Cats?

[Intrepid]

A great point.

Most people seem to forget that most of the commoner population is often starving and poor, and would sooner eat a gortok raw, than try to keep it as a pet another mouth to feed.

Though I could see a few tribals utilizing domesticated hunting beasts, as well as filthy rich nobles holding a small menagerie of exotic creatures.

But that filthy, downtrodden group that most of our PC's belong to? I severely doubt it.

Besides, I don't see widely-available pets IG being treated as they should. Hell, we've already got people that let their already-available pet birds soak in a barrel of cleaning fluid because they wore it everywhere they went, always, in combat, out of combat, sleeping, mudsexxing, and everything else in between.

So I'd be totally cool with keeping things as they are.

I wasn't saying I agreed with it; just that that's the point others were trying to express.  If you want things to remain at the state of affairs they already are, well--pets already exist.  There are npc pets out there, both among npcs and occasionally pcs.  They have been loaded for pcs by request before.

[Talia]

I wasn't saying I agreed with it; just that that's the point others were trying to express.  If you want things to remain at the state of affairs they already are, well--pets already exist.  There are npc pets out there, both among npcs and occasionally pcs.  They have been loaded for pcs by request before.

The NPC pets that were previously in game were removed. Currently there are only pet objects (like birds) and mounts.

[Nana]

Erdlu!

Erdlu are ideal aren't they? Look at their helpfile. You can't get a more (useless and therefore) loveable little animal buddy.  Whenever I do see them it's pretty much in the context being discussed here.

[Wolfsong]

I always assumed there were cats since there's a cat figurine somewhere. Maybe it was removed.

[musashi]

Honestly I think I would prefer having the wearable pets taken out of game as well, and just RP'd as vpets the same way people RP their vbabies. I find having to clean them like a piece of equipment kind of silly. And super silly that they can be stained; although that at least could be remedied by tagging the pet object to be like weapons or some types of jewelry where the blood and sweat just wipes off ... I think anyway. But I'm also personally a bit annoyed when it comes to finding a place to put said coded object. For example ... you have a hunting hawk/owl/falcon/whatever ... and you are RP'ing that it's flying overhead ... hunting. You have to do something with the object. Inventory I guess. Of course then it's stealable ... and it affects your climb checks ... or you can put it in your bag but then it looks awkward. You end up emoting something like:

> put bird pack [but seriously he just let it take flight from his arm. It's not chilling in his backpack]

I mean it's cool that people can check the animal's description because it's coded, and it's SUPER cool that a lot of those animals can be crafted into food! But I find them a little clunky as RP props overall.

[RogueGunslinger]

>draw flamingo

>kill musashi

[Ouroboros]

On the other hand, Musashi, I'm grateful we still have these wearable ones at least. Until the day this becomes a MUSH, I'll take every bit of coded support I can get in my RP.

As things stand, it'd be far more jarring for me for someone to, out of the blue, reference a hawk flying off his shoulder and soaring above. I just looked at them two seconds ago and I think I would have noticed something the size of a hawk chilling on their shoulder. Likely would have reacted to it as well, the moment I saw it. So now, potentially thirty minutes into RP'ing with this character, I'm forced to deal with the fact they decided/remembered they have a hawk on their shoulder and, oh look, it just pooped on my head from above. It starts to border on power-emoting, in some ways.

Or on the flip-side of the coin, it'd be a pain having to remember and rp about this virtual pet on my shoulder every time someone new walks into the room so they can react accordingly. Sometimes you're involved in something you don't want to break away from, like a deep discussion. I'd rather focus on what I'm doing and let others react to the actual object, than have to go through the motions each time.

I'll take the coded disadvantages of a pet in my inventory, hope that anyone trying to steal it will have enough sense to at least hemote accordingly, do my best to clean it when it gets dirty, emote around its actions when needed, etc. Because the alternative would be worse for me.

