Mercenaries

[Mycroft Macarthur]

Summary (a quick, 2-3 sentence summary): a potential alternative to marine reinforcements, late game predator add-ins, WY commandos and so on

Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole): Mercenaries would represent another force that admins could throw in for almost any reason to change how a given round is going for various roleplay and event purposes

Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc): i remember reading abit back that apop wanted more ideas for things they can throw into a round for some reason, when i saw that this popped into my head.

Mercenaries would represent a group of enigmatic figures that could appear, essentially they would represent a force of armed humans much like the marines who have arrived to accomplish some form of goal that may be in line with, or in direct opposition to the goals of the marines themselves and the marines would never be sure as to how to respond to them because you truly cant trust them COMPLETELY, they could be here for any NUMBER of reasons.

maybe the marines have been calling command for evac of some kind and rather then allow them to flee they would send in backup much like HiT in pre-alpha, the MAIN problem however with HiT was that they were essentially a round ender which could give the marines a victory which they had unfairly earned whereas mercenaries could be both better or even worse then the marines themselves in terms of their equipment, the marines could in fact be receiving this backup at all due to excellent roleplay on the part of the marines or because they've just "Earned It", on an IC level the marines may be expecting to be saved by special forces (if regular marines couldn't get the job done what would the point be of even MORE marines of the same kind being sent?) only to suddenly be greeted by these guns for hire, afterall who is to say the USCM even has specforce nearby to send? sometimes you send whatever happens to be available and if its important enough our government is all too willing to pay private military companies to do the job for us if we cant, or dont want to do the job ourselves.

or maybe instead the mercenaries are here at the behest of weyland yutani, afterall if you see a bunch of WY commandos most of the marines will metagame and know that they are here to fucking KILL them but a mercenary could technically be on ANYONES side, if WY wants a mess cleaned up they COULD send their own teams to do it but you cant maintain "Plausible Deniability" when its YOUR soldiers doing the dirty work and this IS the sort of thing that could potentially bite them in the ass later, aside from which their own commandos if sent in to do the job will probably just start a gunfight, a crew of mercs however will do anything and everything for the right price and if they somehow fail you can always pretend they were just space pirates or some shit like that, who is a judge going to believe? a bunch of guys who kill people for money or the megacorp that employs countless civilians in your country across all industries and does its best to maintain a good public image, mercenaries however can pretend to be friends to the marines and then stab them in the back at the last minute, the marines afterall have just as much reason to trust them as they do to NOT trust them which cannot be said of your own forces.

maybe the colonists just sent a wide band distress signal and the mercenaries are just a bunch of other people who happened to receive the same message and decided to show up, while the marines have an actual reason to stay here and destroy the aliens maybe they can see the potential dollar sign value to capturing some of the aliens alive and selling them to a random megacorp for the highest bidder, how different can it be from bounty hunting? not only that but the colony ITSELF may have shit worth taking, marines may fight and die for their country against the alien menace but we're not patriots, we fight and die for MONEY and maybe we should be trying to make off with all the gold and silver mined from the caves, the mechs and fancy PAI's and so on and then run away.

or maybe, the mercenaries have fought the yautja before and are trying to hunt the hunters and have followed them here and the greater war between the marines and aliens is to these guys, just a footnote in their own quest, another obstacle to avoid or overcome, or stranger yet perhaps they have met together before and circumstances have brought them TOGETHER, perhaps they both hunted the same prey, fought, the mercs won and showed the yautja mercy thus becoming their equals, why wouldn't they then unite for future hunts if they wanted to? nothing in the predator code of honor specifies you HAVE to hunt alone, just that you cant steal another hunters kill, mercenaries are spacers by definition and will travel to reaches of space that marines or corporate officials would have no reason to visit so its hardly impossible they would run into the yautja either individually or in larger gatherings during their travels, mercenaries are technically hunters in their own right so its hardly impossible for such a meeting to end peacefully, stranger things have happened afterall.

