This might be a longer post, I have a bit to say, it might be really dumb but here goes.
A significant part of CM mechanics is based around pretending to be either an alien or some spacefaring jarhead. Part of the issue, innate to this, is that you are pretending. And as we well know, pretending does very little, after the hundred hour mark or so, most people just want to win, they do not care about roleplay, unless they are a shipside role or some memer on the planet. This win at all costs type gameplay is quite obvious, from the shotgun bandits unloading nine shells of fletchette in .1 seconds to dancers/warriors instantly performing combos with what appears to be complete precision, to marines that manage to throw and pick up throwing knives faster than the eye can see. This style of sweaty gameplay come, it would seem, from the metaknowledge that the marines will be fighting xenos, they do not have to worry about things like having bullets come back at them. This is less impactful for xenos, as, I mean, they are supposed to be a terrifying, fast predator, not some bumkin that learned how to juggle m37s from a clown and apparently can fire them with a single hand in seconds.
So, what is the solution to the constant, boring metagaming that is ever present on the battlefield? My proposal, would be a rework of the current win condition, and a broad rework of most of the current ingame interactions. To start this semi-psychotic post, I would like to emphasize that most of the ingame features that this would utilize would already exist, and that this would simply be repurposing them to spice up the server, and create new opportunities for everyone.
1. Remove specialists from current squads, instead, slightly buff SG, and add a second one to each squad.
2. Turn Echo in to a BlackOps group, this group will then have between 4-10 members, all specialists. However, a caveat exists. The Blackops group, hidden on the alamyer, is not a tradition search and destroy team, like the other four. Instead, they act as an antagonistic force, they have a job that directly opposes the marines in one way or another...
But what...how can this be? They are marines, they are supposed to be our friends, our big guns, or team. Yes, perhaps. But to fit the concept of shaking up the game, and also to serve what comes next, it is necessary.
So, how Echo squad/BlackOps would work, is that they would get a roundstart objective IE recover sensitive WY documents, hijack a UPP signaling device, destroy a CLF weapons cache, subdue a xeno beacon that is calling in a larger hive to wipe out the planet...simply put, shit that would make WY or the SM freak the fuck out and send strategic nuclear missiles at the Falling Falcons and anyone else in the system. The antagonist part comes in here, the FF know that Echo exists, even though they have to deny it, but the CL/RSR gives each SL a small pointer, to four different locations. One of these locations will be the location that the BlackOps team has to complete their objective, the other three are not.
Following so far, good. The next stage is rather simple. The spec/superpowered squad then fights the normal marines, if the Spec squad wins, the marines will get something of significant value(WY ERT for WY docs, Tank for UPP signaler, MarSoc for CLF, WY XRT for xeno beacon) however, if they fail, a similarly round changing affect will occur, ( Hostile WY ERT, UPP commandos, Privateers/ CLF raid, rogue hive landing on ship). So, then you might ask, why in the FLYING FUCK, would marines ever want to stop the Black Ops from giving them a tank...simple. Black Ops will be a whitelisted role. Not white listed through gushy /me and what have you. Whitelisted through killing BlackOps. Every round, the squad that gets the correct location of the high value target, can get one point towards whitelisting, by securing the site. At three points acquired, the player will then get the chance to role for BlackOps. Once on the the team, the player will loose one point every round, but can win one point every round by capturing the point. Thus, we have create conflict, a unique, dynamic world for, not only the PFC, but also the xeno, and the shipside staff, and the MPs. Everyone, really, gets shaken up.
3. "But hold on, asshole." you say "What about all the fucking PFCS, what about actually fighting beans even if you do succeed. Squads are going to have no fire power now, and half of the marines are just going to get slaughtered fighting for some random objective anyway."
Yes, squads would be heavily nerfed, which is why I propose a significant bump in PFC power, or atleast, tactical customization. I propose that PFCs should be given some of the old options from the tech trees, as compensation. Perhaps allow them to choose two or three of the old options. IE Let them get night vision, a ceramic plate, and a dose of neurostims. This, in my incredibly humble opinion, would both widen the randomness of encounters, and would also create much more potential for every PFC, as they would have lots of new routes to cover the weaknesses humans have, especially in the new paradigm of squad sized groups, compared to yee olde ungaball.
I am tired, it is midnight, or close to it. I will be posting this up. I intend to theorize uses for the researcher and liaison in such a world in the morning. I would like to see any criticism. This post was mostly just a harebrained theory craft, although, with some adjustments to xeno power, having the surface be something along the lines of a 3-4 different parties battling it out for survival might be quite interesting, or even having MPs have to quell human, and not so human invaders on the ship might be a nice change of pace.