The way:Please leave your message after the beep...

[ashjpd]

It is very frustrating trying to contact someone who isn't online with the way, but you really would if they were online. I think that if there was an answering machine type thing that would let you leave a sentence for the person to read when they logged on.  Something of that sort. One thing bad about it, that I can think of right now is overload, but maybe there can be a limit of one message per person? And maybe like 10 or something in all? And we will know if they are dead if they never contact us, or never see them, or maybe they are just ignoring us and evaded us.
Just a thought.

[ashjpd]

If you vote no please state why or if you have any other opinions, thanks.

[Chronicle]

I would simply like to see something to let me know if the character is online so I can stop wasting my time and energy contacting the same person over-and-over for hours on end hoping to get ahold of them. You could easily roleplay it the same, contact them a couple times and be like the usual, "He/she must be sleeping." or whatever excuse you choose to use.

[jmordetsky]

I still think a scribe house that could keep messages would be tops...this way you could actually leave messages realistically, for a price.

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7454&highlight=scribe

[Forest Junkie]

I would simply like to see something to let me know if the character is online so I can stop wasting my time and energy contacting the same person over-and-over for hours on end hoping to get ahold of them. You could easily roleplay it the same, contact them a couple times and be like the usual, "He/she must be sleeping." or whatever excuse you choose to use.

Perhaps you may remember why the code to contact persons was changed.

[EvilRoeSlade]

I don't like the way already and don't want to give it anymore influence.

[sacac]

I don't like this idea. Why? Because i don't and I hate the scribe idea too.
no way in hell will the templar allow commoners to learn to read and right to make it easier on the commoners.
Just my idea.. And the whole leave a message, Technically -they- are there, But your mind can't find theirs. So why leave a message for them?
*shrug*

[Miee]

Basically, ditto on what Sacac said.  The code was changed for a reason, that being that the Way was a cheap easy way to see if someone was online or alive.

Granted, it does suck that IG, the person is there in the world, kanking a gith or something.   But leaving a Way message is almost like having a mudmail system.

If I'm SuperSlutAide Bobina, there's gonna be a lot of people trying to get my head on the Way.  (not to mention in a basket, but nevertheless...) I'd hate to log in to her having a stroke from all the messages.  It just doesn't make sense, and the RP would be insanely confusing.

If person in clan A needs to -really- know something, find an NPC servant or a VNPC servant, give them the message, and then let the clan imm know.

Course, that's just Miee.

[Vettrock]

I agree the code was changed for a reason, but I too think the scribe idea is a good one.  There could be a scribe station run by Nenyuk (or another merchant house who has slaves who can read and write) and you can leave messages for someone, and they can pick them up later, and have them read to them outloud.

[Delirium]

I agree the code was changed for a reason, but I too think the scribe idea is a good one.  There could be a scribe station run by Nenyuk (or another merchant house who has slaves who can read and write) and you can leave messages for someone, and they can pick them up later, and have them read to them outloud.

That's a darned good idea.

Would have to cost a pretty 'sid, of course.

[Callisto]

I don't like the way already and don't want to give it anymore influence.

[Cenghiz]

My Turkish friend, Eska is going to find an IC solution for this with his next character I guess. Or I will, he told me the idea and I will steal it. There are such problems in game which can be solved IC.
More trouble is something else. If someone's named or nicked Thorn, Spider or Raptor, I may still know if they're online or not, by only contacting to them. It's too idiot OOC to try to contact such a name three times, seeing the message "Their mind's too foreign for you.". Maybe that message should be changed to the usual "cannot contact" message.
My two steel katanas, since they're more expensive than 'sids.

[spawnloser]

Problem with a 'messenger service' is that it would be hard to target someone.  An extreme example, you send a message to Amos...now, any Amos on the mud goes to pick up messages and gets a bunch of messages for Amos, but you would have specified which one...but coding that would require going even further and you would have to know the other person's account name to guarantee succesful delivery to the right person.

As far as the 'offline way messages' idea goes, I kinda like it, but I would prefer to just leave it the way it is.  The person is very busy, so their mind is a clutter and you can't get through...or they're sleeping...or they're busy getting hot kank love.  Who knows?  Maybe the fickle Way just doesn't like you today.  Learn to find an excuse and go with it.

[moab]

I vote no.  Why - maybe my mind in blocked and I don't want you to ever contact me.  Ever.

However a merchant-house like clan of characters based in each city could easily way each other and pass along messages for people for a fee.

This idea would actually work pretty well for a group of players coordinated enough to stay alive and base themselves one in each city and then coordinate playing times.

If anyone's interested in working on a group to do this - PM me and we'll put it together.

[Tamarin]

I honestly wish the way didn't exist.  Except for say, mantis and mindbenders.  That way people could make careers carrying messages between the various population centres.

[Akaramu]

I'm glad the way exists, I would find it harder to enjoy some IC situations without it. For example that Nenyuki agent I NEVER see around but I know her name... or my boss who I never see around either but who I really need to talk to. Without the way, I'd be a lot more frustrated.

