The power emote

[Stroker]

Do "completely bare apartments" exist?

Yes.

Are there virtual objects, rafters, curtains, windows, or any other possibility you aren't thinking of?

Rely on room descriptions for this....

Weren't we told to give people the benefit of the doubt when the code supports them?

Yes.

The staff says yes, and what is the alternative, do we treat them like they're half-dead for an IC month, even though they are sparring and running around as usual?

The staff doesn't say yes - they say that it is up to the injured person to role-play his/her injuries as they see fit. Again, why was this person near-death? Was s/he hit by a bahamet in the chest/torso/leg/arm? Or were they near death due to poison.... or some other fleeting element. In the end, if a person rapidly rebounds from the former, you, as a spectator, have no control over their character/role-play. If you're asking how would I role-play the former scene, I can tell you. I would role-play that scene as my character suffering a serious wound, which would heal over a period of days/weeks, during which he will not be running around battling more bahamets.

Do we agree that coded abilities have more weight than emotes when determining a scene?

Emotes set and describe the scene; code determines the outcome.

Is attempting to "get around" code, such as emoting searching for a codedly hidden person and expecting to them to reveal themselves, power emoting?

You can emote searching for them, but ultimately it is up to the hidden person to reveal themselves. If some dude runs in and starts searching the premises for me, will I reveal myself? Probably not, but it would depend on the situation, and I would use my best judgment to decide.

[Ghost]

Don't Zalanthan's with a decent hide skill have super-human stealth abilities when compared to real life?

Are you joking or are you just saying it?

[Rindan]

If I, as a militiaman warrior with no scan, was to charge into an apartment after a criminal who is hiding in there, and I start emoting that I am trashing the room to find them, I would think a hell of a lot more highly of that person if they reveal themselves, than if they decide that they are super assassins who can't possibly be seen no matter what I do.  Conversely, I personally would reveal myself if in the criminals shoes. 

I know that the scan does a lousy job simulating a determined effort to find someone in a relatively confined space, and would role play accordingly, regardless of what the code says.  The same goes for all things where the code either does a poor job simulating the situation or the code doesn't exist.  I'll stop my wagon if someone drops a few logs in the way.  I won't pick pocket someone who tells me that if I get within swinging distance I am going to have my head removed and emote accordingly.  If I emote that I am guarding a doorway, I won't try and insta-subdue someone in the room.  I won't hide while I am talking to someone unless it is a damned crowded room, and even then, I will emote ducking into the crowd instead of just vanishing.

Clearly, the staff is the final word in what exactly is and is not right.  Further, I bet they will likely error on the side of letting you get away with things because the code lets you, rather than smacking you down because they are nice folks.  That said, the people who can play beyond the code are the people who I will try and play with.  Thieves who taunt you while hidden because you don't have the scan skill and will not in a million years find them are the people that I will avoid playing with.  When I do have to deal with them, I will likely deal with them in the most brutish coded way I can.  On the other hand, people who are trust worthy (and I tend to give everyone some benefit of the doubt until prove otherwise) are the people where I will delay coded action in favor of playing out a scene. 

Armageddon is not a life simulator.  The code takes a couple of numbers, rolls some dice, ignores everything else, and spits out a black and white response.  No, the staff can't fix everything.  This is a game where my character can eviscerate you with a smooth stroke of his knife, but can't cut a damned piece of fruit without dropping one on the ground every single time (which he apparently won't eat dirty), much less cook with half the skill of a college male.  Code is nice and it is great when it is there for you.  I play Armageddon and not a MUSH because I like code.  That said, I play Armageddon and not some other RP MUD because I like being around people who realize where the usefulness of code begins and ends.

Personally, I think that if every time you run into a scene you ignore emoting and do what the code lets you do, you are going to miss out.  People are going to respond in kind, and scenes that could be tense and interesting are going to boil down into spamming subdue and kill until one party is out of action.  This is unlikely to help you to "win" Armageddon, and in all likelihood result in people being uninterested in dragging you into scenes and plots.  If that is what you are after, why on earth are you play Armageddon?

[lurkus ignoramus]

Isn't it all really circumstantial?

Didn't you think that scene in Leon where he is spider-manning the ceiling and pops those SWAT nerds in the head was rad?

Isn't it true that if someone is successfully hidden from you, you cannot see their long description, or any silent emoting they may be engaging in?

Does emoting or coded ability win in the end?

Should we accept and work around loopholes, flaws, and unrealistic code or should we do as the programmer in charge of redesigning skills suggested and give the staff feedback so they can improve and update the code to be more realistic?

Why not make it possible for rooms to give bonuses or detriments to stealth and/or observation skills?

Why not make it so that it takes longer to go from running to sneaking/hiding, and even more time to hide after having been in combat?

Why not use some type of approach/advance code, so that you really can't subdue someone across the room while simultaneously guarding the door?

[X-D]

Does lurkus ignoramus =delerak?

brother maybe?

[RogueGunslinger]

Anyone who had any hope of a discussion with this thread, lost all hope with the repeated spammy ass questions. Can we stop trying to mock each other and just have a god-damned discussion?

