Mind Rape

[jhunter]

My only problem with the barrier/contact ratio as it currently stands comes from the tidbit in the helpfiles that says you can improve your chances of contacting someone by using more and more and more of their keywords to give your PC a "clearer image of the person in their mind" and thus improve the chances of contacting them.

I think that makes barrier laughably weak compared to contact, since there is nothing you can do to add "boosts" to your barrier skill. At least nothing commonly available to anyone and everyone and in the helps detailing how.

As it stands, I believe that if I have maxed contact, and you have maxed barrier, and I type: contact the.brown.haired.blue.eyed.girl.Jenny ... ... I break your barrier. Every. Single. Time.

This also puts people at an ooc disadvantage as well I think. Those with more keywords are easier to contact. Where as: "the man" will be quite a bit more difficult to get ahold of, and that to me is an OOC code flaw, not an IG feature.

Ideally, I would honestly prefer it if only truenames gave a bonus to your chance of contacting someone, and using additional keywords was only useful in narrowing down your chances of mis-contacting someone else.

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

I wholeheartedly agree.

[Akoto]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Wouldn't this be problematic if two people with the same name were logged in? It would also cut out using the Way to bridge language gaps, though I guess a case can be made for doing so.

[Pale Horse]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Wouldn't this be problematic if two people with the same name were logged in? It would also cut out using the Way to bridge language gaps, though I guess a case can be made for doing so.

Also does away with contacting anyone who uses a nickname by way of "keyword."

This begs the question of just how does the Way work?  Do you contact someone because you know The tall muscular man as Malik (when his real name is Amos) and since you associate his looks and mannerisms with person as "Malik" it does not matter what he really thinks of himself as?  If you gave someone a nickname to use for you, does your own mind's self identity as who you really are act as some sort of mental armor against being contacted?

Personally, I could see both happening, and if the one contacting has the higher contact skill then they do so despite the nickname and inherent defense built into the mind of the one being contacted.  Now, if the one being contacted (real name: Amos) has a barrier up, then combined with his sense of true self, he has a substantial ability to rebuff anyone attempting to find him by use of any of his nicknames he might have given out.

[FantasyWriter]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

I would love this for 2.arm

[Twilight]

I would prefer a command (or possibly a skill) where while in the room with someone, you assign a mental tag in order to contact them.  Then a command to show those people you have mentally tagged.  Would use whatever sdesc the person had when you tagged him, re-tagging could update the sdesc.

If you have never met someone in person, you can't contact them, or possibily in conjunction with truename...you could contact them via your mental "tag" or via truename.

>tag hooded jimbob
You have tagged the short, heavy figure in a dark hooded cloak jimbob.

>tag list
the short, heavy figure in a dark hooded cloak-                           jimbob
the effiminate, whining man-                                                    templarhardnose


Edited to add:  On topic in relation to this, barrier could prevent tagging.

[number13]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Neat. /signed.  To spew out the obvious, it would offer up an interesting trade. You could be perfectly immune to having disguises pierced by the Way, having your log-ons tracked by contact, maybe even immune to mindbending, but at a cost of an efficient means of communication.

[number13]

Wouldn't this be problematic if two people with the same name were logged in? It would also cut out using the Way to bridge language gaps, though I guess a case can be made for doing so.

The game could be smart enough to automatically translate your truename, or the truenames of people in the same area, in any say/tell/whisper/shout string.

[MeTekillot]

Has anyone actually experienced an IC problem with someone contacting them? That made the game unplayable? If they haven't, I don't really see a reason why it should be changed.

[musashi]

I believe that using more keywords only helps contact the correct person (as opposed to someone else with the same name or that shares the same keywords).  I doubt it has any bearing as far as calculating the proficiency of the contact ability.

My assumption that it helps increase your chances of contacting someone successfully comes from this part of the contact help file.

Using multiple keywords is interpreted as forming a more complete
picture of the person you intend to contact, and increases your chances
of reaching their mind.

Likewise, using a person's true name is a powerful means of increasing
your chances of contacting them.