The scribe idea sounds good... leaving messages for a fee if the person cares to check, fun  

[Bestatte]

Carrying messages - with the built-in lag and 10-minute hours..

tell slave (staring at the evil dood) Tell the templar I need help quick! Evildood is gonna kill me now!

The slave nods and walks east.

3 game-days later:

Templar enters from the west.

Templar gazes down at the rotting corpse of you.

Templar shrugs and walks east.

Not to mention the fact that if people want to interact with -other- clans - most of the time they won't have much chance if it's all about delivering messages. Because you can't enter a clan building unless you're in the clan or escorted by someone who's in it.

So you have to wait til they come out to the tavern. And if they're out in the tavern, you really don't need to send someone to deliver a message, since you're already there and can tell them up front.

If they're not logged in when you need them, sending them a message isn't gonna help them -when you need them.- Because, y'know, they're not logged in.

If it can wait long enough for a message to be hand-delivered to someone when they log in, it can wait for someone to reach them with the Way.

Then there's the fun scheming stuff that goes on:

Guy is sitting at table 1
Gal is sitting at table 2 talking with templar.

Gal ways Guy, psis, "Okay - as soon as I scratch my nose."
Guy ways Gal, psis, "Wait, gimme a chance to palm the poison from my pocket into my hand."
Gal continues conversation with Templar. Gal scratches her nose.
Guy stands, yawns, moseys around the tavern...
Gal psis, Wait - I was just scratching my nose. It itched.
Guy walks over near the entry and looks over the crowd.
Gal scratches her nose again.
Guy psis, "That it?"
Gal psis, "Yeah"
Guy ambles toward the cluster of tables and slips the poison into Templar's ale while Gal distracts Templar by pretending to swat a kank-fly of the Templar's arm.

How exactly do you plan on having that scene, or anything even remotely resembling it, with a messenger service if the Way is disabled?

[Tamarin]

How exactly do you plan on having that scene, or anything even remotely resembling it, with a messenger service if the Way is disabled?

Um...by being creative??  Meeting ahead of time, more than likely, to plan stuff out...relying on each other's intuition...

As for assasinations, i would LOVE to see a situation where you can kill someone quickly without them being able to way to their buddy to tell them what the hell is happening.  IRL, when you start hitting someone, do they have time to call someone and dial a number?  No...i mean, I guess I really don't have beef cuz in the time that it takes someone to contact a friend and send them a message, you could have already beaten them senseless.  No nevermind me...

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I voted no. Why?

How do you know they would get all of your Way messages anyway? The ones you try to send when they are not around can just be the ones that slipped past the bounderies of their minds. Also, I highly doubt that many folks are that good with the way ICly. So, fuck it. You are just going through a normal stage when you can't reach their minds.

[Pantoufle]

Saying you don't like the Way is like saying you don't like sand and yet you're still an avid Arm player.  It's been around since the dawn of time and it ain't going anywhere.

I don't think you realize just how boring the game would be if you had absolutely no means whatsoever to reach people online (unless they're in the same room as you -- in a game that has over 30,000 rooms or so, fat chance.)

[spawnloser]

I don't think you realize just how boring the game would be if you had absolutely no means whatsoever to reach people online (unless they're in the same room as you -- in a game that has over 30,000 rooms or so, fat chance.)

Uh, yeah.  I'm down with this assessment.  For those that don't like the Way, go find a MUD that doesn't support any way to contact someone from afar and play there.  Unless it's one of those cuddly cushy muds where everyone hangs out in one place, you'll not see much of anyone.

For those that don't like the Way, go find a MUD that doesn't support any way to contact someone from afar and play there.

Despite this comment, :roll:, with which I disagree, agreed.

With no 'way', there would be ppl just running about trying to find ppl. And since NPC's can't be animated all the time to help you even if they WOULD know, It'd be frustrated. Its all about playability.

As some folks already said the problem with the answering machine is that one or more players could have the same keyword you are trying to contact. Thus, it would never work.

The scribe service, although interesting, would suffer the same naming problem.

[SpyGuy]

The way is in the docs, it has a rich history and is used to justify some of the foreign elements of the world.  That and it makes things OOCly bearable.  Enough said.  Actually I would like to see more of a darksun atmosphere where there were subguilds or whatever to give added psi powers, but thats just me.

[eska]

Bestatte wrote:

How exactly do you plan on having that scene, or anything even remotely resembling it, with a messenger service if the Way is disabled?

With MSN or Yahoo-messenger or whatever they both prefer to use. :twisted:

[Ueda]

Why I said no...

Messages recieved 80

read 1. (1 minute passes RL)
read 2. (1 minute passes RL)

& I like it the way it is right now + people could abuse when your on or not; what if you would've wanted Barrier on, any of those sort of things.

[ashjpd]

Well the votes say it, I think that scribe Idea looks pretty cool, be sure to check out that other post that led from this one.