the serve RP is struggling and I always appreciate attempts to address it.
TL;DR Push deployment time to 30 minutes, create small QRF to paradrop at 20 minutes.
Pull request 7446 turned briefing into an extended mess hall.
(I believe this is a screenshot of what it looked like while being TM’d - Credit to Thenanu for the screenshot, had to dig through the screenshots channel on the discord to find it)
Also there’s nothing stopping Command from dropping that late, and a lot of the time they drop pretty late as it is. It’s also not going to force people to RP, it’s just going to make them AFK for even longer.
The barrier to this change being made is not actually making the change, it is having the maintainer managers approve the change.
The mapping change is fairly straight forward, it simply funnels all Marines into the briefing/chow hall and makes it that they cannot leave the area until CIC lets them out.
Considering how easy of a change the PR is, and the title, I suspect the PR was literally only made for a brief test, especially since it got slammed with test-merge and do not merge.
I mean, yes, Nanu and the maintainers are busy, but aren’t we all?
Ive seen multiple times a CO with full MP squad closing down the checkpoints to force marines (except medics) to stay at briefing area which in my opinion was quite a good alternative to the usual flow of rounds. Ive also seen a boxing match in briefing with arena and all. Having some RP is a good alternative to the usual rounds
The only way for the xenos not to go out and 100% grantee they kill the survivors in the extra 10 mins the marines are forced to stay shipside I can think off is to further delay their evo timers just for round start. Survivors would also need a likewise change so they cant with said change like this make a mega FOB/ rush all the meta gear/mats/ items to live.
I would like more RP in CM but if the marines are forced by say game mechanics that they cant deploy before 00:30 then things need to be to both be changed for xeno and survivors in a way the balance more or less stays the same as it is now at-least.
I would argue the 20 min deployment offers more flexibility and can even have its own roleplay elements in. A CO/aCO could choose to deploy at 20 minutes to meta rush and save survivors, however if the chemline or req line is understaffed many marines may potentially miss first drop. I have seen situations where the early deployment resulted in half the corpsman not being able to deploy due to waiting for the nurse/docs to distribute pills resulting in a stack wipe due to mounting casualties.
I’ve experienced a troll CO/aCO who would stall at briefing with a copy/pasta 1000-word speech with first deployment times going above 30+ min resulting in the xenos wiping out the survivors and heavily fortifying their positions. There is potential for rp drama in that aspect.
Also, if you set deployment to 30 minutes with the xeno evo adjusted to 30, it leaves marines an easier breathing room of being fully equiped before first drop and being able to max deathball.
If we’re really buffing survivors AGAIN we’re not looking at stragglers who managed to hide from the xenos but full on the surviving defenders of the colony in the final stages of the colony’s battle, because survivors are already painful to fight if they rush gear while xenos are limited to drones. I sure do love survivors having multiple turrets, machineguns, an endless supply of firebombs and whatever other terrible stuff is lying around on any particular map.
Survivors dying early? Can we please remember all the rounds that xenos have actually been boned because they got skill issued by better survivors who managed to kill a significant number of them before marines ever landed? Something like this has much further reaching ramifications than ‘the role who’s job is to probably die will instead almost certainly die’
If people are worried about xeno players being bored…why don’t they just…roleplay too? Damn! Almost like this is the only time everyone acknowledges xenos arent a roleplay faction yet roleplay standards are still enforced in the hivemind
Here is a controversial opinion, what if we just slow the entire gameplay down:
less damage from everything,
Slower movement speed for everything.
If you do this, then you gonna make combat less powerful and this will open up opportunities to roleplay; that is by giving more time for people to communicate.
I was Empress on Hybrisa and allied with two pizza survivors who weren’t harming either side and roleplay actual pizza boys, and they got abomb gibbed and one of them banned for “LRP” because they were giving xenos pizzas.
You could argue its LRP sure, but it was some of the most unique roleplay ive seen in a while where survivors and xenos put down their murderbone and just vibed and it got crushed by administration.
This is the worst part of CM; they want to be RP but crush genuine RP that isn’t an admin event then wonder why people choose the safe route and just mindlessly TDM.
