Arrange, changeldesc, and you.

[MeTekillot]

These are two of my favorite commands. Some people use them frequently. Some do not. I am not here to tell you that you are a bad player if you do not use them, but I am supposing I would like to give what I believe may advice in using them better, which may end in you using them more and BREATHING LIFE into the world.

Arrange:
Whenever you use arrange, it almost always appends "is here" after the item name when you use it.
For example:
arrange chest sitting on top of a shelf.
A wooden chest is here sitting on top of a shelf.

That looks kind of funny, see.
BUT
If you use ~, it can put the item name anywhere in the arrange string. Or you can just put it at the beginning to rid it of the cumbersome "is here".
arrange chest ~ is sitting on top of a shelf.
A wooden chest is sitting on top of a shelf.

Or you could alter the phrasing, like I like to do, and put
arrange chest ~ sits atop a shelf.
A wooden chest sits atop a shelf.

arrange chest Sat atop a shelf, ~ is here.

etc, etc.

Change ldesc:
The thing with change ldesc is, I'm pretty sure it is altered by how long your sdesc is. I think it's right because I am like 85% sure I've read it somewhere.
So dwarven females and lady half-giants are at an especial disadvantage, because your sdesc is longer than a lot of people's so you don't get as much space.

So the thing with change ldesc is to try to be as concisely descriptive as possible.

So, your PC is the snowflake rebel. But you don't like to broadcast it. As such, he leans against walls in taverns instead of sitting down like the man wants him to do.

change ldesc is here, leaning up against a wall, arms crossed over his chest.

That would usually be too long for most PCs. Unless, like, you're "the big man".
Which you're probably not. You're the "atramentaceous-haired, voracious brute"
and that's okay.
It just doesn't really help whenever you try to change your ldesc.
However, if you're of a smaller character length in your sdesc, say, "the thinly scarred man", you get more leeway.

But you still can't
change ldesc is here, leaning up against a wall, arms crossed over his chest.
However, with some wiggling with verbs and uh sentence structure that I didn't pay enough attention in English class to properly explain, you can
change ldesc leans against a wall here, arms on his chest.
which can be put to
change ldesc leans against a wall, arms crossed.

A lot of the time, you don't need to put "is here" or "here" in your ldesc. Because. I mean. You're there. People are aware of that. Unless you're hidden. Then only people with scan are aware of that.
That probably violates some sort of English mechanic or whatever the term is? Idk but it's really not necessary and takes up character space.

Well, with tenses or whatever, you can free up a bit of space in the ldesc too. Use the current tense instead of whatever the tense is where you use "leaning" instead of "leans". That's two whole letters man. And bla and bla. This probably wasn't that helpful and I probably got distracted too much but hey at least I tried.

Also, arrange doesn't have a limit on how many characters it has. Well, I mean, it might. But if it does I haven't ever hit it.
Change ldesc has a limit though.


also make sure to check your spelling when you arrange stuff because literally everyone who sees that thing in a room is gonna see the mistake

[HavokBlue]

I stopped using ldesc when I realized how frustratingly short the character limit is.

[Rhyden]

+1

Great thread, I actually didn't know about the ~ arrange thing for a long while.

I stopped using ldesc when I realized how frustratingly short the character limit is.

Like MeTekillot says, you can always chop it down to fit.

change ldesc sits in the shadowy corner with a leering grin <------- is too long
change ldesc sits in the corner with a leering grin <---- may be still too long
change ldesc sits in the corner with a grin <--- will probably work - not as descriptive but gives the reader the same idea

[BadSkeelz]

I'd probably opt for

change ldesc sits in the corner, grinning.

Again, great thread. I can already see myself using the tilde (~) trick. I don't find the ldesc limit to be too restrictive myself, and I run with what I think is a fairly long sdesc (though may be not; I'll have to count some characters). It's enough space to show where I am in the room, at least. Anything else can be conveyed through emotes or say when people are actually talking with you.

[boog]

I AM NOT A BAD PLAYER

[ShaLeah]

I love ldescs, it's the first alias I make. I got spoiled with my first sdesc being the dusky woman, I could fit an army in there. Now, not so much, there are fields, Neo... lots and lots of fields to pluck human batteries from. Anything you can't describe in the ldesc is loverly to use as an emote.

I haven't played much with the arrange command because it seems it's only really funner if you have an apartment. I assume shit arranged in a clan hall is like that because they want it to be so I don't mess with it.

I smell a dwarven focus coming on....

[Riya OniSenshi]

You can arrange on dropping an object as well.

[MeTekillot]

To elaborate on what Riya said, you can drop an object with a pre-set room ldesc.

drop ball ~ rolls around the room.

[BadSkeelz]

That is super cool. I get bugged when I drop something on the ground and then sent out a couple of "arranging" echoes to get it to fit the emote. Now to just find some things to arrange...

drop it ~ like it's hot.

[Riya OniSenshi]

You're thinking of:

drop ball (like it's hot
or
drop ball [like it's hot
or
drop ball (like it's hot) [like a motherfuckin' boss

Arranging from a drop results in a slightly different ldesc than arranging something after you drop it....Sometimes...

[BadSkeelz]

Oh, I realize that. Just couldn't resist, though.

