Whitelisting SL, CO, Spec

[Haveatya]

Summary (a quick, 2-3 sentence summary): Whitelist the aformentioned roles

Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole): Competent marines get into these slots so that when you see a lead or a specialist, you know they know what they are doing.

Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc): SL, CO, Specs are all chosen and promoted to their roles because of ability. That should be brought over to the CM server. Whitelisting these roles ensures that you don't get a bald spec that cryos in 3 minutes, or worse, SADARs the FOB because it is funny. You won't see a squad lead that doesn''t know he needs to manually reload his shotgun with unique action or what the beacons are for. Now, I know this may seem like an elitist thing to do, but it is no different than most conventional servers that require white lists for heads, or even security. The biggest downfall of marines i find is the lack of coordination or inability to effectively use all of their tools. Whitelists can cut down on ineffective handling of the more powerful equipment, but also leads to more coordination as those who will be whitelisted are more likely to understand that communication and tactics are required to win.

Implementation (Optional, if you have an idea how to implement it): -

Addendum: I know I am posting a lot of suggestions lately, I just like to present any and all ideas I have that might make the game more fun or realistic. These are of course just my opinions however

[Whistle]

Aye in favour.

[Shyguychizzy]

Should include XO as well, anyhow seems like a good idea that might prevent marine losses. I do recall one time XO which was the only commanding staff online was giving a briefing. In looc the XO them self said "I don't know what
what I am doing". Just didn't give a briefing of the colony or what not. So here's a +1 to prevent such shit staff/Leads.

[Aeleto]

Bad idea, they could get empty pretty often and ruining the marine round 'cause no whitelisted person bothered to enter the server.

[Warnipple]

Bad idea, they could get empty pretty often and ruining the marine round 'cause no whitelisted person bothered to enter the server.

This. CO whitelisted is going to be a thing iirc. It was mentioned in the townhall meeting that there will be a whitelisted Admiral role which outranks the Commander. Whoever is whitelisted for it (good Commanders), will be able to spawn in as the Admiral at any time when they're dead and take command. So if you have a shitty Commander, someone dies and is whitelisted can take over. I think that is how it went, the town hall meeting was quite a while ago though. I also remember the Admiral being able to cut off peoples hands and someone telling a fun story about that.

[Egorkor]

would be better off with timelocks, there're a ton of threads regarding that.

[Steelpoint]

Timelocks for higher rank and difficulty roles would be better.

[TopHatPenguin]

would be better off with timelocks, there're a ton of threads regarding that.

Timelocks for higher rank and difficulty roles would be better.

Pretty much this.

Whitelisting imo just wouldn't work for anything except extra roles (like the predator etc.) as it generally takes a while to get enough feedback on an application to get a consensus to whether or not you are accepted or denied, then if you are accepted there is the processing time as well which will most likely be a while as the high up staff have other things to do.(also judging by how many predator apps we have accepted currently which is 13, there would most likely be a similar number accepted for command roles which wouldn't be too great.That's just a hypothesis though.)

On another note a fair number of players on CM either don't know we have a forums or just won't sign up to it so that lowers the overall amount of people who would apply, and considering a command role is a fairly stressful job that will also lower the amount of people who would apply.

Atleast with timelocks there would be a sense of progression for the player as they gain the needed hours/days or whatever time you need to understand how rounds work and hopefully they would gain useful knowledge along the way.
Instead of being flat out denied in a whitelist because "-1 we don't who you are" or "You'll need some more forum activity, please re-apply later."

Those are just sum of my thoughts summed up pretty much.

[Steelpoint]

The only mainstream server I can think of that uses whitelisting is Goonstations Head of Security.

There's no comparable role on A:CM that I think warrents that whitelisting, sans the Predator but the Predator and Head of Security are not really comparable (even though I'm confident the Head of Security would win in a fight with the Predator).

The only, ONLY, role you may get away with whitelisting is the Specialist but even thats a massive stretch and I would be against it. Just put a two week time lock on the Spec.

[Youngblood]

I am most definitely in favor. As a matter of fact, the lack of a whitelist regarding these roles was the first thing that came to mind, after I came to realize that anyone could just sign up for round critical slots.

Personally I don't see how slapping a time-lock on these roles could benefit the server in the long run either, seeing as time doesn't necessarily equate to quality. And that's what you're looking for with these essential roles, quality players, that possess the ability to set an example in roleplay. Truthfully, I'd rather make up some twisted IC reasoning behind a Sulaco not being manned by a CO, XO and what have you, than to sit through a round in which half the players are in a constant head-scratch mode over irradical orders and command behaviour. I mean, the argument could be made that bad command doesn't always lead to failure or a bust-round, but more often than not a briefing suffices as a solid indicator for how enjoyable a round is going to pan out. That alone leads me to believe that a whitelist is necessary when it comes to slots that have such a heavy impact on quite literally every other player, marine or no.

