Numerous foes

[Marauder Moe]

While people seem to be in the mood for minor Arm 1 code updates... 

One problem I've noticed in mass combat is determining exactly who and how many people are attacking someone.  Currently you have to do it by picking through the room occupants list, which is very hard to do when it's a long list and/or attacks are flooding the screen.  I propose a command to give you a better/faster idea of a combat situation:

foe [target]

Code Select Expand

>foe

You are attacking:
   a lean yellow-skinned gith
You are being attacked by:
   a hunched red gith
   a lean yellow-skinned gith
   a gnarled brown gith

Code Select Expand

> foe Amos

The tall muscular man is attacking:
   a gnarled brown gith
The tall muscular man is being attacked by:
   a lean yellow-skinned gith
   a lean yellow-skinned gith

I think this would let people use tactics more easily in large combats and determine more accurately when someone is in trouble.

[Reiloth]

Great idea!

[valeria]

This would have been supremely helpful to just about any and all of my combat characters.  Even when you've only got a few opponents, the screen scroll can get intense.

[jhunter]

While people seem to be in the mood for minor Arm 1 code updates...  

One problem I've noticed in mass combat is determining exactly who and how many people are attacking someone.  Currently you have to do it by picking through the room occupants list, which is very hard to do when it's a long list and/or attacks are flooding the screen.  I propose a command to give you a better/faster idea of a combat situation:

foe [target]

Code Select Expand

>foe

You are attacking:
  1) a lean yellow-skinned gith
You are being attacked by:
  1) a lean yellow-skinned gith
  2) a hunched red gith
  3) a gnarled brown gith

Code Select Expand

> foe Amos

The tall muscular man is attacking:
  1) a gnarled brown gith
The tall muscular man is being attacked by:
  1) a gnarled brown gith
  2) a lean yellow-skinned gith
  3) a lean yellow-skinned gith

I think this would let people use tactics more easily in large combats and determine more accurately when someone is in trouble.

I like this idea but I would have it number the opponents as well. Matching the numbers assigned if you are both attacking them and being attacked by them.

[MeTekillot]

[Marauder Moe]

I like this idea but I would have it number the opponents as well. Matching the numbers assigned if you are both attacking them and being attacked by them.

Perhaps.  Numbers would imply some meaning for other commands though, like rescue and change opponents, which I suspect would significantly increase the complexity of implementing it and decrease the chances someone up in the sky will want to do it.

What about just adding an asterisk (*) or something on the "attacked by" list that matched the "attacking" target?

[jhunter]

That's an idea too.

[Gunnerblaster]

Oh I'd love the fuck out of this.

[Samoa]

FANTASTIC idea, but I think it should also function akin to 'keyword', by offering you a number.identifier for you to interact with foes. This would fix the problem of:

The Labyrinth [NS]
It's dirty here. People are trying to kill you, and, also, other people. There are some rats.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting you!
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting you!
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.

[Feco]

I dig Moe's idea.  A lot.

[Yam]

Yes

[Ocotillo]

Winning.

[Majikal]

I'd use the shit out of it. Definitely.

[Rhyden]

Great idea Moe. I'm all for this.

[Zoltan]

Excellent idea. That sort of thing would be incredibly useful during combat RPTs.

[Bogre]

Can it be something other than foe? Foe is a mashed typo away from flee (and probably a lot of peoples aliases for it).

Maybe 'opp' for opponent or 'enemy'?

And this is a -fantastic- idea.

[Barsook]

I dig this.  And yeah, it should be opp not foe.

[lordcooper]

'Target' perhaps?

[Morgenes]

Or how about 'combat'?

[Marauder Moe]

Combat seems good.

Personally I wouldn't care all that much what the command is called, though.  I'd probably just alias it regardless.  

[jhunter]

I think either opponents or combat.

[Thunkkin]

I'm down with opp.

[Morgenes]

Ya, you know me.

[Saellyn]

No matter what it is, this is a really good idea that will simplify fighting in general, and make things less "OOPS" during a hectic situation. While still leaving room for "OOPS I MEANT TO ATTACK THE ENEMY NOT MY ALLY!"

[MeTekillot]

OOPSIES. DONE KILLED MY BROWN-HAIRED SERGEANT INSTEAD OF THAT BROWN-BAOBAB, UNDERSLINGING TARANTULA. MY BAD.

[Saellyn]

OOPSIES. DONE KILLED MY BROWN-HAIRED SERGEANT INSTEAD OF THAT BROWN-BAOBAB, UNDERSLINGING TARANTULA. MY BAD.

True, but at least now you can attribute it to legitimate IC stupidity instead of OOC faults! Or ooc faults anyways.

Code Select Expand

The brown-haired, tarantula-inked sergeant is here.

A brown-furred, ugly tarantula is here.

kill tarantula
You slash the brown-haired, tarantula-inked sergeant on the head, dealing frightening damage!

A brown-furred, ugly tarantula bites the brown-haired, tarantula-inked sergeant, wounding him!

The brown-haired, tarantula-inked sergeant crumples to the ground.

think (shocked) Uh. Shit.
Feeling shocked, you think:
     "Uh. Shit."

