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Underused Drugs
SoberUp and patches

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SoberUp: If this dramatically cut down the remaining high/after-effects time for drugs you were on (based on its potency) that would be neat. A way to weasel out of that LnA-3z hangover so you aren't hideous at tomorrow's meeting.

Patches: These are all cool but I think the vitality stim patch needs a duration boost for the same reason v-202 and Ex-D7 did (though maybe consider making them not stackable with combat stims or something because woah). Also, the vitality patch should be usable without needing to strip down - combined with its short duration that makes it pretty hard to use. Vitality stim patches could also use a price reduction. The other ones are fine as-is I think.

It'd be neat if VS employees could make the patches at special stations in their tower. It makes sense that they wouldn't be something someone could make without the right kind of lab so there'd be a reason to maybe try to lean on the corpies for special drugs.

By Vera at Nov 17, 2019 6:51 PM
"It makes sense that they wouldn't be something someone could make without the right kind of lab so there'd be a reason to maybe try to lean on the corpies for special drugs."

Baka-ass corpie-lover!

Seriously though, sounds great, more clandestine corpie-mixer trade, more flash shifting hands organically, more flash moving upwwards so it can (potentially) move back to Mixside for underhanded purposes, that can't be bad, can it?

Or I suppose them corpies can just spend it on dumb fancy gadgets from the mall, meh, either way, sounds good to me :D

By UchuUsagi at Nov 17, 2019 7:02 PM
From what I've gathered, Vitality stim patches were INSANELY powerful for a very long time and a source of player abuse. They were modded to be put in line with current drugs but I don't think the kind of thought and effort that's gone into the current iteration of drugs includes them.

I wholeheartedly agree with Vera's suggestion and I think there's some solid opportunity to create some kind of classist divide in drug consumption (not necessarily quality).

By ReeferMadness at Nov 17, 2019 9:50 PM
The patches are largely unused because you need to strip down, from my experience.

Maybe we can use the new 'expose' coding to allow a patch to be slapped on?

By HolyChrome at Nov 17, 2019 11:14 PM
What if we solved for both the problem of exposure and the timing element of drugs? Patches are applied prior to any activity. When the PC with the patch applied begins to experience a fatigue inducing activity - their sweat triggers this patch.

+1 to Vera's idea with bonus points for the VS machine that would allow for custom combinations of various drugs loaded into patch form.

Caveat would be 1 use per patch and patches don't do well with water (or sewage)...but you should be wearing them under waterproof armor/gear, right?

By ReeferMadness at Nov 17, 2019 11:30 PM
My problem and experience with patches thus far has been that

a) you need to strip

b) they don't last enough

c) not cost effective for the benefits it provides.

For anyone with layers of armor, the amount of things you have to do (strip off all of it, apply it, wear the layer again and go out to fight) is just way too much and by the time you do it, the effects wear off anyhow.

It's just not very useful for characters that are used to wearing layers of armor and getting into spontaneous combat, in which case drugs last longer, are cheaper, and you don't have to go to your pad or into a safe place, take off your armor, wear it, and then go back out and walk to wherever you're fighting hoping the effects don't wear off or your opponent doesn't go away by the time you're there.

I could see it being used as an alternative by characters that don't wear as much armor, but then they're once again way too expensive and again, not cost effective when you compare it to drugs.

By Rangerkrauser at Nov 17, 2019 11:35 PM
Just let me stick it on the back of my hand or something.
By Vera at Nov 17, 2019 11:37 PM
I think extending the duration with Reefer's idea about it being activated with some kind of action really does make sense and would solve a lot, but then again I know personally it'd change the meta by loads. To compromise for that I might suggest patches and drugs don't mesh well together so you can't combo them if something like Reefer's idea was to be implemented to avoid it being too overpowered.
By Rangerkrauser at Nov 17, 2019 11:40 PM
Mixers jam needles in their eyes, bump a line, rip a bong, and chew up a handful of pills before a fight.

Corpies have a nano-enhanced energy drink and color-coded array of hexagonal derms affixed to their throat.

I love it.

By HolyChrome at Nov 17, 2019 11:43 PM
The strip down thing is for balance, they are meant to be used before or after not during combat, also because RP. The same way you don't operate on someone who is wearing a dirty poncho or kill people with a slice of pizza (just because the code allows it).

