Is there even a point in trying for predator?

[Renomaki]

As a SL I've had other encounters with preds, trying to communicate with them to get information on what happened in the colony. One was even a religious preacher of sorts, which really piqued my curiosity. Problem is, we could not understand them, so they ended up leaving eventually without conveying their message, and it was a bit of wasted time. A real shame, there was potential there.

Oh hey, that was ME! I was experimenting with a different role that round, to see if I could make it work. While it had its fun moments, for the most part it was kinda difficult to make it work meaningfully.

But as you clearly mentioned, the issue with current pred translators really holds back RP and HARD. I had all this "wrath of the gods" RP set up and everything, full of alien mojo and all that shit... But because people were only able to vaguely understand me (if they could at all), most of the potential was lost.

Sure, for the ghosts that watched and can understand, it might have been mildly amusing, but ICly it was just random and weird, and hard to really get invested in. All because of how difficult it is to have conversations with humans and xenos alike.

Is it a wonder why most just resort to emote spam and wordlessly slapping you with their blades? Because any attempt to communicate will be met with "uuh, what?", ruining any intrigue or drama that could be had. I swear, if we could rework predator translators a tad more to make them easier to understand, I bet we'd have less *roar and more proper TAUNTING. I LOVE to taunt from the shadows, get marines all nervous as a voice from the shadows speaks to them about current events and their situation, really pushing buttons.. Or at least, I wish that was the case, but you know...

If there is any update that happens soon for preds, it should be enhancing communication between preds and other species, and I don't mean just having the synth constantly dragged down to the surface every time a predator is spotted.

[Kerek]

Pred isn't all that fun to play most of the time since marines just want your gear and immediately try to kill you, or just won't interact with you at all and just ignore you which I can understand. Xenos generally just try to get a larva out of you and a lot of the times you just end up getting swarmed leading to a lot of xeno deaths or your SD.

Even when you defend yourself from marines you generate salt and are the cause of all their problems when you were just wanting to play spooky2. Most of the time when a predator tries to do something other than kill they get ridiculed in deadchat for no real reason or we get told that we can't do something as much. I used to host marine tournaments that were really fun for me and the marines that I'd lure away. I was able to host two before saying we shouldn't use the ship too much.

[kroack]

The whole point of whitelisted roles is to be BETTER roleplay wise than the rest of the idiots who play on this server. Hold yourself to a higher RP standard, even when the ungas are shooting your predator ass on sight and refusing to RP with you.

[Jakkkk]

The RP solution is simple: talk to synths.

[MattAtlas]

The RP solution is simple: talk to synths.

^

Serious answer: you're not going to get any roleplay out of the average unga. They're playing a game to shoot and kill shit, they're probably not interested in RP in the slightest and will valid you on sight, unless their SL is not an unga and tells them to hold fire.

There's not much you can RP with, there are only a handful of people groundside that actually want to RP. I imagine most predators are just applying to kill shit in a different way, tbh.

[YourGuts]

I don't think it's that big of an issue. Predators don't detract from the round provided they aren't too kill happy. What I mean by that is, put yourself in the mind of the average player, and by that I mean, the guy that isn't on the forums, or the discord, the guy that barely understands what's happening, the guy that is chasing around aliens, having a whale of a time, blastin' bugs and running from queens. Their default response is to shoot, because why the hell would they do anything else? They know what a predator is OOC, they know that it's bad, and they wanna be Arnie, so they blast it. You cannot blame players, because it's no fault of their own, that mindset isn't by their choice, it is ingrained in the system, shoot aliens. Furthermore, did the gang in the actual Predator movie try and talk with it? No, they blasted the fucking thing, and RIGHTFULLY SO! If you encounter a marine that blasts you, chases you, et-cetera, think nothing of it, put yourself in their position. If you do however find a marine that is roleplaying, clearly enjoying it, then go with it! It's unrealistic to expect marines to roleplay with you, because the game sets them up to shoot first and ask questions later. I could go on and on about this, but yeah, I hope you all understand what I'm trying to say.

Secondly, I think Breadators should be more dynamic in their characters. As stated earlier, a nice little burb about playstyle generated at the start of each round would be great, I really hope the amazing guys playing Predators at the moment keep experimenting with new and interesting things for us Ungas.

[Jonesome]

There was a suggestion a while back that one of the XRTs during predator rounds would be the Dutch’s Dozen. I always thought how cool that would have been to have them hunting the Predator during the round, but sadly they’re no longer part of the game

[Shuffl3]

I dunno. The USMC and the Hive have changed a lot since I started playing. It might be time to start fresh and think about a Pred 2.

If we can say that the current Predator design is an awkward fit or that the ideas of what a pred should be have changed, then a complete overhaul of preds and pred mechanics would be in order.

[x31stOverlord]

I dunno. The USMC and the Hive have changed a lot since I started playing. It might be time to start fresh and like about a Pred 2.0

The problem is that the origin of Preds on the server was not planned or discussed by the staff and they were coded in by a head dev on their own volition. Ever since Preds have been at a negative level priority of getting any sort of update or coding done to them.

