Public Service Announcement for people that never seem to learn.

[KingPhilipIII]

The Queen can lock down the dropship using the door control button across from the cockpit door in the main room.

Christ folks, the amount of salt I've heard every time I do that, incorrect bitching about the Queen being able to use the dropship console outside and other such general shenanigans, while funny at first as started getting old. That feature was removed. It can be used to unlock the doors but to prevent the dropship from departing, the Queen must physically board the ship and either use the cockpit's flight console or that button.

If you're going to complain about something, complain about the right thing. The Queen can use the little orange button that controls the door locks to prevent the dropship from departing. Every time I play siege breaker as Queen I almost always use this button and the marines NEVER FUCKING LEARN.

If you hear the Queen shrieking her way to the dropship, you best be prepared to have to hightail it out of there and leave some people behind or otherwise nobody makes it out. I get you can't explicitly meta the fact the Queen can lock the ship, but maybe instead SECURE THE FUCKING SHIP LIKE AN ACTUAL MILITARY FORCE WOULD, or consider the fact normal people when they have giant man eating lizards clawing at the doors might develop some level of self-preservation, even if you're trained marines, because if you don't, you have no excuse to whine incessantly when the Queen and her minions promptly defile your posterior and your marine force.

If you can't be half-assed to read the entire post I've put the essential text in red and big letters.

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

You make it sound simpler than it really is, and trust me when i say i prefer simple over complicated.

For one, this ability for the queen to be able to lock down the shuttle and prevent its departure has been around for a while now, so yeah if the marines are still not getting it thats on them.

I will say though, that alot of the times when the marines are ready to evac, command either isnt even aware of the impending danger or is busy with "RP" topside, sometimes they outright refuse evac when its actually needed so they dont loose or allow the remaining marine force to be killed groundside.

Also, pilots LOVE to leave marines behind and depart early, which forces "smart"(in one sense) marines to flock and basically chicken pen themselves inside the alamo sometimes making it easier for the queen to rush in, lock it down, screech and swarm, game over, seen it many many many times.

This is even more complicated if comms is now down and the marines cant even tell command to launch in the event that the pilots been killed or abducted before a queen locks it down.Theres so many variables that make this a much more complex matter for marines to handle over "DEFEND THE SHUTTLE AT ALL COSTS" simplicity.

As soon as i get word that the shuttle is locked down, or it apparent thats the case and theres just too many xenoes compared to marines to even hold the shuttle, i try to leave that area.

Everytime, its the best way to go about it as you mentioned.Or defend it, but very rarely does it ever work though once its locked down.

So pilots need to be on the ball more, so does command when it comes to reports of the queen getting close to the shuttle the marines are using for transport, marines needs to be able to trust the pilot isnt going to leave them there marooned, everyone needs to understand that if comms goes down then you might as well evac asap because the chances of sustaining the OP becomes quite slim, etc etc.

If all of this and more was to happen, then yeah, it would be as simple as the marines just spreading out and defending the shuttle, but thats not the case, so you will continue to see this happen and people are going to "salt" about it.


There was a round the last session i played yesterday, when a pilot had placed a few sandbag cades near the pilots door, and then later when the LZ was being swarmed some on the east shuttle doors too.People were calling that meta and for the pilots to be banned, even though they were placing them AFTER a hostile was using the routes that were being caded.Somehow thats meta apparently, the queen rushing for any computer or electronics they know they can use OOC is not meta.

Pfft.

[KingPhilipIII]

At the end of the day, my message was primarily to explain that the Queen is in fact, not locking it down from the exterior dropship computer.

My second point was that if at any time your ship is actually being boarded by hostiles, regardless of whether or not they would know how to interact with the console, you've clearly failed to evacuate from a landing zone that's gotten way too hot.

When I explained about marines failing to learn, I meant how there's always tidal waves of salt about how dumb it is the Queen can use the outside console to lock the ship. I meant Marines as in players, not as in characters. My bad.

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

At the end of the day, my message was primarily to explain that the Queen is in fact, not locking it down from the exterior dropship computer.

My second point was that if at any time your ship is actually being boarded by hostiles, regardless of whether or not they would know how to interact with the console, you've clearly failed to evacuate from a landing zone that's gotten way too hot.