ultimately, such a force could be VERY easily shoehorned into any role the admins chose to tell whatever story or add whatever obstacle they so choose, mercenaries are handy in that they can fit ANY bill and have so much fewer restrictions then any of the lore factions do and we DO know mercenaries exist in the aliens universe since all of the surviving protagonists of alien Resurrection were guns for hire hired to do a job by the U.S. government who more or less just happened to be there at the wrong time, you can give them any equipment you want since they arent bound by most of the rules marines would need to follow, able to use everything from swords and other archaic pieces to advanced energy weapons to expensive modern firearms that are too pricey to be standard issue, mercs dont really HAVE a standard issue, all their equipment is whatever they could buy, steal, scavenge, things which they were given or things which they inherited, they also tend to take in people who want the kind of action oriented life style a life of violence will bring but dont mesh well with authority figures or who happen to be talented but arent quite soldier material, you want something abit more professional? change the word "Mercenary" to "Private Military Company" and you have a third faction who can oppose the marines on their own terms.

personally i think the concept could go places and admins could use it to throw in all kinds of awesome shit into the midst of ANY round or game type, but of course I would think its good since its my idea, what about you guys? anyone who thinks its interesting or do you all say its stupid?

Implementation (Optional, if you have an idea how to implement it): this would be as complicated to add as it would be to add say, WY commandos, syndies or any other hostile/benevolent third party that can suddenly appear in the midst of a round.

[DesFrSpace]

These are all good ideas, then again, as it doesn't flip the Lore, that's some thing fun, but that'd be like making Marine into "Special" Marine.

[Mycroft Macarthur]

its not the sort of thing we'd want to see every round certainly, not even something that should be its own round so much as something that can happen during any OTHER round.

[Sargeantmuffinman]

This happened in the per-alpha where apop did a PMC round where they gather intel or some shit.

+1.

Another thing the marines have to fear.

[Lostmixup]

I think it sounds cool, we need more human on human action.

[apophis775]

There's some discussion about this. I'm willing to hear more input.

[Jack McIntyre]

I would love to have this. Granted only time I played a mercenary on a game was on when me and a group of guys who played Day Z started a little mercenary group and played with different mil sim units. We would either go in with support missions or missions independent of the unit, for example we had one mission where we had to take a VIP through some towns and such just kind of a showy thing while the military unit was clearing some base of hostiles or whatever, but usually for the mil sim unit, they would have some new guy or something screw up, I remember one time we were going down a highway with our little convoy of two SUV's, one of them had a chain-gun that popped out if you needed it, but we were getting made fun of on the radio by the ranger unit we were playing with. This was one of the few times that they wanted our guys fighting with them during their little "operation" although it was just a mission. So we decided we were going convoy when the rangers all said they wanted to fast rope in. Rangers were cocky until the enemy with rpg's and stingers shot their birds out of the sky and the few survivors were pinned down outside of the compound they were trying to assault. So our group of only eight guys had to go rescue them and then we secured the compound with the few rangers that were left. Sorry to say, I love the military, but Ronald Reagan was right in his speech when he says the best always go to the private sector. I will say if there is a mercenary round I will the first volunteer to do this.

+1 from me, the private security companies (fun fact they aren't military companies anymore because they are trying to do avoid the stereotype of what the name brings after Blackwater, sorry I know I give a lot of info, but did my college thesis on this, so I can give a lot of fun info). Although not sure if there would be a lot of human vs human unless of course the mercenaries were given the mission by WY or maybe someone else hired them to wipe out the marines and get evidence to blackmail WY. But i don't see the mercenaries working with the marines completely either because they have their mission and the marines have their own. Now if the mercenary group was wiped out a survivor may seek refugee with the marines because I mean murderous alien bio weapons and a extra gun in a fight isn't the worst thing to have. Would add more role play to the server though and would love to see the interaction. I also would maybe even create a mercenary group and a backstory for, put a little portfolio together if this was implemented due to my studies and fascination with the industry of private military's and security companies.

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

There's two canon mercenary groups. The Weyland PMCs (we have DMIs) and the Iron Bears. Both work for Weyland Yutani: the PMCs directly and the Iron Bears under contract.

[Mitchs98]

+1 for Iron Bears over PMC's. Why? Name sounds badass, plus stronk like bear.

