[MUD-Dev] Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games

[Johan A]

ceo <ceo at grexengine.com> wrote:
> Johan A wrote:
>> ceo <ceo at grexengine.com> wrote:
>>> Michael Hartman wrote:

>>> For instance, if we only ever measured weight in kilograms it
>>> would be a PITA to do any cooking, counting in 0.001's of a kg.

>> You know we do have kg, hg, g, ml for example ;)

> It was a poor choice of example (although kg is the SI unit) so
> I'm afraid you've missed the point: it's not "does a unit exist in
> that scale that is not hugely out of convenient range" it's more
> "does a unit exist at that scale that has a simple basic
> relationship to items at that scale"

I know, I just couldn't help to post ;)

> Similarly, feet are much more convenient to measure distances less
> than your total reach / height + reach than metres are because a
> metre is only measurable if you have a one-metre ruler or have
> memorised your height in centimetres.

> Not only is one foot approx. "length of an adult's foot" (which is
> highly variable) but much more usefully for young men (shrug) is
> the fact that many of us are very close to 6 foot in height,
> making it easy to measure things quickly and actually rather
> accurately by comparing them to your own height.

This works great in practise if you know about this system of
measure.  If you are brought up with the metric system and did not
pay attention is school when you were 8, you do not know that a foot
= ~adult's foot (the name may imply it but if English is not your
first language you may not think about it).

Same thing with metric system. I know that 185cm is 1,85 meters and
I know how tall this is "by hand".

What ever system you have been brought up with is superior to you. I
still struggle with foot inch etc because I will always convert it
to the metric system, same when I go abroad and buy a coffee I have
to calculate how much it is in my home currency.

-- Johan
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