Naming

[Cindrak]

How about being able to mentally "name" people so that in all future interactions with them you will see your name for them instead of their sdesc. It would be much easier to read emotes and says that have a lot of complex actions in them if you could quickly pick out a proper name or two in the middle of it all. Example for how it would work.

A smelly, greasy-bearded dwarf says, in sirihish:
 "I'm Zonk."

> name smelly zonk
Ok. You now know a smelly, greasy-bearded dwarf as Zonk.

Zonk grins up at you amiably.

------

Of course you'd have to deal with hoods somehow.

-Cindrak

[Cavus]

Em, most clients have this property, and actually I am using it. But, it can be nice though.

[Cindrak]

Yeah, I have my client set up to do it, I just figured it might be a nice in-game feature (especially since you wouldn't have to type the whole sdesc in, as you have to with a client). I did a search after posting this and discovered somebody else already posted this idea (in a thread called "naming names"). Oops, probably should've checked that first.

-Cindrak

[Bestatte]

You can use the alias command for exactly that.

The only problem is..if you run into someone ELSE who has "smelly" as a keyword (whether or not it's part of their sdesc).

You, the player, know you're not looking at Zonk. Your character also knows you're not looking at Zonk. But your alias doesn't know that.

The same problem would occur if a "naming" device existed in the game.

[da mitey warrior]

Most games use names and not Sdescs, and when you're new it's awkward and you wish it was changed to how it was in other games you've played.  But this is one of the features of the game, done intentionally to improve everyone's RP experience.  Once you get used to it you won't want to go back to names.

[WarriorPoet]

I find it hard to visualize and put a face to random names on the computer. However, it's not hard at all to put a name to that description there. It helps me visualize a -character- instead of just recognizing the name.

-WP

[Cuusardo]

It's not that difficult to crack open a text file and keep a list of sdescs and names.

[LBO]

I don't see why you should be able to automagickally remember everybody's name anyway. I never write down a thing. If I forget my character forgets and I'll roll with it, or maybe my head will if I forget something really important.

[Armaddict]

This idea has come up numerous times through the years, and I still hate it.

Mostly because of the fact you suddenly automagickally remember -everyone-'s names.  I prefer not even to use a text file, unless it's some incomprehensible name or spelling.  If it's forgotten, it's forgotten...no one has a perfect memory.

Edit:  Damn you, LBO, for beating me to it.

[Cindrak]

Using aliases, in-game or otherwise, is NOT the same. I'm suggesting that your name would be attached to the immediate character that you indicated with one of their keywords.

Here's a good illustration of a time when naming would be useful:

The scruffy, impertinent rat-man peruses his pack momentarily, then produces two golden eggs, handing one to the insane elf with hair of fire and one to a silky-skinned vision of elven beauty, and then turns his attention back to a crusty, pockmarked dwarf.

Now suppose you know the various characters involved, have seen their sdescs countless times, and don't need to be reminded over and over again that they are variously scruffy, insane, silky-skinned and pockmarked. You don't want to read for 10 seconds to get the import of one emote out of the many that are constantly popping up in a conserted roleplaying scene. If you have them named, this is what you would see:

Falthra peruses his pack momentarily, then produces three golden eggs, handing one to Keldar and one to Inge, before turning his attention back to Zonk.

Much nicer, I think. It lets me pick out the main protagonists very quickly and therefore parse the whole thing in a timely manner. For those who say it will cause you to lose a sense of what people actually look like, the advantage of doing it in code instead of forcing people to use the options available to them with a client is that you can have the descriptions show up in certain situations but not in others. For instance, looking at a room would be a good time to show the name you've assigned AND their description, e.g.:

Falthra, the scruffy, impertinent rat-man, is standing here.
Keldar, the insane elf with hair of fire, is sitting here.
...

To the old schoolers who prefer their notepad-full-o'-names, nobody would force you to use the naming system. All I'm talking about is adding options.

And as for the automatically remembering everyone forever, another advantage of doing it through the game code is that the game can put limitations on it. For instance, you could only have names for so many people, and then you would start to forget people you hadn't been around recently.

-Cindrak

[Armaddict]

That reminds me of so many pseudo-rp hack'n slash muds it's disturbing.

I still adamantly disagree with the idea on the same basis.

[Cindrak]

What is hack-n-slash, per se, about the idea itself? Or is the mere fact of its being similar to something you've seen on hack-n-slash muds before an indelible black mark against it? I suppose we should get rid of exit indications in rooms too; they remind me of soooo many cookie-cutter DisneyMuds it's just sickening.  

-Cindrak

[Armaddict]

Difference:

Room exit displays show your options in where you go.

Naming gives your character infallible memory as to who is who.  Ever play the mud Forest's edge?  You saw an sdesc until you 'introduced' yourself to them, when the display you just proposed became used.  It was supposed to be an rp mud...but after that, no one even pays attention to what they look like anymore.  Never know their keywords besides their name.  Forget what their best friend -looks- like.

The sdesc has worked for years and years and years, I don't see why a naming system needs to be added now.

[Cindrak]

Go back and read what I said about the infallible memory thing.
A) the desc would still show up in places where it wasn't necessary to abbreviate.
B) you would forget names periodically, due to passage of time, meeting too many new people, whatever.

-Cindrak

[Armaddict]

Yeeeeaaah.  I still see no reason why the system needs to be changed, thusfar.

