The Next Step : Knowing about Xenos

[Kesserline]

What about, instead of discovering EVERY ROUND that we are fighting xenus, what is a crab thingy and such.

Knowing what a xenomorph is generally, what a crab is, generally, and so on.

And actually finds other purposes for the survivor that doesn't imply 5 minutes for RP-debriefing and then forget in the void of "I don't give a fuck-Land".

Can we discuss about it ?

[DefinitelyAlone0309]

I would love to be able to know beforehand that they're at least dangerous, organized (either with or without the knowledge of a queen) and can reproduce somehow (without the knowledge of crab cycle) and some of their abilities (some generic stuff like pounce, spit, charge).

I'm a bit tired of the whole "hurr durr, I saw a red dog, guess it's just a fauna and we shouldn't shoot at it (some COs and XOs tell us this) and just leave it be, hurr durr"

Seriously, search for a picture of the xenomorph on google and tell me you don't want to either shoot or run the fuck away from that thing on sight.

[Dauntasa]

At this point I don't think that 20 minutes of "I THINK I SAW A DOG" really adds anything to the RP, and gameplay wise people just go get larvae removed anyway and instantly know exactly how xenos work the instant someone says "it's aliens" over the radio.

[Heckenshutze]

Maybe when we get a new ship, since the Almayer is placed in our lore after the recent loss of the USS Sulaco and the MIA of the USS Sephora, the survivors of these two are the marines that already know the Xenomorphs and it's unlikely the Almayer or the USCM at all could get that intel before the Almayer finds it by themselves by deploying in X colony.

Would be nice, when we get a new ship, to move a few years in the LORE and place us in the Timeline after the First Contact and the USCM is well aware of the Xenomorphs at least to some extent (Like in the AVP games) where marines deployed just to exterminate the vermins (The OG Bug Hunt)

[Davidchan]

I got to say, the game would be a LOT more fun if the Almayer was actually intended on wiping the Xenos out from the start as a de-infestation platoon or the likes. They have basic understanding what the Queen is, the general roles of the various castes, and so on. The whole 20 minutes of 'Oh hey, this is weird' where people are expected to make what they know is a bad decision just isn't really fun and leads to a lot of bad expectations for either side, and generates salt when someone doesn't 'RP' and railroad themselves into a bad situation (destroying eggs on sight, running over claymores, walking into an obvious trap or allowing the enemy to utilize an obvious advantage because nobody witnessed them do otherwise.)

[Gray]

I really think CM needs a whole tempo change. I understand that CM is in essence a MilRP server based on the Aliens universe but the whole routine of waking up, running to Req, and then fighting while we wait for a briefing is getting really really boring. Especially when this same routine happens every single round.

I personally think that the 25 minutes lock on dropships is BS but I understand why its needed from a Lore prespective. There is nothing for marines to do in this wait time other than interact/RP(haha who does this other than charlie), be late for req and sit in a line for 15 minutes, or RP and get into a fight which results in you being locked up for 15 minutes plus, robbing you of more game time.

I enjoy playing CM, I really do. However all this wasting of time has been gnawing at me day by day especially as I start to get busier again with summer ending. I really wish rounds were shorter and things were easier to get into. Let the shipside roles RP, let the marines go down and shoot xenos.

I'll re-iterate that I really think a change of tempo is needed. The same routine is getting boring and its driving me away. "It's okay if you leave someone else will eventually come and replace you. People come and go." While yes, people do come and go, I don't think CM as a whole should be driving people away because "this is the way it is and this is the way it's going to stay because of some reason or incident that happened when I farted 2 summers ago."

[adrenalinetooth]

While I am tired of repeating the whole 'what are these animals' gimmick, it wouldn't work with the current lore to send the Almayer on a bug hunt. Special forces or at least more well trained soldiers would be sent to take care of the aliens instead of sending in the Almayer's marines. By sending in the Almayer, they would just be giving the aliens free hosts for the most part because of how poorly trained the Almayer's marines are.

