should virologists be removed and merged into doctors

[nianjiilical]

basically thread title

the same way xenobiologists were merged into scientist, i think there's a good argument to be made that virologist shouldn't be its own job, simply because it's such a one-note job to begin with

90% of the time medical doctors are the ones curing diseases anyway since a) half the time the viro released it b) doctors have apocathary access c) the chances of one of the 3-4 doctors being smarter than the 1 virologist is statistically pretty high

before anybody asks im not saying we should cut virology (even though its a pretty flawed job) but i do think theres a discussion to be had on if it should get its own job slot at this point

[wesoda25]

How am I supposed to know who to lynch when I get a cough?!!

[XDTM]

How am I supposed to know who to lynch when I get a cough?!!

Honestly this by itself is a pretty good reason to roll virologists into doctors; right now if a megavirus gets loose it's pretty obvious who did it, and the virologist has to change/hide their identity for the rest of the round to not get lynched.

[Istoprocent1]

Not a bad idea.

[Ivuchnu]

Me no like.

Pros I see:

• If someone else takes viro slot and does no or shit job, including releasing harmful virus, I could work on fixing that as MD.

Cons I see:

• Virology has power to affect station at large, be it self-spreading all thresholds Starlight Condensation virus that might kill some slimepeople, something more powerful that is easily mass produced into pills or airborne ARDS memes. Should random MDs wield that power? Should it be harder to track down who did virus?
• I believe murdering station with stuff like airborne ARDS and getting away with it should take effort. If you are viro, it's disappearing, if you are not viro, getting ghetto viro lab going or breaking in and not getting noticed by AI or security. Having MDs always have access to that roundstart - I don't think so. They already get virology access on skeleton crew.
• I liked personal workplace and virology at large is one person job.

[kopoba]

remove jobs, give assistants AA. VIVA LA DEMOCRACY!!

[Ivuchnu]

Alternatively remove all jobs but command and have others join as nobodies who gotta sign employment contact at HoP's, honk.

[Cobby]

it needs to stay obvious because it's insufferable to have the station lmao'd by a virus you dont even need better materials for.

[oranges]

oranges rule of threads, if the title of the thread leads to a yes/no question, the answer is nearly always no.

[Tlaltecuhtli]

viro job gets filled most of the time, there isnt a need to merge it anywhere

[Omni]

My dumb idea of the week: remove viro and viruses alltogether, roll what symptoms are not covered by it into nanites, and figure out how to make viruses into infective nanites strains and yadda yadda. Whole this job is a meme anyways and adds nothing of quality to our lives, and nobody can be bothered to revamp it.
See you next week.

[Ivuchnu]

infective nanites strains

Fuck that! That can be accomplished with either infective exo-locomotion or nanite sting. But haha, chain detonation go boom. Nanites are stronger than viruses but come with risk of someone doing exactly that.

P.S. Good nanite setup with Nano-Symbiosis rocks.

[Screemonster]

merge virology and genetics for literal plasmids

[Sheodir]

merge virology and genetics for literal plasmids

I've suggested this before non ironically, but it also had creating genetic monstrosities then dealing with them with buttons, gases and what not to extract plasmids. If one escaped it was basically SCP breach lite. However it's literal ideas guy levels of shit and I'm too lazy to learn BYOND code

[Space Panda]

merge virology and genetics for literal plasmids

I've suggested this before non ironically, but it also had creating genetic monstrosities then dealing with them with buttons, gases and what not to extract plasmids. If one escaped it was basically SCP breach lite. However it's literal ideas guy levels of shit and I'm too lazy to learn BYOND code

that would be really cool

[Jaredfogle]

[*]If someone else takes viro slot and does no or shit job, including releasing harmful virus, I could work on fixing that as MD.[/list]

For the record, you can already do this as MD by building a PANDemic from the techfab. I do this every time since I can't rely on the virologist not just taking apart theirs.

[Armhulen]

merge virology and genetics for literal plasmids

I've suggested this before non ironically, but it also had creating genetic monstrosities then dealing with them with buttons, gases and what not to extract plasmids. If one escaped it was basically SCP breach lite. However it's literal ideas guy levels of shit and I'm too lazy to learn BYOND code

Give me the full idea in a thread, I will run through it with oranges

[cacogen]

I don'

[legoscape]

I want everyone to know that the reason why they are coofing on their own blood is that Jessica sulivard made some kind of retarded cowona virus in virology. Specialists are good for higher security purposes such as wardens having access to the armory whilst security does not. Allowing every doctor virology access makes would make viruses too common. Also, deadly viruses are kind of a pain in the ass but easy to make if you are lucky.

[EagleWiz]

How am I supposed to know who to lynch when I get a cough?!!

Honestly this by itself is a pretty good reason to roll virologists into doctors; right now if a megavirus gets loose it's pretty obvious who did it, and the virologist has to change/hide their identity for the rest of the round to not get lynched.

An optimized virus can be incredibly lethal. If an optimized virus gets lose anyone who gets near other crew members has to get cured damn fast or be stunned for a long time/burned alive/suffer lethal necrosis. Making the virologist go into hiding is absolutely fair

[XDTM]

How am I supposed to know who to lynch when I get a cough?!!

Honestly this by itself is a pretty good reason to roll virologists into doctors; right now if a megavirus gets loose it's pretty obvious who did it, and the virologist has to change/hide their identity for the rest of the round to not get lynched.

An optimized virus can be incredibly lethal. If an optimized virus gets lose anyone who gets near other crew members has to get cured damn fast or be stunned for a long time/burned alive/suffer lethal necrosis. Making the virologist go into hiding is absolutely fair

It kinda harms the whole paranoia gameplay if you can tell whodunnit by reading the crew manifest, though. It's just a little more ambiguous and leaves a little room for the traitor to deny their involvement in the death virus, at least until a detective sweeps the room, or someone figures out which doctor has not been seen for 30 minutes straight.

[Ivuchnu]

If there's Durand in halls shooting everyone, involvement of rogue roboticist is most likely. However, it does not exclude possibility that someone hacked into robotics and made self a Durand or built one somewhere else. Same with virology. All you need is circuit imprinter, some parts and mats, charged cell and milk to get fully functioning virology. Also miasma. If something is dead somewhere, you will get your starting virus without ever setting foot in actual virology.

[XDTM]

The difference is the timeframe involved; unless the round has been going for hours, the only person who has had access to virology equipment long enough to engineer a proper death virus is the official virologist. Making a durand is not instantaneous, but it's a matter of few minutes at most if the research is already done.

Plus, someone on a durand spree is not meant to get the same benefit of stealth anyway, on account of being inside an armored death machine. Virologists, once discovered, aren't made harder to kill because of the death virus.

[Nabski]

I might be a little biased, but I can make a good deathvirus faster than I could build a mech. Especially if you include printing the parts.

[Ayy Lemoh]

I might be a little biased, but I can make a good deathvirus faster than I could build a mech. Especially if you include printing the parts.

Who wouldn't include printing the parts? Printing the parts is like virology's RNG where if removed then it becomes a weird speedrun challenge that is unfair.