Cargo and the lack of things to do.

[Renomaki]

Ok, how many of you worked in cargo before? Yeah, you? You too? yeah, same here. I worked in cargo a few times meself, both as an RO and as a CT, and back in the day, you needed ALL the help you could get.

However, this isn't the ol' Sully anymore, back when you could send CTs to the armory to gather supplies for drops while you ordered other supplies as an RO. Oh no, on the Alma, the armories are locked only to their squad, and the only way for CTs to get in there is to have an MP help them in. It is such a hassle that most of the time it isn't worth doing, moreso now that helmets are no longer a requested item and ammo can be ordered in the form of ammo-boxes that can refill 20 magazines to FULL with ease (although marines often don't know how to use them...).

Honestly, because of that, the most actions CTs get is during the early round rush. But once the marines get their shit and leave for battle, the need for 3-4 CTs is kinda moot... What point is there in having a staff of cargo-crew if you only need one person to manage funds, order supplies and load crates?

Times like this make me wonder if we could find more uses for CTs other than just glorified assistants. It makes me feel bad when I'm an RO and I don't know how to effectively keep my CTs busy, what with how minor they become after the first 20 minutes of gameplay. If anyone has any ideas, share em here.

Not only would it make being a CT more productive, it would also make it less of a bore to play and hopefully more hectic like it used to be, where the more really was the merrier.

[TehSpoderman]

I think we should give CTs squad prep access. Like you said, its a hassle to get ammo and other supplies as a CT. But the thing is, what else should a CT do? They get requests to order stuff, they order it, put it on a crate, load it on a launch pad or put it on the dropship, and done.

[Garrison]

People seem to forget it that CT's can go down to the planet. I used to get the RO's permission to head down to the planet to collect expended magazines and Medical Injectors for recycling. I even brought down the power loader to help carry a bunch of crates that needed to be sent to the FOB. Course, I avoided combat unless it was self defense. Since you can't wear marine armor on top of your uniform anymore.

EDIT: Then again, this was back in the days of the Sulaco, and Marine vendors were not as plentiful as they are now. (around 5 for each squad prep)

[Jeser]

People seem to forget it that CT's can go down to the planet. I used to get the RO's permission to head down to the planet to collect expended magazines and Medical Injectors for recycling. I even brought down the power loader to help carry a bunch of crates that needed to be sent to the FOB. Course, I avoided combat unless it was self defense. Since you can't wear marine armor on top of your uniform anymore. (around 5 for each squad prep)

This^ If our CT feel bored, call squad on FoB duty, order them to escort CT and get him to recover used mags, injectors, crates.

[misto]

1 make those supply beacon things reusable

2 let the crate shooters shoot crates down more often

3 there are probably some cost re-evaluations coming down the pipeline already but most of the stuff is badly overpriced

4 just in general, when you do inventory and supply orders for any kind of business and i can only imagine it is even stricter in militaries, buying random grab-bag supply crates is fucking stupid and not real, like the attachments crates for example. when you place orders for supplies you order SPECIFIC THINGS not whatever shit a clown pulled out of a hat. so yeah. split the random dumbass crates or combined crates (mines and a bunch of different kinds of grenades all jumbled into the same box? fucking stupid) into separate SPECIFIC ORDERS

5 make the stupid wy crates guaranteed to contain unusual guns rather than the regular trash that marines already leave lying around. adjust the cost if you have to. it is disgusting how every time ive played ct to try to learn the ropes ive been under an ro who wasted hundreds of points on these shitty crates in their quest for rare gunz only to pop them open and get normal crap

there i improved your cargo jobs a billion times over

[solidfury7]

+1 cargo is outdated and generally nonsensical.

[Tidomann]

Giving CTs squad access would be a easy first step. Especially after the lathe changes and metal crate changes.

