You're not very sneaky.

[An annoyed observer]

Am I the only one that finds sneaking around with Guards hitched to you to be extremely bad form and jarring besides?  Seriously, I don't see how you can justify attempting to move around unobtrusively when you have a pack of people trailing behind you.

[Ghost]

Ditto.

[sarahjc]

That's awesome, cheers to whoever did it, I can just see them now:

The Pink Rhino motions recon style to the group following her and with stealthy steps moves past the northern archway, stopping only a moment to thank her man servant for bringing her a glass of water.


But really.. Yeah, that's kinda dumb, almost as dumb as a half-giant burglar. You are not invisible if you have ten people following you.

But also consider the person may have been sneaking before, and just forgot to turn it off, unless of course they were emoting like the example above.

[mansa]

Is it much more easier to sneak when you're the only one on a street, or is it easier to sneak on a crowded street?

Perhaps the person is following someone who is sneaking.  Or perhaps they are trying to use their skills, when they normally can't.  This is a -game- and skills -do- matter.   They are probably just sneaking around in order to get access to the skill that branches from sneaking.   I'd do it.

[Anonymous]

This is a -game- and skills -do- matter.   They are probably just sneaking around in order to get access to the skill that branches from sneaking.   I'd do it.

That's fucking gay bullshit and you know it. The purpose of nobles is not to advance their skills. They are there for atmospheric politcal intrigue. I would hope an imm to slay you if such play occured.

However, I say to the annoyed observer to calm down. Perhaps the noble forgot they were sneaking when they asked the guards to follow them, or perhaps they forgot the guards were still hitched to them when they suck out of their compound. Give them a break.

[Marauder Moe]

*noble aide walks up to a tall bush outside of the estate*
Aide: "My Lord... is there something I can do for you?"
*noble peeks out from behind the bush*
Noble: "Damn!  How did you find me?"
*aide points to a pair of guards flanking the bush*


Anyway yes, it sounds very silly.  

[jstorrie]

This is a -game- and skills -do- matter.   They are probably just sneaking around in order to get access to the skill that branches from sneaking.   I'd do it.

That's fucking gay bullshit and you know it. The purpose of nobles is not to advance their skills. They are there for atmospheric politcal intrigue. I would hope an imm to slay you if such play occured.

Listen, poison, brew, bandage, peek, scan, steal, sneak, hide, backstab (!), climb, various crafting skills - all of these could provide interesting outlets for noble play, and I'm sure other skills could, too.  If nobles were meant to have no skills, we'd have guild_noble; rather, they're expected to use their skills responsibly and realistically.

I disagree with mansa, though.  Sneaking around to branch something is a bit beneath the responsibility of a special role.

[mansa]

This is a -game- and skills -do- matter.   They are probably just sneaking around in order to get access to the skill that branches from sneaking.   I'd do it.

That's fucking gay bullshit and you know it. The purpose of nobles is not to advance their skills. They are there for atmospheric politcal intrigue. I would hope an imm to slay you if such play occured.

How would a noble be, without the listen skill?  Without the contact skill?  Without the scan skill?  Without the peek skill?  Without the sirihish skill?  Without the Bendune RW skill?  Without the teleport spell?

This isn't a MUSH, and this isn't a H&S, this is something inbetween.  A mixture of the two.  I'm not supurbly happy that branching from primary skills is the way certain skills are given in each class, and sometimes, you have to use your skills that would seem iffy for your character to be using, simply because your not able to receive all the necessary options for your character to use.

I'm not saying that THAT is the reason why this person was observed 'sneaking' around...  I'm just saying that unless the game was dramatically changed to a classless system, you're going to have 'guilds' that have useless skills for the character at hand.

[wizturbo]

I have to totally agree with Mansa on this one.  Some characters might practice an ability for the sole purpose of learning the abilities that come after it.  However, practicing it unrealistically is very bad form.

A noble who likes to sneak around to spy on his guards/aides/slaves is something I could see.  They might be interested in finding spies in their midst, and who else can you trust but yourself in such matters right?

Or they might have interest in hunting game for sport.

There are possibilites for realistic roleplay, but sneaking around with 3 guards following you is not one of them.  The other possibility...they might have forgotten to turn sneak off! :-)

[Larrath]

I cannot speak against people using certain skills their characters would not use in order to branch skills their characters would use, since I feel it is more of an OOC issue.

Not all skill branchings make a lot of sense.  I do not think it is ridiculous to ask that whoever needs to branch like that kept their attempt...detached from the rest of the game.  You're a noble who needs to sneak around to gain Psionic Brainfry?  Feel welcome to sneak around in your estate, and good luck with the branching.