[Jack McIntyre]

Yea I have to agree Iron Bears sounds just sounds better

[canon35]

Iron Bears is a great name. Anyways, it'd be nice to have them pop up every now and again, possibly on a secret mission (Like trying to track down and capture a queen, or a predator, maybe a survivor with valuable info W-Y doesn't want getting out?

[Steelpoint]

Imo I think the WY PMC's are used for very sensitive operations where WY want to take no chances in security being comprimised, whereas the Iron Bears are used for more general security.

I prefer the WY PCM's but to each their own.

[Felkvir]

+1 for Iron Bears .... Badass name, and concept

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

My only gripe is that the Iron Bears are a lot less representative of Weyland Yutani which removes a lot of potential RP strain between the USCM and WY.

I could see us using both for different purposes.

[Dyne]

-1 from me, unless its some rare event occasion.
Aliens vs marines already have powerful tension and potential.
Not seeing the value of throwing in another (as we already have predators as the wild card) third side into the fray.

Sulako marines are there exactly as there was no other ship in the area, and space travel is far from instant.
Sure, there might be another unaligned ship responding to the distress signal, yet such a faction would just lead to more chaos,
likely being introduced past the 2 hour mark, when things are chaotic enough already.

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

An example of an Iron Bear on the left and a Weyland PMC on the right.

[coroneljones]

An example of an Iron Bear on the left and a Weyland PMC on the right.

Can we have both?
Also..once again.....Amazing work Joshuu

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

Can we have both?
Also..once again.....Amazing work Joshuu

Thanks!

I'd like to have both. Maybe when they're spawned, the game randomly picks either the Iron Bears equipment or the WY PMC equipment. Or the Iron Bears could be used as the "Rebels" in a rebel gamemode. Functionally, they're a little different.


PMCs (canonically) carry M39s with the M240 Incinerator as their heavy weapon.

Iron Bears (canonically) carry M41as and have a minigun/sentry gun as their heavy weapon.


When PMCs were present in Colonial Marine classic as event antagonists, they carried white M39s with special ammo, stub-batons and a white/red frag grenade.

[Lord Lag]

I would love to see something like this in game. Ambiguous enemies are pretty interesting.

[Gentlefood]

Thanks!

I'd like to have both. Maybe when they're spawned, the game randomly picks either the Iron Bears equipment or the WY PMC equipment. Or the Iron Bears could be used as the "Rebels" in a rebel gamemode. Functionally, they're a little different.


PMCs (canonically) carry M39s with the M240 Incinerator as their heavy weapon.

Iron Bears (canonically) carry M41as and have a minigun/sentry gun as their heavy weapon.


When PMCs were present in Colonial Marine classic as event antagonists, they carried white M39s with special ammo, stub-batons and a white/red frag grenade.

The 2010 AvP WY PMCs were combat synths which carried Rifles, shotguns, incin units, and even sniper rifles. They were also extremely damage resistant, had an up armored torso and head, and could remain functional with limb loss including the head.

[Steelpoint]

I like the WY PMC's since I feel they more embody Weyland Yutani, whereas the Iron Bears just look like some mercenary group.

Also the Iron Bears had their own agenda in the game, more so to do with the Predators than the Aliens. Whereas the WY PMC's follow WY and are working to contain the Aliens.

Perhaps tie the Iron Bears into a sort of 'hunter becomes the hunted' thing involving them trying to capture/kill a Predator. Whereas the WY PMC"s are kept for trying to capture/kill Aliens. Also Combat Synths should just be a heavy support unit akin to a mini-combat exosuit.

I think for the WY PMC's their primary weapon, or a alternative weapon, should be a NSG 23 Assault Rifle considering that is a weapon manufactured by WY exclusively and would make more sense to equip, could just be a resprite, but I digress.

Also one final point for the WY PMC's, they would need a helmet for hugger protection since a cap ain't going to cut it.

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

The mask serves as their protection. Not the hat.

I'd prefer not to make the NSG 23 rifle because I don't really like its design. Besides, most PMCs mostly carry the M39 in game.

[Steelpoint]

I'm a bit iffy on the balaclava blocking a hugger.