It seems like the help files certainly indicate that you can use keywords as a means of breaking down someone elses mind more effectively. I've also noticed a big increase in my own personal ability to contact people when I use their entire sdesc plus the name I know them by to contact them. It's even caused a few to tell me something equilivant to: Wow, you have a strong mind, you always reach me through my barrier - in game. So I wasn't just making blind speculation, though of course I certainly can't see the code and could very well be wrong. But that's what it felt like to me. If that's not currently the case then awesome, because I feel like it's mildly overpowering if it is.

Has anyone actually experienced an IC problem with someone contacting them? That made the game unplayable? If they haven't, I don't really see a reason why it should be changed.

That made the game unplayable? No. But there are a great many reasons, almost all of which too IC to get into, when a character would like to have a barrier up and not be easily reachable. It's difficult to do that right now because of how easy it is for someone to bust through your barrier assuming your skill levels are roughly the same, even without your true name.

[Riev]

I'm just spitballing here, but if these issues are so bad that it warrants suggesting a full overhaul, why don't you practice -real- hard on barrier, with some logs, over the course of a couple months or a year IC, and ask for a small bump?

[MeTekillot]

I'm just spitballing here, but if these issues are so bad that it warrants suggesting a full overhaul, why don't you practice -real- hard on barrier, with some logs, over the course of a couple months or a year IC, and ask for a small bump?

This man.

He speaks with wisdom.

[musashi]

Well, for one ... because I really don't believe staff would give it to you to begin with. I've never had a good experience with logging "training sessions" and then asking for a bump. Staff usually reply with: We don't improve skills you could improve yourself with practice.

Two, because the issue I'm talking about is still an issue, even if the contacting person and the barriered person both have their skills completely maxed to begin wth.

Unless you mean asking staff very nicely to bump your max in the barrier skill ... ... something even less likely to happen outside of a special app.

The issue for me, to put it simply, is that I feel like max barrier vs. max contact (for mundanes mind you, not talking about psions AT ALL) should at the very least be a 50/50 thing. Where it's just a flip of the coin to decide if the person knocking gets in. I'd prefer it if it were more of a 60/40 or 70/30 thing honestly, since as X-D put it, it's easier to do the defending in almost any circumstance ... but I'd at least be cool with 50/50.

However, as things currently stand, since you can add bonuses to your chance of contacting someone but you cannot (easily) add bonuses to your barrier, it's more like a 30/70 thing in favor of the person doing the contacting. You just tend to always get your barrier broken to the point where you start wonderng: Why did I even bother training this up? I wish it were just a tad more effective. And I don't think barrier needs to be boosted so much as I think contact could do with a little nerfing.

Small edit to add: Also I was not suggesting a full overhaul. I was suggesting doing away with one of the free bonuses people contacting other people receive, to even the playing field a bit. Or even only removing that bonus when the target is barriered. That way newbies could still find clan bosses for jobs (the reason why contact was given bonuses in the first place), but not at the total expense of people who might need to keep their minds shielded.

[Dan]

Pretty sure the extra keywords just help in contacting the correct person, not make it easier to actually contact them.

[Pale Horse]

Why not give a boost to the ability of barrier to keep someone out of your mind, but add in a message when someone is trying to find you but fails?

Something like:

Code Select Expand

You feel an unknown presence brush against your barrier.

This way we can actually tell if the thing is working or not, instead of only having to suffer from the times when someone manages to break through.  It's easy to say everything is broken when that's all we get to see, and not all the times when it's working.

[musashi]

Pretty sure the extra keywords just help in contacting the correct person, not make it easier to actually contact them.

If that were true then at the very least the helpfile should be rewritten. The way it reads now leaves very little doubt in the mind that using additonal keywords will increase your success rate. It even compares using multiple keywords to using a truename, and says they both do the same thing. So assuming you're correct, the helpfile would need a touching up in any case.

However, I've had a very different experience toying around with contact and seeing how my success rate changes when I type "contact amos" or when I type "contact tall.muscular.man.amos".

