Whisper Table

[Wish]

Sometimes, I want to have sekrit meetings with more than one person, and want to drop my voice to a clandestine hush which is intended only for the ears of those in my group.

I would love to have the ability to "whisper" at a table, to represent being wadded into a close huddle with the rest of my conspirators, hissing to each other about all our dire plans. 

People with the listen skill would still have the ability to overhear what's said, but it would take a higher skill percentage.

What do people think?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I dig that.

[Lizzie]

I love the idea of it!

[Barsook]

I dig this for realism!

[Kronibas]

Look, I've had a lot of shady deals IRL, and we usually don't huddle around a table with voices lowered.

We're usually guffawing and smoking joints or whatever else.

Seems like a preventative measure against spying that might not be necessary, especially since some magick ways of spying are already codedly hamstrung by the whisper/table code when they really shouldn't be.

[ShaLeah]

I dig it.

So long as the chance to be overheard is much greater that an individual whisper for realism.

[Lizzie]

You're saying you've never EVER hushed your voice to tell your friend "Hey did you see the tits on our waitress? I could get lost between those things for HOURS."

or

"I heard Andy the bartender's been selling dope on the side. If you need a few extra ambiens, he's the one to ask."

or

"See that chick at the table next to ours? That's Talia, the bitch who got our pal Vinnie arrested last week."

Gossip and rumors happen. Personally, I think if this kind of command became available, it'd make sense - for instance - for people at the bar to -not- be able to overhear people using it at tables and vice versa. But anyone standing might be able to overhear either.

Would it make me suspicious of anyone standing? You betcha. And that'd be part of the fun.

[ShaLeah]

Sekrit clandestine meetings aren't gonna be happening at a bar.

[Kronibas]

Sekrit clandestine meetings aren't gonna be happening at a bar.

Yeah and if they're in an estate behind five locked doors still whispering at a table then it's probably out of an OOC desire to circumvent certain code limitations.

But I think whispering at a table at a bar just so people across the room might have a hard time listening might be cool, at the risk of table whispering becoming the norm?

Besides, listen is a skill.  It can be a really powerful skill, and those that can hear folk across bars usually deserve to be able to; they have been hamstrung in other aspects in order to have better information gathering talents.

[Ouroboros]

I'm not opposed to it exactly, but then again... If you've having a sekrit meeting, reason stands you shouldn't be having it in a public space to begin with, where others might overhear you. You'd be having it in a dark alley, or an apartment, or <fill in the blank>. And in those instances, whispering at the table seems pointless, outside of the reason Kronibas already hinted at.

While it might be realistic to be able to whisper at a table, it would also be unrealistic to hold your sekrit meeting somewhere where you might be easily overheard, just because you know as a player that the code protects your conversation to a certain extent when you're seated and whispering. Realism cuts both ways.

[BuNutzCola]

This is in game already.


The syntax is talk (lowering his voice as he looks about the table) Yeah, tonight we're gonna knock over the Bard's Barrel.

People not seated at the table have to make a listen check in order to overhear.


Profit.

[catchall]

Bu beat me to it.  Table whisper is just "super talk."  It's 'talk' with a code boost and no corresponding limitation.  It's poor game design to have two features that are identical except one is unilaterally superior in some aspect.  It doesn't expand roleplay possibilities because ( ) emotes already exist to show how you're speaking.

[RogueGunslinger]

Bu beat me to it.  Table whisper is just "super talk."  It's 'talk' with a code boost and no corresponding limitation.  It's poor game design to have two features that are identical except one is unilaterally superior in some aspect.  It doesn't expand roleplay possibilities because ( ) emotes already exist to show how you're speaking.

What if "whisper table" didn't allow followers to hear like they currently can.

This will make it so you HAVE to have the listen skill to hear clandestine meetings, but you don't have to have it to overhear someone you're shadowing who isn't using it. It basically makes listen more useful, while also giving you an option to have secret conversations that aren't over the Way.

[BuNutzCola]

I just feel it's unnecessary. To be honest, there are measures you can take to ensure know one ever gets in on your plots, magickal or mundane. If you're having a super sekrit talk in a bar, you're already not being discreet. Use emotes to describe talking quietly, leave it up to players that might overhear to decideif they were paying attention or not.

Watch any movie ever where the bad/good guys are alone in their hideout discussing plans. They aren't whispering. If they think they're alone, they are talking in normal voices, sometimes even shouting maniacally how they are going to bring about the downfall of their adversary.