[GenericUsername]

Doesn't make sense for the USCM to be aware of the xenos. Hell, even sometimes the WY Director tells the CL he didn't know of their existence (which is justified since WY is supposed to be so big that not every employee knows about what other divisions are doing).

However, I think the colony could send an automated message to CIC telling them that the colony is under attack from an unknown alien species and that the marines should be extremely careful. That way the CO/XO could tell the marines about the dangers awaiting them. Plus, facehugged marines would at least know that they might have a pathogen or something/ doctors wouldn't shrug it off.

Might as well make that a gitlab suggestion

[Reuben Owen]

I really think CM needs a whole tempo change. I understand that CM is in essence a MilRP server based on the Aliens universe but the whole routine of waking up, running to Req, and then fighting while we wait for a briefing is getting really really boring. Especially when this same routine happens every single round.

Pray they give us a fixed Whiskey Outpost back

[Nickvr628]

Honestly, I think Corporate Mercenary can teach CM a few lessons on having an enjoyable experience.

In Corporate Mercenary there are no meta rules on xenos, no having to pretend to not know what anything is, you just go down there and you shoot xenos. Often times you see more action in the first ten minutes of Corporate Mercenary than the entire first hour of Colonial Marines. Colonial Marines has become a waiting game IMO. You wait in the RO line, you wait in prep, you wait for the fog/pod doors, you wait to shoot the xenos because you are not allowed to shoot them when they first appear, and then you (quite often) die very quickly. Having to wait 20 minutes after seeing the first xeno to make hostile action against them only makes this issue worse.

We can have a faster-paced game while still maintaining some level of military RP, I REALLY enjoy the fast paced nature of Corporate Mercenaries and I hate it when updates and meta changes make Colonial Marines ever-slower paced. I think that removing the metaknowledge restrictions on xenos would be a decent way to do that. Be it through a lore change as others have described above, or however the devs would implement it, I think it would go far in making Colonial Marines more fun.

Being completely honest, the 1 hour ish rounds of Corporate Mercenary feel a lot better than the almost 4 hour rounds we have sometimes. The pacing of CM needs some work, and removing the artificial restrictions on marine knowledge would help improve it.

[Bath Salts Addict]

In a lot of the new Aliens comics which generally follow a loose timeline, humanity has a general working knowledge of Xenomorphs. (they took over Earth, even!) They don't know much, but they know the basics. I feel like if the lore were to ever develop beyond the constant infinite timeloop that it's been stuck in for years, it should be one in which humanity knows about Xenos to an extent.

I would like to see a canon event that marks a drastic change in the lore, where Marines of the Almayer come into contact with Xenos for the very "first" time. (The event would have to be sided in the Marines' favor of course so they can win, and any deaths would be non-canonical unless the player wanted it to be that way), and sets the stage for future engagements as everyone becomes aware of the one thing that can seriously threaten the technological juggernaut that is humanity.

[Nantei]

I always shoot aliens on sight. Don't care what the CO/XO says, that thing has GIANT FUCKING CLAWS, there's no way it's friendly!

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

I always shoot aliens on sight. Don't care what the CO/XO says

Same,

I agree with all the points being brought up here.All the waiting is pretty draining as a regular player.

And so is the the whole charade of acting dumb about xenoes.

[RobBrown4PM]

I like the idea of not knowing anything about the xeno's, however, I think rounds would benefit from USCM HC sending the CiC their interpretation of what is wrong, based on such and such intel.

Perhaps a varied number of scripted intel reports can be coded in, and after the round starts one is automatically sent. Maybe HC has reason to believe UPP is in the area based on recent sightings. Maybe there was an environmental disaster based on some geological report dumped on their desk.

We don't need to re-invent the wheel here guys, it's fine as is. But perhaps a bit of tweaking might help spice things up.

[Davidchan]

We don't need to re-invent the wheel here guys, it's fine as is. But perhaps a bit of tweaking might help spice things up.