I'm against it, and probably won't post on this thread again because it seems repetitive.

I will say I prefer it the way it is, and if you don't...you should -probably- do as other people said they did and fix it up in your client.  My reasoning being that this -has- been brought up many times before, and never implemented.  So I doubt it will be changed now.  Not saying it -won't-, but it seems unlikely to me.

[Cindrak]

If it seems repetitive, that might be because you keep re-raising objections that I've already addressed. Something tells me you're not reading very carefully. Case in point: I mentioned that I already have this set up with my client. It's just not very ideal, because it eliminates the sdescs completely from the game, and creates exactly the kind of "infallible memory" that you're against. Hey, I'm against that too!

I respect that you, as a long-time player, are used to it being a certain way and just don't like the idea of many changes. Once again, I remind you that I'm just talking about *options*. If you're really concerned about combatting infallible memories, don't force players to create their own system, because it *will* be infallible. Keep it in the game code, so the game can put limitations on it.

-Cindrak

[Armaddict]

*grumbles and posts again*

Agreed, I'm not reading very carefully.  Like I said.  This has been proposed a lot, and I've read these things before.  You say it's repetitive because I'm raising objections that you've already addressed.

Yeeeeaaah. I still see no reason why the system needs to be changed, thusfar.

That still needs to be addressed, to something beyond the point of 'I don't like sdescs in emotes.'

[Angela Christine]

I can see the benefit of the server doing it rather than the client program doing it, because your cliant can not tell the difference between the tall, muscular man at the bar and the tall, muscular man at the round table.  It is rare, but occasionally there will be two characters with identical sdescs around at the same time, sometimes even in the same room together, and they aren't actually twins they just have the same sdesc.  The server would know that the dark-haired man #1 is Scott, and the dark-haired man #2 is Steve.  That would be handy, because it is annoying to confuse Scott and Steve all the time if they are not really supposed to be identical twins.  

On the other hand, remembering names too well and forgetting appearance can be a problem.  Especially the part about forgetting what people look like, which is already sort of a problem.  Sometimes I am trying to describe someone without using their keywords, and I realize that I don't really know much about what they look like.  I might know that he is "the sepia-skinned man" and since I've seen him wearing his hood often I know that he is taller than me.  So then my character is scratching her head, peering up at the ceiling for inspiration muttering, "Well, he's got brown skin, and he's tall.  Uh, his favorite cloak is one of those desert camoflauged jobbies.  And he has a pair of those anakore clawed gloves, but he doesn't usually wear them in town anymore, not after the time he nearly cut off that waitress's finger when he took his mug of ale from her.  I think maybe that he might be missing one of the fingers on his left hand . . . no, wait, that's Amos.  Hmm.  Uh, well anyway, I'd know him if I saw him, we've been friends for years."   :roll:  

This is why I like people that routinely emote picking at their acne scars and stroking their grungy van dike beards, it reminds me what they look like (note: this only applys to features not mentioned in the sdesc.  If your sdesc says you are "the acne-scarred, bearded man" then it isn't necessary to keep reminding me about that in your emotes, instead point out your six toes, the fact that your beard is red, or that the persistant bitter smell of spice and stale whiskey constantly wafts from your skin and cloathing).  I usually don't pay much attention to the main description the first time I see it, because there is a bunch of other stuff going on.  And reading it later would require me to look at them again, perhaps earning their eternal emnity if they are among those that despise the look "spam" with a deep and abiding hatred.


Angela Christine

[Elgiva]

I like sdescs.
I like forgetting names of people.
I like making mistakes IG, it means my char is "just a human (elf, dwarf, mantis...)".
I do not want any naming thingie.
No matter if the idea is good or bad, IMO it is simply not needed/wanted.
I think trying to add it would eat time which otherwise IMMs use for animating NPC/plotting/eating my brainz.

[deinol]

While it makes things longer, you can set your substitions client side to show both:

Code Select Expand

#sub {%0the mean looking templar%1} {%0the mean looking templar (Lord Blackadder)%1}

Or some such thing. As I learn about people, I add all sorts of things, like which house they work for, and what their rank is, depending on what sort of information I think my character would remember about them. I remember putting simply: (mean) into a particular nobles sub, just to remind myself to be careful around them.

Or you can do it the old fashioned way, and keep notes. Just try to remember you need to forget all of that info when your character dies.

[Anonymous]

Yeeeeaaah. I still see no reason why the system needs to be changed, thusfar.

Well, now we've come down to it, haven't we. You can lead a man to the light, but you can't force him to open his eyes.

-Cindrak

[Armaddict]

Oh my god!  My eyes have been opened, and I see the light!  The game has been -wrong- this entire time!

Let me bow down before the mighty player who has brought me away from the dark side where sdescs are shown in each emote!  Let me worship humbly as I now see the names of everyone I know and interact with, lessening the real life, excruciating hassle of remembering names and reading sdescs!  Allow me to start a cult based around this 'light' I've come upon from the ramblings of a new player!

Yes.  I'm rude.  Don't try to belittle me when I'm being patient with you.

[Cuusardo]

I personally like sdescs.  And everything else Elgiva said.

[Cindrak]

<snip laborious sarcasm>

Yes.  I'm rude.  Don't try to belittle me when I'm being patient with you.

Your patience, like your condescension, is not required. Have a nice day.

-Cindrak

[Armaddict]

Your patience, like your condescension, is not required. Have a nice day.

Much like this idea.