[Renomaki]

1 make those supply beacon things reusable

2 let the crate shooters shoot crates down more often

3 there are probably some cost re-evaluations coming down the pipeline already but most of the stuff is badly overpriced

4 just in general, when you do inventory and supply orders for any kind of business and i can only imagine it is even stricter in militaries, buying random grab-bag supply crates is fucking stupid and not real, like the attachments crates for example. when you place orders for supplies you order SPECIFIC THINGS not whatever shit a clown pulled out of a hat. so yeah. split the random dumbass crates or combined crates (mines and a bunch of different kinds of grenades all jumbled into the same box? fucking stupid) into separate SPECIFIC ORDERS

5 make the stupid wy crates guaranteed to contain unusual guns rather than the regular trash that marines already leave lying around. adjust the cost if you have to. it is disgusting how every time ive played ct to try to learn the ropes ive been under an ro who wasted hundreds of points on these shitty crates in their quest for rare gunz only to pop them open and get normal crap

there i improved your cargo jobs a billion times over

... Ok, so how does this keep CTs busy?

All of these have nothing to do with the topic at hand. This is about how being a member of cargo staff is often boring after the early round rush due to a lack of things to do.

I wouldn't mind of CTs had more responsibilities to keep them productive instead of standing around drunk or cryoing after the early rush. But what could we do that would be useful and logical of the role?

[Szunti]

Refill looted vendors? For example nanomeds. There is still the problem of where to get the supplies from. I don't think there is a crate that gives enough of tricord injectors and gauze. Maybe add one?

CT's can also get the left stuff from cryo and morgue. That's not really interesting though.

Maybe they could use their toolbelt for something. Originally I thought they have the belt to repair helmets.

Or what about adding remote controlled cargo bots? They could look and function like the MULEs just remote controlled. Would die easily and without any way to attack, but could load/unload a crate and would have a built-in camera. CT's could drive these via a console in their free time to move crates into the caves, underground etc., where supply drops don't work. Or if there are no crates just to act as a mobile camera. It should cost a lot to get another one (e.g. like a sentry), so scouting with these would be a costly thing, but still an option if command want to go that way.

[misto]

... Ok, so how does this keep CTs busy?

did you read the words? with your eyes? the first two especially would help keep them busy, because the supply beacons not being used up and needing to be replaced (how are you supposed to send replacements if theyre all used up? ridiculous) and the launcher things being able to launch things more often will do a lot to help keep them busy, because they will be sending down supplies more often and more consistently.

[TehSpoderman]

1 make those supply beacon things reusable

2 let the crate shooters shoot crates down more often

3 there are probably some cost re-evaluations coming down the pipeline already but most of the stuff is badly overpriced

4 just in general, when you do inventory and supply orders for any kind of business and i can only imagine it is even stricter in militaries, buying random grab-bag supply crates is fucking stupid and not real, like the attachments crates for example. when you place orders for supplies you order SPECIFIC THINGS not whatever shit a clown pulled out of a hat. so yeah. split the random dumbass crates or combined crates (mines and a bunch of different kinds of grenades all jumbled into the same box? fucking stupid) into separate SPECIFIC ORDERS

5 make the stupid wy crates guaranteed to contain unusual guns rather than the regular trash that marines already leave lying around. adjust the cost if you have to. it is disgusting how every time ive played ct to try to learn the ropes ive been under an ro who wasted hundreds of points on these shitty crates in their quest for rare gunz only to pop them open and get normal crap

there i improved your cargo jobs a billion times over

I think this only asks to put in more crates, which doesnt even solve the problem in the first place.

[Renomaki]

did you read the words? with your eyes? the first two especially would help keep them busy, because the supply beacons not being used up and needing to be replaced (how are you supposed to send replacements if theyre all used up? ridiculous) and the launcher things being able to launch things more often will do a lot to help keep them busy, because they will be sending down supplies more often and more consistently.

The first thing, if beacons could be reused, it would mean that there would be no point in stocking more, unless you are saying that beacons should be rearmed like rifle magazines, then... No, that wouldn't work. You know how many empty magazines get left to rot? a lot. No doubt most expended beacons would stay expended, since it would be easier to order more than go through the trouble of finding expended supply beacons deep in enemy territory.

The other 4? Nothing to do with CTs. Making supply drop cooldowns lower doesn't mean shit if people aren't ordering things, and the last 3 things are just related to crate contents, not things CTs could do to help other than handing out weapon mods and sometimes bothering MPs to let them into the armories to get supplies.

