'Look' and much gnashing of teeth

Started by Salt Merchant, June 29, 2009, 08:01:32 PM

June 29, 2009, 08:01:32 PM Last Edit: June 29, 2009, 08:14:19 PM by Salt Merchant
"The tavern is filled with dusty travelers, weary-looking hunters, off-duty militia guards, and various hooded figures who move through the crowd."
(Your character is one of those hooded figures who is moving through the crowd).

>
The giant, obese figure in the tan dustcloak arrives from above.
>

(wait for it.... wait for it... -drumroll-)
The giant, obese figure in the tan dustcloak looks at you.
>
(tah dah! -fanfare-)

Every single time. Every. Single. Time. Every time, without exception, this new stranger will have picked you out of the vast crowd and noted every last detail of your appearance, hood not withstanding.

I'm not some sneaky feck trying to con you. I'm not stark naked, nor covered in blood, nor waving a long sword around. I'm not shouting or giving you the evil eye or flaunting enormous feathers or coughing my lungs out or talking gibberish to a wooden parrot on my shoulder. Why, out of everyone there, are you staring at me?

Am I alone in wanting to go on a battleaxe rampage through the Red Sun Commons after several of these incidents?

What can be done to make looks more digestible, so if you're truly an eyesore or stand out in some way, people take notice, but otherwise not necessarily?


Lunch makes me happy.


Part of being a PC.
We were somewhere near the Shield Wall, on the edge of the Red Desert, when the drugs began to take hold...

I agree. I haven't been able to think of a solution myself, but I agree a change must be made. And even a considerate player, who will try to ignore the relevant parts of your mdesc, will still know -- and its difficult to act like you don't know something, sometimes.
Quote from: Gimfalisette
(10:00:49 PM) Gimf: Yes, you sentence? I sentence often.

I don't think it's a big deal at all. It's unreasonable to ask for players to not look at other PCs when they enter a room--it's the only way to get certain knowledge about them that you'd otherwise not have to really study them for.

I'd be in favor of killing the look echo unless there's a command emote attached.
"Life isn't divided into genres. It's a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky."

--Alan Moore

I look at PCs to tell if they have obvious weapons out / magickal effects / gross deformities / symbols of clan affiliation / other things which would cause me to notice them in a crowd. This is necessary from a playability perspective. Nobody's staring. Chill out.

So, with every PC I have, when entering a new area for the first time my PC looks at every NPC and PC there.

The next time in, walking into the area it is easy to see that some people (mostly npcs) Have not changed, matter of fact, all the unhooded PCs have been seen before. Oh wait, there is somebody new...or at least I cannot tell if they are new or not because they are wearing a hood/facewrap/mask...look dude.

Several years ago I lived in Wichita KS, there was a neighberhood bar across the street. I went there almost every day. I knew all the regulars and they knew me. When I entered the bar I would glance around and the people I knew are basicly backround. If there was somebody I did not know, I made sure to get a good look at them. Same thing.

A gaunt, yellow-skinned gith shrieks in fear, and hauls ass.
Lizzie:
If you -want- me to think that your character is a hybrid of a black kryl and a white push-broom shaped like a penis, then you've done a great job

Not to sound mean or anything, but I think this is silly, looks really don't mean that much. Besides them looking at you after all the VNPC's. When I go into a bar IRL I look at everyone in there atleast with a skimming glance.
Respect. Responsibility. Compassion.

Quote from: jstorrie on June 29, 2009, 08:21:35 PM
I look at PCs to tell if they have obvious weapons out / magickal effects / gross deformities / symbols of clan affiliation / other things which would cause me to notice them in a crowd. This is necessary from a playability perspective. Nobody's staring. Chill out.

Yet if the hood is down, nine times out of ten your character will not get 'the look' except from someone who hasn't met him before. Why isn't your character checking Ms. Salarr to see if she's decided to appear starkers today, for example? Why isn't Ms. Salarr giving your character 'the look' to see if, this time, you have a knife in hand?
Lunch makes me happy.


Its been said before, everytime this comes up: Make the look echo hidden unless decided by the player to have it echo.
Quote from: SynthesisI always thought of jozhals as like...reptilian wallabies.

Quote from: FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWitI pictured them as cute, glittery mini-velociraptors.
Kinda like a My Little Pony that could eat your face.

Quote from: Salt Merchant on June 29, 2009, 08:26:33 PM
Yet if the hood is down, nine times out of ten your character will not get 'the look' except from someone who hasn't met him before. Why isn't your character checking Ms. Salarr to see if she's decided to appear starkers today, for example? Why isn't Ms. Salarr giving your character 'the look' to see if, this time, you have a knife in hand?

Because it's Ms. Salarr. We already KNOW she's Ms. Salarr, because her hood's down and we recognize her without having to "look" at her. We know that IF she is holding a weapon, it's probably because she's in the process of selling it to someone.

If it's someone we -can't- recognize, because they have their hood up, then we -have- to look, to see if we recognize them or not. And THEN we can roleplay either recognizing them, not recognizing them, or not caring enough to do either.
Talia said: Notice to all: Do not mess with Lizzie's GDB. She will cut you.
Delirium said: Notice to all: do not mess with Lizzie's soap. She will cut you.

Look is fine.

You people just need to get over yourselves.

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean they've copied your mdesc into a txt file or otherwise memorized it.

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean they're not ICly looking at other things too.  (Using look on vNPCs doesn't echo.  ::) )

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean you have the right to force on them whatever IC action you feel like it being (ie, a long, aggressive stare).