[mansa]

I believe that using more keywords only helps contact the correct person (as opposed to someone else with the same name or that shares the same keywords).  I doubt it has any bearing as far as calculating the proficiency of the contact ability.

...
In addition, we are adding a few bonuses to contact.  Using a character's true-name to contact them will increase your chance of contacting them.  Also, using multiple keywords will provide a smaller, limited benefit, showing that you are forming a more complete picture of who you are contacting.  Neither of these bonuses affect PVP psionic contests (such as with barrier).

Hmm.  Seems like you're right.

[musashi]

 

[X-D]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Golden.

[Reiloth]

Why not give a boost to the ability of barrier to keep someone out of your mind, but add in a message when someone is trying to find you but fails?

Something like:

Code Select Expand

You feel an unknown presence brush against your barrier.

This way we can actually tell if the thing is working or not, instead of only having to suffer from the times when someone manages to break through.  It's easy to say everything is broken when that's all we get to see, and not all the times when it's working.

I don't think mundane PC's would have the psionic knowledge to view who is trying to contact them through their barrier, or even if someone is trying to contact them at all. A barrier strikes me as an erect wall, and you can't see who is trying to climb up the other side.

[spawnloser]

In addition, we are adding a few bonuses to contact.  Using a character's true-name to contact them will increase your chance of contacting them.  Also, using multiple keywords will provide a smaller, limited benefit, showing that you are forming a more complete picture of who you are contacting.  Neither of these bonuses affect PVP psionic contests (such as with barrier).

For those complaining about how contact gets a boost but barrier does not, emphasis added.

[Boggis]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Golden.

Would be my preference too. Though imo mindbenders should be able to contact anybody using descriptors given their extreme ability with the Way.

[jhunter]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Golden.

Would be my preference too. Though imo mindbenders should be able to contact anybody using descriptors given their extreme ability with the Way.

I'd be fine with this too.

[musashi]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Golden.

Would be my preference too. Though imo mindbenders should be able to contact anybody using descriptors given their extreme ability with the Way.

I like this idea in principle, but I think that, given the -other- IC benefits knowing someone's truename can give to the right people, perhaps having a name attribute added that was seperate from keywords could work. Like:

addname Bob
Added!

tell guy Yeah my name's Bob.

And then from that point on, people could contact with you with either your truename, or "bob".

[Reiloth]

I would prefer that -only- true names could be used in contact.  No descriptors, no anything.  Unless you know the person's true name, you can't get in.

Golden.

Would be my preference too. Though imo mindbenders should be able to contact anybody using descriptors given their extreme ability with the Way.

I like this idea in principle, but I think that, given the -other- IC benefits knowing someone's truename can give to the right people, perhaps having a name attribute added that was seperate from keywords could work. Like:

addname Bob
Added!

tell guy Yeah my name's Bob.

And then from that point on, people could contact with you with either your truename, or "bob".

I like this.

[Boggis]

I like this idea in principle, but I think that, given the -other- IC benefits knowing someone's truename can give to the right people, perhaps having a name attribute added that was seperate from keywords could work. Like:

This was the first problem that I thought of too but then I figured that this could be the trade-off you have to make to have access to something incredibly useful like the Way. If you are in the position where you absolutely need to protect your truename from certain people then you'd obviously be extremely careful about who you would let know it. People do this all the time currently on Arm and keywords makes it very easy to get away with. But the change described by Shal would now mean making this effort to hide your identity would come with a price and perhaps a little suspicion depending on who you are.

So Templars, nobles and perhaps some who live completely outside the law could decide to sacrifice their ability to receive psionic communications easily from anybody and everybody. They'd still be able to issue orders and such through the Way to servants and any others who they know the truename of. For return messages they'd need a trusted aide to receive the message or wait for a letter if coming from somebody literate. Privacy comes with a price.

Your average Amos shouldn't really care about who knows his truename or not. The Way is a very simple and useful way of keeping in contact with people and it's usefulness would far, far outweigh the need to keep your name a secret for the vast majority of people.