November 1997
- DESIGN: ECONOMICS: Money Supply coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Marian Griffith
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Adam Wiggins
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Marian Griffith
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Derrick Jones
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Marian Griffith
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Derrick Jones
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Richard Woolcock
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Adam Wiggins
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Richard Woolcock
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Adam Wiggins
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Derrick Jones
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Jon Leonard
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Adam Wiggins
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Matt Chatterley
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Matt Chatterley
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Matt Chatterley
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Vadim Tkachenko
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Derrick Jones
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Matt Chatterley
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Derrick Jones
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Adam Wiggins
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Jon A. Lambert
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Chris Gray
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Matt Chatterley
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Richard Woolcock
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Richard Woolcock
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Derrick Jones
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Jon A. Lambert
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Adam Wiggins
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Marian Griffith
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Richard Woolcock
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. coder@ibm.net
- Less numbers, more roleplaying. Marian Griffith
- SUMMARY: Skills and Skills improvement coder@ibm.net
- newbie Marc Eyrignoux
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface)y Adam Wiggins
- Sorry... Bjarni Norddahl
- OT: threading list messages Alex Oren
- OT: threading list messages coder@ibm.net
- OT: threading list messages Alex Oren
- OT: threading list messages s001gmu@nova.wright.edu
- OT: threading list messages Chris Gray
- AI Path Finding Todd Lair
- A flamewar startingpoint. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A flamewar startingpoint. Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. Chris Gray
- A flamewar startingpoint. Brandon Cline
- A flamewar startingpoint. Chris Gray
- A flamewar startingpoint. Brandon Cline
- A flamewar startingpoint. Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint. Brandon J. Rickman
- A flamewar startingpoint. s001gmu@nova.wright.edu
- A flamewar startingpoint. Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint. Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. Miroslav Silovic
- A flamewar startingpoint. Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint. Chris Gray
- A flamewar startingpoint. Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint. Miroslav Silovic
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. Marian Griffith
- A flamewar startingpoint. Matt Chatterley
- A flamewar startingpoint. Jon A. Lambert
- A flamewar startingpoint. Chris Gray
- A flamewar startingpoint. Matt Chatterley
- A flamewar startingpoint. JC Lawrence
- A flamewar startingpoint. Marian Griffith
- A flamewar startingpoint. Jon A. Lambert
- A flamewar startingpoint. JC Lawrence
- A flamewar startingpoint. Marian Griffith
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A flamewar startingpoint. Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint. Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint. Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint. Sauron
- A flamewar startingpoint. Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint. Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. Matt Chatterley
- A flamewar startingpoint. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A flamewar startingpoint. Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint. Nathan Yospe
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Chris Gray
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Miroslav Silovic
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Jon A. Lambert
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Marian Griffith
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A flamewar startingpoint.) coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Chris Gray
- A flamewar startingpoint.) coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Stephen Zepp
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Stephen Zepp
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint.) coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Jon A. Lambert
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Chris Gray
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Adam Wiggins
- A flamewar startingpoint.) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- A flamewar startingpoint. coder@ibm.net
- A flamewar startingpoint.) coder@ibm.net
- Noise-to-signal ratio Sauron
- Gender specific Marian Griffith
- Gender specific Adam Wiggins
- Gender specific Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Gender specific Marian Griffith
- Gender specific Sauron
- Gender specific Marian Griffith
- Gender specific Derrick Jones
- Gender specific Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Gender specific Mike Sellers
- Gender specific Adam Wiggins
- Gender specific Mike Sellers
- Gender specific Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Gender specific Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Gender specific Cynbe ru Taren
- Eating and sleeping (was: A flamewar startingpoint.) Derrick Jones
- A flamewar startingpoint.y Adam Wiggins
- SUMMARY: Mud Grammar Jon A. Lambert
