Change ldesc: It's there for a reason

[ShaLeah]

It's one of the easiest ways to decipher my characters and one of my favorite features of the game.  You can set an entire mood with just that one line and it's probably the most underused command that helps add feel to the world.

People spend hours emoting up a storm, every talk at their table shows the callouses of their fingers and dust on their clothes, but when you type look instead of seeing that they're sitting there in all their boring glory.

I'd like to see people use this command more. I'd like to enter a room and know -something- is going on when I see:

The lofty templar with crazed eyes is here, grinning widely, dagger aloft.
The half-giant soldier holds the scrawny, tattooed elf roughly by the neck.
The scrawny, tattooed elf is here, held by the half-giant soldier.
The petite, scarred woman hunches under a table, shivering.
The tall figure in a dark hooded cloak stands in the shadows, hand on his blade.
The curvy, sultry dwarf looks horrified as she sits at the bar.

versus

The lofty templar with crazed eyes is standing here.
The scrawny, tattooed elf is here, held by the half-giant soldier.
The petite, scarred woman is sitting at a large square table.
The tall figure in a dark hooded cloak is standing here.
The curvy, sultry dwarf is sitting at a large, wooden bar.


Some people don't know about this command (which is partially the reason I'm bringing it up) but many older players do know about it and it's still not used very often.  Is there a reason you don't use it?



ShaLeah
-who is an ldesc junkie...

[Larrath]

Unless it is an important or very obvious detail, I will usually not do a change ldesc.

That is, "The tall, tallish tall-man is sitting alone at a table" is not something I believe requires customization.

Heh, the string limit on the ldescs always annoys me.  


I do use it about four or so times a day, on average...maybe.

[EvilRoeSlade]

The main reason I don't use it often currently is because when you craft or forage, then it disappears.  And I'm spending a lot of time crafting and foraging.

But I do use it when I'm doing something other than crafting or foraging.

[ShaLeah]

The main reason I don't use it often currently is because when you craft or forage, then it disappears.  And I'm spending a lot of time crafting and foraging.

But I do use it when I'm doing something other than crafting or foraging.

I have a zmud alias for it, usually pre done ldescs that show what I'm doing so that if I:
craft flour into few travel cakes;cake it sends to the mud
craft flour into few travel cakes;change ldesc is covered in flour, mixing up some cakes
That's mainly because I hate to l e and see : So and so is here, crafting.
But like I said, I'm a junkie.  :twisted:

[X-D]

All the time, change ldesc is your friend.

Though, I do wish it was a bit more static, Like ERS my chars tend to forage or craft a reasonable amount of time, and it gets annoying having to type craft item;change ldesc sits here working carefully on an item.

[sacac]

I use mine all the time.
Unless I'm actually just sitting at a table doing nothing in particular, (Alright) I'll echo that to all of you so you know I'm bored.

[UnderSeven]

I use it to trick people.  First I remove all my packs, because npcs never have them and then I pick a nice ldesc like, 'stands here peddling wares'  or something.  

Tee-hee.

J/k.

[Ghost]

All the time, change ldesc is your friend.

Though, I do wish it was a bit more static, Like ERS my chars tend to forage or craft a reasonable amount of time, and it gets annoying having to type craft item;change ldesc sits here working carefully on an item.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Though, I do wish it was a bit more static, Like ERS my chars tend to forage or craft a reasonable amount of time, and it gets annoying having to type craft item;change ldesc sits here working carefully on an item.

Client-side macros and aliases are our friends.

[Stroker]

The lofty templar with crazed eyes is here, grinning widely, dagger aloft.

The lofty templar with crazed eyes frowns at you.

I've seen this happen many times. Where the sdesc says one thing and they emote something completely different. I use it when there's a necessity for it. When there are no tables to sit at, no benches, etc. Also, I use it when I rest, so it doesn't just offer the average: soandso is reclinging here, etc. I rarely, actually never, portray actions or mood through the sdesc due to the above dilemma.

[tortall]

I love change ldesc. It drives me up a wall that I can't say what I want to in the small ammount of space I had. That's an old and dead topic though. I usually end up doing emote sits here, lots HG child running round her.

What? It works! It gets the point across....


-Tortall, who wishes there was a teen show this summer.

[ShaLeah]

I usually end up doing emote sits here, lots HG child running round her.

What? It works! It gets the point across....

Look closely at this example kiddies, this is a great example... of what NOT to do. I'm pretty sure she meant ldesc sits here, lots HG child running round her, I hope she did anyway.

I love ya Torty but that is horrendous  =P
It's all about figuring out how to word it so that it fits with a long sdesc:
hugesdesc watches half-giant kids running
hugesdesc is watching her brood here
hugesdesc plays with her children here
hugesdesc holds a half-giant kid close
hugesdesc has her lap full of kids here

The possibilities are endless. Don't let a long sdesc hinder your ldesc!

This public service provided by, ShaLeah the ldesc nazi

[sacac]

or
change ldesc is playing with the bastard.
change ldesc is kicking a kid here.
change ldesc is chasing a running kid.
change ldesc is playing with her kid.
change ldesc plays with a bastard kid here.
change ldesc is playing with a real slobber.

[jmordetsky]

I like using ldesc but it's clumsy. You move or stand and it's gone, then you have to change it again.

