OOC message when contacting LD players

[ScionReaver]

closest thread I could find was this, and it's not quite what I mean: http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,6879.0.html

I don't know if this has happened to any of you, but picture this - You are on Arm, RPing, playing, and having a great time when your internet inexplicably dies and you're left with a LD husk sitting around for - well, however long. When I eventually reconnect, I always wonder what messages people might have told me over the Way, not realizing I was LD...

I think it'd be great if it just said something when you contact them or try to psi something, like:

"OOC: This character is currently link-dead, messages will not likely be received by the player." or maybe something less verbose.

As for that other thread, I agree that being LD should not shield you from mindbenders having their way with you, and I'm not implying that this message make you immune to anything, I just want other people to know that when they tried to contact me, they didn't really get through. Even from an IC standpoint, I feel like someone that's "krath-struck" may very well have a different feel when you contact them as opposed to somebody who's fully functional.

As for:

I'm with Gilvar.  If you go link-dead, it is your problem.  Find a better ISP or connection method, maybe a better computer, if that is the problem.  Dropping link protecting you from anything could easily lead to abuse.  Suddenly, when in undeniable death, someone can just go link-dead to be safe...even if it is just from one or a couple things, it could be abused.

I completely disagree with the "just fix it, it's your problem" approach. Some people don't have the option to simply "just fix" their internet - and this problem doesn't only plague people with problematic internet, mine is fine but I'm still constantly paranoid whenever I reconnect that somebody somewhere told me something important and assumed I got it.

Since it wouldn't be too terribly hard to just throw in a little OOC message giving other players a heads up, I really do hope you guys implement this.

[Taven]

I approve of this. It would be nice to know when the person you're Waying is link-dead. This is especially useful if two people with crappy internet connections are trying to Way each other. I can't tell you how many times I've had to Way people and tell them I missed whatever they just said.

It is also helpful in general, I feel.

[DustMight]

You speaking of ... does the gone command work?
Does it notify people that you are gone when they try to speak/contact you?

[Taven]

You speaking of ... does the gone command work?
Does it notify people that you are gone when they try to speak/contact you?

No. You can't whisper to them, though.

[Quittle]

I completely disagree with the "just fix it, it's your problem" approach. Some people don't have the option to simply "just fix" their internet - and this problem doesn't only plague people with problematic internet, mine is fine but I'm still constantly paranoid whenever I reconnect that somebody somewhere told me something important and assumed I got it.

^^ yes. And I like your proposal.
There are a lot of things that can cause a brief lapse in connectivity, i.e. microwave or wireless house phone(s). Although a lot of routers can have their frequency adjusted... If you're connecting via WiFi, pay attention and see if anyone just picked up the phone or something when it happens.

[Lizzie]

You speaking of ... does the gone command work?
Does it notify people that you are gone when they try to speak/contact you?

Gone command doesn't send any kind of error to the Wayer about the Gone Wayee. The message goes through.

I agree though with the OP, that if someone's computer connection cuts out while the PC is logged in, and the account goes linkdead, then Way messages should not go through, and the Wayer should get some kind of message. Yes, this can be abused by people who know Amos's player goes linkdead a lot and they want to kill Amos, or kill his best friend without Amos finding out, or mindbend Amos and make him do horrible things.

But the odds of this are pretty slim, because most players don't go linkdead regularly. Also, I feel that the benefit to people knowing that their messages are -not- being heard by someone whose PC is still codedly in the game due to being linkdead, outweighs the slim chance that someone might abuse that information.

[Tisiphone]

Gone                                                        (Communication)

   When a message is attached to this command, all incoming communication
requests will be replied to with that message. It is useful for instances
when no one is aware that you have left your terminal.  When you return to
your terminal, type "gone" by itself, or any other command to return the
character to his/her normal state.

If you think gone isn't working with psi, whisper, tell, etc. you should file a bug report.

However, gone doesn't help linkdead players, since very few of us drop link intentionally.

[brytta.leofa]

I don't think ginka can reliably detect that you're linkdead (as opposed to idling).  Notice how often you get the two messages at the same time:
   The tall, muscular man has dropped link oh wait
   The tall, muscular man has reconnected.

[Adhira]

Brytta is correct.

[ScionReaver]

I don't think ginka can reliably detect that you're linkdead (as opposed to idling).  Notice how often you get the two messages at the same time:
   The tall, muscular man has dropped link oh wait
   The tall, muscular man has reconnected.

Ah, yeah, that's a bit of a problem for those quick drops, however I've noticed those mainly occur when somebody reconnects fairly soon after they've dropped link. But, if some time has passed (I'm not 100% sure how the server's code works, nor an expert) I'm pretty sure it can tell certain players have timed out after a while, so at least those people (you know, the random LD carcasses in your clan HQs) can benefit from it.

[Nyr]

What Brytta is alluding to (I think) is that you can't be sure it was a quick drop.

[ScionReaver]

I think brytta is referring to when you "drop link", the server assumes you are still connected until you reconnect, and only really knows in that last split second between the two rounds of (drops link... reconnects) that you were ever gone. However, if you are link-dead for a longer period of time than "usual" (I have never tested to see how long this is - over half an hour? an hour? - and I'm sure it changes depending on the server load, time per round, etc.), the server DOES know you've dropped link, as it will eventually say you have dropped link, and between that time and when you reconnect, the server does know you've gone.

During that time, it would be feasible for the server to tell your Wayer you're LD. But that really only benefits people who drop link for a while.

[Nyr]

This is something that has been fixed in Arm 2 (works for gone, dropped links, and long idles).

[brytta.leofa]

During that time, it would be feasible for the server to tell your Wayer you're LD. But that really only benefits people who drop link for a while.

It could surely kick in when hunger-and-thirst protection turns on, if not before.  And yeah, presumably some linkdeadedness lasts a long time.

I played a PC once whom I would intentionally leave logged in, linkdead, for many, many hours when quitting wasn't possible.  Though I was being kinda stupid, and I suspect that the exact mode of linkdeath-abuse I was engaged in is no longer so attractive...this would have been nice.