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. Adam Wiggins
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. coder@ibm.net
- You, the game of philosophy. Jon A. Lambert
- You, the game of philosophy. JC Lawrence
- You, the game of philosophy. Derrick Jones
- You, the game of philosophy. Richard Woolcock
- You, the game of philosophy. Adam Wiggins
- You, the game of philosophy. Richard Woolcock
- You, the game of philosophy. Adam Wiggins
- You, the game of philosophy. Richard Woolcock
- You, the game of philosophy. coder@ibm.net
- You, the game of philosophy. Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- You, the game of philosophy. Adam Wiggins
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. coder@ibm.net
- You, the game of philosophy. Derrick Jones
- You, the game of philosophy. coder@ibm.net
- You, the game of philosophy. Jon A. Lambert
- You, the game of philosophy. Marian Griffith
- You, the game of philosophy. Jon A. Lambert
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. Jon A. Lambert
- You, the game of philosophy. Matt Chatterley
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. Jon A. Lambert
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. JC Lawrence
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. JC Lawrence
- You, the game of philosophy. Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- You, the game of philosophy. Derrick Jones
- You, the game of philosophy. coder@ibm.net
- You, the game of philosophy. Vadim Tkachenko
- You, the game of philosophy. coder@ibm.net
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. Derrick Jones
- You, the game of philosophy. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- You, the game of philosophy. coder@ibm.net
- You, the game of philosophy. Chris Gray
- You, the game of philosophy. Stephen Zepp
- You, the game of philosophy. Jon A. Lambert
- Dynamic room descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Naming and descriptions (was Introductions and descriptions) Mike Sellers
- Introductions and descriptions Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and descriptions coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and descriptions Marian Griffith
- Introductions and descriptions Sauron
- Introductions and descriptions Marian Griffith
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Chris Gray
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Maddy
- Introductions and descriptions Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and descriptions coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and descriptions Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and descriptions coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and descriptions Derrick Jones
- Introductions and descriptions Derrick Jones
On Tue, 18 Nov 1997, Richard Woolcock wrote:
> I do have eye/hair colour, as well as hair length and a choice of verb for
> both hair and eyes - however this is only used in the 'look at' description.
> I was considering working on some form of 'priority' to pull out features in
> order to create a short description. I mean, you don't want to see:
>
> A tall, ugly fat man with a bushy black beard, bald head, piercing blue eyes,
> heavily tanned skin dressed in expensive clothes says 'hello'.
>
> However it would be nice if it picked for example 'fat' and 'piercing blue eyes'
> (your characters most outstanding two features) and displayed:
>
> A fat man with piercing blue eyes says 'hello'.
Just a first thought...
How about listing those feature most contrasting to the observer, or those
features most deviant from the mean(of the race in question).
Using the contrast idea, you'd get a dwarf seeing _every_ human as 'an
extremely tall' man. On the other hand, if the dwarf in question hadn't
had much contact with humans(or other tall creatures), the most striking
attribute whould be the human's height.
Maybe you could make the description a combination of a handful of
factors. Some things to temper the description could be:
1. Other creatures in the room (if you're in the room with a basketball
team, someone 6'2" would seem short.)
2. The observer...people tend to notice those different from themselves.
3. Observer knowledge...now this is character knowledge, not player
knowedge. Perhaps keep a list of how many times a character encounters
different races, or if memory isn't a problem(if you're doing this on a
client), each character. Note that if you work with the afforemeantioned
basketball team on a daily basis, that will tend to warp your perception
of average human height (you'll have a skewed average from the large
number of encounters with very tall players.) Not sure if this is a Good
Thing, because the mind tends to overcome those problems by classifying
basketball players as a separate entity from other people when judging
height (If I introduced a 6' tall boy to a talent scout, he would think
that he's talking to a tall boy. If I then ask him to give the boy a
try-out, he would shift into basketball mode and conscider the boy short).
4. Unusual attributes/ attribute combinations. A human 6'10"+ is
unusual, and height is the first thing you would notice. Blue eyes on a
dark-skinned person is also rare, but both blue-eyed and dark-skinned
people are common. You have to be careful with this, otherwise you'd have
a dwarf being told 'The short guy smiles.' even though the 'short guy' is
a good foot taller than the dwarf.
One other detail. I really dislike those descriptions that give you too
much information. For example, 'He wields The Sword of Devistation in his
right hand.' gives you the proper name of the object (the sword) of which
the character has no knowledge. Perhaps simular recognition code could be
written for objects as well as for people.
> Even my system at the moment (appearance+age) creates some interesting
> interaction between players that I hadn't accounted for. For example, when a
> very young character logged on, everyone started calling him 'boy' (hey, whats
> your name, boy?), whilst an ugly player got severely taunted. The male
> characters also paid a lot of attention when 'a stunningly gorgeous young
> woman' logged on...I think this itself could really start encouraging people
> to roleplay without them even realising it.