Do you have any idea what kind of echo it makes when you use the "drop item ~ (arrange)" code though? Is it descriptive enough on its own, or should you still emote dropping the item in some particular manner?

[MeTekillot]

It just shows you dropping it with a command emote.

So, if you're arranging dropping it in like idk the cistern or something

drop ball (tossing it into ~cistern) ~ floats around inside a wide stone cistern.

The tilde is not necessary. I mean, it gets rid of the always cumbersome "is here", though.

[Delirium]

>drop thingy
You drop a thingy.

>drop thingy [like it's hot]
You drop a thingy, like it's hot.

>drop thingy (like it's hot) [or not]
Like it's hot, you drop a thingy, or not.

>drop thingy (sexily) looking enticing
Sexily, you drop a thingy.
A thingy is here looking enticing.

>drop thingy (sexily) ~ sits on the floor, looking enticing.
Sexily, you drop a thingy.
A thingy sits on the floor, looking enticing.

>drop thingy [like it's hot] Like it's hot, ~ sits on the floor.
You drop a thingy, like it's hot.
Like it's hot, a thingy sits on the floor.

It's pretty flexible. Just play with it. Play with that thingy.

Also, don't use those ldescs or emotes. They're horrible.

[Harmless]

Really wish that the ~ would work with ldesc.

It's just not as useful without it.

Scampering down the street is a tall, muscular man, high on spice.

[Booya]

Pretty sure you can arrange things while they're still in your inv, and they'll keep the new description when you drop them.

[Jdr]

arrange chair ~ is nailed to the ceiling here.

[manipura]

Pretty sure you can arrange things while they're still in your inv, and they'll keep the new description when you drop them.

Yep.

[titansfan]

This is awesome. I've been around a decent awhile and didn't really even think about some of this stuff, I just thought there were very basic limits on it, and had no idea you could compound the emotes and arranges like that. Very good post, A++.

[Synthesis]

Really wish that the ~ would work with ldesc.

It's just not as useful without it.

Scampering down the street is a tall, muscular man, high on spice.

I'm pretty sure they haven't added this to avoid idiots either intentionally or accidentally doing stupid things like:

> change ldesc The tall, muscular man stands next to ~.

With the present ldesc code, you can add the tall, muscuar man in, but your sdesc will always appear first, so anyone observing will know exactly who's in the room, and (if both PCs are actually present) who is in what order in the keyword list without having to use the keyword command to figure it out (which can't be used from a distance, in the case of ranged targeting).

[A Large Bag]

I prefer ldesc work this way, keeping the character first in the line of text. I do wish it allowed for a bit longer ones though.

[Harmless]

Really wish that the ~ would work with ldesc.

It's just not as useful without it.

Scampering down the street is a tall, muscular man, high on spice.

I'm pretty sure they haven't added this to avoid idiots either intentionally or accidentally doing stupid things like:

> change ldesc The tall, muscular man stands next to ~.

With the present ldesc code, you can add the tall, muscuar man in, but your sdesc will always appear first, so anyone observing will know exactly who's in the room, and (if both PCs are actually present) who is in what order in the keyword list without having to use the keyword command to figure it out (which can't be used from a distance, in the case of ranged targeting).

I was pretty sure they didn't allow it for what you might call "game balance" issues which you're alluding to here. I buy it.

[Jdr]

The moment we start coding in restrictions to our emote code because people might abuse it was the moment we stop being an RPI.

[Synthesis]

The moment we start coding in restrictions to our emote code because people might abuse it was the moment we stop being an RPI.

Something tells me there's a fairly elaborate proof missing somewhere in there.

[Kismetic]

Good post, Met.  Didn't know you could arrange items in your inv.

[MeTekillot]

bump

[solera]

Leaving the 'Is here' can be useful for a pile of things. When someone takes the second to last thing, 'are' changes itself back to 'is'.

[Lizzie]

A code limit to the arrange system:

Once you remove the "is here" default, you also remove the option to place multiples. Example:

Many green widgets are piled up on a shelf.

get green;get green;get green;get green, etc...
look:

A green widget are piled up on a shelf.

So if you have a lot of something and want to keep them all clustered as a "some" "many" or "few" then you need to do
arrange green in a pile on a shelf.

so the result will be

A green widget is here, in a pile on a shelf.
Two green widgets are here, in a pile on a shelf.
Many green widgets are here, in a pile on a shelf.

This only applies to multiples that you want to have the same ldesc, so that you don't see 50 individual green widgets scrolling off your client screen when you type LOOK ROOM, you see "many" green widgets all in one neat line.

[Sedora]

The "is here" appended to the end by default drove me absolutely bonkers in one warehouse I was eventually allowed access to. I learned all the nuances of the arrange code about four months into my Arming days specifically to be able to get rid of that, and I have no regrets. I like the flexibility it provides and the way you can shorten the descs so that the rooms appear neater for folks who don't have brief turned on.

I haven't played around with ldesc that much because I was told at some point early on that it doesn't work if you're sitting at a table. Is that incorrect? My grand ideas of having a character that sat on the bartop kicking her feet like a big kid were dashed, and I gained no interest in playing with that type of command further.