Get rid of the way

[Is Friday]

I've harped about this a few times so I'll just repost my comment from the last time this came up.
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I've always hoped to see the psionic system shifted so that whenever you contact someone they always see your short description.

The tressy-tressed aide contacts your mind.

Pros:
Decreases the practice of sdesc fishing
Decreases the practice of online-checking, I expect this is often used to sway your ic judgement. (If that Sun Runner is online I'm not riding by their camp etc.)
The meta-practice becomes just as telling of the one checking as it does the one who got checked.
Increases reply speed, you can pick up the phone to talk back early!


Cons:
None that I can tell.

[triste]

My 2 recommendations to improve the Way and its function in game: (improve plots)

• Reduce PCs to 1-2 psionic message an IC day. This will change the dynamic and force people to only use it for "important" stuff or some agreement to meet in person.
• All of the changes Majikal suggest to reduce sdesc sniffing

+1 to way sniffing changes. Mixed feels on the way limit idea. I like the limited number of ways idea, but I hear all these people wailing in the background "What about iso roles! Don't punish iso roles! Don't change the Way!" They are also right. So let's just slap this restriction on Allanak or some such. If people act twinky and ridiculous and work around this by waying right outside the city, it's just more pickins for the Crimson Wind! OP is satisfied and iso players are satisfied.

[Riev]

I would definitely be a fan of that one change. Let people who are more sneaky in the way contact you without revealing who they are. When a "foreign presence" contacts your mind, some shit is about to go down and/or they failed their Hide-In-The-Way skill.

[mansa]

..
There are solutions to this. One suggestion was to put some low tier psionic classes into rotation. I don't think it's as good because I think anyone should be allowed to be a spy. Not just humans with a particular subclass.

Another one is to just give mundanes a way of intercepting psionic messages. Though every time I suggest this, someone loses their shit because it doesn't jam with the silly psionicist helpfile.

I like these ideas.

[Kyviantre]

I find it useful to be able to have one conversation via Way and one in person.  There are only so many hours I can play, and sometimes you just have to do two things at once because that is how playtimes work.

Iso role again, I can't 'just arrange to meet up', I'm not in Allanak.  The Way is my roleplay for some hours of my playtime because I don't see any other players in person.  I can't go to them, and I don't feel comfortable demanding people drop what they are doing and come amuse me, so the Way is a compromise with keeping things moving between the times when we can get some in-person RP going.  If I can only Way twice a day, I may as well not play Armageddon, because I wouldn't be getting any roleplay at all!

Things that might be useful for people in a city are all well and good, but it is an arrogantly narrow way to base your fixes based purely on one specific subset of the player base.  Frustrates me.

As for sdescs in the Way, don't care either way.  I don't try to sniff people, and don't care if they want to be petty and sniff me.  But I'm apparently one of those mutants who speaks and says "oh sorry wrong mind" if I get the wrong person, which I guess is...rare?  I've made some good IG friends on various characters with people who have done that with me over the years...which trained me to do it too - accidental mis-Waying getting you more people in your rolodex should be more heavily touted as a way to find people to chitchat to!  But the short answer is...I am fine with it as it is, I don't think I've ever seen anyone try to sdesc sniff me...but if people think it is a problem, then sure, fix it.

Just leave my ability to Way and RP with PCs alone...the NPCs and wildlife don't chat back enough for me to survive on that alone!

[triste]

Things that might be useful for people in a city are all well and good, but it is an arrogantly narrow way to base your fixes based purely on one specific subset of the player base.  Frustrates me.

Full agree, which is why my comment about adding the Kasix stables was, eh, a popular topic.

WRT the rest - keep the way, full agree from the start, but add other psionics. I brought it up first here on the thread in question and other peeps like it seems! More content is always better than less; narrowly scoped content only makes some parties happy but more ways to intercept ways looks like something that can make all parties happy [at least people seem excited about it].

[AdamBlue]

I'd only agree with removing the way if literacy became common and you were able to mail letters to people or hire couriers both regular and coded. Otherwise, no thanks. Too hard to communicate with people you need to, becomes a horrifying headache to organize things.

[LindseyBalboa]

the Way is pretty thematically ingrained into the concept here. and writing is pretty thematically ingrained as against the concept for most people. if anything I think more people should get random psionic powers, since psionic ability is so rampant, which would also combat the fact that I can sit in a room as a character and talk to someone in the same room without fear of generally being eavesdropped. I think it's more thematic if there are random chances - low, but not crazy low - of people having minor psionic extra abilities.

[Pale Horse]

I am trying to remember past arguments and discussions had concerning limiting the Way.

I do not remember the full details but I was inclined towards one suggestion which described limiting the Way by "region."  If you were within X-many rooms of someone, you could reliably contact someone within that distance.  If you were within a "region," such as Vrun Driath, you had a fair chance of contacting someone in the same region but the cost was higher both for contacting and sending messages.  If you were trying to send a message from one end of the Known to the other, the cost was severe and may only work to send one or two messages before you needed to rest to regain your focus.

Granted, this makes "finding" someone a bit easier.  You spent X amount of stun points contacting someone, they must, therefore, be close to me.  I spent X amount of stun points and it took X attempts to find their mind, they must be very far, etc.  This could also open up more roles.  Messanger, for example.  Someone with high wisdom and constitution could act as a focal point for Way sending.  House, Merchant, whatever, sponsored.  Send me your Ways and they will be passed along to your intended.  No questions asked, privacy "ensured."

Another idea was that the crazy environment of the Known its self could limit or enhance the Way.  The Silt Sea is nuts, maybe have it be extremely hard to get any message in and out of Red Storm due to the proximity of the silt.  Sandstorms aren't just a physical hazard, due to the fact that the Known is basically a magically made "nuclear wasteland," storms also mess with the Unseen Way, making message sending unreliable while tremendous storms blot the land.  The moons could be psionically linked.  One moon is waxing?  Things are normal.  Two moons are up?  Might be easier to send a message.  All three in the sky?  Malik can finally Way Talia in Tuluk from Allanak to arrange their secret smash-time under the noses of Lady Borsail and Lord Tennreshi, but oh, look, his message was so effective that everyone within two rooms of Talia also heard the plan.  Talia should have been wearing obsidian jewelry.  Everyone knows that obsidian helps focus the Way, after all.  Sure, its past the third day of the second month and wearing too much obsidian is just not done but sometimes we have to suffer.