You mean like Marines have had to re-invent the wheel every single round about first contact with a very predictable enemy? "Weeds!" "Corpses!" "A dog!" "Crabs!" "Vents!" "Worms!" "Big Red One!" "Screecher!"

No, it's old, it's been going on for 4 years, it adds Nothing to the RP when it's forced. You want to allow Marines to RP being raw recruits and having never encountered xenos before, fine, but to flatline forbid everyone from having the faintest clue about an enemy everyone knows is going to be there, under some half ass excused that it leads to emergent gameplay is horseshit. There is a very good reason most rounds play out the same, because there is no variable to how the marines are allowed to react to Xenos. Find a better excuse or stop railroading RP on a supposed Medium RP server.

[Rohesie]

A little history. In 2012 a player makes a TG mod called xenostation. Basically the marines arrive to station which had been wiped out by xenos and a confrontation happens. It has a lot of the elements of what now define CM: squads, commanders, squad specializations (leaders, engineers, combat medics, specs), lack of comms. It had no RP rules and it was completely action-based.

It quickly becomes the most popular server, but due to lack of moderation and complete absence from the host, being closed-source, it dies as a grief-fest.

https://www.theforgottenzone.com/hosted ... =3&t=11643

In 2013 the first Colonial Marines server comes up, not affiliated with this current one, and also in parallel at least another known as Infestation Station. The transition to Bay code is made then and the first-contact-rule. It is supposed to be a RP server, not an action one. The Sulaco is made, the Alien lore enters the game with much more force than before, pulse rifles and all that jazz.

Current CM drinks directly from that source. Should Apop still be here I could say with full confidence that the first-contact-rule won't be going away. With the new staff management I'm not so sure as before.

I'm biased. In 2013 I got overruled by the host who implemented that rule. I'm still against it. It becomes stale to go "oh my god, a larva burst from this marine's chest, I cannot believe it" after the fourth time, and when I had recently started playing again I made the mistake as a doctor not to prioritize an infected patient, RPing the cold the patient claimed to have not to be something urgent, in favor of a patient with IB or broken bones, and well, that got me an enemy in rounds to come.

All that said, CM plays an interesting game at trying to remain RP-serious while spawning singo-style colored corgis, clown masks and honking guns, talking cats and whatever admemery the online admins decide to. Because the staff is diverse and we don't have much centralization or even a somewhat-unified vision on what is proper RP and what is LRP. It ends up bogging down to whoever from the admin team is online, and whatever they think.

That said, if it were up to me? I'd say removing the first-contact rule would be positive for the server. That is for a HRP server, and we are more than clearly not one.

[Bath Salts Addict]

The year is 2188, two years after the humanity's fateful first contact with the Xenomorph species on LV-624 by the Marines of the USS Almayer's 2nd and 4th brigades. While some suspect foul play, the Weyland-Yutani corporation's involvement in the loss of the colony could not be proven in court, thanks much in part to their influence in the upper echelons of both the government and the military, and their research into the Xenomorph species continues through any means necessary, even through the loss of life, property and colonies. The subequent destruction of the LV-624 colony by nuclear bombardment marked the first victory of humanity in a war that up until that point it did not even realize it was fighting. While some information of the Xenomorph species is known to the general public, the arrogance of mankind continues to reach boundless heights, and many in the inner colonies and on Sol itself disregard the Xenomorphs as mindless animals, and that their existence is a mere curio. The outer colonies, however, those most exposed, use the newfound knowledge as fuel to the already-blazing fires of dissent, citing the failures of the United Americas and it's military to protect it's most vulnerable. As a result, CLF recruitment skyrockets over the belief that the only ones capable of protecting them are each other while the Union of Progressive Peoples takes advantage of the growing dissent to stir the pot. Worker strikes, rebellions, and declarations of seccession reach peak levels, while the USCM ramps up it's displays of force required to put down these revolts. Disgusted, public opinion of the USCM in the outer-colonies plummets, and the wheel of hatred keeps turning. Every few months it seems like a new colony or ship goes dark, and the supposed "experts" can only guess why. With too few manpower and a rising rebellion in the outer rim to worry about, the USCM's hands are tied. Humanity's secret war for survival continues on.

