Clothes hiding features

[audrey]

I've seen it done in some MOOs and MUSHes where some parts of the description are hidden if you have clothes covering them. I really, really like the feature and I think they'd apply even more to Arm than any other MUD. So, for example, if you have long hair, then it won't be visible in your mdesc if you were wearing a hood. Same for any detailed scars on the arms, etc.

The current system does cover things like tattoos and scars, but I feel that sometimes it'd be nice if the character's hairy arms weren't visible if he was heavily armored, in chitin sleeves and the like.

[musashi]

It sounds like a cool idea but ... probably very very hard to code to make it match up with the mdesc.

[Qzzrbl]

You'd probably have to write yourself a description for every stage of coverage, unless you were really awesome at writing descriptions and could handle chunks of text missing without disrupting the flow.

If not, it would make character apps take a little longer.

[AmandaGreathouse]

I like it but I dislike it. It's got potential written all over it, but it's also gonna do all kinds of crap to descriptions unless they are written just right. I'd like to have the realism, but I don't want the potential for crapping descriptions up by taking chunks out of them. Unless, of course, this extended to most every body part. That would be especially neat for PC prostitutes, aides, and so forth. 

As it is though, if I look at a figure that's hooded or wearing a face-wrap, I scan past the facial description most of the time anyhow.

[Zira]

as far as I've seen, the implementation of such is done by describing body parts, as opposed to the person as a whole. While this can be easy to implement and work with, it takes a great deal of coding (Yes. I have seen the code for the example I'm thinking of before), and would require some patience on the player's part.

While there may be other ways to do it, this is the only way I know of to accomplish it successfully.


P.S. No. I'm not at liberty to provide the code I saw.

[Only He Stands There]

Also, players already shy away from RP-intensive games when they find they have to write descriptions and backgrounds. Can you imagine the players who are on the fence being confronted with a set of fifteen descriptions, each about an individual part of their body?

I personally would've probably never started RPIs, if that much effort went in to just seeing what the fuss was about.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

The Original Description:
Padded by thick layers of muscular meat, this hulking mass of a man is
engulfed by skin blackened by the sun's taint.  The scorched skin sweeps
across the heavy musculature, ravaged by countless scars and burn marks.
Short cropped, black hair rages atop his large head, doing nothing to
obscure small ears.  A pair of deep brown eyes rest calmly in cruel features
that are prone to a constant scowl.

Wearing a helmet that is tagged to conceal hair.
Padded by thick layers of muscular meat, this hulking mass of a man is
engulfed by skin blackened by the sun's taint.  The scorched skin sweeps
across the heavy musculature, ravaged by countless scars and burn marks.
... rages atop his large head, doing nothing to obscure small ears.  A pair of
deep brown eyes rest calmly in cruel features that are prone to a constant
scowl, and his lips are scarred and chapped.

Wearing a helmet tagged to conceal hair, and a veil tagged to conceal nose and mouth.
Padded by thick layers of muscular meat, this hulking mass of a man is
engulfed by skin blackened by the sun's taint.  The scorched skin sweeps
across the heavy musculature, ravaged by countless scars and burn marks.
... rages atop his large head, doing nothing to obscure small ears.  A pair of
deep brown eyes rest calmly in cruel features that are prone to a constant
scowl...

Wearing a helmet tagged to conceal hair, a veil tagged to conceal nose and mouth, and a pair of sunslits tagged to conceal the eyes.
Padded by thick layers of muscular meat, this hulking mass of a man is
engulfed by skin blackened by the sun's taint.  The scorched skin sweeps
across the heavy musculature, ravaged by countless scars and burn marks.
... rages atop his large head, doing nothing to obscure small ears.  ... rest
calmly in cruel features that are prone to a constant scowl...

Wearing a helmet tagged to conceal hair, a veil tagged to conceal nose and mouth, and a pair of sunslits tagged to cover the eyes, and a hooded cloak tagged to conceal mass and flesh.
Padded by thick layers of ... this ... of a man is... by the sun's taint.  The
...sweeps across the ... ravaged by ... and ... rages atop his large head, doing
nothing to obscure small ears ... rest calmly in cruel features that are prone to
a constant scowl...

I think this is the easiest way to do it without complicating things. The '...' used in writing basically means that there is a pause, or, in certain situations, things are missing. It is appropriate to this situation, and it is done by putting common ways of describing features in lists, and then running that list against the look command. If that phrase appears in the person's description who you are looking at, it is replaced by ' ... ', and yes, note the space on either side of that.

[audrey]

I suppose a good way would be to make it up to the player. Maybe keep the current mdesc feature for most applicants, but give them a separate option to write a more specific one. That's what the game I played did... most people wrote a sloppy description, while the people who played for the sake of RPing didn't mind writing a description for most of the body parts.

That way, it's good for people who want a more detail mdesc for themselves, or even those who want to cover up body parts, like raiders, pickpockets, and PC prostitutes Those who don't want to write a detailed description probably won't even need one.