Not only that, but it's short...If feel like most my time coming up with an ldesc is spent trying to concatenate whatever I want to say down to N chars.

[spawnloser]

jmortdesky, I think you have it backwards...if you change position, your character should NOT have the same ldesc.  If sitting, then standing, the ldesc should represent this.  Sometimes, I want to reset my ldesc and have to resort to something clumsy to do so.

[Delirium]

If you're standing, and have an ldesc set, you can simply type 'st' (stand) and it'll reset it to its coded default.

When you're sitting and resting though, you'd have to just change it manually or have it set by crafting, etc. That's okay by me, though, because I almost always have one set when I'm sitting or resting. Heh.

[spawnloser]

Well...yeah...when standing you can do that...but do you know how long it took me to figure that out?  Gah!

While sitting or resting or sleeping or unconscious...no dice.  Some characters have a hard time justifying doing anything that would reset it too.

[jmordetsky]

jmortdesky, I think you have it backwards...if you change position, your character should NOT have the same ldesc.  If sitting, then standing, the ldesc should represent this.  Sometimes, I want to reset my ldesc and have to resort to something clumsy to do so.

You ldesc doesn't need to reflect your position...It could be ldesc is here, looking irritable.

Though...if you were sitting your ldesc should reflect this. My only real gripe is that it's so short you might as well jsut use the defaults as you can't express that much with it.

[spawnloser]

> change ldesc is lounging on the sofa.

...is so much better than...

so-an-so is here, sitting on the sofa.

...if you ask me.  That ldesc change is short enough to be used by anyone and is descriptive of how they are on the sofa.  Be creative...expand your mind.

[Delirium]

The length can be annoying, but it's probably there because it's nice to keep your character's 'line' to one line instead of two or three.

When you walk into a crowded tavern, it's bad enough already. Imagine if everybody took up two or three lines on the screen each..

[Bestatte]

I set ldescs sometimes and I've never had a problem with it. When I'm with someone who has a big sdesc and want to reflect that I'm having a converstation, I don't try including their full sdesc.

The long, lanky tattooed elf converses with a human at a table.
The bug-eyed mutant woman plays cards in the corner with a noble.
The normal-looking human dood chats with a half-breed.

If you remove the "is here" part, you shouldn't have much of a problem fitting what you want into an ldesc. "is here" is unnecessary. Of you're you are HERE. Where else would you be? If you're "there," no one will see you "here." If you're not "here" you're somewhere else, and would not need to set an ldesc of this place. As long as you use a verb - such as "chats" or "converses" or "plays cards" or "lurks" - you don't need to add any conjugation of the verb "to be." I try to avoid passive voice (using the verb "to be") as a matter of habit. It doesn't bug me when other people use it, but I do notice that when people do, they tend to complain more about lack of space to type stuff out.

The character sits at a table, doing nothing.
vs.

The character is sitting here at a table, doing nothing.

The first gives you more room to add other things:

The character sits idly at the table, staring off into space.

The character hunches over the table, drool dripping down his chin.

The character sits erect in his seat at the table, eyes closed.

If you add "is here" then it's 9 characters (including the space before and after) less that you have to work with.

[jmordetsky]

> change ldesc is lounging on the sofa.

...is so much better than...

so-an-so is here, sitting on the sofa.

...if you ask me.  That ldesc change is short enough to be used by anyone and is descriptive of how they are on the sofa.  Be creative...expand your mind.

Obviously.  But regardless, you're still limited by the # of chars you can use, is here or no is here. Granted you don't want to take 3-4 lines, a little more then whats current avail would be nice.

As for expanding my mind...get over yourself pal.

EDIT: Forgot quote

[spawnloser]

Dude, really, calm down.  I didn't mean any insult, but to be in some small way funny.

[Quirk]

One issue I find with the limited length is that by the time you've described the table you're sitting at adequately enough to save other people the bother of doing a "look tables", you don't have a lot of room to describe how you're sitting. As a result, I fairly rarely use change ldesc when tavern-sitting. If I'm lurking by the door or whatever, I'll change my ldesc; if I'm sitting without a coded seat, I'll change my ldesc; if I'm resting or sleeping, I'll change my ldesc; if I'm standing around doing things that won't change my ldesc I'll set it to something pretty - but I'll freely admit it's one of the first things to go if I'm interacting with a fast typer and am having trouble keeping up emote and speech-wise.

Quirk

[ShaLeah]

One issue I find with the limited length is that by the time you've described the table you're sitting at adequately enough to save other people the bother of doing a "look tables", you don't have a lot of room to describe how you're sitting. As a result, I fairly rarely use change ldesc when tavern-sitting. If I'm lurking by the door or whatever, I'll change my ldesc; if I'm sitting without a coded seat, I'll change my ldesc; if I'm resting or sleeping, I'll change my ldesc; if I'm standing around doing things that won't change my ldesc I'll set it to something pretty - but I'll freely admit it's one of the first things to go if I'm interacting with a fast typer and am having trouble keeping up emote and speech-wise.

Quirk

Et tu, Quirk?
Make small sdescs, you can fit a shitload then.  :twisted:
That said, I'd love it if there was an additional say, 20 characters added to play with.