Weapons Out!

[nauta]

So.  I'm not much of a combat person -- let's just get that out there.  However, a number of times I've been told, in game, to keep my weapons out while wandering around by superiors or people who want to keep me safe.  This has always bothered me, since, I mean, who the hell walks around, for miles and miles and miles, while riding or while running, with their weapons out?  (Mutatis mutandis for all those guys at the bar with shields held in their right hand, a beer in the other.)

I assume there's a coded benefit to having a weapon out (it helps with defense or some first strike thing if some NPC randomly jumps you?) and so people were trying to ICly tell me about something with an OOC benefit.  But.

What -do- people think about all our characters running around with scissors in their hand?  Is this one of those things that you just overlook and suspend disbelief on?  Is this something I'm not understanding about how Zalanthan life really is?  Is there even a potential 'fix' to it, coded -- autodraw or something -- or social?

[Marauder Moe]

I think it's one of those oddities of Armageddon we just have to accept.  Combat in this game can begin very quickly with little to no warning, and the penalties for being unarmed when attacked are really severe.

[BadSkeelz]

Pretty much what Moe said. Riding around unarmed in the wilderness is just too dangerous to willfully do it. It's not uncommon to see mobs enter a room and instantly attack (twice). There isn't time to draw a weapon.

[Asanadas]

Those NPC spiders aren't going to RP with you. You have to just accept riding around armed as a part of the game. I just emote putting the sword on the side of the saddle, or whatever.

[Dar]

I would say riding around unarmed would become acceptable as soon as we become capable of looking diagonally.

[FantasyWriter]

I just emote laying it across my lap or something like that.

[nauta]

Disclaimer: I'm no codemaster.

IDEA: autodraw (nosave autodraw).  This would automatically draw the weapons in the order you sheathed them when an NPC initiates combat. 

(Also, didn't they change the auto-combat thing on NPCs a while ago to slow it down?  I know the few times I've had nasties arrive from the west there's been a few clicks where I had plenty of time to draw my weapons.)

I get you can emote your way around it, but there are also situations -- PC to PC -- where there's a lot of unnecessary gruntage about having weapons out and being all menacing when really they missed the emote about the weapon being on your lap.  (Or something.  I guess it's super minor and veterans are used to it.)

IDEA: stamina or endurance drains each league you have a weapon drawn, plus a chance of poking your eye out if you are running with scissors.

[BadSkeelz]

What would that actually add to the game other than a hassle for warriors?

[RogueGunslinger]

(Also, didn't they change the auto-combat thing on NPCs a while ago to slow it down?  I know the few times I've had nasties arrive from the west there's been a few clicks where I had plenty of time to draw my weapons.)

No, not at all. And if your internet lags for a fraction of a second it can even seem like the mob shows up and attacks instantly.

And the double-attack bug is fucking brutal sometimes.

[Jave]

Just draw your weapons codedly and then RP as if you have them sheathed but at the ready Nauta. It really is a code thing in this instance. The NPC's (unless animated) are going to close and attack you without pause.

[Jihelu]

I always rp it as holding the handle and not being retarded/being able to draw fast when getting rushed.

[RogueGunslinger]

I just roleplay that I have my weapons and shield are out all the time. Because my characters are endurant badasses who never tire.... Unless they walk in the desert a little bit. They all have chicken-legs too.

[KankWhisperer]

No weapons outside? WITCH!

[Riev]

No weapons outside? WITCH!

[Refugee]

No weapons outside? WITCH!

[Delirium]

Which is an OOC attitude created by the coded necessity of having one's weapons out while travelling, but prevalent enough that it's wise to regard it. When even a limp-wristed merchant is better off carrying a big fuck-off sword compared to nothing, having one's hands empty is very suspicious.

[Jingo]

There should be a ten second delay and a ride check when manipulating your inventory with weapon out and riding.

[Saellyn]

There should be a ten second delay and a ride check when manipulating your inventory with weapon out and riding.

Yeah, -no-.

[valeria]

I don't mind it.  I know that realistically, sheathes are a thing for a reason (because weapons are very heavy).  But I also know that the code isn't always realistic, so I don't equate <primary hand> with held up and ready for combat.  I view it as just being near to hand.  Maybe I'm riding around with my hand on my sword hilt, ready to iaido when danger appears.