There. Some free, fresh lore right off the grill.

This implies that the Marines lost the planet to the xenos and had to nuke it in order to exterminate the threat, doing so before they could hijack the dropship. Without any surviving specimens and nothing to go on other than the words of the Marines, a lot of the knowledge is known only to the basics, such as their reproduction, t1 and t2 xenos, while the Queen and tier threes largely remain unknown since they were all nuked after the Marines got roflstomped on the planet before anyone living could see them. With this, humanity save for the outer colonies and the lower rank-and-file of the USCM fail to see the Xenomorph threat for what it really is, and so requests for support when asking for help to fight against "giant lizards" is largely balked at while W-Y continues on with it's merry experiments untouched.

[Jeser]

The year is 2188, two years after the humanity's fateful first contact with the Xenomorph species on LV-624 by the Marines of the USS Almayer's 2nd and 4th brigades. While some suspect foul play, the Weyland-Yutani corporation's involvement in the loss of the colony could not be proven in court, thanks much in part to their influence in the upper echelons of both the government and the military, and their research into the Xenomorph species continues through any means necessary, even through the loss of life, property and colonies. The subequent destruction of the LV-624 colony by nuclear bombardment marked the first victory of humanity in a war that up until that point it did not even realize it was fighting. While some information of the Xenomorph species is known to the general public, the arrogance of mankind continues to reach boundless heights, and many in the inner colonies and on Sol itself disregard the Xenomorphs as mindless animals, and that their existence is a mere curio. The outer colonies, however, those most exposed, use the newfound knowledge as fuel to the already-blazing fires of dissent, citing the failures of the United Americas and it's military to protect it's most vulnerable. As a result, CLF recruitment skyrockets over the belief that the only ones capable of protecting them are each other while the Union of Progressive Peoples takes advantage of the growing dissent to stir the pot. Worker strikes, rebellions, and declarations of seccession reach peak levels, while the USCM ramps up it's displays of force required to put down these revolts. Disgusted, public opinion of the USCM in the outer-colonies plummets, and the wheel of hatred keeps turning. Every few months it seems like a new colony or ship goes dark, and the supposed "experts" can only guess why. With too few manpower and a rising rebellion in the outer rim to worry about, the USCM's hands are tied. Humanity's secret war for survival continues on.

There. Some free, fresh lore right off the grill.

This implies that the Marines lost the planet to the xenos and had to nuke it in order to exterminate the threat, doing so before they could hijack the dropship. Without any surviving specimens and nothing to go on other than the words of the Marines, a lot of the knowledge is known only to the basics, such as their reproduction, t1 and t2 xenos, while the Queen and tier threes largely remain unknown since they were all nuked after the Marines got roflstomped on the planet before anyone living could see them. With this, humanity save for the outer colonies and the lower rank-and-file of the USCM fail to see the Xenomorph threat for what it really is, and so requests for support when asking for help to fight against "giant lizards" is largely balked at while W-Y continues on with it's merry experiments untouched.

Simply brilliant.

[BobatNight]

Nobody likes doing the same old "ohh durr hostile fauna space dogs guise, this is so spooky dooky"

[Lorem123]

I can't say I have enjoyed a single round where my squad makes first contact with the Xenos and we have to RP being completely retarded otherwise it's 'metagaming' for not letting ourselves walk into traps.

[LittleBlast]

What if at the start of each round it explained what was already known? Some rounds it would be going in blind, some rounds it would be basic knowledge, some rounds it could be full knowledge. Change up each round a little!

[Davidchan]

To be entirely honest I just want a 'SURPRISE!' Round where the Almayer is struck by a resin covered meteor ~15 minutes into a round and the xenos are on the ship with no where for the dropships to go. Multi-Z level maps are just bad for balance and greatly extend the round lengths imo and not in a good way.