[MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is suppo

[Jon A. Lambert]

On 18 Sep 97 at 5:43, Maddy wrote:
> 
> Most of the above example could be shortened if the implementor had thought
> about it.
> 
>     >buy bread
>     You take some coins out of your purse and give them to the baker.
>     The baker hands you some bread, since your hands are full, you put it in
>     your backpack.

This is excellent.  Some might consider this spammy, however I think 
it adds just the right touch of detail.  In fact these fairly common
actions could be enhanced a little more with some occasional 
deviation by the shopkeeper.

      >buy bread
      You take some coins out of your purse and give them to the
      baker. The baker turns around looking puzzled for a moment,     
      says "hmmm" and walks to the back of the shop bringing out a 
      new tray of bread.  The baker hands you some bread, since your 
      hands are full, you put it in your backpack.

Even more spammy eh?  It adds nothing of relevance to the game or 
does it?  Would the following bit enhance a mood or theme in a given 
locale?

      >buy bread
      You take some coins out of your purse and give them to the
      baker. The baker eyes you suspiciously and hands you some 
      bread.  Since your hands are full, you put it in your backpack.

> The second part probably isn't as easy.  You certainly wouldn't want anyone
> being able to give you something which you'd automatically put into your
> backpack.
> 
>     Bubba gives you a bomb, since your hands are full, you put it in your
>     backpack.  The bomb appears to be ticking.
>     Bubba runs away.
>     ...
>     *KABOOM* The bomb in your backpack explodes, killing you.

Nod.  What you did in the earlier command response was assume some 
level of character instinctive reaction.  It might be interesting for 
system to atomize such events and check instinct/perception between 
each event.  So the following scenario might be possible:

      >buy bread
      You take some coins out of your purse and give them to the      
      baker. The baker hands you some bread.  <succesful perception 
      check here>, since your hands are full, you begin to put it     
      in your backpack.  You stop as you here a ticking sound coming 
      from the loaf of bread.

      >buy bread
      You take some coins out of your purse and give them to the
      baker. The baker hands you some bread, since your hands are
      full, you put it in your backpack.
	  > leave shop
      You are standin outside the bakery on west street. <successful 
      perception check here> You hear a ticking sound coming from 
      your backpack.

> Now think about what happens in real life.  When you buy something, the
> shopkeeper is usually clever enough to notice if your hands are full and
> will put the item on the counter.

This is a nice feature also.
 
> Of course you've gotta ask the question - what are you doing wielding a
> sword in a bakers?  If I were the baker I'd flee the building and call for
> the guards.

I'm thinking of implementing instinctual wield if characters are 
attacked unawares or manual wield otherwise.  Unwielding the 
weapon is not automatic however. Town guards, citizen reaction would
serve as a reminders to unwield.  Weapons in wield position would
be regarded as a sign of hostility in many areas, character 
intentions notwithstanding. 

I think a great amount of care is needed when automating character 
commands so that you don't override or overrule a player's best 
instincts.  This can be as irritating or more so as forced atomic 
actions are.  There may be cases where the system should override 
player control of characters or screw with character perception
when implementing drunkeness, lycanthropy, blood lust, hallucenogenic 
drugs, etc.

--
Jon A. Lambert

If I'd known it was harmless, I would have killed it myself.