Doctors and guns

[Miranda]

Because guns are basically the only thing distinguishing doctors from combat medics.

Doctors can do surgery AND advanced medications + make chemicals.

Combat medics CANNOT do surgery nor make chems; they can only use chems / advanced medications. But they get armor + a gun they can shoot with.

Thats it; gameplay reasons.

Doctors can't go down without reason and pass from command anyway so why can't they? I think even MT's and Cargo kids can arm themselfs and fight if it's needed. And they all are officers but not the doctors..

[nerocavalier]

Considering the damage a lone drone can potentially cause for the Sulaco, I would wager that dead larva is bigger than you suggest.

All you have to do is injure it once and it cannot evolve. Instead of wasting time trying to pull out a gun just stab it to death the moment it pops out. You should either have a saw or scalpel in hand if it happens.

[4thsurviver]

Doctors can't go down without reason and pass from command anyway so why can't they? I think even MT's and Cargo kids can arm themselfs and fight if it's needed. And they all are officers but not the doctors..

MTs and Cargo techs are all sergeants so they aren't officers. They are still marines and having a gun on them wouldn't hamper their duties. In our USCM the doctors are civilians and not officers anyway.
From what I can gather Military Doctors can carry firearms but only for self defense or they lose their protection under the Geneva Convention. Also they generally don't carry their weapons in the hospital and into surgery rooms. In other words as a doctor you shouldn't have a gun in medbay or on the ship until there is a threat and then can't shoot the gun until YOU are under attack or your PATIENT is. You can't shoot at enemies running away, you can't give suppression fire, you can't cover other marines and can't join the hunt. Granted this mostly applies to human enemies but we aren't supposed to be prepared for Xenos.

[Redikalzip]

Doctors and difibrilators.

[Telegnats]

All you have to do is injure it once and it cannot evolve. Instead of wasting time trying to pull out a gun just stab it to death the moment it pops out. You should either have a saw or scalpel in hand if it happens.

Isn't that essentially metagamming?

[nerocavalier]

Isn't that essentially metagamming?

In my experience, bursting generally happens when you pry open the ribs or are beginning the surgery. That's what I was referring to.

[Telegnats]

While your experiences are interesting and lend credit to what you said, I want more than that before I take that as truth.

[nerocavalier]

While your experiences are interesting and lend credit to what you said, I want more than that before I take that as truth.

What do you want me to say here? That Doctors should get pistols so they can defend themselves/kill larva? If a larva got loose, then the vents should have been welded. This'll prevent future larva from escaping and prevent any aliens that got on board from sneaking back in to murderize everyone. Pistols aren't very useful beyond being a comforting sight. They promote the idea that Doctors should stay and fight instead of running away. You can say that multitasking is a thing and that they can fire to cover themselves, but in all honesty that pistol isn't going to deter anything from murdering the doctors.

If you're at the point where you genuinely need something bigger than a pistol, you're likely going to die. If a larva requires a pistol to kill, then I question why it got to that point. Vents can be welded, doctors have a brief second to stab the larva, MPs can stay in Medbay to both guard the doctors and kill any pesky larva. Heck, there can even be wounded marines that'll handle it.

What I want to know is why do you think Doctors need guns?

[Telegnats]

I have no strong opinion on the subject besides expecting people to just assume that the following to be absolute fact is laughably unsubstantiated, and filled with confirmation bias and anecdotal evidence.

• * Giving doctors anything bigger than a pistol inherently means they're going to chase xenos around and not do the jobs they signed into the round to do.
  * If you need anything larger than a pistol you're automatically going to die anyway.
  * The military and medical doctrine that exists today will still be wholly in use unchanged from its current form 200+ years in the future.
  * Doctors having guns wastes everyone's time.

[nerocavalier]

I have no strong opinion on the subject besides expecting people to just assume that the following to be absolute fact is laughably unsubstantiated, and filled with confirmation bias and anecdotal evidence.

That's one way to dismiss someone's argument with very little effort. If you have no opinion, then why are you even continuing this?

Giving doctors anything bigger than a pistol inherently means they're going to chase xenos around and not do the jobs they signed into the round to do.

At no point did I even say that they're going to chase around xenos. I specifically mentioned that it encourages the mindset of staying to fight xenos instead of running away. Doctors do not have any slowdown, in fact they can even get hyperzine and run away faster. If you chase down xenos as a doctor, you're going to get bwoinked so why even bother assuming that someone would actually do that?

If you need anything larger than a pistol you're automatically going to die anyway.