Hrm...this has the potential of creating a possible problem. If player
appearances are automatically generated, there comes into possibility the
situation where a player receives a character that is a bit too much like
their RL description. The chance is slim, but given enough characters
created, it will happen on occasion. In the cases, the taunts directed
at a character with an abnormality (which happens to be shared by its
player) will create a potentially hostile environment for the _player_ as
well as the character. Normally, I'd say such a situation is up to the
player to deal with, but in today's Politically Correct society, you've
almost have to cater to those few who may take offense.(sigh)
Is there some mechanism built in for overiding the automatic generation,
or the possibility to re-generate should an unplayable character be
generated? - Introductions and descriptions Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Maddy
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Maddy
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and descriptions Derrick Jones
- Introductions and descriptions Jon A. Lambert
- Introductions and descriptions Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and descriptions Brandon J. Rickman
- Introductions and descriptions Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and descriptions Derrick Jones
- Introductions and descriptions Vadim Tkachenko
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and descriptions Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and descriptions Maddy
- Introductions and descriptions coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and descriptions coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and descriptions coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and descriptions Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and Derrick Jones
- Introductions and Marian Griffith
- Introductions and Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and Marian Griffith
- Introductions and Sauron
- Introductions and Marian Griffith
- Introductions and Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and Marian Griffith
- Introductions and Mike Sellers
- Introductions and Brandon J. Rickman
- Introductions and Mike Sellers
- Introductions and Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and Adam Wiggins
- Introductions and Matt Chatterley
- Introductions and Mike Sellers
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and Jon A. Lambert
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Introductions and Maddy
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- Introductions and coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and Ling
- Introductions and coder@ibm.net
- Introductions and Richard Woolcock
- mud time (A flamewar startingpoint.) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Nostalgy (A flamewar startingpoint.) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Communication [was Introductions and..] Matt Chatterley
- Communication [was Introductions and..] Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Communication [was Introductions and..] Adam Wiggins
- Communication [was Introductions and..] Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Communication [was Introductions and..] Derrick Jones
- Communication [was Introductions and..] Marian Griffith
- Communication [was Introductions and..] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- requests Marian Griffith
- more requests Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Mike Sellers
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Koster, Raph
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Mike Sellers
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Koster, Raph
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Adam Wiggins
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Koster, Raph
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Richard Woolcock
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] JC Lawrence
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Mike Sellers
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Felix A. Croes
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Mike Sellers
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Felix A. Croes
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Mike Sellers
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Maddy
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Mike Sellers
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Stephen Zepp
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Richard Woolcock
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Koster, Raph
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ling
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Derrick Jones
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Richard Woolcock
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ling
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Richard Woolcock
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] s001gmu@nova.wright.edu
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Koster, Raph
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Vadim Tkachenko
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Derrick Jones
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Richard Woolcock
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Derrick Jones
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Chris Gray
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Marian Griffith
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Adam Wiggins
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Derrick Jones
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ling
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Stephen Zepp
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Derrick Jones
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Mike Sellers
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Stephen Zepp
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] JC Lawrence
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] JC Lawrence
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] Matt Chatterley
- Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World] JC Lawrence
- Adventurer Groups [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- Adventurer Groups [was Affecting the World] s001gmu@nova.wright.edu
- Adventurer Groups [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Adventurer Groups [was Affecting the World] s001gmu@nova.wright.edu
- Adventurer Groups [was Affecting the World] coder@ibm.net
- Adventurer Groups [was Affecting the World] Jon A. Lambert
- fwd: Erasmatron Revs up Interactive Fiction Brandon J. Rickman
- Q: What are the coolest thief skills people have seen? coder@ibm.net
- Lots of things about me (long) Ling
- OT: my web pages Marian Griffith
- Java, applets, forests and ecologies. Ling
- Java, applets, forests and ecologies. Derrick Jones
- Java, applets, forests and ecologies. Michael Hohensee
- Java, applets, forests and ecologies. Chris Gray
- Java, applets, forests and ecologies. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Java, applets, forests and ecologies. Chris Gray
- (Java, applets,) forests and ecologies. Marian Griffith
- Thief skills, Dream Park and me (again) Ling
- Thief skills, Dream Park and me (again) Adam Wiggins
- Thief skills, Dream Park and me (again) Chris Gray
- Thief skills, Dream Park and me (again) Richard Woolcock
- Thief skills, Dream Park and me (again) coder@ibm.net
- ... forests and ecologies. Mike Sellers
- ... forests and ecologies. Jon A. Lambert
- ... forests and ecologies. coder@ibm.net
- Java Chris Gray