Watch <thing> <direction>

[Synthesis]

n/t

[Eloran]

Way too much room for abuse.










I kid. I like the idea.

[Is Friday]

Yay good idea.

[RogueGunslinger]

Yay good idea.

[Dalmeth]

This was always something missing from the watch functionality, and I've cried for it myself many times.

Considering we'll be able to follow people at a distance in the next game, I assume that it will be the same for watch as well.

The question is, why can't we have it noooow?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

If you are in the room with something, and you start watching it, you will notice it anytime you can see it, after you move.

The ability to do this at distance is not a far fetched idea at all.

[SMuz]

Yes.

I think the only thing the only thing holding this back is being hard to code, but the (direction) part seems to solve that a bit.

[Kryos]

As long as it applied a scaling penalty to your watch skill based on distance, terrain, and weather . . . sounds pro.

[Majikal]

This would be sex.

[spawnloser]

How about watch showing emotes and when someone's speaking while you're watching in that direction?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Yes. Seriously. That bit has always bugged me about the watch command - not knowing when someone emotes and speaks.

[jcljules]

Yes. Seriously. That bit has always bugged me about the watch command - not knowing when someone emotes and speaks.

[Chettaman]

I'm getting a bad habit of reviving old topics...
But I think this would be a good idea.

[Aaron Goulet]

I've tried this a few times, thinking it was already in the code.  It's pretty intuitive for it to work that way as well, in my opinion.

[Harmonic]

I'm getting a bad habit of reviving old topics...
But I think this would be a good idea.

Knock it off. If it's older than two weeks, leave it alone.

[a strange shadow]

How about you quit being a jerk? Some of us aren't as jaded and well-read on the GDB as you are, good sir.

[Harmonic]

edit: Taking the high road.

[Shalooonsh]

edit: Taking the high road.

A bit late, it looks like.

Keep it clean for next time, or all of your accounts may suffer difficulties.

[Riev]

Didn't it used to be like that? I feel like I've been watching a direction, and saw when someone emoted, just not the emotes for talking.

Or was that a second-hand-weed induced dream?

[musashi]

If you watch someone and they leave the room and go to a different you can see watch them from another room, but not the way the syntax in the topic line implies. 

[X-D]

You see socials with watch but not emotes...and a bunch of other things.

[Incognito]

One thing I've noticed about the Watch Skill - which can possibly be termed as abuse is:

You start watching PC X.

X moves away - ok - you're still watching him from a distance.

X moves farther away - still cool - you're a pro - you're concentrating totally on him and watching him from a long distance now.

X moves out of vision range, and returns, possibly hours later, and that too from another direction - but - you're STILL watching him - not cool!!! - just coz you did not change the target of your Watch Skill or did not turn it off, doesn't give you some kind of automagickal ability to sense them from every direction - and for an unlimited period of time.

I seriously think the Watch Skill needs to be toned down, so that it wears off after a certain amount of time AND it also wears off if the target has moved away more than a designated amount of rooms.

Edited to add:
You may have noticed this:
You are currently watching X. (This remains in your status, even if the PC has moved out of visual range - i.e. codedly, you're watching over someone who isnt there, AND, it doesnt get reset, unless you manually do so, even though the PC might be leagues away and for an indefinite amount of time).

[AmandaGreathouse]

Not a fan. Maybe if they leave your line of sight it turns off. But I'm already aggravated when I'm listening to something and I go ten minutes of not hearing, then I realize it made my character stop listening when they would still be listening due to a timer. I would not want watch to automatically wear off as well, because it would probably take a good long while for me to notice, oocly. If I want to stop watching someone, I'll stop watching them. If they get far enough out of range that I can't see them, clearly I'm not watching them anymore. But I don't want it to just randomly shut off. No thank you.

[Incognito]

Not a fan. Maybe if they leave your line of sight it turns off. But I'm already aggravated when I'm listening to something and I go ten minutes of not hearing, then I realize it made my character stop listening when they would still be listening due to a timer. I would not want watch to automatically wear off as well, because it would probably take a good long while for me to notice, oocly. If I want to stop watching someone, I'll stop watching them. If they get far enough out of range that I can't see them, clearly I'm not watching them anymore. But I don't want it to just randomly shut off. No thank you.

Point taken and understood AGH.

However, how can it be ICLY justified that you're watching someone indefinitely, and in all possible directions, all the time - until you decide you don't want to watch that person any more?
Also, please realise, code-wise, this skill overrides changes in clothing - i.e. you might be watching me in the eastern direction leaving in a dark hooded cloak, and, if I approach you from another direction an hour or two later, wearing another cloak, you'll still know its me - coz codewise you're still watching me with the skill.......how is that realistic?

[AmandaGreathouse]

No, I mean, I'm totally cool with watch shutting off when someone leaves your line of sight. Just not while your in the middle of the tavern, bsing them and trying to check for tics so you see whether or not their buying your line of bs.

If somebody leaves, absolutely, shut it off.

If you're sitting right across from them, staring them down (subtly, of course!), it makes no sense to turn off just for the sake of a timer.

[spawnloser]

Leaving line-of-sight codedly doesn't mean leaving line-of-sight in actuality.  Your character can still be looking in the appropriate direction.  A combination of leaving line-of-sight codedly combined with a timer would allow for people to continue to chase other people using watch while breaking this one unrealistic bit?

