Please consider this tweak to the skill Scan.

[Desert Wanderer]

Just a thought, but would the staff consider removing the echo when someone uses the scan command?  
 
I just can't see why everyone in the room would keenly be aware of my increased perception when I start to use more caution when viewing my surroundings.  I'd like to think my character would be subtler when doing so.  No one notices when someone starts listening, and to me, that is just another version of paying closer attention like scan.
 
I understand the staff is very busy with larger matters then this, so I wanted to thank you in advance for taking the time to read this, and hope it might find its way to one of your lists of things to be considered.
 
-DW

[Dakkon Black]

My take to the scan skill is more like this.

The guard scanning isnt just watching closer, he's doing an active search. Looking behind the couch, walking to that dark corner of the room etc. So the echo works for me, with listen your ears dont get up and roam around, with scan you do.

PS if its that big of a deal, emote that you are not moving, and just looking about more perceptively, technically that echo means nothing since the other people RP not noticing it.... right?  

[Desert Wanderer]

I think with that perspective a guard would have to spend thier entire time RPing that they are actively searching through the room, and every room they enter for the next 30 minutes or however long that ability is active.

If we look at the help file, here is what it states about the scan skill:

This skill allows a keen use of observational techniques and good vision to spot invisible and hidden persons. Any such persons will appear as shadows or blurs only. After using the skill, a period of time will ensue during which your character be able to see these things. Note that as with skill_hide and skill_sneak, there are city and wilderness versions of this skill, and it will obviously operate better in the appropriate environment.

It doesn't state that one is actively tossing a room looking for someone when using the skill, but rather using advanced observational techniques to spot someone who is intentionally trying not to be seen.

It is also an OOC indicator of my potental class, and as noted in discussions about the Way, it could be considered another one of those methods for a player to abuse OOC information.

-DW

[Gawynn]

Yea, you used to be able to tell when someone was listening; I'm glad they changed that; it made me feel uneasy when I was wanting to eavesdrop and had forgotten to listen outside. I agree it seems logical that the scan echo be the next thing to go. Besides, if I'm in the woods or something and looking around intently, I tend to emote to that affect anyway, otherwise, I'm not trying to be obvious, like leaning over someone's table and sticking my head in their face. ;P

Gawynn

[EvilRoeSlade]

Scan is fundementally different from sneak in at least one aspect:  When you listen, there is nothing obvious to indicate you are doing so (unless your leaning into a door or something similar), but while you are scanning, your eyes move around, look in suspicious places, and do other stuff that would be generally visibile to anybody bothering to pay attention.  Maybe it could change as a function of a high skill level, but other than that, I think its just fine the way it is.

[Lazloth]

As Gawynn indicated, this was not always the case.

I imagine listen was altered to knock out the ridiculous amounts of spam and eliminate 'ooc knowedge'-nonsense; I'd guess the above proposal was brought to light with similar hopes in mind.

[spawnloser]

Actually, if all you had to do to scan was look around, why do you need to stand?  Because you have to move around, look behind/under/on top of things, from another angle and whatnot.  Scanning is more intensive than looking around the room...that's why it's a skill.

[Desert Wanderer]

Spawnloser wrote:

Actually, if all you had to do to scan was look around, why do you need to stand? Because you have to move around, look behind/under/on top of things, from another angle and whatnot. Scanning is more intensive than looking around the room...that's why it's a skill.

If that was the case, the skill scan would function like the skill search or forage.  Where you would actively be doing all that, and get the results from it after it is complete.  I do not believe that was the vision(tm) intended for the skill scan.

-DW

[spawnloser]

So, why do you need to be standing then?  Why should sitting, no matter where, prevent you from looking around?

[Desert Wanderer]

Spawnloser wrote:

So, why do you need to be standing then?

If your asking me to speculate, I'd have to say because it has not been enough meaningful discussion on it yet.  I don't think you should have to stand to scan a room, like I mentioned before, a scan is not an active search like tossing a room.  It is a visual search of the room from your perspective, wether it is sitting or standing.  It is only the initial "turning it on" that you have to stand up for, then it is active for sometime after.  

Here are a couple other examples of reasons I don't understand why I should be standing, and would assume they just need to be addressed.

1)  Why do I have to stand to poison a weapon, I'd feel more comfortable sitting at a table with my arms steadied on it.