[Yam]

Another mud I played used 'tactical' or 'tac' and it showed a dropdown list of people, their hp status, and who they were fighting.

[MeTekillot]

Another mud I played used 'tactical' or 'tac' and it showed a dropdown list of people, their hp status, and who they were fighting.

The way HellMOO does it would likely be too long for Arm, when it comes to large-scale battles. There'd be 30+ lines to sift through.

[Yam]

Another mud I played used 'tactical' or 'tac' and it showed a dropdown list of people, their hp status, and who they were fighting.

The way HellMOO does it would likely be too long for Arm, when it comes to large-scale battles. There'd be 30+ lines to sift through.

Yeah. Looking back on it Moe's solution is a lot better.

[boog]

Uh. Am I just a retard or is there a command to check on mass peoples' conditions? Wow, Engrish, boog?

Basically, it's hard for me to keep up with peoples' health and who needs saving, too.  Could we incorporate a general health check in it too? Like a quick star sorta system?

I'm probably asking too much and just need to play more combaty roles to get used to the headache of scroll screening.

[valeria]

Could we incorporate a general health check in it too? Like a quick star sorta system?

Or even just the same 'bleeding' status you would get by pulling a 'look room'.  Just without the scroll of looking at the room.

[Majikal]

Also just to toss it out there, brief combat is the shiz in cutting out spam. Secondly, if I can dig it up I had something set up for mushclient that would highlight people with colors depending on the various stock damage messages which I found useful, bleeding lightly, bleeding profusely, near-death, etc. Was real useful during Hrpts.


And again, this new command idea is tits. In all the variations suggested. I'd be happy with anything in this line of thinking.

[Xeran Van Houten]

Checking for health seems more a way to get around having to go through learning unit tactics and make preparation for large encounters.  When both those are done, there should be no problem getting the right people in front of the damage and the wrong people out from in front of it.  As Majikal said, the brief commands (combat and room) can help a lot with spam - so can using your client's highlighting features if you got them.
If for some reason you're with a group of people that's not you normal group of people from your clan, there's no reason you can't ask "What do we do if the Shatner hits the fan?" before doing anything remotely dangerous.

Besides, rescue isn't always the best option.

The "foe" check would be more than enough.

[Qzzrbl]

Assist.

[Saellyn]

Code Select Expand

The tarantula-inked man is here, fighting the massive tarantula.

The massive tarantula is here, fighting the tarantula-inked man.

assist tarantula

You join the massive tarantula's fight!

You brutally chop the tarantula-inked man on the neck, dealing horrendous damage!

think Oops..
You think:
     "Oops."

[SMuz]

Code Select Expand

The tarantula-inked man is here, fighting the massive tarantula.

The massive tarantula is here, fighting the tarantula-inked man.

assist tarantula

You join the massive tarantula's fight!

You brutally chop the tarantula-inked man on the neck, dealing horrendous damage!

think Oops..
You think:
     "Oops."

Yeah, I think I've accidentally done something like this before IG. It's funnier when a cloaked figure enters the room, a friend assists that cloaked figure, and you assist that friend. Since then, I've tried to learn the names of all possible friends before going out on the wastes with them.

[Xeran Van Houten]

Same thing can happen if you 'rescue tarantula' in that situation, though it's slightly more likely you'll get hit (not always).

People who keyword themselves to common mobs sort of deserve what they get, however, you would still be partially at fault for using the common keyword deliberately.
Even if his name is "fgheghujafghufrjahurghurghygahf" (tribal for "retard who gets fucked by spiders"), "inked" and "man" are much shorter than "tarantula".

[Qzzrbl]

key tarantula

-then- assist

[maxid]

That only solves one issue, but thanks for your suggestion!

[Kol]

[Qzzrbl]

Either way, I support OP's suggestion.

[mattrious]

This is a great idea! Would be some helpful!

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

The Labyrinth [NS]
It's dirty here. People are trying to kill you, and, also, other people. There are some rats.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting you!
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting you!
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.

I'd like to see this all narrowed down to:
The Labyrinth [NS]
It's dirty here. People are trying to kill you, and, also, other people. There are some rats.
A couple of  figures in a dark hooded cloak are here, fighting you!
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.
The figure in a dark hooded cloak is here, fighting the figure in a dark hooded cloak.

Also, I dig the idea, Moe.

[lordcooper]

A couple of  figures in a dark hooded cloak are here, fighting you!

Big fucking cloak 

[Qzzrbl]

A couple of  figures in a dark hooded cloak are here, fighting you!

Big fucking cloak 

Nah, all the halflings just moved to 'Rinth.

[BleakOne]

When assisting in large combats, I find it easier to either use the person's name, or use two keywords. Assist 'tarantula.man', and such.

[Jdr]

TARANTULA MAN

[Saellyn]

The brother to Spider Man?

[Ocotillo]

A couple of  figures in a dark hooded cloak are here, fighting you!

Big fucking cloak 

Nah, all the halflings just moved to 'Rinth.

my immersions