Voicemail!

[Fredd]

It wont ever happen. I'm sure, it would need a total psychic system overhaul to do.

But wouldn't it be cool if you could leave a message through the way for someone when they log in?

AKA:

Welcom back amos!

Room: A barren landscape
Theres nothing here

The tall bulky man sent you a message through the way "when you get back to town, I need to see you"

[MeTekillot]

What about someone trying to fake their own death and they can't keep their barrier up while logged out?

[bcw81]

Barrier stays up when you log out, actually, so...

[Synthesis]

This was proposed a few months ago.  Too lazy to find the original thread right now.

[janeshephard]

This was proposed a few months ago.  Too lazy to find the original thread right now.

It was knocked down either as too much work, or not worth it, IIRC.

[Gimfalisette]

It seems like a good way to make templars stop logging in. I know I'd avoid it, if I thought I'd have messages (mostly irritating, demanding, or pointless) waiting.

[Fredd]

Yeah I knew it wouldnt ever be put in. But it was an idea that I got when I logged in, and realized I had like 8 people looking for me. LOL

[Wolfsong]

You could try to manage this ICly - find some commoner nobody, make them add your name as a keyword, and when they get contacted instead, they give out an automated message like:

"Thank you for contacting Lord Templar Hardnose. As he is not currently available, I will take your message and rely it to him at a later time."

I thought that's what... aides were for... Or are they just for mudsex?

[Fredd]

I thought that's what... aides were for... Or are they just for mudsex?

Aides get mudsex? All mine have been missing out!

[Majikal]

As I would love the idea of this the few times it could have been extremely useful... I must vote nay.


Welcome to armageddon!
The tall, blue-eyed man psi'd you:
"Hey, I want some of that light armor you sold me last week"
The tall, muscular man psi'd you:
"Can I haz expensive sword plz"
The blue-eyed, muscular gith psi'd you:
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuckhead!"
the red-nosed templar psi'd you:
"I's that custom armor ready yet?"
The spotted, white rantarri psi'd you:
"sup"
The pink-haired half-elf psi'd you:
"Do you have a nice shield available?"
The purple-faced, blue-eyed dwarf psi'd you:
"I would like some silt-horror armor, how much?"
The rugged-faced guy psi'd you:
"Some purple-faced dwarf was talking about silt-horror armor, you sell that?"
The f-me with bewbs psi'd you:
"I would like a sheath, something that makes me look sexy if you have the time"

>em sighs
the merchant sighs

>quit
Come back soon!

[Lizzie]

More problems with the idea:

Target is dead. That means their character file has been wiped and no longer exists. If you are a master with contact, and they were lousy with it, then it means you would -eventually- get in touch with their mind, if they were alive. But you can't, if they're dead. In a situation where the character is dead and you're trying to leave them a message, this means you will know that they're dead. This spoils the surprise, first off..and secondly, can be used as a code cheat to discovering if someone is alive or dead.

Target has the same name/keyword as another PC - and that other PC is logged in. No biggie - you just target 2.pc instead of just plain pc when you discover this. But what if it's the same keyword/name as 3 PCs - 2 others who are logged out, one who's logged in, and a half a dozen mobs that are also currently in the game. The characters who are logged out, will always be last on the list, when there are characters/mobs -in- the game. Do you really want to go through all that stun-drop expense? By the time you get to 12.tall.man, another one might have logged in - and three more might have died, and 12.tall.man might now be 9.tall.man, which you already tried, and came up with the tall lanky man instead of the tall handsome man you were looking for.

[DustMight]

More problems with the idea:

Target is dead. That means their character file has been wiped and no longer exists. If you are a master with contact, and they were lousy with it, then it means you would -eventually- get in touch with their mind, if they were alive. But you can't, if they're dead. In a situation where the character is dead and you're trying to leave them a message, this means you will know that they're dead. This spoils the surprise, first off..and secondly, can be used as a code cheat to discovering if someone is alive or dead.

Two problems with this.

1. We don't know what happens to the character file.  That's an assumption.

2. Secondly, you are assuming that a player can't separate OOC from IC - something which I like to think most players  avoid.