Whilst I would love for the attention to be put on working preds up a bit. It is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future so we must try to resolve issues or reduce their damage withough relying on developer time being spent on them.

[Thatnewguy1]

More or less, the only reason I'm interested in getting a pred whitelist one of these days is to know more about them. Kind of my flaw, I REALLY want to know what playing a pred is like, what the toys do, what the mechanics are, I'm just kinda compelled in a way to learn everything I can about the game and all its aspects.

[Snypehunter007]

No one wanted to work on them, no one still wants to work on them, not because they're bad but because they were never even intended to be in the game. At least, that's what I think.

I worked on the predator ship and Nicboone made the new surgery sprites for Predator surgery tools. Though, that really hasn't changed too much to the predator ground experience I guess . . .

[Casany]

I worked on the predator ship and Nicboone made the new surgery sprites for Predator surgery tools. Though, that really hasn't changed too much to the predator ground experience I guess . . .

I mean, I’ve been told and Kneez even posted about how predators aren’t really allowed/people don’t want them to use the pred ship so there really wasn’t a point of updating the ship if it’s only gonna be used for spawning and medical.

[Renomaki]

I mean, I’ve been told and Kneez even posted about how predators aren’t really allowed/people don’t want them to use the pred ship so there really wasn’t a point of updating the ship if it’s only gonna be used for spawning and medical.

Now that you mention it, what is the point of making lodges if the predator ship is the best place to rest anyways?

Sure, the main idea is to create more predator interaction and give them a sort of base camp, but most of the time said camp goes unused as predators are often too busy scouting out for prey.

Sure, it might get some use here and there, but most of the time it is just "there". If there was more incentive to make camps (like giving predators special objects that can be placed in said camp), let alone more reason to defend it other than to protect against looters (which is rarely an issue for me, due to how bare-bones my lodges are), then maybe they wouldn't feel so... Forced.

But even then, speaking of the ship, a fair bit of it goes unused, such as the medical bay. By code, it is considered dishonorable to have your wounds tended during a hunt, meaning if you got broken up bad, then boo-hoo, gotta SD. It rarely gets much use. Same with the prison and study, areas that are often forgotten due to the fact that using them would probably result in breaking some rules, so no one really bothers with them in the first place.

I LIKE what they did with the ship, but at the same time, it almost feels like a waste.

[x31stOverlord]

I mean, I’ve been told and Kneez even posted about how predators aren’t really allowed/people don’t want them to use the pred ship so there really wasn’t a point of updating the ship if it’s only gonna be used for spawning and medical.

Now that you mention it, what is the point of making lodges if the predator ship is the best place to rest anyways?

Sure, the main idea is to create more predator interaction and give them a sort of base camp, but most of the time said camp goes unused as predators are often too busy scouting out for prey.

Sure, it might get some use here and there, but most of the time it is just "there". If there was more incentive to make camps (like giving predators special objects that can be placed in said camp), let alone more reason to defend it other than to protect against looters (which is rarely an issue for me, due to how bare-bones my lodges are), then maybe they wouldn't feel so... Forced.

But even then, speaking of the ship, a fair bit of it goes unused, such as the medical bay. By code, it is considered dishonorable to have your wounds tended during a hunt, meaning if you got broken up bad, then boo-hoo, gotta SD. It rarely gets much use. Same with the prison and study, areas that are often forgotten due to the fact that using them would probably result in breaking some rules, so no one really bothers with them in the first place.

I LIKE what they did with the ship, but at the same time, it almost feels like a waste.

.

Right. I have not been around for an extreme length of time on the server, but my understanding is that the rules relating to the Pred ship were put in place before the updated model etc. And has never been addressed since so Preds don't use it often so they don't have any issues with the headstaff!

[taketheshot56]

Now that you mention it, what is the point of making lodges if the predator ship is the best place to rest anyways?

Sure, the main idea is to create more predator interaction and give them a sort of base camp, but most of the time said camp goes unused as predators are often too busy scouting out for prey.

Sure, it might get some use here and there, but most of the time it is just "there". If there was more incentive to make camps (like giving predators special objects that can be placed in said camp), let alone more reason to defend it other than to protect against looters (which is rarely an issue for me, due to how bare-bones my lodges are), then maybe they wouldn't feel so... Forced.

But even then, speaking of the ship, a fair bit of it goes unused, such as the medical bay. By code, it is considered dishonorable to have your wounds tended during a hunt, meaning if you got broken up bad, then boo-hoo, gotta SD. It rarely gets much use. Same with the prison and study, areas that are often forgotten due to the fact that using them would probably result in breaking some rules, so no one really bothers with them in the first place.

I LIKE what they did with the ship, but at the same time, it almost feels like a waste.

I mean one time, I was the CO and we used the ship to conduct "Peace talks" They forced me to kill my MT, then they made me eat him, then they killed me.