Edit: Disregard this post. I just realized Lurkus is doing this all over the boards.

[Maybe42or54]

Isn't it all really circumstantial?

Does emoting or coded ability win in the end?

Should we accept and work around loopholes, flaws, and unrealistic code or should we do as the programmer in charge of redesigning skills suggested and give the staff feedback so they can improve and update the code to be more realistic?

Why not make it possible for rooms to give bonuses or detriments to stealth and/or observation skills?

Why not make it so that it takes longer to go from running to sneaking/hiding, and even more time to hide after having been in combat?

Well. To your first question. Yes.

2. Emoting or Coded ability tie. What wins is the story. If the story says you climbed out through the chimney in the room, well. Damn good choice. If you emoted jumping behind the couch, then they "looked behind the couch" you should want to have a good, active story and reveal yourself. If you hid in the closet, and they look in the closet, you should reveal yourself. It all makes sense. You can just "power emote" finding a loose board and climbing underneath. Unless of course there is actually a loose board in the description, or you actively spent time trying to loosen a board.

3.They could.

4. No, because you don't have to sneak to hide. I could be running away from a mul and jump into a barrel to hide.

[Doppelganger]

Code is sillier than average Armer, but I trust it more, because it's unbiased. I would rather give subdue skill to any class to use than allow said average Armer to decide was he able to catch me or not. Not that I defend abuse of code, I just think that the only solution to avoid it is improvement to code. Make different levels of hide-ability for different rooms and there will be no ground for in-game OOC discussions.

It's nice to have someone around who is able to play the scene just and fair by emotes only, but I've seen enough otherwise responsible and still respected players who chicken out in life-and-death situations and rely on code when it suits them. Whenever code allows something to happen, I take it as a given. The question how did it happen is an excercise for my imagination rather than prompt for me to ruin the scene further with OOC thoughts and complaints.

4. No, because you don't have to sneak to hide. I could be running away from a mul and jump into a barrel to hide.

Don't you think that jumping is lauder than cautiously crawling in? And I'd think about the echo when you breath heavily after the long and exciting run.

[Maybe42or54]

4. No, because you don't have to sneak to hide. I could be running away from a mul and jump into a barrel to hide.

Don't you think that jumping is lauder than cautiously crawling in? And I'd think about the echo when you breath heavily after the long and exciting run.

Yes, it may be. However, if a mul is berserking, I'd rather just not be in sight. Maybe he'll forget about me. Maybe there is enough noise from screaming citizens, my breathing may by the last thing on my mind when the mul is chasing me. I may have gotten far enough away from him, since I'm an elf, that I have time to take a few deep breaths before he is clsoe enough to me. Or, I may just choke myself so that he doesn't find me and kill me.

There are a million little modifiers to each scene.

If I was running from a militiaman that was trying to kill me, and I ran into a bare room, then I would definately try to hide somewhere. Codely.

If that militiaman just comes in and emotes, "The Man looks around." I am not going to come out of my hiding space in the latrine to that. If he was actively looking around and actually looked in the spot that I was hiding, I'd give myself up. I wouldn't do it if he was just being pissed off OOC because I hid in a bare room, where I dug a hole in the previous day to hide.

[Doppelganger]

There are a million little modifiers to each scene.

Absolutely. And there are million different opinions on how each scene should be played. I don't call to play by code alone, I just find it useful to use coded affect as final judgement. If it happened, it happened, let's move on.

It's just my point of view, that more often than not OOC discussion about scene brings more shit to the game than questionable abuse itself.

[Raesanos]

There is no reason to argue about what is realistic in specific examples.

Two people can use their common sense and come to different conclusions, because the game gives you incomplete information about the situation and two people might make different assumptions or extrapolations from what they know, in both cases reasonably, and still come to different conclusions.

This is fine.  Its not like one of them is right and one of them is wrong.  You're all smart people and I don't think anybody is arguing based on a truly bad assumption.

So, accept that other people can come to other conclusions than you, respect their decision and use the guidelines I wrote out for dealing with when different opinions come into conflict.

[Tomeglow]

Well, I personally think it's a bit unreal to come in and guard the exits, emoting or code, because first you're going to need to search the bar. What most people fail to remember is, the Gaj is extremely full of vNPCs, and upon entering, you should scan the area and step between people, all while knowing OOC he's there. The thief should return the favor by trying to blend into the heavily-populated room. I think the guard command should only be used once he's been found, then I find it acceptable to guard the exits and maybe drag him outside to accomplish what's needed.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I find it perfectly acceptable to halt traffic while you look for him. Whether you find him or not, it is always best to lock down the scene. It happens IRL.

[Troicha]

And here I was hoping Rae had finally killed this troublesome topic.

Sigh.

[Salt Merchant]

And here I was hoping Rae had finally killed this troublesome topic.

Sigh.

And you want it dead, why?

[Ghost]

It is pretty much beaten to death

Let it not suffer anymore.  Make it quick.