; - Stacking Commands

[Linedel]

For instance (to stick with a previous example), if you open your pack, take out a key, unlock the door, open the door, walk in, close the door, lock the door, put the key away, close your pack in one single action, what if another PC shouted "Wait! Don't go in there!" as you pulled out your key?

A more appropriate time for that shout would be after the player types "emote walks towards the northern doorway, reaching for ~pack with his right hand", and then waits a bit before setting off his door alias, since, most likely, if you're going to tell someone not to go in somewhere, you're going to say it before they're all the way up to the door.

Perhaps rather than a strict policy, it would be better to comment to players that aren't emoting their pre-actions, such as walking to the door, rather than disallowing aliases to re-simplify fairly simple actions that have a comparatively obtuse method of invocation.  Compare 7 commands to get into a door with 1 command to "buy bread", when, approximately, they're the same complexity in the real world.  (Actually I'd argue buying bread is more complex, since it abstracts a bunch of character interaction.)

Actually, one thing macroed that kind of annoys me is people eating in taverns... holy shit, can we not make the entire screen scroll just to munch on a bread?  (open pack;get coins pack;buy meat;put coins pack;close pack;eat meat;eat meat;eat meat)  To me, that's more immersion breaking than 90% of the things people claim are unrealistic.  (I tend to take the "unrealistic" path of keeping a food item or two in my inventory most of the time, and compress those lines into fewer with emotes, eating it over time, and none but the guy using peek is any wiser that I'm cheesing it slightly.)

[Vanth]

What if you have the example macros set up to unlock, open, go through, close, and lock the door...but there's an assassin/burglar waiting for you on the other side?  You wouldn't lock yourself in with them, would you?  :twisted:

[Rhyden]

What if you have the example macros set up to unlock, open, go through, close, and lock the door...but there's an assassin/burglar waiting for you on the other side?  You wouldn't lock yourself in with them, would you?  :twisted:

Like hell my character would'nt! Some skinny little assassin/burglar in -my- apartment!? I'd lock the door, grab my nearest weapon and have a little bit of a correctional chat with them, if you catch my drift.  :twisted:

[Angela Christine]

Getting out your key, unlocking and opening the door could be one action.  But to my mind going through the door, closing and relocking it would be a second action.  That is at least two actions, and there probably ought to be a pause in there somewhere.

[Linedel]

I'll go for that.  How about:

#alias predoor {emote quietly strolls towards the door, reaching for ~pack.}
#alias door1 {open pack;get key pack;unlock door;look north;emote glances through the doorway.}
#alias door2 {north;close door;put key pack;close pack}

The three above steps with proper user-driven pauses between them seems reasonable, and should address most of the typing reduction arguments.  The length of pause between door1 and door2 should primarily be driven by your character's IC paranoia factor.  I rarely look cautiously through my (real world) apartment door when carrying a pile of groceries, but I don't live in Zalanthas, and the odds of a mugger being in my apartment on any given day are thus less than 50%.

The pre-door step is a good spot to insert any "scan" or "look east;look west;look south" type actions you wish to do.  Modify the emote to represent taking those actions, if you choose to do them.  The predoor thing should probably be typed custom any time you have visitors, the alias should mostly be used when you think you're alone, just in case of hiding/invis people.

The direction, pack, and key keywords should be variables if your client supports it, for ease of going both ways and moving your key to a different pack on the fly.

Add un-necessary stuff like "hold key" as your OOC paranoia of poorly roleplayed thieves warrants.  "Hold key" has no IC consequence as there is no point the key leaves your hand even if you don't type that.  (Went through a whole discussion with someone trying to convince me why, IC, typing "hold key" would "prevent theft.")

[Delirium]

Aliasing emotes would make me feel dirty.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Someone noted the irritation in someone eating in taverns, the scroll involved. This is a prime time for me to point out that nesting commands would, once more, make your screen more beatiful.