Group Whisper

[Suhuy]

Code Select Expand

>whisper dainty stalwart fitch When I give the command, everyone charge the templar and we'll take this sonavabitch down once and for all!

You whisper to the dainty, freckled woman, the stalwart, dark-haired man, and the Abercrombie and Fitch Door Greeter, in sirihish:
     "When I give the command, everyone charge the templar and we'll take this sonavabitch down once and for all!"

Thoughts? Been suggested already? Lame? Not lame?

[Kismetic]

I always liked the idea of being able to create groups where you could use 'talk' like you were at a table.  It would achieve a similar result.

[RogueGunslinger]

I like both ideas.

[musashi]

I hate it, because no one else has hated it yet.

[Kismetic]

talk (gesticulating like a madman)  Somebody set us up the bomb!
At your conversation, you say, in sirihish, gesticulating like a madman:
"Somebody set us up the bomb!"

At his conversation, you overhear the tan, muscular man say, in sirihish, gesticulating like a madman:
"Somebody set us up the bomb!"

join amos
You join the tan, muscular man's conversation.

[brytta.leofa]

talk (gesticulating like a madman)  Somebody set us up the bomb!
At your conversation, you say, in sirihish, gesticulating like a madman:
"Somebody set us up the bomb!"

At his conversation, you overhear the tan, muscular man say, in sirihish, gesticulating like a madman:
"Somebody set us up the bomb!"

join amos
You join the tan, muscular man's conversation.

follow amos
shadow amos

Actually, doesn't it already work this way for talk-at-tables?

[Kismetic]

If you're following someone, you have a better chance of overhearing their conversations at a table.  This code would be to use the 'talk' command without having to sit at a table.

For instance, the Sarge might not be able to hear Amos and Talia talking at the watercooler, but thanks to the listen skill, Malik gets the scoop.

Either this brand of coding, or maybe a recommendation of installing a lot more items that allow a group of people to stand at.

stand watercooler

I guess my interest here is that it shouldn't be a prerequisite to 'sit' somewhere to have a private conversation.

[spicemustflow]

If you're following someone, you have a better chance of overhearing their conversations at a table.

Yeah? Cool, didn't know that.

[RogueGunslinger]

If you're following someone, you have a better chance of overhearing their conversations at a table.

Yeah? Cool, didn't know that.

It's actually more like a guarantee, then a better chance.

[Kismetic]

It still hinges on somebody sitting at a table.  Anyway, I like the idea of a group whisper, too.

[ghostymudy]

It's actually more like a guarantee, then a better chance.

It's pretty decent but it's certainly not a guarantee.

[benegesseritwitch]

I feel like this would cheapen the listen skill.

[Bushranger]

I feel like this would cheapen the listen skill.

How? I think having group whisper (or conversation whatever you want to call it) while not at a table would make the listen skill more useful outside of taverns. Right now that group of elves in the corner of the bazaar share their plans to rip you off in Allundean, if they could huddled round and whisper it amongst themselves you would need to be able to listen and speak Allundean to be prepared!



I've never understood why you can only have quiet group conversations at table objects as well. Group Whisper approval from me

[The Silence of the Erdlus]

I like it, but.... how could this be coded? How would the command work? I can't visualize it.

[Bushranger]

Code Select Expand


> whisper me <message>

> whisper me -<how> <message>

> whisper me (<how>) <message>

Example:

> whisper me (lowering his voice to those walking along with him) See them gutter rats up
  ahead? Let's show them who truly runs these alleys.


I would suggest focusing it on a person, the leader. Everyone following that leader can hear the whispers so the leader targets himself to whisper to the group and the followers whisper to the leader for everyone in the group to hear. If you're not following the leader but instead following someone else in the group you're not close enough to hear the group whispers. It's not perfect but I think it is better than we have now which requires furniture to have a quiet conversation.

I'm not sure if/how to code it exactly but this is what I would look at first. See if I can reference the follow code to see who I should send the whispers too and who needs to make a listen check to overhear the groups conversation.

[ghostymudy]

post

What if I want to whisper just to the leader while we're chatting quietly in our group.

[Bushranger]

Separate it from the whisper code. Call it conversation. Look at my post before I suggested how it might be coded.

converse <leader> <message>

References the whisper code and the follow code so a coder doesn't need to do so much work and you can still use whisper for single target quiet messages.

