Slicer/Espionage: Keycards

I was in the game researching duplicate when I thought to myself, "What use is this skill?"

I couldn’t really find one, aside from a certain quest-related keycard currently on the main port. Then I started tossing an idea around: What if players were able to create their own keycards? This is how it would work.

Makekeycard would make a blank keycard from duraplast (and -maybe- a circuit?). Once you are in possession of a blank keycard, a slicer would be able to use a Program skill to program that keycard with a number; a code. Now with your new keycard, you approach a locked door that is to the north. You hold the keycard in your hand, and type ‘unlock north’. The game will then check to see if you are holding a keycard, and if you are, it will compare the keycard’s code to the door’s code. If they match, the door unlocks without the character ever having knowledge of the code to begin with.

This could also be expanded to include ship hatches. If you want someone to be able to access your ship, but you don’t want the code to be public knowledge, you need to either program a keycard, or have someone you trust program one for you. Should the key get lost, stolen, or if you simply do not want the person who was issued the keycard to have access any more, you simply change your hatch code; the keycard would no longer function, since the card’s code wouldn’t match.

Something to note would be that you can [b:vpo6o8lp]not[/b:vpo6o8lp] discern the code that a keycard has been programmed with. With such keycards in play, the Duplicate skill becomes a bit more valuable, should anyone decide to actually use the cards to begin with. That being said, Duplicate would be moved to a higher skill level, while making Makekeycard a lower level espionage skill.

This is just a rough idea, but I thought it would open up a lot of opportunities, should it come into play. Any ideas?

You’d also have to be able to label keycards.

The commands could be
makekeycard
programcard <#> <Label>
duplicate <label>
So you’d get:
A Blank Keycard
A Keycard Labelled: "Cell Door 001"
A Keycard Labelled: "Cygnus’ Yacht"

It could work out.

I like.

Surprisingly, I can’t find very much wrong with this idea, at all.
However, if it were to be included, I’d really like for the lock digit amount to be increased–if keys are going to be floating around, the only people bitching about lock combos being 10 digits instead of 5 would be those who use a script, etc. to "guess" a lock’s code.

I really like this idea. And the fact that RJ doesn’t see anything wrong with it, makes me have hope for the future.