A fix to this problem, however, would be to allow your character to leave the message regardless of the status  of the character. How to explain this?  Perhaps contact changes how it works (if we assume one mind is directly contacting another over the ether - a common but really - a baseless assumption).  Maybe messages that we send out via psi really go somewhere else first until the receiver's mind picks them up.  Maybe this happens near instantly in many cases (normal contact) and maybe a bit slower at other times (when asleep, unconscious) or never picked up (when dead).

A benefit to this would be a psion's ability to access many messages over time, some old, some new - a database of information that might overwhelm a mere mortal.  I think that might be pretty cool.

[Fathi]

The spotted, white rantarri psi'd you:
"sup"

I'd be all for this idea if it meant wildlife would leave me love notes over the Way.

[musashi]

I'm not in favor, mostly for the reasons Majikal laid out in his example. When you're playing a "not for sale by normal NPC store clerks item dispenser", you'd very likely hate it if people could leave you messages.

[Lizzie]

Even more objections - and a comment:
Comment:
No, I'm not assuming players don't know the difference between OOC and IC. I am assuming *some* players *will* use OOC means to discover IC information, if it became readily available to them. It is the nature of muds. It is also the reason why the contact skill was changed several years ago, to -not- give a seperate message when you tried contacting someone who was either logged out or dead. It was enough of a problem that instead of punishing the rare few who abused it, they changed the code.

Objection:
If you can leave a message, then you know someone is NOT logged in. See the above for reasons why the staff changed the code of Contact in the first place.
Objection:
If you aren't given an echo indicating that you're leaving a message for someone who isn't logged in, then you might be expecting a response. Imagine how frustrating it can be...to assume the player IS logged in - and just not responding. Templars will assume their commands to return to the barracks are being intentionally ignored...underlings needing immediate help will think they were abandoned...all because of a strictly OOC situation (the player is not logged in).

[Ouroboros]

I'm not in favor, mostly for the reasons Majikal laid out in his example. When you're playing a "not for sale by normal NPC store clerks item dispenser", you'd very likely hate it if people could leave you messages.

I'm actually in favor, for the very same reason. When I'm playing a role like that, it's important for me to know who wants what and service them. That's my job and if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't be playing it. House Merchants who hide behind barrier or hide in general are one of my biggest pet peeves. If you feel like you're playing a "not for sale by normal NPC store clerks item dispenser" instead of a "merchant intent on plying the trade of their House" then perhaps you shouldn't be in that role.

In any case, I don't want to derail on this. But having played such roles, I just wanted to state it's -exactly- the type of character I'd love to be able to receive message on. Also, consider what's worse... Ten messages left for you when you log on, which you can respond to when you like, or five people finding your mind the moment you do, with you having to respond to them then and there.

If you can leave a message, then you know someone is NOT logged in. See the above for reasons why the staff changed the code of Contact in the first place.

Unless of course you received the same message when trying to leave a message for a character not logged in, as you would in trying to leave one for one with barrier up. Kinda like contact works already.

If you aren't given an echo indicating that you're leaving a message for someone who isn't logged in, then you might be expecting a response. Imagine how frustrating it can be...to assume the player IS logged in - and just not responding. Templars will assume their commands to return to the barracks are being intentionally ignored...underlings needing immediate help will think they were abandoned...all because of a strictly OOC situation (the player is not logged in).

Unless of course the "leave a message" command was separate from the "contact" command. Meaning who's logged in or isn't, has barrier up or doesn't, is paying attention or isn't, gives a rat's rear or doesn't, is... all irrelevant, to your leaving a message. It'd function like sending a message across the telepathic grapevine without any assurance of when/if the other person would receive it. For example:

Code Select Expand

>message amos.tall.dark.handsome Job's done. You owe me, bud.

Your thoughts waver for a moment as the following message forms in your mind and is projected:
   "Job's done. You owe me, bud."

>think Let's hope he gets that in time.

You think:
   "Let's hope he gets that in time."