[valeria]

I think it would be fine as just part of the talk command.  As it is, you can't "talk" while standing.  It would just reroute a standing "talk" to your group, if you had them.  I think that possibly getting the code to recognize that a group is all connected would be the sticky part, but I'm not a coder.

[Cutthroat]

Do it like other RPIs sort of have. If you use 'talk' while not sitting at a table, you speak to everyone following you, the person you're following, and (maybe) everyone following the person you're following, like Bushranger said.

If the number of people 'talk' finds is zero, then talk will make you mumble to yourself... just to lump that idea in instead of making 'talk' fail.

[Marauder Moe]

Hmm.  This whole idea is tricky.  I've been back and forth on it in my head.  At least, we should consider that this idea presents a minor nerf to both listen-enabled and non-listen-enabled gossip gathering and decide whether such a change is desired.

(Implementation-wise, though, I agree that rolling it into talk+follow is probably the smoothest way to do it.)

[X-D]

I am all for it on talk+follow...specially if it reverts to mumble self if nobody is following...two birds, one stone.

[Marauder Moe]

Oh, actually, I should add that I don't think I like talk reverting to mumble/whisper-self if alone.

Personally, I find it useful to be reminded that I'm being a dummy and forgot to sit or missed the message that the bar is full. 

[Fredd]

Do it like other RPIs sort of have. If you use 'talk' while not sitting at a table, you speak to everyone following you, the person you're following, and (maybe) everyone following the person you're following, like Bushranger said.

If the number of people 'talk' finds is zero, then talk will make you mumble to yourself... just to lump that idea in instead of making 'talk' fail.

Didn't know you could do that with talk! Awesome.

[MeTekillot]

You can't, Fredd. That's other RPIs.

[Bushranger]

Hmm.  This whole idea is tricky.  I've been back and forth on it in my head.  At least, we should consider that this idea presents a minor nerf to both listen-enabled and non-listen-enabled gossip gathering and decide whether such a change is desired.

(Implementation-wise, though, I agree that rolling it into talk+follow is probably the smoothest way to do it.)

Why does this idea present a minor nerf to listen? Because secretive or quiet conversations involving more than one person are no longer going to be restricted only to certain rooms with furniture objects?

[Delirium]

Because people will talk among themselves when walking together outside of table/seating areas, and snooping PCs will have to be in the same room to overhear the conversation, instead of the one adjacent. Personally, I don't have a problem with that. It always felt a little ridiculous to hear someone's conversation halfway up a crowded, busy road, for example.

[Marauder Moe]

Yeah, that.

I'm not sure it's a bad thing either.

But still... privacy for truly important discussions is already trivial to obtain.  Thus, this sort of change would impact almost purely within the realm of gossip.  I'm not sure that things are better by trying to stifle such.  On the other hand, if people do feel protected by some measure privacy even within non-stead public spaces, they may be willing to let slip more juicy things for those that do overhear them.  Maybe that would balance the effect.

[Fredd]

You can't, Fredd. That's other RPIs.

Dammit...

[slipshod]

I was going to post a thread to discuss a 'huddle' idea that would accomplish whispering to more than one target.  But a search turned up this existing thread!

Something like 'form huddle self <target1> <target2>', but then I guess you'd need to give each other player a chance to accept or decline joining the huddle.  Or maybe you could 'form huddle self' and it would echo 'Slipshod motions for people to gather around him' and then the others could 'join' the huddle.

Hrm... I don't know how to accomplish it otherwise, if not simply changing the existing whisper command to be able to target more than one person.  Max it out at 3 targets total, max?  'whisper <target 1> <target 2> <message>'

Someone mentioned that you can't 'talk' while standing, but that's not true if you are standing 'at' a table or bar with extra spaces beyond the chairs.
If staff were to add 'standing room only' locations to rooms around the world, that would work, but I think they'd have to do it manually for every room in the game, which is insane.  However, it would allow us to do things like:

look tables
At 1) a corner of the room are:
  a few empty spaces.

sit at 1
There are no seats at a corner of the room.

stand at 1
You stand at a corner of the room.

Malafaxis stands at a corner of the room.

talk (glancing out at the rest of the room) Yo.