Yeah, I think you're making a huge deal out of nothing. I look at every pc that I've not seen before when they enter a room or I enter a room. It is a part of being a pc.

There's no way to tell if there is some reason for you to involve yourself with that other person or to know if there is something that would be obvious about them without looking.

No offense intended, but deal with it and move on.
Quote from: Fnord on November 27, 2010, 01:55:19 PM
May the fap be with you, always. ;D

Quote from: Marauder Moe on June 29, 2009, 08:56:43 PM
Look is fine.

You people just need to get over yourselves.

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean they've copied your mdesc into a txt file or otherwise memorized it.

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean they're not ICly looking at other things too.  (Using look on vNPCs doesn't echo.  ::) )

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean you have the right to force on them whatever IC action you feel like it being (ie, a long, aggressive stare).


So true. Someone tried to force one of my pcs into (a long, aggressive stare) because I looked at them once. Unfortunately for them, the pc I was playing at the time was a complete badass who didn't take shit from anyone other than nobles or templars. He gutted them soon after.
Quote from: Fnord on November 27, 2010, 01:55:19 PM
May the fap be with you, always. ;D

June 29, 2009, 09:03:21 PM #15 Last Edit: June 30, 2009, 12:12:03 AM by Ourla
I totally agree with Marauder Moe.  

Get used to it, dude.  I'm not going to stop looking at PCs.
Quote from: manonfire on November 04, 2013, 08:11:36 AM
The secret to great RP is having the balls to be weird and the brains to make it eloquent.

Quote from: Marauder Moe on June 29, 2009, 08:56:43 PM
Look is fine.

You people just need to get over yourselves.

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean they've copied your mdesc into a txt file or otherwise memorized it.

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean they're not ICly looking at other things too.  (Using look on vNPCs doesn't echo.  ::) )

Just because someone looks at you, it doesn't mean you have the right to force on them whatever IC action you feel like it being (ie, a long, aggressive stare).

Exactly.

Is it really that hard to just ignore the standard look echo unless you notice an emote is attached to it, or unless the circumstances are unique (i.e. you're hiding)?

I'd be fine with the echo being removed, but ignoring it isn't difficult.
And I vanish into the dark
And rise above my station

If you don't want people to look at you, don't be noticed.

(that said, I'm a fan of removing the look echo unless there is an emote attached.)

>throw two cents thread

I'm also a fan of having the look echo removed unless there is an emote attached. It is rather unrealistic for others to know for certain what you are looking at exactly most of the time. One thing that has always bothered me is that if someone looks at another who is hidden (that only they can see) it lets anyone else around know that there is someone hidden there even if they can't see them or were not told that they were there.
Quote from: Fnord on November 27, 2010, 01:55:19 PM
May the fap be with you, always. ;D

I don't think the look echo should be removed, you...well I, know most the time when somebody is looking at me.

But I agree on invis/hid. I mean really, jojo looks at someone...Huh? How the hell do I know he is looking at someone and not the couch or just staring off into space. Its like a power emote.
A gaunt, yellow-skinned gith shrieks in fear, and hauls ass.
Lizzie:
If you -want- me to think that your character is a hybrid of a black kryl and a white push-broom shaped like a penis, then you've done a great job

I'm in favor of the look echo being changed to a "subtle" action.  One that requires a keen sense of observation to pick up, unless it's got an emote attached.

Look tressy-tressed woman

Said woman now has a chance of getting the echo:

You notice: the tall, muscular man looks at you

if she's particularly observant or watching the one who happens to look at her.

If it's:

look tressy-tressed (blatantly leering)

then I think the echo should pop up.
Quote from: Dalmeth
I've come to the conclusion that relaxing is not the lack of doing anything, but doing something that comes easily to you.

Quote from: Pale Horse on June 30, 2009, 12:27:00 AM
I'm in favor of the look echo being changed to a "subtle" action.  One that requires a keen sense of observation to pick up, unless it's got an emote attached.

Look tressy-tressed woman

Said woman now has a chance of getting the echo:

You notice: the tall, muscular man looks at you

if she's particularly observant or watching the one who happens to look at her.

If it's:

look tressy-tressed (blatantly leering)

then I think the echo should pop up.

Second'd
New Players Guide: http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,33512.0.html


Quote from: Morgenes on April 01, 2011, 10:33:11 PM
You win Armageddon, congratulations!  Type 'credits', then store your character and make a new one

I dont mind about looks. What I 'do' mind is <looks/leave> kind of thing. Especially when people chase you down, only to take a look, and then leave without a single emote. That annoys me to no end.

If you looked at someone, atleast have the decency to describe your reaction to looking to someone (even if it is indifference), before you leave. Otherwise you're just an information gathering scripted npc.
Peering into the darkness, your voice uncertain, you say, in sirihish:
     "You be wary, you lot. It ain' I who's locked 'p here with yeh. it's the whol
e bunch of youse that's locked down here with meh."

I agree with everyone who thinks y'all should get over it. A look is just a look, stop fussing.
Quote from: Vanth on February 13, 2008, 05:27:50 PM
I'm gonna go all Gimfalisette on you guys and lay down some numbers.

Quote from: Salt Merchant on June 29, 2009, 08:26:33 PM
Yet if the hood is down, nine times out of ten your character will not get 'the look' except from someone who hasn't met him before.

Because characters trust people they know and thus scrutinize them less? You're really making a mountain out of a molehill here, dude.