Personally I could do without a whitelist for specialists and even squadleaders, don't get me wrong, they too make for a much better all-around experience when manned by the right players, but I could see that adding these would amount to too much bureaucracy. And I'm of the firm belief that a solid command team has the tools to deal with bad SLs and SPCs respectively.


bottom line;
predators are whitelisted for a reason, seeing as they have great potential to be round-ruining if run incorrectly. The same very much applies to a bad queen, CO, and/or XO. They might not have the individual firepower, but the potential for a bad chain of events is self-explanatory with their respective numbers and bad judgement.

[Surrealistik]

+1 Badly needed. Probably the best way to implement this is an automatic whitelist keyed to time actually spent on the server, while playing on team Marine.

[NoShamNoWow]

3rd Suggestion I've seen over this topic, still dunno why they don't get accepted already. +1 of course.

[Haveatya]

After some further consideration I'd like to explain some things. I left XO open so that you have a better chance of always have a lead of some sort. XO is where the CO whitelist is chosen from and the CO should be able to fine tune the XO into proper leadership material. Maybe SL is an unnecessary white list, Specialist however is not. A timelock seems quite warranted in place of a timelock, I admit to that being a superior option in the Specialist's case.

[Joe4444]

+1 maybe only in greytide season....Or make it so more experienced players have a higher chance of getting said role? i.e if chuckle mc chucklefuck want to be SL he could set it to high. However if a regular would set it to high he would have a better chance of getting said role

[Haveatya]

The server never has a particularly low player base from what I can tell. When it is low most people who fill the roles at that time are pretty veteran anyways. The exception to that is Specialist but -everyone- wants to be a specialist unless they are being one of the other 3 roles.

[MrJJJ]

(even though I'm confident the Head of Security would win in a fight with the Predator).

Yes, a HOS is gonna win against a predator who has a plasma gun, either a lot of health or really great armor to survive shit tons of damage, surviving more than even the queen could take from a machette...

[Steelpoint]

But the Head of Security has a critical advantage.

He's the most robust and powergaming motherfucker on the station.

[lcass123]

Not spec , SL yes (but you would have exactly the same people doing it every round so that needs sorting) and yes for CO and XO. Spec is just a marine with fancy weapons , they don't actually control the squad and are really just a super special standard and makes rounds enjoyable when you get to play as them every so often , removing it just leads to the same old "stormtrooper" treatment that occurs with standards. Live - Friendly fire - Die - Repeat

[Joe4444]

Not spec , SL yes (but you would have exactly the same people doing it every round so that needs sorting) and yes for CO and XO. Spec is just a marine with fancy weapons , they don't actually control the squad and are really just a super special standard and makes rounds enjoyable when you get to play as them every so often , removing it just leads to the same old "stormtrooper" treatment that occurs with standards. Live - Friendly fire - Die - Repeat

The Spec is second in command.If you whitelist SL squads are fucked in lowpop if no SLs are on.They have weapons that could tip the balance of the map.I'd rarther a sniper go to Issac Miller than to urist mc chucklefuck

[lcass123]

ok but in terms of the average player how dull does playing standard or medic get every fucking round , specialists are the only thing that switch up the round for average players and should remain accessable to them. It's not just about what is best for strategy but actual enjoyment of every player.

[Joe4444]

the people who won't apply for/wait for a lock on a role are new players who don't know how fucking boring it is to kill shit because that's all they want to do. They come here to kill shit and that's its. The ones who stick are the ones who apply. The ones who apply are the ones who will(most likely) be competent enough to use The diverse armoury the spec has

[lcass123]

Alright but the other issue is you will have whitelisting of Spec based off notes which means that players who are legitimately good with specs but may have shitty history from CO or other positions will get rejected and it will spoil it for them. I mean if you are going down that argument line then every weaponised role should be whitelisted and new players should only play MT.

I agree completely with SL and command but not for spec.

[Joe4444]

They're history shouldn't hamper their chance of getting whitelisted as spec unless they always ghost, Greif etc. If they had a bad history as a another role then how would that affect them as a spec? going down the route I'm suggesting would make it so the more critical roles would get whitelisted,time locked etc. As I said a spec is one of the most critical parts of a squad and many a times I've seen a spec make or brake a battle. I'd rather that spec be a more veteran player than a new player who just joined the server for the very first time and doesn't know what each role does or even know where there spec room is. Maybe a time lock would be more suitable for the spec and a whitelist for CO and the SL?

[lcass123]

I would prefer a timelock for these things with something like 3 days for spec and CL, 7 days for RO and CE CMO BO, 14 days for CO XO

[Haveatya]

RO, BO, and XO don't really need to be restricted. XO gets overruled by CO and is a good place for people to get command experience. 3 days isn't much at all. 7 or 14 definitely seems good for SPC, SL, CO. CL i never thought about but that might be an actual white list role even if we went with a timelock. CLs get interesting RP opportunities and leaving trusted players the role may be the best way to not get crazy murder goons or silent thiefs in there but actual rp friendly liaisons.