On the one hand it preserve the PMC's appearance from the game, but on the other hand it will take even more suspension of disbelief that a piece of cloth can knock off a Facehugger.

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

It was renamed B10 armored Balaclava. The description mentioned it was more of a protective mesh than a piece of cloth.

[Mycroft Macarthur]

in my opinion there are multiple factors to consider in regards to the addition of mercenaries to the game and the direction that should be taken with them if implemented.


GET READY FOR WALL OF TEXT


the first thing to bear in mind in my opinion is determining to what extent they have a presence at all, is this a full on company of soldiers who could rival the marine forces in number and strength (examples include Blackwater, The Flying Tigers of WW2, any of the many such organizations in the Schlock Mercenary Universe, etc) or is this a very small, tight-knit elite unit of all-around badasses (think of the Expendables or the aforementioned example in alien resurrection) because depending on which way you go you would need to handle them in very different ways, a full on COMPANY of mercenaries for example would place higher emphasis on having standardized equipment and would operate very similar to the USCM whereas a smaller outfit would place greater importance on individualization, it would be more important for every member to stand out and have an impact but they would be much more likely to have customized or specialized equipment as well, which brings up another several issues

i've seen abit of discussion regarding the weyland PMC's and white bears and this does raise a few points, how will the mercenaries be handled ingame? for example will it be something admins summon the players to come participate as at random like in in pre-alpha attempts to make the rebels round? is this a random thing they will find in the admin menu during a round to toggle (ghosts can join as mercenaries) or a coded in feature (at roundstart some players may be sorted in if Mercenaries is set to Yes under their sheet same as xeno and survivor) or will it even be a whitelist feature (like predator, mercenaries would be restricted either to players of impressive badassery, ability at given fields or roleplay ability)

this also implies the question, would all mercenaries all be of the same faction or company all the time or can players be allowed/expected to form their own "Mercenary Groups" and such in times of need (similar to organizations such as Banter and Sanctum in pre-alpha), which is fine in and of itself but carries with it one significant issue which has occurred to me.

depending on how you balance them from a gameplay mechanic perspective, or even just how they are organized on an OOC level, every player may want to be one, if they are arbitrarily made better all the time then no one will want to play marine since mercenaries would simply be better, marine would be thought of as like a training ground or prep to sort out the bad from the good and then you get into the "Real" human gameplay, which is definitely something we would want to avoid, everyone will want to side with the faction that is simply better so if any given side regularly has all the good players people will want to go to them because no one wants to be stuck with a bunch of useless scrubs and you sure as hell cant roleplay with an idiot or with someone who just doesn't care, by the same token if their equipment is better or worse by a significant degree then people will either avoid playing as them wherever possible (because marine has better gear) or all RUSH to play them (because mercenary has better gear).

dont think it could happen? be honest, look at the predator whitelist.

people see preds suddenly show up and be able to solo NUMEROUS marines and aliens alike whereas the team oriented gameplay of the marine and alien factions makes it hard for players of those teams to shine individually, they see predator with all these cool cloaking devices, shoulder mounted plasma cannons and epic ass melee weapons so of course you start getting shit tons of apps from players who have only been here for like an hour because EVERYONE WANTS THEIR SHIT, its a kind of metagamy powergamy way of thinking that will never vanish from any videogame environment because gameplay considerations will ALWAYS take precedence over roleplay opportunities in an environment like ours, how many people who have applied to play pred have even SEEN any of the fucking movies? even if only the first one with arnold in the jungle, if not handled properly people would just see being a mercenary as a way to gain all the advantages with none of the drawbacks (mercenaries dont have a code of honor, if they do then its specific to that given company or outfit ONLY) or worse people will try to avoid them like is the case with survivor currently.

we should discuss in depth what role we as a community want to see mercenaries play in the game if implemented, because the role they fill will have a huge implact on the gameplay mechanics of them as an organization and we cannot really balance them at ALL if we dont know from the beginning what we're going for, we're also going to have to seriously think about this from an in character perspective and decide if what matters to us more are in character matters or matters of gameplay balance.

i could go into depth as to why that is important but i would need to go abit off topic for it (and the wall of text would double in size) so i wont unless doing so seems prudent.