We already fixed MTs by giving them a new engine that keeps them REALLY busy, now it is the CTs turn.

[misto]

no, i dont mean making them "reloadable". you can reuse them forever until they are lost or destroyed. thus, there would be a point in buying more when they are inevitably lost by the squad amongst the clutter and corpses of the battlefield.

what do you mean, people arent ordering things? we constantly screech for more metal and more plasteel and more sandbags and more all sorts of things. would a mini supply request console pda for squad leader help? or do they already have that? well, maybe it would help until it gets lost when the sl croaks. sounds like communication between ro+cts and ground troops needs to be improved, because you sure as hell cant count on command officers to relay supply requests reliably, apparently.

[Fritigern]

There's a thread in the suggestion section talking about restructuring the content of cargo crates. Right now there is little reason to order ANYTHING from cargo because of the amount of junk and RNG involved makes it more of a hassle than it's worth. If the crates were more streamlined then RO would get more meaningful requests for specific gear, which would keep them busier, leading to them feeling like they are meaningfully contributing, and thus the job becomes better.

The other suggestion stacked onto that is changing the ordering system entirely so you're ordering specific items in custom crates rather than catch-all crates, which would make cargo INFINITELY more useful.

Either way, if you care about the fucked up cargo system as it is I suggest you head over to that thread add some input. I think with enough passionate discourse we could see an actual change over there.

[Szunti]

More frequent supply drops would help a bit I guess, but I don't think it would solve the problem. RO orders the crates, him or a CT merges the crates and drag onto supply pad. It's still a one man job. What would the other CTs do?

[Renomaki]

See, Szunti gets it.

Right now, besides the early round rush, cargo is often a one man job due to how quick and easy it is to load shit from one crate into another. When you have a crew of 3 or more CTs, they tend to feel left out.

It would be nice if we could put the extra staff to good use, like maybe setting up an overwatch device designed SOLELY for supply drops and have someone keep tabs on it, or making make the cargo shuttle require maintenance and have the CTs tend to it between orders. Something that not only ensures that they won't be bored after briefing, but also make it so the more you have, the easier it gets... Just like it used to be.

For MTs, they not only have the fusion reactors to maintain and manage, but also sanitation duties and dropship maintenance. They have more than one job and can adjust on the fly as needed, so they aren't just idling around. We need it so CTs can also do multiple things to pass the time when they aren't handing out weapon mods or bugging the MPs to let them into the armories.

I might think up a few ideas and slap them on the suggestions page, although it might be futile.. It'll be worth a shot.

[misto]

how would you all feel about merging ct and mt into one general crewman class

[Stripetail]

I've played a decent bit of RO, I definitely feel that prep access for the CT's would be a boon. Having to rely on others is incredibly time consuming at times, and with the recent rule changes CT's can't hack open doors to get in.

The cargo ordering system feels very outdated, and many items are indeed overpriced for their worth. If you get any assistance with grabbing ammo at the start of the round you'll likely never buy anything aside from plasteel, metal, explosives, spec ammo/powerpacks, and sentry turrets. Sentry turrets being so expensive that I'll nearly never buy them myself.

Honestly I think a broad band communications console would be an interesting little introduction and time sink, perhaps have random events where merchant vessels travel by and new order options appear on the console, instead of supply points they'd send a shuttle and trade their stock for items from your stock. This would give CT's a reason to gather more items around the ship.

As much as I understand that there is a chain of command, I feel that the RO should have the ability to launch crates/view beacon status from the Req room. Nothing is more frustrating than having your CT's bust their asses along side you putting together drops to have them sitting in Req doing nothing because an SO is dealing with too much shit to remember to press send. The RO has a command headset and can check to make sure the marine position hasn't been overrun, which is the ONLY reason a crate should sit on the pad without being launched.


Right now as an RO I give my competent CT's command headsets and tell them to pick a squad and work on filling whatever that squad may need. Other times I start drug rings with the engineers, or if some fool is dumb enough to hand me drugs then offer more, turn the tables and make them get me more stuff less they be turned into the MP's.

[Blade2000Br]

Well, I started playing as CT recently and something that was fun is that the RO one day simply went full mad scientist.

