[Complete] Mood Types

Ideas that have been discussed, approved, and are awaiting implementation.

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Inertia
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:24 pm

Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:09 am

I love moods, but between auto-travel and (ahem) general inattentiveness, I often miss their relevance until I'm ten rooms away or wondering OH MY GOD WHY IS SOMETHING ATTACKING ME?! True story.

I've also found myself in situations where I was unsure if a mood was still relevant, where no board post or available player could answer yay or nay.

I'd like to propose an additional option when setting a mood: 'type.'

The syntax could be something like mood type <casual|crucial> where the latter option would alert players that the extra description was something more significant than RP flavor. Visually, the difference between the two could be as simple as using different parentheses.

(This is the 'casual' mood we all know and love.)

(!) This 'crucial' mood is telling you that those low yellow mobs in the room are shadows, not fetching Lithmorran ladies wandering down the street. (!)

It's easy enough to just add your own OOC addendum to a mood but I think something like this could be less jarring for those in RP. I was also thinking a mood flagged as 'crucial' could just place a (!) at the end of a player's prompt and/or pecho a one-line notification that they had entered a significant room, sort of how the palace and south side prompt you about their special circumstances.

Is the benefit worth the time and energy to tweak code? I'm not sure. It seems less fussy than arranging time limits on moods and less obnoxious than pressing players to submit IC Event posts more consistently - though I do worry about what kinds of neat lore I'm missing out on because there's no archive!

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Kinaed
Posts: 1984
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:54 pm
Discord Handle: ParaVox3#7579

Sun Mar 17, 2013 3:28 am

This is an interesting suggestion - but I'm not sure it addresses one of the biggest mood problems - that they don't expire. I think perhaps they should, I'm just not sure after how long.

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Leech
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 3:51 am

I've just gotten into the habit of usually attaching a date to my moods, OOCly. Ruins immersion, but having a point of reference for relevance really puts the mood in context. As for an expiration, I think 24 hours should cover pretty much everything. If you want to change a room for longer, get some NPCs, or some props.
Player of: Alexander ab Courtland

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Inertia
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:24 pm

Sun Mar 17, 2013 4:22 am

This actually began as two options, type and time, and I'd thrown out <3|6|12|24> as potential options for times - but it was starting to feel like I was running after every shiny thing.

Does code record who sets a mood or anything? Maybe players could be prompted every X hours or upon login, like:


You have unread notes on the IC_Events board.
The Hunting Festival holiday is 13 days away!
(OOC: Wed March 20 2013 12:47)
New rumors are wagging tongues.
You have a crucial mood set in The Scriptorium from X hours ago.


I'm on board for moods expiring after 24 hours actually. Like Leech suggested, if something has happened that would be unchanged for longer than that, players have props, rumors, city notice boards and the IC Events Board to inform the rest of the pbase.

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Kinaed
Posts: 1984
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:54 pm
Discord Handle: ParaVox3#7579

Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:13 pm

Yes, the code does record who set a mood - staff can see. Hmm, it may well be worthwhile to expire them after 24 hours, unless a player uses a differing command to add a long term mood: mood permanent (for example).

I'm still not sure I'm sold on the 'critical mood' idea versus a regular mood. I'm not certain how the categories would be different for that from one to another.

One thing is, the Knights used to write mood descs (and I think Reeves too) saying a particular area is commonly patrolled. In theory this is a good use, but the problem I see with it is that there's no resources actually invested in that, and no actual benefits to the room... more a social contract request that people don't do something naughty there without informing the relevant bodies that they did something naughty. I'm thinking this might be picked up with code as well, either through security code for various rooms or perhaps through mooks (I think those may make a comeback).

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Leech
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Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:28 pm

Moooooooks.
Player of: Alexander ab Courtland

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Inertia
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:24 pm

Fri Mar 22, 2013 1:44 am

I'm all for requiring resources to legitimize the information contained in moods, and using mooks might be the cleanest way to accomplish it. I'll add a suggestion for their uses on the appropriate thread.

A time limit on moods seems a fair compromise, with or without some ability to 'lock' a mood until the author no longer thinks it necessary.

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