[Incognito]

No, I mean, I'm totally cool with watch shutting off when someone leaves your line of sight. Just not while your in the middle of the tavern, bsing them and trying to check for tics so you see whether or not their buying your line of bs.

If somebody leaves, absolutely, shut it off.

If you're sitting right across from them, staring them down (subtly, of course!), it makes no sense to turn off just for the sake of a timer.

Agreed - a timer would make no sense, if the target and you are still in the same room, or in nearby rooms in visual range.
However, it would be realistic to atleast switch off Watch if the target logs out of the game.....If I'm not mistaken, it doesn't even get reset if the target logs out atm - but not currently in-game to verify this at the moment. I know you definitely do not get an echo, if you're watching someone and they log out......so I'm assuming you just codedly continue to keep watching them.

Leaving line-of-sight codedly doesn't mean leaving line-of-sight in actuality.  Your character can still be looking in the appropriate direction.  A combination of leaving line-of-sight codedly combined with a timer would allow for people to continue to chase other people using watch while breaking this one unrealistic bit?

I'm not sure I get what you're saying Spawnloser, can you elaborate please?

[spawnloser]

Just because someone has gone 1w1s doesn't mean that, realistically, they have left someone else's line-of-sight... but they have CODEDLY left line-of-sight.  Having a timer function begin when coded line-of-sight is ended means that it allows the person watching to get coded line of sight instead of allowing the twinks to go 1s1e and break someone else's watch.

[Krath]

Leaving line-of-sight codedly doesn't mean leaving line-of-sight in actuality.  Your character can still be looking in the appropriate direction. 

Wrong

[Incognito]

Just because someone has gone 1w1s doesn't mean that, realistically, they have left someone else's line-of-sight... but they have CODEDLY left line-of-sight.  Having a timer function begin when coded line-of-sight is ended means that it allows the person watching to get coded line of sight instead of allowing the twinks to go 1s1e and break someone else's watch.

Again - a very valid point, I'd have to agree with you on this too Spawnloser.

Guess a combination of line of sight and timer would be most suited.

Now we'd just need to factor in if the target PC moves out of line of sight AND switches garbs/puts on concealing facial items etc. How would that figure in?

I could very well go around an alley, switch into a different cloak or wear a mask - would it be realistic for someone codedly watching me - to automatically identify me then?

[Cutthroat]

Leaving line-of-sight codedly doesn't mean leaving line-of-sight in actuality.  Your character can still be looking in the appropriate direction.

Wrong

No, spawnloser is right. In an outdoors setting with a lot of [NESW] rooms without cliffs, trees, etc., if you are one room east, one room south of me, I can probably still see you. However, there are situations where a person could duck into a cave/alley/whatever. Just have watch turn off if the watcher must move more than three rooms to get to the watched person. By then, they are definitely out of sight.

[AmandaGreathouse]

Just have watch turn off if the watcher must move more than three rooms to get to the watched person. By then, they are definitely out of sight.

My line of thought exactly. Anything closer, and I think it's perfectly valid that watch wouldn't break.

As to changing your clothing, you still have the same build and etc. If you're within line of sight, unless you were hidden, I don't see how they wouldn't be able to see you doing it. If you were out of line of sight, they wouldn't be watching when you returned anyhow.

[Incognito]

Well, someone's gonna have to figure this one out, regarding line of sight.

Coz, if you're in a room which has visual sight in all directions, and your target goes N and then E - they'd still be within your north-eastern line of sight - since its an open environment.

However, if you're in a room which has alleys or streets in all directions, and your target goes N and then E - they wouldn't be within your north-eastern line of sight - since they'd be around a corner.


Currently there's no coded way for differentiating between these 2 situations - and it'd be a herculean task to manually code each room in each zone - to label them appropriately for a hard-coded delineation in the non-Cardinal directions.

[spawnloser]

Currently there's no coded way for differentiating between these 2 situations - and it'd be a herculean task to manually code each room in each zone - to label them appropriately for a hard-coded delineation in the non-Cardinal directions.

This really is the biggest problem with trying to 'fix' watch when people are in different rooms, but I don't think just walking around a corner is enough either.

My thought on this was that simply ducking around a corner shouldn't be enough, too, to break watch.  Say my character was two rooms behind another character, so when that other character goes north around a corner, should my watch be automagickally broken?  I dash up to said corner and look around it, why shouldn't I be able to continue watching that person?

[X-D]

I'm fine with the way it currently works. Maybe not perfect, but the problems are not a big enough deal to matter to me.

[a strange shadow]

Stealthy characters that use stealthy skills and succeed at said stealth should not have much problem with the watch code.

[Qzzrbl]

As far as going around corners and whatnot, I've always viewed watch in those situations to be "Actively looking for said person"-- you notice them when they pass by later or whatever.

[Incognito]

I'm fine with the way it currently works. Maybe not perfect, but the problems are not a big enough deal to matter to me.

I know - EVERYONE is "fine" with the way it currently works - i.e. an omni-directional infallible radar-detection skill

[spawnloser]

I know - EVERYONE is "fine" with the way it currently works - i.e. an omni-directional infallible radar-detection skill

You forgot that it has only a super short range to target, but ridiculous range after.