But yes, if their becoming stained could be altered it'd be great. Being forced to douse my pet in cleaning fluids because the code doesn't agree with how good a job I did of clean it, does suck. Then again.. It's one of those things where I simply have to look at it from an OOC standpoint, because the reason they're stained in the first place is due to the OOC restrictions of code. So I'll either emote around the cleaning fluid or treat it OOC entirely, such as accidentally removing your onyx-studded pants in the middle of a tavern, instead of your onyx-studded bone bracelet.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Simply have pet objects always show up when in inventory, like heavy objects do now. Then you'll know as soon as the owner walks in, or when you look at the room.

The grey man has arrived from the west.
- a tan desert hawk is with him.

[musashi]

Ouroborus ..... ..... tdesc?

[Ouroboros]

Ouroborus ..... ..... tdesc?

Sure. But it's one more step I need to remember to take each time, and only offers the possibility of an sdesc-type description (unless I want to spam anyone that looks at me with a full desc, each time). Why do that, when I can just have a coded object that addresses everything needed, with a lovely mdesc of its own for any that would wish to examine it.

Code beats virtual, nine out of ten. The main problem we tend to face is staff having the time to implement coded representations of things that might otherwise be virtual. Here we have a situation where staff has already taken the time to implement them and we're asking for them to be removed? Makes no sense, to me at least.

Furthermore, removing such objects entirely opens up everything to the virtual realm. Keep in mind there's reasons and backstories for the existance of several of those wearable pets. For example...

They are also the ones who trap the birds and small pets that are often found for sale wherever Kurac is based.

Which means that once "rare" pet object that you might have had to travel across the Known for or pay x amount for or befriend y individual to get, can now be added to your tdesc on a whim. I'm not really comfortable with that. Could it be RP'ed properly by some individuals? Sure. But unfortunately one has to consider the worse-case scenario first. Could worse-case "exceptions" be dealt with by the staff? Sure. Do we want to add one more thing for them to have to oversee? Doubt it.

In short: If you're not happy with the way the coded pets function, either work around it, ask to have it fixed, or even simpler... don't use them. No one's forcing you to, they're rp props without any coded benefit. Some of us enjoy having them. While I'd be happy to see some fixes in place for how their code works with regards to cleaning, personally I'm just dandy with how they are right now. So forgive me if I don't agree with your call to have them removed entirely, just because you're not happy with the way they work as is.

[musashi]

It wouldn't be "each time". Tdesc saves to your character until you manually clear it, even through logging in and out.

I did say that having them as objects was cool for the very reason that it gives them a full mdesc, but I was just addressing the issues you raised in your first post, which were:

• It's jarring for someone to reference something out of the blue when I couldn't tell it was there by looking at them.
• What if I don't want to emote my vpet every time for each new character to walk in?

Both of those concerns would be perfectly addressed by tdesc.

In any case, I'm not "calling" for the removal of anything. I'm just saying that my personal opinion happens to be that I find the little animal critter objects in game to be a touch more cumbersome than they're worth, at least in the case of the birds. For something like a hissing cockroach or a big iguana that isn't gonna go anywhere else except your shoulder, it's not as much of an issue.

[Kaiden]

You're not a real tribal unless you walk, eat, mudsex and sleep with an hawk on your shoulder, it is known.

[musashi]

*sage*

[Karieith]

You're not a real tribal unless you walk, eat, mudsex and sleep with an hawk on your shoulder, it is known.

I'm going to behaviorally train my hawk to help out during mudsex. I dunno, maybe pull their hair or something kinky like that.

[Ouroboros]

It wouldn't be "each time". Tdesc saves to your character until you manually clear it, even through logging in and out.

By each time I meant each time the pet would leave the position you'd have it set at. If on your shoulder for example, you'd have to change the tdesc under circumstances such as the hawk flying off your shoulder (clear tdesc), landing on your arm (set tdesc), moving it over to the shoulder later (change tdesc), removing it for the night (clear tdesc), etc. It's no more a "set & forget" solution as always wearing the pet object itself is. And I don't think that's how you personally rp with these objects, based on your comments. So yes, if rp'ed right, it'd need regular adjustments.

