Content Suggestion Dispenser Rework

[Zen]

What does this suggestion change/add/remove:
Reworks dispensers somewhat significantly. Specifically:

• Make dispensers configurable, individually
  • When placing a dispenser, SL would have the option to set the following for that individual dispenser:
    • Which items are available (all SWEPs and the like available as options)
    • Which faction keycards are available to use the dispenser (with option for none, e.g. for Rangers/Civilians)
    • Who can dispense each item
      • Clearance levels, with option to also allow keycard overrides, the same as keypads
      • Option of bio-required or not, similar to keypads
  • Superadmins would be able to create presets for dispenser loadouts, which Senior Admins could then use when setting up a dispenser
  • Option to group dispensers together
    • A group would have the same setup, which would sync between dispensers
• Add a couple of model variations
  • Different ones for CI, Foundation, GOC, Civilian, perhaps
  • Configurable when placing dispenser
• Make dispensers break down now and then by chance
  • Random chance after X number of uses, chance rises to break for every use after that
• More hacking options:
  • Trap - makes it dispense a live grenade the next time it is used
    • Breaks after trap is triggered
    • Also available to 079
  • Break - breaks it straight away
    • Also available to 079
  • Dispense - dispenses a random item out of those available at that dispenser
    • Higher chance/rate for breaking when this is used
    • Also available to 079
  • Crack - allows user to dispense any of the available items once without the correct clearance being needed
    • Higher chance/rate for breaking when this is used
    • Higher hacking level than Dispense
    • When done, just open the dispenser interface normally and try to dispense.
    • If item not dispensed for X seconds after Crack is used, break dispenser (or just return to normal)

Has something similar been suggested before? If so, why is your suggestion different?:
Not as far as I'm aware.

Possible Positives of the suggestion (At least 2):

• Allows many future dispenser changes to be done via in-game config, rather than requiring dev and FTP access every time
  • You want to make clipboards dispensable to CL3s? Just change the config. You want to change bodycam from CL2 to CL1? Just change the config.
• No more strange dispenser access that doesn't make sense in RP
  • Why would CI be able to dispense a grenade from a Foundation dispenser because they have a CI CL3 card on them? Doesn't make any sense.
• More fine-grained dispenser access
  • E.g. you might make grenades CL4, but with an override for combatives below CL4
• Allow civ faction to actually use dispensers. E.g. Ranger station might have one that gives field kits and the like without a keycard requirement.
• More raid/DC tactics
• More 079 tactics/functionality
• Dispensers breaking a bit more often -> more for E&TS roles to do

Possible Negatives of the suggestion:

• Initial dev time
  • imo pays off in terms of functionality and not needing further dev time for every future change

Based on the Positives & Negatives, why should this suggestion be accepted:
Just generally makes dispensers a lot more functional and make more sense. If CT wants to make changes, they can just do that on the fly. There can be different dispenser items available in different areas of the site - e.g. dispensers in one department's offices might have different items (e.g. hazmat suits could be available more often in E-11 bunks, or covert bodycams could be available in places like ISD offices). Lots of potential here.

 

[Advil Smith]

Yes! I would love configurable dispensers around site especially once’s for like bunks where it’s just the required stuff and it could be lesser cooldowns

 

[Emilia Foddg]

This is quite good. The concept of highly configurable dispensers is essentially the natural evolution of what I said before in another suggestion about needing a second tier of dispensers, but with greater flexibility and more fluidly allows integrating future content - I imagine the bodycams update and ensuing shenanigans would have been a lot easier with a system like this in place.

I have one gripe:

Make dispensers break down now and then by chance

• Random chance after X number of uses, chance rises to break for every use after that

I like the concept, but if you think about the way dispensers are used on the server, you can identify subsets of roles that tend to gravitate towards specific dispensers dependant on what they do, where they go and what they need at the time. So naturally because of this, some dispensers will break faster than others (i.e. Even just considering GenSec in isolation, for all the places they can go, they will frequently use the dispensers in SS and Outer D-Block more than any others, so even though they may use others, they will degrade those the fastest).

This isn't even to mention the Inner D-Block dispenser, which is DEFINITELY not getting fixed unless there's a D-Class on an engineering work program or D-Class be allowed to place calls directly to E&TS (Because there is no way anyone is going to listen to them when they try to get hold of someone to get hold of someone from E&TS) - Especially since if the Inner D-Block dispenser is broken, that somewhat limits D-Class's capability to riot... If by a little.

An extremely good example of a dispenser that gets used a lot would be the dispenser closest to the middle of the CI base crossroads. If you just want to measure the reasonably high amount of uses a well-trafficked dispenser would get in any given period of time, that dispenser and the Outer D-Block dispenser are good for it.

I don't know what the best approach is to alleviate this problem with this specific feature, but I feel the annoyance it creates can be mitigated by:

• Ensuring the rate at which the break chance progresses is significantly low so that it can reasonably support something like upwards of a thousand uses an hour for a few hours? I think that's about reasonable? Maybe too high of an estimate, I don't know. I'm no balance expert.
  
  
• Adding a way to see the... I guess, the "durability"? The current chance it has to break on use? Some kind of gauge when you open the dispenser menu.
  
  
• And a way for E&TS roles to reset the break chance, maybe by using the repair/technician tool on it before the breaking point or something.

That way players can take a look and request someone to come out to perform maintenance on it ahead of time, creating even more RP for E&TS roles.

Stick a couple of these up around the site, too:

Other than that, I find everything presented rather sensible. I don't see a reason not to pursue this.
+Support