Duplicating code already essentially in place makes no sense to me.

[Wish]

Not really sure why everyone assumes that people would only use this command to have "super secret" talks in taverns (??), nor that anyone having "super secret" talks in private wouldn't want to speak quietly.

If I'm playing a noble who thinks everyone is spying on her, you're damn right I'll want to whisper clandestinely to my three most trusted minions in the throes of my paranoia, even if I'm sitting in my inner sanctum.

This is basically just a way to whisper something to multiple people at once.  A chance to overhear everything by using listen would still exist - but maybe followers won't auto-overhear everything that's said like they do now.

[Harmless]

It'd be cool if a person's weight was calculated to listen checks. A heavier person should have a damn hard time lowering their voice -- giants would, therefore, be almost unable to whisper or talk in low voices, which makes sense, whereas all the dainty types will be great at conspiring with each other.

Height could be used in a similar calculation -- the relative height at the time. Standing and listening would help -- you're above the voice in question, and sound doesn't get muffled passing through air unimpeded. If you're short, and you're seated at a table, and a group is talking in low voices at the bar -- you're having trouble hearing through their backs from your low vantage point.

But, I like the listen code as is and wouldn't bat an eyelash if no changes were made, or if they were. Feel like the system Arma has is pretty damn awesome already!

[Molten Heart]

Nevermind

[Ouroboros]

Not really sure why everyone assumes that people would only use this command to have "super secret" talks in taverns (??), nor that anyone having "super secret" talks in private wouldn't want to speak quietly. If I'm playing a noble who thinks everyone is spying on her, you're damn right I'll want to whisper clandestinely to my three most trusted minions in the throes of my paranoia, even if I'm sitting in my inner sanctum.

We're assuming it because whisper, the code, is there so that others nearby don't overhear you. Whisper, as an emote, covers instances when you're not concerned about code but about roleplay. Your paranoid noble can simply whisper in an emote via talk, in their trusted inner sanctum, and the effect would be the same. If your noble is so paranoid, they'd be sure to have removed potential threats from the room before having their clandestine meeting. The only instances where he or she might still be overheard under such conditions, are valid and should remain as is.

Further, from a realism standpoint, whispering to someone offers a higher degree of privacy not just because you're lowering your voice but because you're physically approaching someone, leaning in, and directing what you're trying to convey directly to them (or their ear). That way they can still hear you, even though you've lowered your voice to a whisper. Simply lowering your voice when others are seated at the table with you is more likely to cause your companions not to hear you at all, especially in a crowded environment such as any public space.

[maxid]

I see this as a valuable tool for roleplay, lowering voices to say a thing or two, or the like.

Bu, I'm sorry you suffer from Voice Immodulation like the Will Ferrell character from SNL who can't control the volume of his voice, but the rest of us are able to include a few people in a quieter, more difficult to hear conversation that is below even what the normal 'table' voice would be.

It'd be cool if a person's weight was calculated to listen checks. A heavier person should have a damn hard time lowering their voice -- giants would, therefore, be almost unable to whisper or talk in low voices, which makes sense, whereas all the dainty types will be great at conspiring with each other.

Height could be used in a similar calculation -- the relative height at the time. Standing and listening would help -- you're above the voice in question, and sound doesn't get muffled passing through air unimpeded. If you're short, and you're seated at a table, and a group is talking in low voices at the bar -- you're having trouble hearing through their backs from your low vantage point.

But, I like the listen code as is and wouldn't bat an eyelash if no changes were made, or if they were. Feel like the system Arma has is pretty damn awesome already!

Now you're just trolling.

[Riev]

The end all be all, is this exists in the functionality of "talk", disallowing people in the same room to automatically hear what you're saying at a different table. I could understand if you were looking for a standing version of 'talk', that basically allowed multiple targets for Whisper, but what you're asking for is a NEW ABILITY, that functions exactly the same as "talk" does, but raises the required skill check to overhear it.

I'm sorry if you feel you need entirely new functionality to emote out "talk (leaning over the table, muttering to the occupants)", but frankly if someone overhears that, they're REALLY GOOD at the skill that lets them overhear it. Or the room virtually got quiet for that moment (like a lunchroom).

[Chettaman]

I'll admit. I was super excited at the idea at first. But yeah. Talk is already a whisper table.

[Harmless]

I wasn't intending to troll, but yeah, my suggestions would be a frustrating nerf I guess so just take it with a grain of salt ok?