Switches eject priority of pen and ID from PDA

[SpaceRox1244]

About the PR

Makes it so that when you alt-click your PDA, you pull out the pen before you pull out the ID.

Why / Balance

It feels more natural that a writing utensil would be more casually accessible than a workplace ID. Im hoping that by swapping them around, people will think about their pens more and maybe be more willing to leave notes and engage in some bureaucracy.

Media

I have attached a video to respond to feedback concerning the ease of accessing an ID in a combat scenario. I understand this concern and wouldnt want to make a change that would disrupt combat, but I dont think that this change affects combat significantly. I think that stealing IDs mid-fight is a bit niche of a scenario to prioritize quality of life for over the general station gameplay experience.

pen.stuff.mp4

Requirements

• I have read and am following the Pull Request and Changelog Guidelines.
• I have added media to this PR or it does not require an ingame showcase.

Changelog

🆑 SpaceRox1244

• tweak: Pens now eject from PDAs before ID cards.

[slarticodefast]

Should have a changelog.
Biggest gameplay impact of this would probably be for HOP players and traitors using agent IDs, the latter is something you might have to do quick in a combat scenario. But on the other hand using the pen in the pda had been annoying, too. Maybe we can get some more feedback on this and see what people prefer.

[Vexerot]

I'm personally not a fan of the change because of the aforementioned scenarios; I can't recall a situation where I have had to be fast with ejecting my pen so this would be a QOL downgrade for myself. I do echo the sentiment of wanting people to be more aware of their pens though - if it's an option, perhaps adding a secondary eject keybind might be a good middle ground?

[SpaceRox1244]

I have attached media and a description to respond to this feedback

[thebadman4662]

I'm personally not a fan of the change because of the aforementioned scenarios; I can't recall a situation where I have had to be fast with ejecting my pen so this would be a QOL downgrade for myself. I do echo the sentiment of wanting people to be more aware of their pens though - if it's an option, perhaps adding a secondary eject keybind might be a good middle ground?

Syndies have use for it for quick pen weapons and bombs, but other than that ID first would be preferable so option to select priority would be nice, otherwise I feel lots of crew are going to eject their pens from now...

[SpaceRox1244]

Nobody is going to throw out their pens so that they can quick draw their IDs. The mention of energy pens and pen bombs is actually a pretty good point for their easy access.

[thebadman4662]

Nobody is going to throw out their pens so that they can quick draw their IDs.

Everyone with a braincell will during malf AI if they do not want to get shocked by doors... though I guess throwing whole PDA is option too.

[SpaceRox1244]

Nobody is going to throw out their pens so that they can quick draw their IDs.

Everyone with a braincell will during malf AI if they do not want to get shocked by doors... though I guess throwing whole PDA is option too.

What?

[thebadman4662]

Nobody is going to throw out their pens so that they can quick draw their IDs.

Everyone with a braincell will during malf AI if they do not want to get shocked by doors... though I guess throwing whole PDA is option too.

What?

If AI or anyone else harms crew with doors, you can avoid touching doors by activating them with PDA/ID rather than hand.

[LeIronGoat]

My preference would be that a system is setup that prioritizes the last inserted item. Then it doesn't matter which it starts as.

Nobody is going to throw out their pens so that they can quick draw their IDs.

My first thought when I read the PR was that if it annoys me, I'll just keep my pen elsewhere.

Im hoping that by swapping them around, people will think about their pens more and maybe be more willing to leave notes and engage in some bureaucracy.

Personally I can't say the reason I've ever forgone paperwork or notes is because my pen isn't the first thing available. Having paper nearby in a convenient place is much more a nuisance. And because I prefer directly communicating with people.

And whenever I've given people paperwork (I play a lot of QM/HOP), the reason they don't do it isn't usually because they don't have a pen.. a bunch of people (LRP) just find it tedious/annoying. (Part of this is needing a better paperwork system like SS13 with proper fields and such)

[Vexerot]

I echo the sentiment that there should be some mechanic allowing the player to effectively set the ejection priority. I think this would be the best of both worlds, allowing for players who are using pen weapons/bombs to quickdraw, while maintaining the ability of HoP and Nukies to quickly manage IDs.

[SaphireLattice]

On its own, this change isn’t really great as quick management of ID is much more critical than quick management of a pen, and would put that as against this PR on this alone. Plus you can always alt click again? And there’s a pen ejection icon up at the top right of the PDA UI.

Pens are usually used in rather calm situation, except for antag pen-like items. But IDs are much more likely to get pulled out of the PDA in an emergency, etc.

In the context of wider game though, I think being able to set specific slot as preferred for alt click ejection would be a much better change. Something similar to backpack favorite slots/etc would be nice. Could reuse the same (default) keybind for it and such.

[SpaceRox1244]

These are some good points actually yall. The calmness of either use case is admittedly important regardless of the frequency of the use case.

[SpaceRox1244]

Perhaps for my desired effect, I should find a way to make something to write on more readily available