If and when Amos, the tall, dark and handsome man is currently online, he gets the message instantly. If he's not, he gets it when he logs in again. If he is on and has barrier up, he gets it when he lowers barrier again. If he's dead, he never gets it.

[Whiran Luck]

Unless of course the "leave a message" command was separate from the "contact" command. Meaning who's logged in or isn't, has barrier up or doesn't, is paying attention or isn't, gives a rat's rear or doesn't, is... all irrelevant, to your leaving a message. It'd function like sending a message across the telepathic grapevine without any assurance of when/if the other person would receive it. For example:

If someone is logged in, and has barrier up, and you cannot contact them, then how are they supposed to get your psi? Why should there be a way to get around something purposely coded so that you cannot contact them, by being able to contact them? It defeats the purpose of barrier in the first place.

Not in favor of this, for reasons already stated, plus others.

[FantasyWriter]

This thread so makes me want to quit my job and play a messenger PC 24/7, talk about making bank!

[Ouroboros]

If someone is logged in, and has barrier up, and you cannot contact them, then how are they supposed to get your psi? Why should there be a way to get around something purposely coded so that you cannot contact them, by being able to contact them? It defeats the purpose of barrier in the first place.

If and when Amos, the tall, dark and handsome man is currently online, he gets the message instantly. If he's not, he gets it when he logs in again. If he is on and has barrier up, he gets it when he lowers barrier again. If he's dead, he never gets it.

[Ghaati111]

no text

[Whiran Luck]

*snip* stuff I wrote

If and when Amos, the tall, dark and handsome man is currently online, he gets the message instantly. If he's not, he gets it when he logs in again. If he is on and has barrier up, he gets it when he lowers barrier again. If he's dead, he never gets it.

You're not getting it. Barrier, when successful, prevents all psis from getting through to you. That is the point of barrier. If someone takes it down and just has a bunch of messages queued from when they had it up, it is no different than having it down in the first place. When someone has barrier up, they are actively making it so no psi messages can get through. What is suggested in this thread is a essentially a workaround to someone using barrier for people to not be able to contact them. If someone has barrier up, it means that ICly, they don't want to be bothered, for whatever reason. If they are codedly successful at not being bothered, there is no reason there should be an OOC mechanism that allows others to subvert that.

[Down Under]

*snip* stuff I wrote

If and when Amos, the tall, dark and handsome man is currently online, he gets the message instantly. If he's not, he gets it when he logs in again. If he is on and has barrier up, he gets it when he lowers barrier again. If he's dead, he never gets it.

You're not getting it. Barrier, when successful, prevents all psis from getting through to you. That is the point of barrier. If someone takes it down and just has a bunch of messages queued from when they had it up, it is no different than having it down in the first place. When someone has barrier up, they are actively making it so no psi messages can get through. What is suggested in this thread is a essentially a workaround to someone using barrier for people to not be able to contact them. If someone has barrier up, it means that ICly, they don't want to be bothered, for whatever reason. If they are codedly successful at not being bothered, there is no reason there should be an OOC mechanism that allows others to subvert that.

Just to add -- Barrier prevents psionic contact, more importantly. So it would be impossible to receive messages without proper contact. I agree with Whiran's Luck in that this seems like a workaround in a system that is pretty clear. If you can't get in touch with them, they are barriered, offline, or dead. I don't see added convenience for logging in and getting thirty messages from people about how I wasn't around. As it was pointed out earlier in the thread, I think i'd just find that annoying.

[Samoa]

contact boss
psi Help! so and so is killing me!
beep

[Down Under]

contact boss
psi Help! so and so is killing me!
beep

Not to mention that. Idea killer, right there.

[Samoa]

Less succinctly --

Part of the fun of the game is the uncertainty and harshness. Not knowing if your friends are alive or dead, the sudden, abrupt emptiness with being unable to reach those you once knew and cared for, the fear that even though you can't reach any of your friends, you're going to go out hunting with this guy you're suspicious of...

A lot of that gets lost if you never have to worry about shit like that. There would be no messengers, no aides, and less fear and suspicion -- not to mention, by the way, how this might affect, y'know, -psionicists-. Not a good call.