[Bushranger]

The problem I see isn't that you have to write a detailed mdesc as opposed to a sloppy one. The problem is that mdescs become restricted by such code with the following example.

(This sentence is about the persons hair so it can be removed when a helmet/hat is worn). (This sentence is about the persons eyes so it can be removed when sunslits are worn). (This sentence is about the persons nose and mouth so it can be removed when a veil is worn, and so it can be removed with the previous sentence when a mask is worn). (This sentence is about the persons neck). (This sentence is about the persons body so it can be removed when a shirt/jacket is worn). (This sentence is about the persons arms so it can be removed when sleeves are worn). (This sentence is about a persons waist/crotch so it can be removed with a loincloth/pants). (This sentence is about a persons legs so it can be removed with worn pants). (This sentence is about a persons feet so it can be removed when shoes are worn).

This really removes a lot of the creativity that goes into writing a description, no more two or three sentences devoted to someones decoratively braided hair or anything else. Everything is in exactly the same order so the code can work. Even if only some parts are coded to be removed with certain clothing, it still needs to be in the same place for each person. I really, really hate computer formated things. I love creative freedom to make my mdescs look (both gramatically and formated) the way I want them to.

Bushranger

[KIA]

I've seen resistance on and off to this type of idea for a long time. An exception are some special masks, for specific characters or events, that I've seen time to time, though not lately.

I typically play characters who would benefit from this kind of coded concealment of identity. I feel that I get a great deal from my barrier skill, I also feel that the recent cloak change with psionics is good.

However, something rubs me the wrong way about having concealment of identity esp. descriptions as a step in the wrong direction, however realistic. I believe it would result in a lot more criminals and raiders, sure, however, I feel that it might take away from the sometimes exceptional cleverness, innovation and initiative the real bad guys use to keep themselves secret, especially during raids, assassinations, thefts... it is my belief that rogues and criminals need to be resourceful, clever and experienced. Their plots and schemes should require a great deal of thought, co-operation and patience to hatch successfully.

What the suggested change would reward recklessness that currently leads some people, who imagine themselves as great criminal minds,  (appropriately) to their deaths.

The only justification I can see for this type of thing being put into the game would be if there were too much OOC knowledge being used to unfairly take out criminals and spoil their plots. I don't think that that is the case, but then I am a player who barely talks to anyone, PC or immortal, so I wouldn't know. That would be a judgment call I'm not able to make. If there WAS this problem, then masks might be appropriate.

Also if there was an intention to up the level of anarchy and harshness in the game world, this might directly help move things in that direction. It would be new territory, and we'd have to try it and see where it goes! I've said before I am in favor of this type of move toward lawlessness and carnage... but I'd hate for it to change in character behavior in a way that made things more hack and slash.

Sorry if that's a disjointed sketchy argument, but those are some of my thoughts on it.

[fourTwenty]

Along these same lines why do only certain masks conceal a ldesc. Maybe there's a good reason that I'm not aware of but it seems kind of bullshity. I think either all masks should conceal your ldesc or no mask should. Though again, there may be a very good reason behind this that I'm not aware of.

[a strange shadow]

Full masks & veils when worn with hooded objects should return the same information you get from assess when you 'look' at them. Otherwise they should not conceal the mdesc. It would be considered highly suspect to wear a mask/hood combo in the cities and invites attention from soldiers and the templarate, so would be wise to remain well-hidden unless you want to botch your job.

>look figure
This figure appears to be male. They are slightly taller and weigh about the same as you.
The figure in a black hooded cloak is in excellent condition.

Naturally you would see the rest of their equipment, as well, and any tattoos, scars, etc they've left uncovered.

[Tisiphone]

Also also? Partial mdesc obfuscation results in no anonymity whatsoever, if your victim is obsessed enough.

[Heade]

I'm all for more concealing options. I think that having the option to conceal your description completely would allow for more criminal flexibility. Previous murderers might downgrade to muggers, since they wouldn't have to worry so much about people being able to unrealistically track them down in the city based on their description.

From my understanding of the size of the city-states, there is WAY more tracking of criminals than what would actually be possible in this sort of scenario. That being said, maybe we could add more concealing options, along with a possibility of removing their mask, hood, etc if you were in combat with them. It shouldn't be hard to implement. It would be very similar to the current disarm rules now, and add a lot of depth to the game.

For instance:

think This guy is trying to shake me down for my stuff, if I fight him for it, I might win, and might be able to find out who he is if I can get that mask off him. On the other hand, if I succeed in removing his mask, this mugging might take a turn towards murder, since no criminals want to be caught. Maybe I should just give him the few sid I got...

Sounds like tons of fun to me. 

[Heade]

I've started a new thread that includes a poll, which addesses this topic along with a couple other stealth issues. It can be found here:

http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,33192.0.html