Assess and its message

[jcarter]

If I just assess someone, not assess -v, does this still give a glance echo? If it does, can it be removed? Often times I use assess to make sure I have the right target, and I can see it certainly getting out of hand in certain situations as well as being jarring.

[Morgenes]

Both assess and assess -v have a chance at giving the glance echo.  Might I suggest you instead try something like 'watch <person>' as an alternative to assess, as it doesn't have an immediate echo (unless of course, they're watching you).  

We'd rather not remove the echo for assess, what may come of this is a new command:

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> testkeyword blonde
'blonde' would refer to 'the non-descript blonde woman'


I guess my concern would be depending on different commands, some just look for characters, others look for objects.  So would you want something like this just for characters, or both?  Perhaps with some kind of switch?

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> testkeyword -char blond
For characters, 'blond' would refer to 'the tall blond man'

>testkeyword -emote 2.red
For an emote, '2.red' would refer to 'a red object'

>testkeyword -myobj black
Of what you're carrying, 'black' would refer to 'a hooded black cloak.


Make sense?  Anyone offer an alternative (that doesn't remove the echo from assess)

*EDIT*  Moving this to Code Discussion for more input.

[Lazloth]

what may come of this is a new command:

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> testkeyword blonde
'blonde' would refer to 'the non-descript blonde woman'


That's a nice suggestion;  I'm like jcarter in that I'll use assess frequently in the course of interaction with object or person to ensure I've got things right.

[bloodfromstone]

I use assess near constantly. I never realized it had an echo. My apologies to anyone that I spammed with it.

[Lazloth]

I use assess near constantly. I never realized it had an echo. My apologies to anyone that I spammed with it.

It's new code .. and a chance to give an echo, not a guarantee.

Morgenes[/url]"]One of the more notable changes is to the assess command. Before now there was never an echo with the assess command. From here on out there will be a chance of noticing people 'glancing' at each other. This is them using the assess command. We have also added to 'assess -v' syntax, the ability to see if a character is armed or not. You won't see specifically what they are wielding, but if they have a weapon in their hands, it will tell you.

[Larrath]

The Testkeyword command sounds like a good idea.  If its purpose is to check keywords, though, I would go all the way with it.

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> test red
Red = the red-skinned man.

> test red - all
In this room:
Red - the red-skinned man
2.red - the red-haired woman
3.red - a red templar's robe
4.red - a red sandcloth bandana

On your person:
5.red - a red leather wrist-wrap (equipped)
6.red - a red-painted backpack (equipped)
7.red - a red-painted torch (inventory)

> test red backpack
Inside a leather backpack:
Red - a red flower
2.red - a red amulet
3.red - packet of red dye


Also, 'test red -me' and 'test red -room' for the halves of the All version.
Objects and NPCs/PCs in the room will be intentionally combined, so that command won't be able to tell whether that gortok is real or just a decoy.


With all this said, as long as Assess provides only information on the character's health, stamina and possession of a drawn weapon (all of which should be obvious as long as the character can be seen at all), I don't really see why regular assess should give an echo.

[Morgenes]

The Testkeyword command sounds like a good idea.  If its purpose is to check keywords, though, I would go all the way with it.

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> test red
Red = the red-skinned man.

> test red - all
In this room:
Red - the red-skinned man
2.red - the red-haired woman
3.red - a red templar's robe
4.red - a red sandcloth bandana

On your person:
5.red - a red leather wrist-wrap (equipped)
6.red - a red-painted backpack (equipped)
7.red - a red-painted torch (inventory)

> test red backpack
Inside a leather backpack:
Red - a red flower
2.red - a red amulet
3.red - packet of red dye


Also, 'test red -me' and 'test red -room' for the halves of the All version.
Objects and NPCs/PCs in the room will be intentionally combined, so that command won't be able to tell whether that gortok is real or just a decoy.

Good ideas, keep them coming

With all this said, as long as Assess provides only information on the character's health, stamina and possession of a drawn weapon (all of which should be obvious as long as the character can be seen at all), I don't really see why regular assess should give an echo.

Your eyes have to rest on them however briefly to garner that information.  This is an in-character action, and as such players should get a chance to notice and react to it.  

If the reason people use assess is to check keywords out of character, then we should add an out of character command that handles that need, not overload something that garners in-character information (no matter how small the amount of IC information).

[Larrath]

If the reason people use assess is to check keywords out of character, then we should add an out of character command that handles that need, not overload something that garners in-character information (no matter how small the amount of IC information).

After some consideration I've realized that I simply did not consider all of the information the Assess command can give.  I suggest that the additional, optional information is moved to the Assess -V, leaving regular Assess with only the two features we all know of.

These two features, health and stamina, can actually be acquired by simple use of the Look Room command (the tall man is here, looking exhausted/bleeding lightly), and therefore I don't see any reason why using Assess for OOC keyword verification is bad.

Another command would be great, of course, but Assess has the great advantage of being VERY easy to type, and it would be a shame to lose that.  Sounds silly, but I'm serious.