This does sound like it was an OOC mistake, however...I don't think anyone would seriously try to sneak around like that.

[Cuusardo]

It is more than a little obvious when you've got two heavily armored guards in tow.

[The other sneak]

The player of that character did a wonderful job not standing up to scan twice when a cup fell and rattled on the bar; he looked at a scene next to a hidden emoter at the proper time, and I almost felt like a twink for using "someone" ambiguously (I tried to treat "someone" as a possible VNPC, thus creating a room echo of sorts). If anything, it was a little coded oversight that could've been cleared up with a simple OOC.

Try playing a class with sneak. See if you always remember to turn it off when you're through using the skill. Chances are, you're going to get into a potentially awkward situation like that, which might be approached with a friendly OOC, or an in-character reaction (and to a noble, that's unlikely).

[The observer]

It could be accidental.  If so, it helps to set your prompt to tell you what your movement is set to.

The other sneak, I have no idea what you're referring to, so um... that would appear to be a different situation.  I currently have a character with sneak, however.  If you use it with purpose and treat it like what it is - a way to move about stealthily - rather than treating it like a skill that keeps other PCs from seeing you and that needs to be branched, you're less likely to use it poorly.  And again, set your prompt so that you know how fast you're moving.

[Akaramu]

*noble aide walks up to a tall bush outside of the estate*
Aide: "My Lord... is there something I can do for you?"
*noble peeks out from behind the bush*
Noble: "Damn!  How did you find me?"
*aide points to a pair of guards flanking the bush*

That was hilarious. *hands MM a cookie*

Try playing a class with sneak. See if you always remember to turn it off when you're through using the skill.

Been there, done that. It is much easier to remember when you really only use it on specific occasions, with fear of being caught by your superiors IC. Try doing it only at night, only on not so crowded streets, and going to hide somewhere and change clothes before you start sneaking around so people wontnt gossip about that Borsail aide who keeps walking funny.  I never once forgot to switch it off with my assassin in 16 days played. *shrug*

Of course, I guess its IC for some people to sneak 24 / 7 and in and out of taverns... I'm not surprised they forget to not sneak sometimes.  :wink:

[Larrath]

It is possible to have movement speed appear in the prompt.  Then you can have every line reminding you that you are running or sneaking.

You can also flank it with symbols in your prompt, ("ie |sneaking|") and then make easy color triggers for it.

[Anonymous]

It is possible to have movement speed appear in the prompt.  Then you can have every line reminding you that you are running or sneaking.

The available parameters for prompt are:


%h  current health  %H  maximum health  
%m  current mana  %M  maximum mana  
%v  current stamina  %V  maximum stamina  
%t  current stun  %T  maximum stun  
%l  long description status  %L  your long description  
%n  your name  %i  your invisibility status  
%s  your current position  %f  your flying status  
%o  the language you're speaking  %k  what you're riding  
%w  how fast you're walking

These parameters can be mixed with any normal text that you wish. For instance, the command "prompt %hhp> " would produce a prompt such as "14hp> ". You can also use "\n" to skip to a new line.


Syntax:


prompt <message and parameters>

Example:


> prompt %h/%H;%v/%V>
101/112;149/151>

[Bogre]

Been there, done that. It is much easier to remember when you really only use it on specific occasions, with fear of being caught by your superiors IC. Try doing it only at night, only on not so crowded streets, and going to hide somewhere and change clothes before you start sneaking around so people wontnt gossip about that Borsail aide who keeps walking funny.  I never once forgot to switch it off with my assassin in 16 days played. *shrug*

Of course, I guess its IC for some people to sneak 24 / 7 and in and out of taverns... I'm not surprised they forget to not sneak sometimes.  :wink:

Agreed, Akaramu. With mysneaky characters, I always try to change clothes, and I always turn it off when I am about to go someplace someone would notice me. Which can get annoying typing walk;e;e;sneak;n over and over, but it makes sense. It also stops people from noticing you walking sneakily, which is a major benefit.

[SewerRat_inTheOpen]

On the point of sneaking, I think it's quite normal for people to just forget they were sneaking. I found it funny the other day when I saw this kank sneaking after its sneaky owner though, hehe.

[Cuusardo]

All the more reason to put your walking speed into your prompt.

I've seen nobles do it before, sneaking around with their guards.

I personally think its poor form. If you want to be sneaky, SNEAK away from your guards and wear different clothes if you wanna go incognito, without an escort.

It'll make it more exciting,  with the chance you might get splattered. (we can hope)

[Armaddict]

Okay.  So the guards failed sneak.  That's how you noticed them.  Their sneak could have succeeded, but it failed because of their entourage.

Role-play accordingly, rather than jumping to conclusions about why it's happening.