Yeah well i hope the first point is noted by players, but i dont think thats what they are mainly complaining about.If a shuttle full of marines gets wiped simply because the queen managed to lock it down and slaughter them, they are annoyed that they were killed because it didnt depart in time(alot of times on command or the pilot), not because of whatever computer was used to lock it down in the first place.Thats what i get annoyed at, "Why didnt the pilot/commander launch?", and when im asking that, im not asking why didnt they launch after it was locked down, i mean before it was locked down and when they had the goldy locks window to depart.

Ive been in rounds where ive been a marine, its clear the LZ is fully surrounded and marines are dying by the seconds, comms is still up somehow and command says "No evac, defend the LZ".
Its obvious i will die if i hang around, so theres a charge of NOD or desertion i guess straight up just for leaving the shuttle and marines, alot of these times when command says no evac, they usually dont send the DS2 to pick them up if its even possible at that point in time.

The average delay between someone, or multiple people reporting the LZ is compromised and when command will relay a broadcast announcing that to the remaining marines(if they even do in the first place) that might be able to do something about it, is around 1-3 minutes(somewhat competent command), more than enough time for all the marines to get slaughtered that were trying to evac/defend LZ.

I wish evac'ing was more black and white, but it really isnt.The best way to observe this is watch the marines when your a ghost that are constantly getting in and out of the shuttle, they dont know whether they are coming or going, because its basically just another gamble as to whether you make it out alive.Some pilots even do this themselves, to make sure they are infact leaving at the last possible moment with the most marines aboard, but thats because its one way of doing that job.The marines are doing it for fight or flight reasons.

Should i run, or should i stay and possibly defend a position thats not going to win?

The rule of thumb i set for myself whilst some time ago, was that if a evac call has been made and im deciding to board, i stay on the alamo and do not get off for anything almost, to prevent being marooned, because its happened so many times.Also, as mentioned, if theres any indication the shuttle will not be launching, i try to leave that LZ and reach a safe spot, try to get the DS2 sent over comms at some random time, because the xenoes will meta rush LZ2 pad as soon as they notice marines fleeing from the original LZ, sometimes the marines lead them right there.Only go straight to LZ2 in specific circumstances.

These tactics seem to work as well, so ive kept it as default protocol, none of these scenarios are major issues for me anymore and i seem to survive more rounds.

[FGRSentinel]

My "favorite" thing as SO is when I'm getting reports that the FOB's been breached and relay it to the XO/CO and get this as a response from them or other SOs: "the FOB is fine where I'm looking, stop making shit up and tell your men to hold the line."

Usually when this happens whatever squad I'm overwatching gets slaughtered shortly after and I have to relay this only to get a "the situation is perfectly fine, shut the hell up" in response... Until the breach my squad was trying to hold is lost and benos swarm the FOB, at which point the CO/XO orders a retreat. Good job, you wasted an entire squad because of your own ego and worst yet, they tend to issue the order as Alamo is launching from the planet, so the xenos have a few minutes where they can slaughter the survivors freely.

[biscuitsakimbo]

My "favorite" thing as SO is when I'm getting reports that the FOB's been breached and relay it to the XO/CO and get this as a response from them or other SOs: "the FOB is fine where I'm looking, stop making shit up and tell your men to hold the line."

Usually when this happens whatever squad I'm overwatching gets slaughtered shortly after and I have to relay this only to get a "the situation is perfectly fine, shut the hell up" in response... Until the breach my squad was trying to hold is lost and benos swarm the FOB, at which point the CO/XO orders a retreat. Good job, you wasted an entire squad because of your own ego and worst yet, they tend to issue the order as Alamo is launching from the planet, so the xenos have a few minutes where they can slaughter the survivors freely.

Well, do your job better. If the FOB is breached, don't relay that to the CO if an entire squad is holding that breach and the other parts of the FOB are fine. Use your command headset to tell an Engineer from another squad to come fix the breach and then the FOB holds. You don't need to advocate for a retreat just as soon as there's a breach, and if the response from the other officers is "The situation is perfectly fine, shut the hell up", you want to be looking for ways to keep holding on rather than excuses to break and run.

[FGRSentinel]

That's the thing, usually when I hear about it there isn't enough time left for an engineer to make a difference. When I say "shortly after" it's usually as soon as someone says to shut up because everything's fine where they're watching that the breach is lost. Even if I did do what you said and the breach wasn't instantly lost, there's always the chance that the CO/XO or another SO will tell the engineer to stay where they are because I'm trying to start a panic.

[Build_R_]

If an SO hears there's urgent danger that an engineer from their squad could help with and they say 'it's fine, shut the hell up' then it sounds to me like they're the bad SO.