Shadeykins Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Presently the encryption key is a wopping 2TC, which while that isn't much is enough to somehow dissuade the majority of syndicate agents from getting it despite it's massive utility. Traitor rounds could be made a lot more interesting if we saw more coordination between various agents, and a good way to encourage this would be to halve the cost of the encryption key which provides people with the syndicate radio channel. So! Modest proposal. Drop the cost of the Encryption Key from 2TC to 1TC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthdivine Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 The encryption key just lets you listen to all radios, I'm not aware it gives you access to the Syndicate radio frequency, since I thought that's on a different radio freq rather then just being a whole new channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadeykins Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 It gives you access to the :h channel, and allows you to coordinate with other traitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevak Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I think you mean the :t channel. I really don't get why people never use it. It's literally one of the best items on the menu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadeykins Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 It's the :h channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazylemon Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Isn't the :h channel used for whatever department you're in/key you inserted into your headset last? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTSAM Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Pretty sure that :t works too. At least that gives you the [#unk] channel last time I checked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigercat2000 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 actually syndie keys are infact magic and hijack the :h key instead of having their own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevak Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 If you take a key from something and put it in. It hijacks :h. Even if it's a medical key. Syndiechannel is :t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadeykins Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 If you take a key from something and put it in. It hijacks :h. Even if it's a medical key. Syndiechannel is :t. Good to know. :H works just fine since the syndikey is always inserted into a headset after the initial key is in. Can we please discuss the original topic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarvinMartian34 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I agree. I would be much more inclined to buy this if it were to be cheaper. While it may be a small difference, it could be the difference between being able to purchase a weapon and ammo and the radio key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox McCloud Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 2 TC is more than fair for an item that lets you eavesdrop on the entire station's radio chatter and also let's you talk on the completely unmonitored syndicate channel---and it's practically impossible to discover to the outside world. Communication is one of the most powerful assets in SS13, and it should not be underpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spacemanspark Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 There's gotta be some reason why people aren't purchasing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTSAM Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 There's gotta be some reason why people aren't purchasing it. Because no traitor thinks, "Shit, I think Security's onto me. Maybe I can buy this key and keep watch." Instead, they think, "Oh no security found a suicide that i'm not even linked to guess it's time to murderbone them all for being productive" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadeykins Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 2 TC is more than fair for an item that lets you eavesdrop on the entire station's radio chatter and also let's you talk on the completely unmonitored syndicate channel---and it's practically impossible to discover to the outside world. Communication is one of the most powerful assets in SS13, and it should not be underpriced. 2 TC may be fair in the scheme of things, yes. I'm not going for fair. I'm going for "What encourages coordination, and more interaction between traitors?" This not only have the possibility of reducing over the top antags (Because it allows traitors to coordinate, and thus be more discreet/avoid security and other situations), but also lets some more interesting schemes be pulled off and roleplay between traitors to flourish. Right now the cost of coordinate is actually 5TC, because you're also going to need a voice changer if you want to talk on syndicate radio, as security generally gets a key at least once or there's always at least one traitor who will rat everyone out so they can sit in an inescapable hole for the rest of the round rather than die. 2TC may be fair, but if 1TC creates more interaction between players it's more than worth the change. Here's another thought - let taters start off with a traitor enabled radio key, and change the encryption key to be solely comms monitoring and 1 TC. More or less every other antag can communicate and coordinate with one another in a reasonable fashion without sacrificing any of their utility which tends to make the rounds more interesting. Traitors can't, and actually have to spend a fair chunk of their utility (1/10th, or 1/4th) in order to communicate and coordinate effectively. A lot of people tend to find the roundtype boring when it should be anything but, and this could be an equitable way to address that. If it doesn't work out, it's just as easy to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalseIncarnate Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 The main reason no one buys the encryption key is simply out of fear. Your name is plainly displayed to anyone who is also using it, meaning any other traitor on the channel can theoretically rat you and anyone else on the channel out by name. The best way would be to make the names show up much like how the changeling hivemind works: use codenames. For example, when you buy a key, it gets an associated name like "Agent A" or "Goldfinger" that is used in place of the user's name for the syndicate channel. This would remain tied to the key, so if someone else gets a hold of it, they could pose as the agent who had it initially. Additionally, many times traitors will spend most (if not all) of their TC on weapons and other more violent tools. Think about the last time you saw someone buy the briefcase of cash, syndi-smokes, or syndi-soap outside of a traitor bundle/crate? These are all relatively inexpensive, but tend to get passed over in favor of eswords, chainsaws, and pistols because they tend to be less useful for survival and objective completion. Personally, I think the issue is not the cost, but rather the perceived usefulness of the item in relation to the objective sets. Having objectives like "assassinate the librarian, die a glorious death" doesn't really encourage you to work with others since it is trivial to just buy a syndibomb and blow up yourself and the librarian. Hijack objectives definitely would benefit from coordination, especially with the change that allows other traitors to be on board without failing the hijack, but most times the hijacker is spending their points on mass-destruction weapons like bombs and chainsaws to go in loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadeykins Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Actually that's a brilliant idea False. Make the syndicate keys use randomized agent names, or better yet... Give it the ability to choose a preset name when you buy the key. This way even if security gets their hand on a key it doesn't automatically out every other traitor, and allows for some interesting plays. This solves the voice changer + encryption key issue too. Make sure to update the encryption key description if this happens to boot, maybe stating the radio handle and that the user will be anonymous/have their identity protected when speaking on the channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plotron Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Actually that's a brilliant idea False. It'd make sense that your Syndicate-augmented headset would automatically use a pitch changer in the not-so-secure channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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