Some Thoughts I Had:
Schizo Ramblings:
difficult question and can't be easily answered by one person or by one method
couple of ways to do it exist but i couldn't think of them off the top of my head
core idea would be giving more ways for marines to punish people for disobeying but that's more grief tools, or offering more incentives to do things - adding map objectives and things to secure that aren't as painful as static communications. engineering is one way for instance such as allowing you to maintain power and giving you a passive benefit (lighting)
colony blackbox in its introduction was also a good idea since even though it was just a roleplay item people interacted with it and tried to work around it. IO's are also a good method of this since it encourages exploring more of the map.
for xenomorphs enabling different stratagems to function more by giving them options (it could be interesting for instance to have different hive types that could be selected that are specialized in certain ways but people will find a meta around this) or by reducing their overall building speed (so they don't shit out 30 million walls and shit) but making it harder to easily clear these areas. if you've seen xenos build out of caves, even with proper CAS it still has a proper threat - it offers them more cover that has to be cleared and reduces marines lategame power, but few bother to do it presently
another possible method could be positive reinforcement of doing unconventional things - positive notes or reinforcement about it from staff at least shows that somebody appreciated it. i also feel this could extend to roleplay - new players and many players want to RP but feel ostracized and similar since it feels like nobody feeds back on them so they don't initiate. positive reinforcement on both of these instances could help to an extent
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RP is very dependant on who you find. Many people are willing and capable of RP but do not do so because of a fear of being ostracized and partially because they struggle to initiate it; you can get some good roleplay on the dropship for instance from some people who are new, but rarely if ever will they start doing it due to a fear of being ostracized or similar.
One way to possibly improve it is obviously harsher enforcement of the current rules but I don't think that's the only way - finding people that are doing roleplay and encouraging it is another good way. Merit notes are more difficult to use since inherently staff can't watch everyone at the same time and it would likely result in them giving it to people who already roleplay - but giving the occasional merit note to somebody who is new and trying their hardest to roleplay at least shows that somebody appreciates what they're doing and can help overcome that initial hurdle of feeling worried about initiating roleplay or similar. The size of CM as a server also contributes since its harder to form meaningful interactions with 120 - 150 people, and at lowpop its more difficult to balance since the initial engagement rolls over one side.
In terms of events while I do feel they set the tone of the server its somewhat difficult if you're a new player to see an already rare event and have it be LRP then switch back to considering the server an RP server - same as if you see veteran players acting, well, LRP.
From a mechanical standpoint or developmental side it's also difficult - the gmae is overall balanced and in a healthy state but slowing down the pace is hard due to how many variables exist for it. Many people get upset when rounds last even 1 hr 30 now up to 2 hours, which i feel is the 'optimal' round length - but it also sucks when you die early on from getting deleted by a lurker.
I guess overall its -
- Encourage people who are trying to roleplay but maybe not quite there with positive reinforcement more than negative reinforcement (difficult, as staff cannot watch everyone and are likely to be drawn to rule breakers - i know that i was alt tabbed quite a bit but still attempted to give out positive notes if i saw it on previous servers)
- See what staff opinion on current enforcement of roleplay rules are - they matter just as much if not more than players as they are the ones that enforce it. See what they enforce it for, when they're enforcing it and try and pinpoint something they agree on - alongside what the players agree on with that, at a later point.
- Use minor mechanical incentives that well, incentivize roleplay - the spotter PR in my opinion was 'lightning in a bottle' in this way. It doesn't curtail you not wanting a spotter since some people RP that way, however if you take one it encourages you to roleplay with them and also gives you slight mechanical buffs - even if ultimately they are extremely minor and arguably do nothing due to the increased time required to coordinate/the increased warning if the spotter spots everything they see.
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Removed Content Facing Readdition.
== Shaman Strain ==
- The Shaman Strain cannot be affected by their abilities nor can they be affected by other Shamans
- Shaman Abilities are stronger with more non-shaman aliens in a certain range
- Shaman Abilities have a cooldown of about 15-20 seconds.
- Shaman's loses the ability to store facehuggers but do retain the ability to store eggs.
- Shaman Abilities all require an egg to preform the ability, if there are no non-Shaman aliens in range, the ability will not function but the egg will still be consumed!
| Abilities:
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Description:
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Remember Pain
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After channelling for 2.5 seconds, the Shaman will remember how many other aliens (that isn't a shaman) there are within a 3 tiles range of you. The next time you use a different ability, if the amount of aliens around you is less than amount you remembered, you will cast your next ability at remembered power and reset the remembered count.
Costs 300 plasma and one egg.
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Adrenal Healing
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After channelling for 2.5 seconds, Shaman affects in radius 3 all other aliens of their hive by giving them a shied that lasts until it's depleted by damage, additionally unstunning them. Effects are proportional to number of aliens after channelling.
Costs 100 plasma and one egg.
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Frenzied Scream
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After channelling for 3 seconds, Shaman affects all humans in range (Requires Direct Line of Sight) by applying a 4 second (endurance may lower this time) knockdown and forcing humans to roll (it may extinguish fire and acid). The radius starts at 3 tiles from Shaman if Shaman has 1 non-Shaman alien nearby, and increases by 0.5 tiles per nearby aliens, up to limit of 7. This ability cannot hit same target more than once in 20 seconds. It also won't affect recently screeched by queen targets.
Costs 300 plasma and one egg.
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Adrenal Pheromones
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After channelling for 2.5 seconds the Shaman will emit ALL pheromones with effects starting at 1 (lowest level) when 1 non-Shaman alien is nearby, and with a 0.5 increase per alien up to five 5. This pheromone emitting lasts for 30 seconds. This ability does not affect Shamans.
Costs 300 plasma and one egg.
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