Rename the NCR Medic role to NCR Physician

[troytroy400]

Description

The NCR Medic role should be renamed to NCR Physician for redundancy and lore reasons. Currently, an NCR Cadet (or really any role) can take the NCR Medic kit upon spawning in meaning that they are therefore now a medic. I think that it makes more sense for clarity and distinction if the dedicated medical role is named something different.

Based on the default equipment of the NCR medic, they look more like rear line or hospital medical staff rather than combat medics. So it would add some distinction in gameplay between the two roles as well.

This is also lore friendly as the NCR refers to their doctors as physicians (source is from a line that Carrie Boyd says in New Vegas).

[OldDanceJacket]

I think the opposite thing to do here is to remove the Medic Kit as that was actually something that should've been done anyways, the intention of the NCR Medic being called as such as opposed to NCR Doctor(what they were before) was to allow the role to leave the base--Medics can also dress up like officers/doctors by unlocking the uniforms with playtime.

This was along with the removal of Quartermaster and Military Police--These positions were bundled into the NCR SGT, who was renamed from NCO, because their positions could be covered by a SGT but also allowed the position to leave the base and lead troops(aka play the game).

Medics, gameplaywise, start with the CPR trait which is a really good out of base trait to have, meanwhile they can ALSO stay at the base if need be. The option to allow someone to do either is better than pushing the job to do only one, imo.

[troytroy400]

I think the opposite thing to do here is to remove the Medic Kit as that was actually something that should've been done anyways

I think having the medic kit as a separate kit that can be acquired by cadets and infantrymen provides better gameplay options for those two roles. Perhaps we rename the kit to something like Combat Lifesaver to preserve it as an option, especially considering there is no medical role that can be acquired out of the box without playtime. I think as it stands we lack medical personnel, so having it as a sub-option would be nice.

the intention of the NCR Medic being called as such as opposed to NCR Doctor(what they were before) was to allow the role to leave the base

I think that it would make sense to have dedicated doctors and have them have the better medical skills (I.E. CPR + Beret SPECIAL bonus) and keep the medic kit as a lower tier field medic. The role doesn't also need to be locked to the base just because it is high tier medical staff. It was not uncommon for doctors to be seen in the field during the Civil War and similar conflicts, so its not like there is a rule or roleplay restriction stopping them from patrolling with the rest of the NCR.

Also, a large part of this is also getting the role to fit in with Fallout lore, which is definitely a bonus regardless.

[OldDanceJacket]

"Role to fit Fallout lore" the lore you're citing is in an entirely different region that, in the game, is essentially in a do nothing stalemate as they twiddle their thumbs for the second battle of hoover dam to start. This is a different region that they're actively moving into and have far less a presence in.

It was not uncommon for doctors to be seen in the field during the Civil War and similar conflicts, so its not like there is a rule or roleplay restriction stopping them from patrolling with the rest of the NCR.

Unfortunately this is not how it works, despite the intentions you have here, players previously would use the Doctor position to just stay in base, and would also use the position to argue not being an active serviceman to participate in combat. Similarly the folks who are deeper into understanding how the military actually works would cite themselves as being an officer and would butt heads with the few and far between CO players previously.

This is also why NCO was renamed SGT and CO was renamed LT--These roles previously never left the base and got into combat and were extremely unpopular, intentionally changing their names has seen a massive uptick in these positions leaving the base and getting hands on when need be instead of exclusively trying to do paperwork RP with no fax machine. As players have also seen that these roles can have fun, new players have taken them up as well.

In short, people are unfortunately a little stupid.

Perhaps we rename the kit to something like Combat Lifesaver to preserve it as an option

This is an easy YAML job so I'm all for it, there's plenty of options for names.

[troytroy400]

is in an entirely different region that, in the game, is essentially in a do nothing stalemate as they twiddle their thumbs for the second battle of hoover dam to start.

This could be debated back and forth since its essentially head cannon, but I would assume a military force like the NCR would be pretty rigid in its structure for logistical reasons or at least have some basic globalized standards, just like is needed for any military force.

players previously would use the Doctor position to just stay in base, and would also use the position to argue not being an active serviceman to participate in combat.

I think a fix for this might be to set it up similar to how certain roles in upstream can select separate IDs via loadouts (such as senior officer, etc) that change their flavor title. I would imagine if a player wants to select a role to do passive RP/medical and not do combat it would be nice to have a variation of the role for it. Maybe you could select between physician and combat medic so that players could choose their preferred roleplay style. And of course, building on what I said previously its not like either role couldn't execute each others duties. It would just provide players better options to do what they're more interested in.

Similarly the folks who are deeper into understanding how the military actually works would cite themselves as being an officer and would butt heads with the few and far between CO players previously.

This is understandable, but I should note that they're still officers in game. They're issued officer uniforms and don't have anything referring to them as otherwise. So it can kinda be assumed that they are officers, at least for now.

This is an easy YAML job so I'm all for it, there's plenty of options for names.

Great to hear!

[the-adom]

like the diff ID options idea, if we're touching their loadouts could be worth adding the field medic helmet and some armor as an option for them in loadouts, though these things are mapped so non-essential to do

[troytroy400]

like the diff ID options idea, if we're touching their loadouts could be worth adding the field medic helmet and some armor as an option for them in loadouts, though these things are mapped so non-essential to do

Yeah definitely, customization is always a plus.

[OldDanceJacket]

Maybe you could select between physician and combat medic so that players could choose their preferred roleplay style.

A good roleplayer can often parse this even without other options being available, ie, a boxer can go to the bartender in ss14 and offer themself as a Bodyguard/Bouncer. Here in this case is the power of words being whats discussed, here you're saying Combat Medic instead of Medic which is again, why the role was changed to Medic over Doctor--So you wouldn't be locked into one aspect or another.

You can stay on base, leave in a squad, etc, whereas before you genuinely could be argued to not.
Roleplay for the NCR is a bit shaky at times because of these facts, it's less clean/accurate to have the jobs listed how they are, as previously they were more in-line with actual military positions. However it did not translate well to gameplay for the majority of individuals.

New outfits to be unlocked with time spent in the position to 'unlock' different customization options is the solution here, as well as adjusting the starting uniform of Medic currently.

This is understandable, but I should note that they're still officers in game. They're issued officer uniforms and don't have anything referring to them as otherwise. So it can kinda be assumed that they are officers, at least for now.

Yet they frequently leave the base and don't operate like officers in gameplay, just to highlight how important a silly name is because they HAVE had an impact.

.

Anyways these are again all fairly 'easy' but tedious changes to knock out.