POs and dropship shutters

[Renomaki]

Recently I had my first go at being a PO, which went from mildly relaxing to considerably stress inducing (to the point of panic-stabbing a larva when it was dragged on board by another marine, for fear of it killing everyone on the sully once activated.. Wrong, I know, but it was so out of place and shocking that I freaked out)

It wasn't long before I had begun to make use of the shutters, which most POs rarely used planetside. I never understood why, though... When the ship is empty and there is nothing going in and out, it makes sense to lock up during refueling to keep the ship safe from ambushes from hostiles, human or otherwise.

And yet, I had people insult me or question my logic in keeping the dropship safe. It isn't like I lock up without checking for wounded, I always try to get the loading process done as fast as possible, and then when all the healthy are out, the shutters go down until she is fueled up and ready to go. So many other POs DON'T pull the shutters down, and I seen so many wounded marines get ambushed by xenos and dragged off to their doom, along with the POs themselves who get wrecked by hunters and turned into alien food... Something that could have been avoided if they only locked up when there was nothing goin on.

Why is it so many POs, even when the ship has taken serious damage, refuse to use the shutters on their ship? The doors aren't locked off to xenos, and the glass doesn't take much effort to break, so unless you have marines watching the dropzone, you have to lock up and keep alive, or else screw the marines over by throwing your life away and costing them a valuable member of the team.

Is there something I'm missing here?

[Crab_Spider]

Recently I had my first go at being a PO, which went from mildly relaxing to considerably stress inducing (to the point of panic-stabbing a larva when it was dragged on board by another marine, for fear of it killing everyone on the sully once activated.. Wrong, I know, but it was so out of place and shocking that I freaked out)

It wasn't long before I had begun to make use of the shutters, which most POs rarely used planetside. I never understood why, though... When the ship is empty and there is nothing going in and out, it makes sense to lock up during refueling to keep the ship safe from ambushes from hostiles, human or otherwise.

And yet, I had people insult me or question my logic in keeping the dropship safe. It isn't like I lock up without checking for wounded, I always try to get the loading process done as fast as possible, and then when all the healthy are out, the shutters go down until she is fueled up and ready to go. So many other POs DON'T pull the shutters down, and I seen so many wounded marines get ambushed by xenos and dragged off to their doom, along with the POs themselves who get wrecked by hunters and turned into alien food... Something that could have been avoided if they only locked up when there was nothing goin on.

Why is it so many POs, even when the ship has taken serious damage, refuse to use the shutters on their ship? The doors aren't locked off to xenos, and the glass doesn't take much effort to break, so unless you have marines watching the dropzone, you have to lock up and keep alive, or else screw the marines over by throwing your life away and costing them a valuable member of the team.

Is there something I'm missing here?

POs dont use the shutters because if a sentinel or boiler makes its way to the Rasp and melt the shutters, you'll have a crap ton of problems to deal with.

[zskninoh]

POs dont use the shutters because if a sentinel or boiler makes its way to the Rasp and melt the shutters, you'll have a crap ton of problems to deal with.

That's meta as hell. The shutters in my opinion are to be used for emergencies only. As a PO you should always have tabs on both the east and west doors, possibly having the west welded if hostiles breaking in is sighted. As for the windows, not much you can do there. You could possibly ask an MT do make fake walls in place of the eastern ones, if hostiles attempt/succeed to break in and cause harm numerous times.

EDIT1: Fixed quotation
EDIT2: Grammar

[Renomaki]

That's meta as hell. The shutters in my opinion are to be used for emergencies only. As a PO you should always have tabs on both the east and west doors, possibly having the west welded if hostiles breaking in is sighted. As for the windows, not much you can do there. You could possibly ask an MT do make fake walls in place of the eastern ones, if hostiles attempt/succeed to break in and cause harm numerous times.

After seeing aliens drag off POs before they can blink so often, and wounded being ambushed and dragged off without a fight so commonly, I don't know why the idea of securing your ship during refueling is such a bad idea.

Trust me, it takes a few minutes to refuel, and god knows marines aren't going to sit around and wait for you to lift off.. And even then, what if there are too many of them? I'd rather have some melted shutters and save the ship, than get stomped into paste by a crusher because I didn't want to "waste" a shutter.

Is it meta? I'm not sure, it doesn't seem like it. Maybe someone else can explain it, but I imagine it being rather logical to secure the dropship to prevent it from being ambushed by hostiles of any sort. I doubt in real life, pilots leave their transports wide open for the enemy to sneak into and hijack.. Then again, they don't really stick around for very long either... But whatever.

Honestly, while it might be a bit annoying, I'd rather not be careless with my life [as PO] and the lives of any wounded that might be on board. Unless an admin themselves tells me that it is metagaming to lock up, I'm probably going to keep doing it as needed.. Since god knows I'm not robust enough to fend off a xeno solo in tight spaces.