Riddle me this, why would Doctors need a gun? To defend themselves. Now why would they need to do that? Because the alien hive boarded or some crafty xeno either hid away or got on. The former generally means that marines are going to lose because really, losing planet never bodes well. The latter does not require doctors to have a gun at all. Again, get MPs to guard, bring in more marines to your OR. Weld. The. Vents.

Even then, only one of my lines can be construed that you'll die automatically. The rest assumes that you'll likely die. The difference being that you have a slim chance of survival if you just pick up that gun lying right there. Note the highlighted.

As a Doctor, if you need a gun, you're probably going to die.

At best, you'll be able to kill some aliens but you're probably going to die.

The military and medical doctrine that exists today will still be wholly in use unchanged from its current form 200+ years in the future.

Irrelevant.

Doctors having guns wastes everyone's time.

Read what I said again.

If you're fighting as a Doctor, you're either about to get mauled or you're wasting everyone's time by not healing.

The thing is, this is a game. We're all going to have different experiences. If you're just going to dismiss someone's experiences, especially someone that mains medical on a daily basis then I don't even know what you want for evidence. What, videos, pictures? Experience from other people that you'll refuse to accept?

[Derpymcderp]

Well as far as i know doctors can have a pistol but nothing bigger than a revolver/pistol

[Karmac]

basically a 'if you're about to be shanked you might as well pick up a gun' kinda thing, as for having one on you, you should stick to handguns.

[Telegnats]

That's one way to dismiss someone's argument with very little effort. If you have no opinion, then why are you even continuing this?

Because I think Doctors should be allowed to keep real weapons in close vicinity. Read that part carefully before you assume this means that they should carry shotguns around. And no, it's not a particularly strong opinion, it's more of a "Yea, I think that would be nice."

At no point ]did I even say that they're going to chase around xenos.

True

I specifically mentioned that it encourages the mindset of staying to fight xenos instead of running away

I have looked through the posts here but I have in no way seen you saying that is encourages anything.

Riddle me this, why would Doctors need a gun? To defend themselves.

Or their patients.

Now why would they need to do that? Because the alien hive boarded or some crafty xeno either hid away or got on.

Or they're on the planet in the FOB and for whatever reason there's a threat.

The latter does not require doctors to have a gun at all. Again, get MPs to guard, bring in more marines to your OR. Weld. The. Vents.

Firstly you would have to get at least two players - probably MPs - to stand around in the OR most likely bored to death like they always are, until an MT can be arsed to go weld the vents. But yea, if all of these things go according to the plan you have here i'm sure it will work out fine.

Even then, only one of my lines can be construed that you'll die automatically. The rest assumes that you'll likely die. The difference being that you have a slim chance of survival if you just pick up that gun lying right there. Note the highlighted.

Please inform me of the significant difference between assuming they're going to die and assuming they have a (very) slim chance of survival. And note, the word significant.

Irrelevant.

I didn't know what else to say here but since we're using this format (Of which I despise) I figured that giving you more text to read might be beneficial. Have you ever read "At the Mountains of Madness" by Lovecraft? I've read through half of it so far and I quite like it.

Read

I do this a lot, actually.

what I said again.

Okay.

The thing is, this is a game.

I had no idea.

We're all going to have different experiences.

If we are all going to have different experiences then it must be the case that the experience of several different people would be a better representation of what is actually going on besides one person saying they play this role a lot and this happens.

If you're just going to dismiss someone's experiences

One person's.

especially someone that mains medical on a daily basis

Why didn't you bring this up beforehand?

then I don't even know what you want for evidence. What, videos, pictures?

Some statistics would be nice. A good one would be the number of larva born on the Sulaco that have lived long enough to evolve.

Experience from other people that you'll refuse to accept?

If a number more substantial then one appears.

[MrJJJ]

When a larva bursts, its usually unexpected, the only way to prevent it from fucking everyone over is to hit it once with something, and boom, larva can't evolve, i been able to kill larvas before, but either they were usually AFK or took too long to get into vents or i had someone watching me to help.

On the topic, i think the rule is fine.

[czirket]

For me the only odd thing on CM is that docs are civilian... on a military vessel. I mean why? Where are navy docs? I'm guessing that whole Sulaco crew is navy, except the marines and CL that is.
Second even if we count docs as naval personnel, ICly they wouldn't carry weapons on the ship if we're looking on real life aspect. MPs have that privilege. I'm guessing only operating on ground would give more justification to carry a sidearm just in case.

However regarding the game play itself, i've noticed that the best option for larvas are fire extinguishers in OTs...
Either way smells a bit of meta if docs are armed from the whole beginning even if they don’t know about xeno threat…it’s discussing game mechanics versus immersion versus reality.