[MUD-Dev] Re: Introductions and descriptions

[Chris Gray]

[Marian:]

:But in general I would like to see that players  who are (apparently) in
:a hurry should miss more detail as they run by. Perhaps this can be done
:through the speed with which you walk as well as with abilities?  If you
:choose to run you might make better speed, but all kinds of details will
:be lost, like that bridge that looks like it is waiting for an excuse to
:collapse.

I wonder if it would be feasible to just record a running average of the
time between commands entered by the player (multiple commands on one
input line, or from an alias or macro would count as "very close in time").
Make the amount of detail proportional to that time. Perhaps the scaling
could be on a per-character basis, thus allowing for differences in
typing and reading speed. If the system knows that commands are from one
input line or a macro, etc., then it might just turn detail completely
off for those commands.

The net result could be ideal: a character quickly moving through known
territory would get little detail. A character slowly exploring a new
area, and actually reading the descriptions, would get more detail. There
*would* be detail-level errors due to things like net lag and RL breaks,
but if the system were documented, people might be happy with it.

--
Chris Gray   cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA