MDesc Hiding Gear for 2016 (Second Half)

[Riev]

This just in: People don't use tdesc to "hide" their description because they know you can already see the mdesc.

[Lizzie]

I mis-read Thunnkin's post. I kind of like that idea now.

[catchall]

Reason: Really big people shouldn't be capable of wearing costumes that make them appear to be really small. Really fat people shouldn't be capable of wearing costumes that make them magically appear to be really thin or even average.

Maybe we should add a command that shows a figure's general weight/height/age.  We could call it "assess."   Every other issue you mentioned is immediately solved by adding a counterbalancing command that sees through disguises.  Hard to complain that it's hiding vital information from you when you can access that information with a single command.

A clunky markup language sounds cute and fun on paper, but besides the fact that it's a nightmare for newbies and would have to be optional, it's also nearly equivalent to not wearing any disguise at all if the person has seen you before, as substring uniqueness can be used to match the description to the description of someone else you've seen. 

[Delirium]

^ I came here to post that.

[valeria]

Anyway, the reason I'd advocate a disguise command/skill over a general hidden description thing is that how you look with your description hidden is going to depend on what you're using to hide it. So it would allow for more granularity as well as not just being automagically successful simply because you have your hood up.

And by all means pair it with a study command that echoes. That would be great.

[Chettaman]

Interesting idea.

Using Thunkkin's idea and valeria's idea.

A disguise skill that allows the use of "hdesc". hmm...
Maybe disguise could fool the "assess" command?

You're a human male age 44, your hight is 64 inches and your weight is 9 ten-stone .you are in excellent condition. You are completely rested.
>change gender female
>change age 15 --- you seem to be fifteen years old for your race
>change hight 88  (through the use stilts or something) --- you seem to be 88 inches tall!
>change weight 7 -- you seem to weigh 7 ten-stone
>change race elf --- you seem to be an elf
>change condition poor --- you seem to be in poor condition
>change stamina tired --- you seem to be tired.

I really like the idea of anyone being able to become a bandit just by hiding their appearance with hdsec, though.
scan could allow people to see through disguises. And maybe watch...

[Vwest]

In principle it seems like it would be a cool addition, but experience with it in other games shows an almost universal tendency for people to devolve into absolute retards when they know they're more or less beyond identification.

[Evilone]

Were these other games RPIs? To me its never been a big deal in FEM, HL, and SoI. You definately need that study command tho. I think that would be a little easier to code than a new disguise skill and having a hdesc command, even tho I like the idea.

[BadSkeelz]

Someone has the anecdote of the mdesc-masked man repeatedly trying to steal everything from everyone's pack in the Gaj because he couldn't be stopped.

RPIs or not, there will always be those players who will resort to code twinkery simply because nothing stops them.

[Vwest]

Were these other games RPIs? To me its never been a big deal in FEM, HL, and SoI. You definately need that study command tho. I think that would be a little easier to code than a new disguise skill and having a hdesc command, even tho I like the idea.

All of the above, plus EoE.

The latest reincarnation of SoI was exceptionally bad, where people were treating hidden descriptions and stealth code like it made them ninjas. This one guy kept hiding in the middle of a conversation and emoting peeking out of bushes and dropping down from trees, despite... you know... there being seven of us standing there looking at him. Just. Ugh.

[lostinspace]

I already use a face item whenever I have a character do something they could get in trouble for and would really like if it also covered up my description. I would love if criminal types got a disguise skill that they could use hdesc to replace their description with the hdesc until they clear it.  Staff can log when a character does something, just have them log a big red flag whenever someone uses the skill. Then if players send in reports complaining about someone twinking with that hdesc staff can just grep the hdesc log and take away all that person's karma or send a scathing letter or something.

Hell, let other players disguise someone else using an item that hides the desc. 'disguise amos mask' so that anyone can have a disguise, but only certain classes can make them. Disguise goes away if the gear that is hiding them is removed or stolen or whatever. Also potentially add in a study command or something for seeing through a disguise, then have it passively countered by an opposed disguise roll to identify that someone is disguising their identity.

[BadSkeelz]

I'd also like the bullshit '>contact figure' strategy to be removed.

[Inks]

With the twinkiness I am seeing with look hemote in game now (everyone spamming it at everyone even if seated in a tavern in a conversation). We need this. 100%. Make contact figure unable to be used too.

[Lizzie]

With the twinkiness I am seeing with look hemote in game now (everyone spamming it at everyone even if seated in a tavern in a conversation). We need this. 100%. Make contact figure unable to be used too.

It's not twinky at all. This is WHY the look shouldn't echo - because people think it's twinky, when it's not. My character has pals - and she LOOKS at them all the time because I, the player, can't remember what color their eyes are, I can't remember which side of their shoulder they have their scars, I can't remember if they have broad shoulders or slender shoulders - things that my character *should* know, but I can't remember, things that I want to include in emotes, but can't, because I can't remember without LOOKING at them every so often to remind me.

[Inks]

Using look isn't twinky. Using look on a random in a virtually packed market instantly is twinky. Using look on every person walking through a tavern is twinky. Even if not twinky it is totally lame to be spamming look at people walking in while engrossed in a conversation at a bar or table.


Mdesc hiding gear would balance this somewhat for sneakies but doesn't help regular pcs. I don't really see a fix. At least with look echo I could see who was lamely spamming it. IMO.

I like not having the spam, to be honest, on the other side of things, but the fact I know it is probably happening more but is less noticeable now wigs me out, on the other.

[Lizzie]

If you feel people are abusing the code, report them. I'll continue using LOOK as an ooc information-gathering device until the staff tells me otherwise.

[Case]

Do we need hard paragraph mdescs at all?

Can we get by with another model? Even something like writing little blurbs for various bodyparts that forms the mdesc, and allows for partial and full covering?

[Lizzie]

Do we need hard paragraph mdescs at all?

Can we get by with another model? Even something like writing little blurbs for various bodyparts that forms the mdesc, and allows for partial and full covering?

That's majorly old-school template stuff. You'd have to use a template, and you wouldn't be allowed to stray from it because if you did the code would show weird stuff. You wouldn't be able to mention that her hair falls down her back because then, her hair becomes part of the torso section. And when you cover her head, her hair wouldn't be visible, even though it should be. You basically would have to use a different sentence for each part of the body, and none of them would be allowed to overlap.

[Thunkkin]

Oh my god. Looking at people is "twinky" now?

[Jingo]

Oh my god. Looking at people is "twinky" now?

Yeah actually. It can be now.

[Thunkkin]

Until we code in sound, peripheral vision, smell, the ability to read thousands of tiny cues from the environment per second, the ability to instantly detect a change in the face of the person talking to us when something happens behind us, the ability for our eyes to dart quickly around the room, noticing that ten people at one table all have the same cloak pattern, etc., I'll continue to look as much as I please without the faintest hint of guilt.

[evilcabbage]

If you feel people are abusing the code, report them. I'll continue using LOOK as an ooc information-gathering device until the staff tells me otherwise.

look is in character

[Jihelu]

If you feel people are abusing the code, report them. I'll continue using LOOK as an ooc information-gathering device until the staff tells me otherwise.

I'll continue responding to your looks in an IC manor manur meaner manner then.

[Asmoth]

I'm happy about this change, I hate it!

See picture for reference.

[Chettaman]

I saw, "You notice: the guy looks at the girl" a few times today.
You see people ''spamming'' the look command and I'm having trouble emoting without using it! I'm so used to "look man (winking)" to get attention that I near spaz out and do it again because I forget it's hemoted. You may also be seeing this adjustment. I looked at the same person and the wrong person at least three times before actually emoting.