In any case, I'm not "calling" for the removal of anything.

Well... ok. Forgive me, I was just going by your original post. Which stated:

Honestly I think I would prefer having the wearable pets taken out of game as well, and just RP'd as vpets the same way people RP their vbabies.

It certainly seemed that's what you were calling for. If that's the case, my comment stands; work around it, work on fixing it, or don't use it at all. If it's not the case and you were just trying to emphasize the fact you find them cumbersome by saying you'd rather they were removed, but didn't really want to see them removed, then... I'm with ya, as I echoed already in my own annoyance at the cleaning bit. But try to voice concerns in clearer ways, so others don't misunderstand your intentions. It's like saying, "This magick system is really cumbersome and at times awkward, so I think I'd prefer to see magick taken out of the game entirely and we can all rp it."

Either way, no hard feelings.

[musashi]

By each time I meant each time the pet would leave the position you'd have it set at.

I see. This shouldn't take any longer than the time it takes to command emote much of the same whenever we remove the objects, and put them back on, or take them in and out of containers; especially given that most people keep notes in notepad or the like so more elaborate tdesc's could just be cut and pasted as needed. I think it would be fairly similar to what we have to do now in terms of "effort".

Well... ok. Forgive me, I was just going by your original post. Which stated:

Honestly I think I would prefer having the wearable pets taken out of game as well, and just RP'd as vpets the same way people RP their vbabies.

It certainly seemed that's what you were calling for.

I thought the difference between "I would prefer" and "I think we all should" was clear enough. Sorry you misread into it. I'm just saying, I find them a bit cumbersome. I wouldn't mind it they were all handled like vobjects the same way people handle their vinfants. But I'm not petitioning the government or anything. Just shrugging off an opinion.

[Bast]

>draw flamingo

>kill musashi

LOL I love you Rogue...I so want a flamingo now!

[titansfan]

I don't know if this has been mentioned but I would like for pets to have echoes.

[RogueGunslinger]

>draw flamingo

>kill musashi

LOL I love you Rogue...I so want a flamingo now!

<3

[Morrolan]

I don't know if this has been mentioned but I would like for pets to have echoes.

I would love pet objects to have echoes. Especially pet echoes that react to certain environmental cues.

Code Select Expand

The brindle cat licks his crotch--because he can.

And in a perfect world, they would have a bit of AI to them. They would get tired and cranky. They would not sit on your shoulder nicely.

Code Select Expand

The red-tailed hawk sits on your shoulder.
The red-tailed hawk pecks at your eye.
You are blind!

[Voular]

Pretty sure I've seen an "ivory cat" decorative item. Could be making that up, though.

[BleakOne]

I've been told several times that 'cat' is an ok description to use ICly, although there's no such thing as house cats, per se.

[Wolfsong]

Pretty sure I've seen an "ivory cat" decorative item. Could be making that up, though.

There are cat figurines IG somewhere. I can second this.

[Pale Horse]

There are indeed several items IG that have the word "cat" in their description and seem to depict something akin to what we would know as a domesticated cat.  I think it would be safe to assume these items are either fanciful renditions of a number of felines currently in the world, or that in Ages past there were indeed domesticated felines that did not fare well with the collapse of civilization and the subsequent ruination of the Known.

[BuNutzCola]

Best Armageddon pet story ever:

When Markua Kadius tried to keep a silt louse as a pet in a chest full of silt.

...it got bigger.  A lot bigger.

Oh my, that was fun. Nothing like fighting a silt horror in Luir's.
It did cost him a hand. But entirely worth it.

One of the things that remind me how intricately involved the staff can be sometimes, a little, spur of the moment decision can profoundly effect your pc's life like an RL year later heh