It was a good round.

But I agree, the few times I played CT, I am mostly bored with nothing to do. If I get an RO that is creative, great, but if not... Oh boy...

[Bronimin]

One RO to handle the computer and command channel and one CT to bumble around and steal everything that he can get his hands on is usually enough. Deliver supplies in person whenever possible for a more exciting game.

[taketheshot56]

Thats actually a good idea, CTs are capable of construction, could send em down as FOB builders

[taketheshot56]

Thats actually a good idea, CTs are capable of construction, could send em down as FOB builders

[Blade2000Br]

Thats actually a good idea, CTs are capable of construction, could send em down as FOB builders

I learned that the moment the RO told us CTs in a round to build a autism fort and yell "HAIL CARGONIA!"

The cargo was literally the last defense choke poibt, and since we started building earlier than everyone else, we managed to fend a horde of hungry ayys for quite a while xd

[WinterClould]

AVE CARGONIA!

Playing RO and leading your team of CT's can be really freaking fun, even more fun when its during a round the marines are losing

Hoarding metal, plasteel, and DMR's away from the eyes of nosy marines just to have so you can build and hold out in an awesome autism fort at the end is the best. Just a shame most of the time I play RO the CT's can be pretty green or just not quite down for the cause. Makes me cry when they betray Cargonia and run to the evac pods like cowards and I'm left all alone to hold cargo. It should be the sacred duty of all Cargonians to hold to the last man against any and all who threaten the sovereignty of our sacred cargo bay.

We do still sadly have to follow marine law because we just loser marines who IC got shafted with one of the most boring jobs the corps could possibly give us. But that doesn't mean we wont at least verbally resist the MP's and Commands efforts to oppress us! Also unless command is full of W-Y loving shitters and order us to do what they say Cargonia will do the CL ZERO favors. Cargonia should, and under my leadership, always will stand up to W-Y and tell them to eat ass and get lost any time they try to fuck with Cargonia.


Adding RP funzies to cargo, like calling it Cargonia and all that jazz can make doing boring cargo crap pretty darn fun. Just, gotta make sure people don't do silly things like try and declare an independence movement or do things that break marine law... We are still marines after all even if were huge nerd marines larping a fake kingdom.

[DaigustoSphreez]

Okay so, I'm gonna first preface this with the fact that I've played Colonial Marines for all of about a week now. Also, for all the time I've played, I've mained CT, played nothing else except that role and a little bit of boot marine. So when I give my input on the CT and his role in requisitions, take it how lightly or heavily as you want with consideration to my expertise on the role or lack thereof.

I can't tell you how many times I've joined on a low server population count and had no RO or additional CT, and still been able to run the Req just fine because the RO's job is easy enough on it's own (save the attachments rush at the beginning of the game). You order crates and you ship them to DS1/2/Supply Drop Pad. That being said, after the beginning rush, CT with an RO is really stale if you don't have a great RO supplementing the Req office (Shoutout to Pagan Mott for helping me learn to play CT). This is mostly due to the fact that most of the time, in my experience, I'm either doing backpack runs through prep rooms with is horribly inconvenient to both me and my MPs or making metal through the autoloathe, such is the life of a CT.

To improve this, I think there needs to be a lot more ways for CT to take initiative in his OWN WAY without interfering heavily with the duties of RO, and also keeping the job light enough for his RO to make the occasional request from the CT. One good way to do this would be to give the CT a "Supply bot". This was mentioned earlier in the thread but I want to supplement it. A remote controlled bot that you could put on the DS, and control while the CT has nothing to do, which would pick up and load crates, ammunition, really just anything useful back on the DS to bring the Req office. Another suggestion would be to allow the CT's to have access to a comms between two of the squads at a time (For example, one CT would have Alpha and Charlie and another would have Bravo and Deltards), so that instead of having to go through command, who already has a shitton of hectic work on their hands, the SL's could go directly through CT's to get their supply drops, and while we're at it, give CT's and RO the ability to control the supply pad when a beacon is active (I never understood why we didn't have control of it in the first place, could someone tell me?).

Anyway, that's my two cents. HAIL CARGONIA