2)  Why can I craft a duskhorn jacket at a table, but when it comes back three months later I suddenly have to stand up to make repairs to it?

Since your asking my opinion, I will make the statement that I think these are just small issues, like scan, that have not been addressed yet.

Spawnloser wrote:

Why should sitting, no matter where, prevent you from looking around?

Exactly my point, thank you.

-DW

[UnloggedBestatte]

Just to stick my nose into something I profess total ignorance of:

Isn't it possible that scan requires you to stand, simply because it never occurred to the coder to let you sit?

I mean - if I understand this correctly, once you get good with the skill, you only have to be standing to "turn on" the scan, and once it's on you can walk around and sit or whatever. If you can be scanning while seated, it kinda only makes sense that you can START scanning while seated, no?

Sometimes code works the way it works for the simple reason that the coder didn't happen to come up with a different idea at the time.

-Unlogged because I was linked to the thread and didn't feel like logging in to respond

[Flaming Ocotillo]

Bestatte hit the bone nail on the head with her point.

Scan, like listen, is active for a long period time after you use it. You can be climbing, hiding, resting, sitting, riding or even flying.. it doesn't matter what you're doing as long as you're conscious, and the scan skill will be ACTIVE after you turn it on. You will see hidden/invisible PCs/NPCs for a duration which is pretty similar to the duration of the listen skill.

I'm not sure how many people remember the listen skill echo when it used to exist, but when you turned the listen skill on, your character would actually crouch down and put their ear to the floor, if memory serves. Because of the echo, I think it's also possible that you needed to be standing in order to do it. And yet, look at the listen skill now. It's been tweaked to reflect its purpose outside of the original ancient code.

Like a few here have suggested, I also feel that scan simply hasn't been examined enough to get the proper tweaks made to it. If scan is going to behave like a "one shot" search around the room, then it could easily be something that you need to do standing up while moving around. However, as it is now, scan is a skill which seems to represent your character's increased cautiousness and awareness when moving about. I don't see any reason why it should require you to stand, perform a mental mantra, and then sit back down with increased perception.

On the tangent of unnecessary echos, I'd also like to vouch for the "look" echo being removed, but then that's another can of worms altogether.

[spawnloser]

Desert Wanderer, the point of asking why sitting would prevent you from looking around is because you already CAN look around by simply typing 'look' or 'l' like most people.  To do a more intensive 'scan' of the room, you can't simply turn your head and look around.  It has to be more involved than simply glancing around, otherwise it would not be a skill, IMO.

As far as the armor crafting and armor repair issues...that I can agree with you on.

[Lazloth]

The original issue was the echo.

Just a thought, but would the staff consider removing the echo when someone uses the scan command?

[Desert Wanderer]

Spawnloser,

I agree with you.  My character makes a keen use of observational techniques and good vision to spot invisible and hidden persons as he casually looks around the room.  As he continues using these techniques, over time, he is able to become more subtle when employing them.

-DW

[spawnloser]

Understood, but if you do more than a simple glance around the room, people should notice you looking around the room.

[creeper386]

I beleive everyone in this thread is right unless your obviously wrong.

Two parts to scan, moving about and looking around. Which anyone should be able to do. That sort of thing shouldn't need a skill...

And the second part that includes attention to detail, overall just a better visual recognition. Thats the part that takes more skill.

What I'd like to see, is an addition to the scan skill. Be able to turn it on or off,(Not sure if you can now or not, don't think you were able to with listen either...) have an active scan and a passive scan. The active scan would be alot shorter, easier, and have an echo where the passive scan wouldn't be as easy, most likely last longer, and not have an echo.

To do a more intensive 'scan' of the room, you can't simply turn your head and look around. It has to be more involved than simply glancing around, otherwise it would not be a skill, IMO.

So a more intensive 'scan' is getting up, wandering around. Looking under furnature and in bushes? How would THAT make it a skill? Seems to me that that would make it unnecessary for a skill as anyone could get up and do an active search.

For examples of passive searching sorts of things that use good eye sight and attention to detail. Most snipers tend to make use of a spotter. Not the going to assassinate the president sniper, but the type used in war to keep the opponent pinned down and such. Normally the sniper himself is a fair spotter but normally are keeping an eye on their scope so someone with a wider field of vision tells them where to look for things out of the norm.

And thats all I have to say, and this is...

Creeper, signing out.