Also if you make them cheaper, IC docs are going to suffer. These things are not just band aids for corpies, they are meant to be more dramatic and inconvenient.

Sober-up helping you weather negative effects faster from drugs, would make sense but there needs to be a down angel to it that isn't just financial, for example ODing if you take a hit from another drug while under its effect.

By ErgoProxy at Nov 18, 2019 2:48 AM
I can see how it was -meant- for balance, but the execution is not as intended.

When most endgame gear includes some form of bodysuit, no one is getting ass naked directly after a fight. Which means no one is using the patches.

You could posit it's for balance, or that it'd hurt doctor players, but it's literally cheaper and more effective to use a Skillsoft to do what two out of three patches do.

By HolyChrome at Nov 18, 2019 5:45 AM
Velosan and Hemostax do not replace what doctors do. They do something else.

SoberUp is already balanced by costing money and being an addictive consumable that can contribute to an overdose.

Vitality patches don't really work at all due to overbalancing.

By Vera at Nov 18, 2019 7:09 AM
What Vera said. I understand why they are the way they are right now but they're way too overpriced and hard to use that nobody uses them. I also don't see how one would be used BEFORE the fight because that's basically impossible considering most combat in SD isn't high noon planned duels that you can just prepare for beforehand.
By Rangerkrauser at Nov 18, 2019 7:54 AM
Ranger, I think they'd probably be fine if they worked as you previously suggested.

Have them be like the nanogenic that only works when you're under certain status effects/injured.

Also, if the location you placed them was the head or hands (places where layering would commonly be an issue) it would also go a long way to making them more viable. Maybe not to the degree that you would want to use it mid-combat, but you could quickly slap one on if you saw your rival in the adjacent room chilling.

By TalonCzar at Nov 18, 2019 8:01 AM
As for using beforehand, maybe treat them like certain nanos that "run out" after a while.

You could have a /tap command to 'pop' the derm and release it. Or treat it as a temporary reserve of health/stamina once either goes below a certain threshold.

Maybe they could even wash off in a shower. That way people aren't just wearing them around all the time.

I don't think any single proposal is perfect here, but I -do- think they're all interesting, would change up combat meta, see patches get more use, and push more Mix/Topside divide theme. Which I'm all for.

By HolyChrome at Nov 18, 2019 8:04 AM
Extending their duration somehow or even better making them triggered manually or automatically definitely would make them more viable for use yes, even if it still requires you to strip down because then you won't have to worry about the effects running out. That'd actually help and also explain their price compared to your standard drugs.
By Rangerkrauser at Nov 18, 2019 8:35 AM
Styled as single-use temporary nanos on demand would both be pretty useful and also a fairly novel interface for consumbles, in the same way that some chrome activates now.

You could apply them to the skin, and give the area a smack via some command verb when you want them to activate, you get an N duration effect and then you replace the patch later. Making them so they'd wash off seems like a reasonable compromise so it's not just place-and-forget. Or they could peel off after N time.

This has been said but the fact you can't apply patches through an armoured body suit makes them basically useless. I stared at my screen in disbelief when I saw that feedback text, effectively telling me to get naked, after some particularly deleterious combat.

By 0x1mm at Nov 18, 2019 12:25 PM
Without getting too into it, I don't think it's a problem that you have to strip down for the velosan. Hemostax would probably fine as is if it just lasted longer. You're meant to use these before or after combat, not during.

The vitality stim patch is really a headscratcher though.

By Vera at Nov 18, 2019 12:40 PM
Without getting too into it, I don't think it's a problem that you have to strip down for the velosan. Hemostax would probably fine as is if it just lasted longer. You're meant to use these before or after combat, not during.

The vitality stim patch is really a headscratcher though.

By Vera at Nov 18, 2019 12:40 PM
Without getting too into it, I don't think it's a problem that you have to strip down for the velosan. Hemostax would probably fine as is if it just lasted longer. You're meant to use these before or after combat, not during.

The vitality stim patch is really a headscratcher though.

By Vera at Nov 18, 2019 12:41 PM
good
By Vera at Nov 18, 2019 12:41 PM
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