That's the question that runs through the mind of many of the smartest workers onboard said stations, as they watch their fellow crewmen go insane, randomly begin to murder others, and generally act like the dregs of humanity. Why do we need to work research from the start every shift? If these stations are used, as indicated by the rubbish and the various stains, then why did whoever used them before not leave behind any research, or a useful amount of material from the mines? Why is the typical crewmember a sociopath waiting for the right button to be pushed so that they can unleash their latent rage?
So it was that a small number of these plasma research stations' finest - doctors, scientists, engineers; wage packeters, cloneslaves, external contractors; the smartest of Nanotrasen's station crews came forward and asked the question to Nanotrasen itself, at their enormous planetside HQ.
Their response? None. They refused to answer.
Instead, by way of both a clue and a boon, they discussed a new feature which would occasionally be used on these stations - a Full Stock. All stations had this capability, but few would prove themselves worthy.
"What is worthy?", said a crewman. The executives looked at each other, and one responded, "You'll figure it out."
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A Nanotrasen Full-Stock is a proposed admin button that will change the dynamic of the occasional round through direct administrator intervention. It is not a button to be taken lightly or used willy-nilly, but one that should be considered very powerful.
In short, a Nanotrasen Full-Stock puts the station into a stable, end-round state, with additional benefits. When the Nanotrasen Full-Stock button is pressed...
- ...the station becomes fully powered, even without an engine.
- ...research is maxed across the board.
- ...the station becomes fully oxygenated in all areas that should be oxygenated.
- ...all machines are improved to their best parts.
- ...a stockpile of every material appears at cargo bay, 250 sheets each.
- ...cargo bay receives 500000 supply points.
- ...the ore refiner gains 25000 mining points.
- ...a number of useful job-specific items are teleported in to their relevant departments, including...
= ...healing stimulants for medbay;
= ...Phazon parts for robotics;
= ...some beefy guns for security;
= ...multipurpose pistols for heads;
= ...a variety of slimecores for xenobiology;
= ...a maxcap bomb and some hyper-kinetic accelerators for mining;
= ...a variety of potent and rare seeds for hydroponics;
= ...a buffet of nutritious food for the bar;
= ...toolbelts stocked with upgraded equipment for engineering;
= ...at least one Centcom ERT or otherwise hardsuit for each department in their colour/style/configuration;
= ...a number of other pieces of equipment;
- ...various other improvements (suggest them here).
How can Nanotrasen do this?
Spoiler:
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The question you're probably thinking of is "Why?".
Admin events. Many of them work with the station in its current state, but by adding a button like these, a "favoured" crew can be ready for a wave-by-wave assault event, or claiming Lavaland event, or building a new wing event, or similar, within the space of about ten minutes, instead of taking an hour (in which many people would, if it's extended, have likely committed suicide already because they didn't roll antagonist/have nothing interesting to do). As an example - Nanotrasen messages the station at the beginning of a shift, tells them that a large Syndicate attack squad is 20 minutes out from the station, and tells them that, since they don't mind showing some blatant favouritism, they're giving them the works to counteract the attack with whatever they can put together in that time.
It can also refresh an ongoing round, if the crew has proven themselves to Nanotrasen by being productive and not hostile little shits. To that end, also proposed is the less powerful and more likely to be used Centcom Restock button, which would haver fewer effects, but can be a useful top-up (essentially just a smaller stack of minerals, a lower supply and mining point bonus, and reoxygenating the station).
These buttons can have the added advantage of keeping people interested in what is increasingly an action-orientated game, with a playerbase that includes people that will commit suicide if they start a round and get the impression that nothing interesting is going to happen unless they make it happen.
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In short, a Nanotrasen Full-Stock Button should be pressed about as much as a Highlander/Allow Respawn/Floor Is Lava button, and a Centcom Restock Button should be pressed about as much as a Meteor button. Both have the ability to add a bunch of variety to rounds (mostly events for Full-Stock, regular rounds for Restock).
Suggestions for improvements and the like are welcome.