[Hymwen]

These two features, health and stamina, can actually be acquired by simple use of the Look Room command

Just pointing out that 'look room' will show the room description without the people in it. Not to gloat, but to prevent confusion

[Morgenes]

These two features, health and stamina, can actually be acquired by simple use of the Look Room command (the tall man is here, looking exhausted/bleeding lightly), and therefore I don't see any reason why using Assess for OOC keyword verification is bad.

Another command would be great, of course, but Assess has the great advantage of being VERY easy to type, and it would be a shame to lose that.  Sounds silly, but I'm serious.

This isn't absolutely true, as the health/stamina portion of the long description isn't shown with the same level of detail as assess gives.  I realize that using assess is an ingrained habit that is hard to break, but the staff thought long and hard about this, and the decision has been made.  We should focus on what alternatives we can provide to help you with getting out of character infromation without using an in character command to do it.

[Morfeus]

I like the idea of the new command. And I would like something simple as "test red" mentioned above. Actually, I like Larrath's idea in general.

[Vanth]

I would hope that most people would not automatically assume that a 'glance' is hostile in any way more than a 'look'.  So even if they notice you glancing, what's the big deal?

[Morfeus]

I like the idea not only because of "not glancing" but also because it gives me hint how to point that fifth tall man without "glancing" at each of them first.

[FightClub]

Just add * for items, ~ for people, that'd cut down on a load of targeting problems.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Since we are used to typing emote and pemote, and their shorter versions, em and pem, why not use the syntax tm or tmote for testing purposes? It keeps it all in the same family.

[Ava]

Seen by girls the world over who start sparring with the one male in the room:
> hit man
The lord high commander of the Children of the Light has arrived from the west.
You pierce the lord high commander of the Children of the Light very hard on the neck.

So, incorporating Larrath's idea and adding my own, how about: the all-mighty KEY command.

> key man
man - the grumpy Tuluki soldier
2.man - the sneezy Tuluki soldier
3.man - the sleepy Tuluki soldier
4.man - your sweety-pie
5.man - a large tree
The keyword "kw" now refers to "the grumpy Tuluki soldier"

> tickle kw
You tickle the grumpy Tuluki soldier.

> key 4.man
4.man - your sweety-pie
The keyword "kw" now refers to "your sweety-pie"

> tickle kw
You tickle your sweety-pie.

So...this wondrously powerful command does the following:
1) List all possible people and objects that match one or more keywords.
2) Link the magic word "kw" to the first match.  ("Key" would be more logical, except for the fact that there are a lot of "key" objects in the game.)

This lets folks identify someone initially by the handiest keyword, but immediately turn it into something unique they can target.

[Treestone Capricorn]

Hurrah for Ava!

[Yokunama]

The Testkeyword command sounds like a good idea.  If its purpose is to check keywords, though, I would go all the way with it.

Code Select Expand


> test red
Red = the red-skinned man.

> test red - all
In this room:
Red - the red-skinned man
2.red - the red-haired woman
3.red - a red templar's robe
4.red - a red sandcloth bandana

On your person:
5.red - a red leather wrist-wrap (equipped)
6.red - a red-painted backpack (equipped)
7.red - a red-painted torch (inventory)

> test red backpack
Inside a leather backpack:
Red - a red flower
2.red - a red amulet
3.red - packet of red dye


Also, 'test red -me' and 'test red -room' for the halves of the All version.
Objects and NPCs/PCs in the room will be intentionally combined, so that command won't be able to tell whether that gortok is real or just a decoy.


With all this said, as long as Assess provides only information on the character's health, stamina and possession of a drawn weapon (all of which should be obvious as long as the character can be seen at all), I don't really see why regular assess should give an echo.

This idea is good!

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key rack
On The Busty Woman:
 1.rack - a large, healthy rack

[Delirium]

I LOVE[/color] this new keyword command.

[Tamarin]

I love it more!

Let's dance?

[Yokunama]

Let's dance?

Sure!

Tango?

[LauraMars]

This command is beyond great.

Let's dance - to the song they're playing on the radio.

[Delirium]

I get LauraMars, Tamarin can have Yokunama.


This 'keyword' command not only solves the problem with 'assessing' people and objects for emotes, but it does something far greater - it lets you figure out exacty which object with the keyword 'bone', among twenty other different objects with the keyword 'bone', you're looking for, in a chest.

This is fantastic.  No more guestimating and counting and subtracting just to get a bone-handled whip out!

[Seeker]

There is some serious sweetness with this command.


Seeker

[Tamarin]

Wtf I don't want Yoko-ono!

In truth, I'm the whitist dancer ever in history, and that's not a good thing, my friends.

*plays the sweet guitar music for Delirium and LauraMars' dancing*

[Yang]

What if you could target someone like this:


emote targets ~blue-haired.

emote targets ~blue-eyed.


I see newbies using the full hyphenated command aaaaaaaaaaaall the time.

In my imagined version you could still also do blue and 2.blue or haired or eyed.

[Folker]

I often use assess on templars because ... I simply dont remember what gender are they. And I figured usually, it's possible to 'glimpse' the gender without obviously staring or attracting attention by looking.