Guarding

[MeTekillot]

If you guard someone, it should be visible in your ldesc.


The tall, muscular man is here, guarding the blue-robed templar.

[Harmless]

I like it in general, but I just want to comment that if there is a lot of people in a military RPT for example, that the screen will scroll with a lot of names (or a lot of the same name) because during those ops there are usually lots of people guarding someone. In that instance I wouldn't really want to see this, so I don't know if forcing it to happen is such a good idea.

But for the example you have of course it'd be fine.

[Patuk]

I really don't see how a templar being very obviously heavily secured is a bad thing. That's a given anyway. I think it's a fine idea

[valeria]

I think it could be a spam problem if there are a lot of people with long ldescs in a room.  I'm imaginging everyone on beetles guarding everyone else.  Maybe if it was implemented with a 'brief guard' option, where you could turn it off if you didn't want to see it?

[RogueGunslinger]

We already have a lot of spam "issues" that aren't really that big of a deal. I like this idea. +1

[Barsook]

I dig this!

[BadSkeelz]

I'm afraid that having this in the ldesc would get unwieldy quick, esp in large group settings like military RPTs.

Maybe if it was a line in a character's description (like tdesc) or when you assess -verbose someone. That would require a bit of research on the part of whoever wants to know.

[valeria]

Having it in assess -v is the suggestion I like the most so far.

[Barsook]

Having it in assess -v is the suggestion I like the most so far.

I'm leaning on to this too to reduce the spam.

[RogueGunslinger]

What if it just stuck people who were guarding/following eachother next to the drop list:


The tall, muscular man is here.
-(guarding) The burly, scar-riddle man has his arms folded, back straight.
-(following) The weathered, lanky man is here.
-(following) The short, husky woman stand among the small group.
The broad-shouldered man is here, twidling his thumbs at the bar.

[Bushranger]

-(guarding) or - (following) tags are really awkward and jarring. It is why don't we just have ? in front of quest giving NPCs.

Having it in the ldesc is better but I think that should be up to the players to convey; through their emotes and/or through the change ldesc command.

I really like the assess -v idea to show who someone is guarding, or being guarded by. Following as well. I think this provides creative freedoms to people (sometimes you want to pretend you're not guarding that fellow but secretly you've got his back!) but if people want to look closely they can find out this information, just like discovering who is watching who!

Code Select Expand

The fat, balding Templar is here.
The skinny, black-haired man stands close to the fat Templar.
The pimple-faced girl is here.

Assess -v Templar

He is quite a bit older than you.
He appears mature for his race.
He is taller than you.
He weighs about the same as you.
He is followed by the skinny, black-haired man, the pimple-faced girl and you.
He is guarded by the skinny, black-haired man and you.
He is guarding the pimple-faced girl.
The fat, balding Templar is in excellent condition.
The fat, balding Templar looks completely corrupt.


[MeTekillot]

My ldesc idea is mostly so that a prowling d-elf can notice that the group of black-cloaks is awfully close to that man who isn't wearing a templar's robes for this patrol so his sdesc doesn't say templar in it, or if you're trying to snipe an important guy from a caravan and you can take note of who is guarding him.

[Harmless]

My ldesc idea is mostly so that a prowling d-elf can notice that the group of black-cloaks is awfully close to that man who isn't wearing a templar's robes for this patrol so his sdesc doesn't say templar in it, or if you're trying to snipe an important guy from a caravan and you can take note of who is guarding him.

Then your suggestion would really make guarding someone quite dangerous for defending against snipers or assassins if the prime target isn't immediately obvious, i.e. a fat nerf to guarding.

I'm fine with assess having the ability to see this, that makes sense to me, and feels more balanced / less dangerous.

[RogueGunslinger]

-(guarding) or - (following) tags are really awkward and jarring. It is why don't we just have ? in front of quest giving NPCs.

Easy:

The tall, muscular man is here.
*The burly, scar-riddle man has his arms folded, back straight.
-The weathered, lanky man is here.
-The short, husky woman stand among the small group.
The broad-shouldered man is here, twidling his thumbs at the bar.

I don't really see how that can be any more jarring than a room-title with [NSEW] in it.

My ldesc idea is mostly so that a prowling d-elf can notice that the group of black-cloaks is awfully close to that man who isn't wearing a templar's robes for this patrol so his sdesc doesn't say templar in it, or if you're trying to snipe an important guy from a caravan and you can take note of who is guarding him.

Then your suggestion would really make guarding someone quite dangerous for defending against snipers, i.e. a fat nerf to guarding.

Eh... What about the situation that currently happens where the officers aren't hiding at all, but because you can't see their cloak is different from the rest from a distance, you don't know he's actually an officer. When in reality it should be pretty obvious which guy is barking commands and shouting orders to everyone else.

[Harmless]

rgs: then maybe with the watch command you'd be able to discern who the leader is, by whoever is emoting giving commands, shouting, etc, being attended to, with existing code. Do we really need more obvious signs pointing to the leader in a group saying "shoot this guy?"

[MeTekillot]

Watch command doesn't let you see emotes from other rooms.

[RogueGunslinger]

I'm saying if they're being obvious, it should be obvious codedly. If they're hiding among the rif-raff, then they shouldn't be guarded by a bunch of people, should they? An observer -would- notice people sticking too close. That would be a problem that could be solved ICly by just not having them guarded until something dangerous approaches, if they're really that worried about arrow fire.

I think it's a lot more common for leaders not to give a fuck at all if they're standing out, and still somehow it's the runners who end up dying and taking all the arrow fire.

[Harmless]

Watch command doesn't let you see emotes from other rooms.

really? I could have sworn I have seen -some- emotes in other rooms with watch. Maybe that's actions, and not emotes...

I'm saying if they're being obvious, it should be obvious codedly. If they're hiding among the rif-raff, then they shouldn't be guarded by a bunch of people, should they? An observer -would- notice people sticking too close. That would be a problem that could be solved ICly by just not having them guarded until something dangerous approaches, if they're really that worried about arrow fire.

This is a good point.. but now in exchange for a feature that I agree is more realistic, people will have to add one more micro-managey aspect to their bodyguard work, waiting until the right time to guard. People will be guarding and unguarding, is that really something we want?

Btw you guys, I am in support of ideas like this in general, but I am being the devil's advocate. 

[RogueGunslinger]

I agree it would be adding complexity to the combat, and I'm not sure if a lot of people like that idea, as it could be seen as tedious. I certainly wouldn't want to have to input every strike in combat, like some games do.

[Inks]

Met's idea is great and is perfectly reasonable. +1 etc.

[roughneck]

Met's idea is great and is perfectly reasonable. +1 etc.

Agreed.

[Fujikoma]

How about the more skilled at guarding you are, the harder it is to tell if you're guarding anyone?

[BadSkeelz]

That's not a bad idea, Fuji. Though so many characters start with advanced guarding already I wonder how much variation there actually is.

[Harmless]

Watch command doesn't let you see emotes from other rooms.

In case you were curious, I just confirmed that this is incorrect.

[Riev]

Watch command doesn't let you see emotes from other rooms.

In case you were curious, I just confirmed that this is incorrect.

I'm relatively sure it only allows you to see "socials" like nodding, thanking, etc. Emotes are unseen anytime I've used it.

I do like changing the ldesc command when guarding someone... you can USUALLY tell who is guarding another person by how close they stand, how they're observing the area, etc etc. If you can't tell that someone is being guarded, chances are they aren't being guarded very closely.