[Vwest]

What -do- people think about all our characters running around with scissors in their hand?  Is this one of those things that you just overlook and suspend disbelief on?  Is this something I'm not understanding about how Zalanthan life really is?

I normally just play it off as my character being hardened to having a weapons or two out most of the time.

We usually blow off horrific creatures as trivial because a raptor or a scrab can be killed without too much risk, even to relatively new characters. I like to look at the creatures in-game and assess -v them when my character is face to face and engaged with them, to keep things in perspective. Sure, my character can blender them into tiny, harmless chunks in seconds, but that doesn't make them any less monstrous and they're not something any sane person would ever want to risk encountering without a weapon in hand.

If I have a character focused on an especially large weapon, like a halberd or greatsword, I'll normally have them travel with a lighter weapon in hand.

But generally? My characters carry their weapons in hand and I don't play it off as just having them sheathed by ready. My characters carry their weapons out because holy shit these creatures are terrifying and they're everywhere.

Code-wise, because of how obscenely broken unarmed vs armed combat is in Arm, it's borderline suicidal for anyone to be caught in the danger zone without a weapon drawn. I've seen important, high skill characters killed in seconds because they forgot to draw weapons, then lost link in a dangerous place, like the 'rinth or out in the desert, to the most common and irrelevant of aggro NPCs.

There should be a ten second delay and a ride check when manipulating your inventory with weapon out and riding.

And people say I'm a troll.

[hyzhenhok]

I am of the opinion that not every little coded thing needs to be interpreted as a literal thing within the game world when they are inconsequential. When someone forgets they're holding a mug until they get to the compound, whatever, let them discard it and ignore it. Everyone is sitting around the bar with full helmets and facewraps and sunslits on--whatever! We play on and pretend that's not actually how things are. I will froth at the mouth and ragequit if you try to make it an IC plot point that my newbie clannie forgot to unstrap his shield after sparring.

But...having weapons equipped or not while riding actual has serious code consequences to both your riding and your combat. I'm all for handwaving away things that don't matter and are merely a matter of convenience, but the "my weapons are drawn but not really" thing seems pretty borderline. If you ride up to me with your character codedly armed and ready to fight, but try to RP that you are not armed and ready to fight, that's not going to work for me. If you want to RP as a badass or an ignorant fool who rides with his weapon sheathed or in his lap instead of at the ready, I think you should actually do so codedly.

I think in Zalanthas, you should not feel silly riding around with one weapon in hand. Riding from Allanak to Tuluk with both hands full the whole way, yeah, I think that's a bit silly. But one weapon? Your character can do a lot of things with the weapon while it's still in hand, so it doesn't mean you're literally riding around in a battle stance. And nasty stuff might surprise you at any moment in your journey.

[Saellyn]

Know how I RP it?

Leaning it on my shoulder. My hand's on the hilt, that weapon -is in my hand-, but it's leaning against my shoulder.

Or over my shoulders.

Or in my lap with my hand very much on it.

Either way you look at it, though, it's up to the player to RP it properly. The problem with this is how NPCs (and some PCs, don't even try to tell me otherwise) will see you out there, and if you're not armed? They will destroy you and end you as fast as they can.

[nauta]

But...having weapons equipped or not while riding actual has serious code consequences to both your riding and your combat.

In a sense this is right, but in another sense it isn't.  At present, the way it -looks- to a casual observer, then, yes, it looks as if we have a binary affair: weapon sheathed / weapons out.  But from what I gather up above, things aren't as binary.

There's two options, if it is even worth pursuing, that I thought of:

1. Semantics.  Just change the language of drawing / holding / wielding / sheathing weapons to something more vague, e.g., you ready your weapon near your hand.  Change what look tells you to something like: readied near the primary hand.  Leave the code exactly the same, since having a weapon readied and having it drawn are (codedly) the same thing.

2. Autodraw.  The hoped for implementation would be to not add any extra hassle to people -- if an NPC arrives, it automatically draws the weapons out before they strike.  It'd have to be a save toggle, since certain people might not want to autodraw.

What would that actually add to the game other than a hassle for warriors?

Well, as I mentioned above, I'd hope it doesn't add a hassle to anyone at all.

[KankWhisperer]

3. It's not a big deal.

[Jingo]

Maybe some of us like the idea of a lone ranger that needs to draw his gun and not have it his mega dexterous hands at all times.