[Crab_Spider]

After seeing aliens drag off POs before they can blink so often, and wounded being ambushed and dragged off without a fight so commonly, I don't know why the idea of securing your ship during refueling is such a bad idea.

Trust me, it takes a few minutes to refuel, and god knows marines aren't going to sit around and wait for you to lift off.. And even then, what if there are too many of them? I'd rather have some melted shutters and save the ship, than get stomped into paste by a crusher because I didn't want to "waste" a shutter.

Is it meta? I'm not sure, it doesn't seem like it. Maybe someone else can explain it, but I imagine it being rather logical to secure the dropship to prevent it from being ambushed by hostiles of any sort. I doubt in real life, pilots leave their transports wide open for the enemy to sneak into and hijack.. Then again, they don't really stick around for very long either... But whatever.

Honestly, while it might be a bit annoying, I'd rather not be careless with my life [as PO] and the lives of any wounded that might be on board. Unless an admin themselves tells me that it is metagaming to lock up, I'm probably going to keep doing it as needed.. Since god knows I'm not robust enough to fend off a xeno solo in tight spaces.

When the shutters are melted, they cant be replaced, which is a problem because the xenos have a quicker way to get in and overwhelm the people inside in seconds. If you're nervous of the xenos making their way the Rasp, ask the RO or R&D for a proximity sensor and signaller and hide it on the Rasp so you'll have some time to prepare for the threat. I don't know what I talk about, and God knows my way of speaking is just annoying, so... just do you.

[Casany]

Xenos can still melt shutters if they are open

[Renomaki]

Xenos can still melt shutters if they are open

That just goes to explain my questioning. Either way, xenos can melt the shutters if they really wanted to.

Maybe deep down, the reason why so many don't bother is because, due to the nature of their job, the only chance of action they'll get is when they are ambushed, which means a chance to kill something. I noticed that a lot of people on this server tend to get really bloodthirsty, and seem more excited than distressed when an opportunity to fight comes to them. Either that, or just laziness, I dunno how to explain this common display I see in POs.

[Casany]

That just goes to explain my questioning. Either way, xenos can melt the shutters if they really wanted to.

Maybe deep down, the reason why so many don't bother is because, due to the nature of their job, the only chance of action they'll get is when they are ambushed, which means a chance to kill something. I noticed that a lot of people on this server tend to get really bloodthirsty, and seem more excited than distressed when an opportunity to fight comes to them. Either that, or just laziness, I dunno how to explain this common display I see in POs.

If thats true why do they always "RUN AWAY" at the first sign of danger?

[Renomaki]

If thats true why do they always "RUN AWAY" at the first sign of danger?

Oh, right...

... I got nothin.. I don't think I'll ever get into the head of the average PO and figure out why they leave their ship wide open when there is no one to watch it with him.

[Eenkogneeto]

The shutters are for securing a kill when the boarders get too cocky, I leave them up otherwise because I value my situational awareness way more than I value easily acidable shutters that the ayys don't have a valid reason to melt until I've used them.
Plus i'm confident in my ability to defend my bird and those inside it.

[Casany]

If y'all are so confident why are injured marines who can't fight back always being dragged out of the rasp while the PO does nothing? Closing the shutters is one of the few ways to protect passengers. You could ruin another players round simply because they were FFed and you thought you could handle 2 runners charging the dropship

[Eenkogneeto]

If y'all are so confident why are injured marines who can't fight back always being dragged out of the rasp while the PO does nothing? Closing the shutters is one of the few ways to protect passengers. You could ruin another players round simply because they were FFed and you thought you could handle 2 runners charging the dropship

Because some people are confident without the skill to back it up.
I ran off two ravagers that came for my passengers once, and the time a elite crusher smashed one of my passengers I killed it and stabilized him.

[Renomaki]

I myself think it is just a combination of laziness and confidence. Thinking that nothing is going to attack you during refueling on a planet that could have deadly animals or enemy troops on it is considerable ignorance. Thinking you alone can handle these threats alone is another issue. Sure, there are some real robust people out there, but I myself know that I am not robust enough to hold off xenos trying to drag off wounded without risking the same marines getting hurt in the process. I'd rather just load up the dead and hurt ASAP, send the healthy marines on their way, and then down goes the shutters until the ship is refueled, spending the wait time checking up on the wounded and making sure to apply [basic] first aid as needed and making sure people are stable for the trip.

I'm not going to do something stupid that, realistically, I know I am unable to do. I, on the marine team, am a HUMAN BEING, and thus can only do so much. I'm not Rambo, I don't start with a heavy machine gun, all I got is a shotgun and revolver and a handful of ammo for emergencies only. Fighting is secondary, ensuring the dropship and any marines, wounded or otherwise, are safe and that I am still alive to ensure maximum dropship effectiveness is priority one.