Spice!

[Delirium]

He said "backed up by" and not "completely mandated by".

[Pantoufle]

And, the 'coming down' code is a bit boring 'you feel weak'.. 'your eyes hurt'.. Ok.. I want to know more... I need more input, so that I can play it better. I'd be willing to write up echos and such, I'd love to submit them.. The question is.. Would it be implemented?

Why?  You have a general guideline with which to follow (one prompt, such as 'You feel weak' as previously mentioned).  You don't need a mindless code to tell you excessive details, use your own creativity.  That's what this game is all about.

Besides, everyone's body chemistry is different.  How I react to caffeine may be quite the opposite to how you react.  So is the way with spice.  If you implement a code that forces you to react in a very specific manner, you're limiting their ability to roleplay.  Hell, if that's the case, why play a character at all!  Maybe we can implement a code which forces our character to do everything for us so we can just sit and watch.

[Many Faces]

There is an ingame use for spice addiction code.

There is not an ingame use for pissing/pregnancy code.

There's a distinct line, Pantouffle.  You're just choosing not to see it.


If your character benefits long term from an addictive substance, then yeah,, there should be coded problems with that... since there are coded bonuses.

[Pantoufle]

He said "backed up by" and not "completely mandated by".

I know.

I don't think pregnancy, for example, should be backed up by, supported by, sponsored by, or otherwise controlled in any way by the code.  I think these sorts of things should be left up to the player to decide how their character responds.  In this instance (and in the instance of addiction) I'll decide what makes my character sweat versus what makes him/her tremble, or what makes them feel nauseous or even just how nauseous they feel.  The way YOU react to withdrawl symptoms is not exactly the way I might.  But the code won't ever take that into consideration.

Down with coding everything.

Up with roleplay.

[Pantoufle]

If your character benefits long term from an addictive substance, then yeah,, there should be coded problems with that... since there are coded bonuses.

The coded disadvantages already exist.  I'm not talking about coded advantages or disadvantages.  I'm talking about ridiculous prompts which tell me exactly how I feel.

[Anonymous]

Anyone able to figure out where Pantoufle stands on this?  I think he needs to tell us a bit more vehemently, and in aobut seven more posts how he feels.

[Many Faces]

The coded disadvantages already exist. I'm not talking about coded advantages or disadvantages. I'm talking about ridiculous prompts which tell me exactly how I feel.

Granted, that's how you feel.  I'm not arguing with that.  I am of the opinion, however, that there needs to be more information given on how a PC would feel during a spice rush or withdrawl.  You may have plenty of experience with rushes and coming down, yourself, but what about some other players who do not?  (Please do not misconstrue that statement as a suggestion that you do drugs, that is not in any way what I was trying to put across.)

I am not talking about bold and stark statements about what you are or aren't feeling, I'm talking about a bit more information given during the spice experience.  Maybe a total of three or four messages per pinch.  If you do a lot more than that, then yes, you are going to be more taken by the rush and your screen may be a bit spammy.  Personally, I think that is an excellent way to represent the lightheadness and perhaps lack of focus that a heavy high would represent.

As for coded spice addiction, yes, I think that if you have done a spice for flippin years that you should have 'the shakes' when you don't get your fix.

Do you think a shaking junkie in an alley has that much control over what he's feeling?  I do not.  I'm pretty sure that quivering is pretty much involuntary, along with the drooling and whatever else comes along with a heavy, heavy addiction.

[Pantoufle]

I'm sure you accidently forgot to logon, "Guest", when making both a strong rebuttal as well as a sound argument backed up with thought and reasoning.  I say this because I know you wouldn't want to come across as too fearful of making snide remarks under the cheap guise of anonymity.

On a more sincere (and adult) note, to Many Faces.  I see your point.  And while many if not most withdrawl symptoms are involuntary, the symptoms, themselves, will vary per person.  What about a documentation, rather than a hard code, which suggests a varied in depth list of possible withdrawl symptoms?  This way we as players can act out the specifics we feel our characters would be most suspeptible to.  I think a lengthy spice addiction document would be more encouraging than any added code.

[Many Faces]

Some players will begin playing Armageddon without reading the docs.

I did.  I played until perhaps my third character without even knowing of the existance of the GDB, or any doc outside of the helpfiles.

I had a load of experience with spice by the time I found any sort of additional info into what it was all about.  If I had gotten the ocassional extra message about what was going on, I probably would have looked into it a bit more and maybe found a link or a mention about the rest of the info a bit earlier.

That's what I'm talking about.   We should have a large doc about it,  yeah, hell yeah.  I'm not saying we shouldn't.  I'm saying that additional spice addiction code would rock, in addition to that.  It'd help the whole thing get awesome... a long lived kuraci outrider buckling over in the saddle on an extended ride because he forgot to bring his fix or sifter.  A nobleman who's gotten too indulgent vomiting all over his silks and beginning the shakes because he was too unfocused by his lack of fix to contact his aide for a delivery.  There would be some awesome, awesome possibilities.

[Fragmented]

I think what Pantoufle is saying (and I agree with him) is that we need the freedom to diversify what we're experiencing. Okay, so X spice makes your eyes hurt when you come down. As it is now, everyone who adds onto that coded message emotes something about their eyes hurting. Then you can say 'Oh, he's using x spice, because -my- eyes hurt whenever I come down off that too.'

But the real question is, would -everyone's- eyes hurt when they came down off of x spice? Personally, I don't think so, and I'll be the first to admit I'm basing my comparison off of real life drugs I've experienced myself. But if we don't in part base something off of what we know, how can we roleplay it? A brief example being aliens. Every movie shows aliens as vaguely humanoid, and that's because that's what we know, and it's hard for the human mind to concieve of something -completely- original.

So basically, to sum up this rambling post, I also believe that we should have a range of things over a full spectrum, rather then being forced to roleplay a hundred different variations of your eyes hurting when you come down off of X spice.

-Frag

[James de Monet]

Of course, you could just ignore the coded echo for withdrawl and RP your own response...

[spawnloser]

We already get coded messages that tell us how we feel when taking the spice...this could be construed as generic.  I have already submitted an idea for integrated command emotes for the 'smoke' command, though that is somewhat unrelated.  Still, more generic information.  In general, people coming down from a substance have similar responses, just as people going on a substance have similar responses.  We could come up with something a bit more...descriptive that still allows for roleplay.  I simply advocate more messages...describing the drug induced mental roller-coaster the person is on.  A peak followed by slow drift into the crash that happens afterwards, even a message for when the crash is over.  Mapping these ups and downs a bit better would increase people's ability to roleplay these effects.

Also, more support for addiction, including the giving of withdrawl symptoms, I would love, especially if it included degrees of addiction so tha withdrawl could be more serious for some than others, because again, it will let the person know that they're addicted...and that their character really does crave a thing due to the addiction.  Currently, it's hard to tell if your character is truly addicted.

[mansa]

...Currently, it's hard to tell if your character is truly addicted...

From my experience, you definitely know when you're addicted.

[Angela Christine]

Sometimes you miss the echo when good turns to bad.  Instead of more messages, I would like it if the message you get in stat was more specific.  Right now is just says that you are affected by spice, but not which spice or what affect.  I'd like to have the specific effects listed.  Don't just tell me I'm affected by spice, tell me for example that because of spice I'm euphoric, itchy, aggressive and nauseous.  

On a related note, I'd also like symptoms listed for poison, rather than just "You are affected by Poison".


That way you aren't bothered by more frequent echos, but you can still check your current symptoms any time you want.


Angela Christine