The base idea would be to turn Research into an autonomous department under military contract.
I think for the first version W-Y would be the perfect candidate to be the corporation getting this contract.
Nothing prevent to add more corporation possibility in the future…
What would it mean in term of role play?
First that mean that their is a contract that define the relation between research and USCM.
1-does USCM have access at all of time to research?
2-does USCM and the corporation are in conflict sometime?
3-does USCM can do inspection in the laboratories?
We had this previously, and IMO it produced better RP. I think maybe we should split research from medbay, similar to a traditional department setting. I think the researchers being WY contractors would be a much better reason to put a liaison on a vessel, and also to strengthen relations… rather than just putting a liaison office on a patrol vessel, that’s probably only there to poach marines and spy on the USCMC.
No.
We had it once and it was horrible. Liaisons thinking that they have any business in research are already more than tiresome enough. There is no reason for researchers on board of a military ship to be civilians, and absolutely no reason to involve WY in it. (There is a question of why is there a research department at all, but that is a story for another time.)
when you say you had it once was it a single event?
from all the departments research is the only one where it could make some sense to have a partnership with corporation since i assume a labs are very expensive…
The contract between the USCM and the corporation will have explicit rules that nobody will want to break.
The CL wouldn’t have any say in the direction of the research department.
Maybe will need to add a director to the department to handle the relation between the other department and also the corporation.
this proposal is a very early proposal more of a way to discuss how it could be and what’s in the way…
WY is already involved? They rent out the lab equipment, provide database protection and new chemical synthesises to be tested, etc. They even dispatch an ERT that has orders to kill to acquire specific things they want. I don’t see how it would be unrealistic for the contractors to be of WY origin themselves.
We still also have the case of the liaison not really doing anything RP-wise. The only real thing they can do is poach marines and petition (hopelessly) the ship to act in WY interests.
Liaisons will not be gaining power over any shipside functions as long as I am project lead. They are there to be shady and try to wheel and deal. Giving them explicit power goes against the entire intent of the role.
I’d like to minimize civilian personnel aboard the Almayer. While it is an interesting angle for RP I’m uncertain if it’s something that would add to the setting or advance themes we would like to explore in game. Either way, the answer is no for the foreseeable future. Feel free to ping me about it in three months and I’ll think about it again.
Okay. You distinctly left out “anything RP-wise”. I am saying they don’t even have fluff or lore to be there. I’m not saying he has to be anybody’s boss, I’m just saying it’d give more reason to be on the ship.
I can understand the Dev Reasoning. Depending on the CL this could be a great or epically horrendous idea. Best solution is to allow for events and certain very trusted CLs a little wiggle room.
As someone with a LOT of research hours (~500), I completely agree with segrain, ONE of the MANY worst parts of research is when you have the cocky CL walk in and think he owns the place. Firstly, he does not and the fact they have access to research at all is annoying to me but also why the fuck would W-Y have a research DPT on the Alamyer, it makes NO logical sense, its not only a massive pain in the ass for W-Y its also hard to believe that the USCM would accept this ludicrous waste of USCM space and strain on resources. it literally just makes NO SENSE. I already have issues with the fact that W-Y apparently funds the research DPT on the Alamyer, like what the fuck good does that do for believability or immersion, its a gaping flaw in the lore in my opinion.
TLDR: Research is a USCM initiative and should remain as such, its already an issue that the devs decided to say that research is “funded” by W-Y, that alone makes no sense. The CL shouldn’t even have access to research, OOC its a pain in the ass when the CL comes in and just steals shit or just gets in the way or is annoying, IC its STILL ANNOYING, the CL is just a pompous incompetent idiot that is like a child that needs to be watched and taken “care” of
EDIT: i forgot to mention the FUCKING CHEMICAL ERT, AAAAAAAAAAAA. THE WORST FUCKING THING IN EXISTANCE… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I JUST WANT TO PLAY THE DAMN ROLE, its like you have setup a precarious house of cards and some fucking idiot has called over all his dickhead mates to have a look at a funny card in the middle of the structure… they just fucking destroy everything. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
A lot of the arguments given by you lot are centered around the CL, firstly, why the hell does the CL get a pass on needing a reason to exist? you cant say that making the CL the “boss” of research gives research a reason to exist… WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING CL, the way i see it, research is an extension of medbay, they are reserve doctors, a special initiative by the USCM to kick start research on xenos.
The CL however is literally just a problem, they don’t really have a reason to exist… even less so now that the CC exists. think about it IC, why the fuck would a faction just let a pompous idiot from another faction that they have shaky ties with, take up residence on a military vessel, its just a terrible idea, they are a “glorified” spy, legit… OOC, still why does the CL exist, what does he do? he is literally a joke role and has no actual use (anymore).
So yeah… don’t ask why research exists (because the admins are already trying to make it useless), ask why the CL exists
I’m for making research and by extension medical civilians instead of military personnel. I am unsure of how the CL should stick in this because my feelings on them is mixed.
I have read people point out that it doesn’t make sense that research/medical should be civilians but here is what I think about it.
Currently, their current implementation as USCM personnel is awful. Nothing meaningful in game points them to be USCM personnel and players (notably CIC ones) do not treat them as such. They do not know how to shoot, their authority only exists on paper and CIC often shuts down research projects that the top brass would be immensely interested in (greenos, dangerous but promising mutagenic chems etc…).
Making them civilians would perhaps be a bit confusing lore-wise, but I firmly believe this in the end does not matter. We are a MRP server about a fictional setting set hundred of years in the future, the lore can be tweaked to make it fit if needs be.
A large reason I have pushed both departments to become civilians is because I believe it opens up a lot more interesting RP situations that would otherwise not happen or be nonsensical if they are officers.
It would allow players to play characters way more critical of the military rather than another “yes-man”, they can challenge CIC on their goals and methods. Put into question some hero-complexes the military pushes, criticize marines and more. All of this could then affect their work, do you try to develop corrupted xenomorphs for a military that may not have the best interests in mind?
TLDR, despite quirks and some minor possible lore issues, medical and research tend to gain much much more in terms of RP, notably when questioning the military.
Medbay as a whole used to be civilian anyhow. The current state of things is opposite the norm that used to exist before the rank rework, but we’ve been in it so long now that people have forgotten.
And quasi-independent Medbay often lead to shipside shenanigans that would service both RP and groundside. It can completely fit the lore, because it used to anyway. And because we can rewrite the lore whenever we want to be whatever we want, because its our fucking lore. What matters is fun, not “lore accurate”.
i think it will be easier to sell the research department going back to be civilian to the rest of the community.
1-CL shouldn’t be in charge of it or have any authority over it.
2- i think it shouldn’t be just a change in status from military to civilian it need is own mechanics to make the change appealing. even if those mechanics are just for RP purpose.
3-i think that this new department should be autonomous but that the USCM and the research would have a contract that define their relation.
4-if it’s a private enterprise that help found this lab it should have an effect on what the researchers start with (xenobiology = a bit of alien blood?, chemistry = a bit more points? botany = some rare seeds? …)
5- i think it doesn’t make sense if research become autonomous that they are oversee by CMO.
so what would be neat it’s that the researcher elect a leader since they are civilians.
what is the research department goals?
