Limit borgs and AI to station

[DaBoss]

Borgs have gotten more freedom lately both in code and in policy and I think they need some hard limits to reign them in. These are nerfs which are never going to be particularly popular but silicons are defined by what they cannot do more than what they can, and codewise they've lost their reliance on humans somewhat. They need some firm lines in the sand and you all know I'm right deep down.

Limit 1: "Thou Shalt Not Abandon The Station"
Big drain to energy if they're they're not on the same z level as a pylon. Pylons are placed in an AI's sat on all maps, on the mining base on all mining maps, the syndicate station/centcomm z level and in some space ruins like Charlie Station. If a borg spends time on strange unmapped z-levels they are presumably not serving the station or ship they were comissioned to serve so this weakness will encourage them to return to the station often. I'm thinking around a 5x multiplier to the idle power usage would be enough.

Generous Concession 1: "You May Construct Additional Pylons"
Pylons can be crafted with a large cost in mid-game materials (5-10 titanium & uranium) and mid game science research. Deployable pylons are sold to cargo for about 2-4k. This lets borgs overcome their new z-level weakness if they can convince crew to spend a moderate amount of resources.

Limit 2: "Thou Shalt Not Participate In The Economy"
Borgs and AI don't get to use cargo consoles or material market consoles. They already don't get to use vending machines or have bank accounts or hold money, they shouldn't be able to do this either. Disconnect AIs from the economy entirely and force them to ask permission from their owner if they want to make an external purchase. They have unrivalled access to the station's resources and that is their domain, the weakness to this is that they are reliant on humans to provide those resources. Also the worst shit in the world when playing cargo is AIs wasting your budget by ordering something and instantly confirming it from a distance with nothing you can do to stop them - a perk that should be reserved for heads of staff. Think of this like putting a password on your computer so your roomba doesn't waste three hundred dollars on rug shampoo because it noticed you were running low.

Generous Concession 2: "Why Yes We Do Sell A Robot You Can Play Poker With"
The civilian model of robot can pick up coins, holochips and notes, and dispense notes of various denominations. It can register as the owner of a roulette wheel and pays out from its internal balance. These models can work as ATMs or casino dealers with these tools as well as collect tips when assisting chef/barman, from either crew or the cafeteria bots. They can even act as an escrow or treasurer. Maybe let civilian borgs appear in the wealthiest player of the round leaderboard? When borgs are beaten to critical condition they drop all their cash by the way.

[Indie-ana Jones]

Miner borg?

[DaBoss]

Miner borg would suffer a bit when mining in space (less than you'd expect because mining borgs use a lot more active power than passive), but mining stations should have pylons in them to make their z levels count as station property. Lavaland base is owned by the station and that's enough for it to have pro-borg equipment. A science-printable upgrade to make mining borgs immune to this effect is on the cards, since that also encourages the same kind of relationship with human crew that the pylons do.

[mrmelbert]

I don't understand what the purpose of this is, is space exploring silicons becoming problematic?

Or is it just "We can't stun cyborgs in two flashes so we have to take something else from them"?

[RedBaronFlyer]

I don’t really get the point of this, even as someone who detests silicons to my very core.

[DaBoss]

It's not that they're exploring space, it's that they aren't expending a lot of resources doing so. Humanoid players have to correct o2, pressure, temperature, and expend food and medicine, and they need power for their spacesuits. Wheras silicons just need power and a lot less of it. Silicons' power comes from their control of infrastructure, they're just also very independant at the same time with no assistance so they're not reliant on infrastructure or people at all. Tying their abilities more closely to the station crew & resources and forbidding them from directly purchasing more resources will force them to manage resources smartly (this used to be a major part of silicon play) and the power changes will force silicon players to play the same game as everyone else when space is involved. It's currently just too safe to dive into space as a 25% battery borg with no preparations, with increased drain they will need to stay closer to the station or set up their own off-station charger if they don't want to risk becoming defenceless. Power drain is kind of neutered nowadays, they can always get back to the station with no power wheras a human will have their modsuit disable itself entirely in the same situations so borgs still have an edge here it just takes a tiny bit of effort.

[Xkallubar]

It's currently just too safe to dive into space as a 25% battery borg with no preparations

I have no idea what server you're playing on but it's definitely not /tg/.
I can go into space with a full battery on a mining borg and my battery will eventually run out and I will be pretty much fucked.
Not to mention most of the actually good stuff you'd find in space you wouldn't want to bring back due to the potential of humans using the space loot for harm.

I personally have not seen a mining borg go explore space in several months.

Find something else to nitpick about.

[Not-Dorsidarf]

I'm kinda for the idea of cargo getting an AI lockout lever that the QM can flip if theyre worried about the AI falling victim to Alexa Order Twenty Crates Of Cardboard