[Snypehunter007]

Right. I have not been around for an extreme length of time on the server, but my understanding is that the rules relating to the Pred ship were put in place before the updated model etc. And has never been addressed since so Preds don't use it often so they don't have any issues with the headstaff!

Several of the rules have been around a bit after Abby put in the original version of the predator ship, which I would like to point out was never updated since she originally put it and the predators themselves in until Feweh asked me to update it during my tenure as a mapper.

Since I don't know a fucking thing about predators I polled Predator players asking what they wanted on the ship that I could do without having to create new systems for the ship, so stuff made it to the ship that probably wasn't exactly pred-code friendly and the rest of it is mostly fluff-RP. A few of the areas are just redesigns of older areas with better lighting and a few more items in them, but even then the ship still feels a little empty in my opinion.

When the updated model finally came out, predator players expanded for a little bit with the opportunities provided to them for a bit, before they were reigned in by rules from Elders and Headstaff in a clarification thread and nobody has talked about it since.

[x31stOverlord]

Several of the rules have been around a bit after Abby put in the original version of the predator ship, which I would like to point out was never updated since she originally put it and the predators themselves in until Feweh asked me to update it during my tenure as a mapper.

Since I don't know a fucking thing about predators I polled Predator players asking what they wanted on the ship that I could do without having to create new systems for the ship, so stuff made it to the ship that probably wasn't exactly pred-code friendly and the rest of it is mostly fluff-RP. A few of the areas are just redesigns of older areas with better lighting and a few more items in them, but even then the ship still feels a little empty in my opinion.

When the updated model finally came out, predator players expanded for a little bit with the opportunities provided to them for a bit, before they were reigned in by rules from Elders and Headstaff in a clarification thread and nobody has talked about it since.

Thank you for your work on the ship. It is a nice layout and has ample facilities for use! Buy yeah, it makes sense that you may not have been adding things to coincide with pred code but local thought! Not your fault and it is about time we get an update to the Pred code and guideline!

[Biolock]

Back in the 'good ol' days' (when your best staff Biolock was still around), predators had a lot of slack to play with the round as they saw fit. Of course, with lienecy comes people who would abuse that freedom; as the tale goes, people abused. Truly predators don't fit on Colonial Marines, not as a non-staff entity anyway. Predators use to draw their allure from being almost a myth on the server, where you might think people were messing with you if they claimed to have seen one a few games ago. As they became more popular, they also became more heavily critiqued, and with more players having access to them, rules started being necessary to prevent predators from ruining rounds. They don't work if everyone knows what they can and cannot do. When people don't know the limits of their powers (both mechanically and according to the rules), that is where the predator shines... but those days are long behind CM.

[Forst]

I'm against Preds. Kill them on sight as xeno and marine.

As Alien: I've seen, and been killed by, Preds who wander in the Queens/my chamber for no reason other to murder me. Even when we were losing it still happened so the 'more honorable prey' didn't even apply. I would think as a drone I should be safe, since I am the weakest of the entire hive and would make a poor trophy.

As Marine: I try to communicate using hand signals and offering foodstuffs. I was a survivor in a marine Hydro base, looking out a window with no armor or weapons. I took a plasma bolt to the face.

[Rikman]

I'm against Preds. Kill them on sight as xeno and marine.

As Alien: I've seen, and been killed by, Preds who wander in the Queens/my chamber for no reason other to murder me. Even when we were losing it still happened so the 'more honorable prey' didn't even apply. I would think as a drone I should be safe, since I am the weakest of the entire hive and would make a poor trophy.

As Marine: I try to communicate using hand signals and offering foodstuffs. I was a survivor in a marine Hydro base, looking out a window with no armor or weapons. I took a plasma bolt to the face.

Did you even report them at all?

[Kerek]

If you ever think a pred did something wrong then report them. Just make to actually cite something from the honor code instead of just saying he kill me plz remove. Goes a long way when you properly cite the thing you’re reporting them for.

[Butlerblock]

If you ever think a pred did something wrong then report them. Just make to actually cite something from the honor code instead of just saying he kill me plz remove. Goes a long way when you properly cite the thing you’re reporting them for.

Almost all of the time a pred does something scummy, it’s not against the honor code.

[Kerek]

Almost all of the time a pred does something scummy, it’s not against the honor code.

Scummy is subjective. Xenos do plenty of things that are ‘scummy’ to marines and vice versa.

[Butlerblock]

But neither marines nor xenos are a singular, usually robust individual that has the speed of an elite runner, the armor of a B-18, long range stuns, and somewhat op melee weapons. And then shove 4 or 5 of these in a round.

[ThePiachu]

There is roleplay aspect for sure, but you also can't forget that a predator can also be a balancing force in the game. If xenos are winning too much lately, predators should hunt them. If marines win too much, predators should hunt them. This can be an organic balancing force that is external to devs changing the game, and it's useful that it can be applied to either side of the conflict.