Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist

Suggestions, Feedback & Bug Reports (OOC) => Module Feedback and Suggestions => Topic started by: Morphant on July 17, 2016, 06:53:17 PM

Title: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: Morphant on July 17, 2016, 06:53:17 PM
So, I always thought it was weird that we named things in game like our standard +1 to +3 items by number. All those numbers are generally an ooc number for the players though, so what if all those numbers were named differently instead?

My suggestion is as follows:

Rings of protection, amulets of natural armor, rings of resistance, scarabs of protection, and anything I Midas that follows the +1, +2, +3 progression follow this track

Lesser Ring of Protection (Ring of Protection +1)
Ring of Protection (Ring of Protection +2)
Greater Ring of Protection (Ring of Protection +3)

This would give is a better making convention by default, and make it easier to differentiate by in character terms as well.

That said! This is not super important, it's part of the nwn experience and we're all very used to it! It's more of a "wouldn't it be cool if" suggestion, and I have no idea how much of a headache it would be to change the name pig every item by that convention in the module.

But if you like it, neat! I'll have been a positive member of the community!
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: Arawn on July 17, 2016, 06:58:42 PM
I completely agree with you in principle. Here's the issue, as I understand it: almost all of the items that are genetically named are currently present in the default palette of NWN. In order to do what you suggest, we would need to create a new custom palette copy of every single item that has a number as you describe. Palette size needs to be maintained in order to keep the module from becoming too large (which causes a host of other issues). This solution, while aesthetically pleasing, would therefore prevent us from adding more unique content in favor of just duplicating content we already have.

Such a discussion by itself is a contribution to the life of the server, though!
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: Bells And Whistles on July 17, 2016, 07:01:25 PM
Like Arawn said, it is a TON of work, and it's easy to word the name of the item in-game in a way that rolls easier off the tongue, without renaming the item itself. For example, instead of saying "longsword plus one" I might say, "longsword of the first circle of protection."
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: McNastea on July 17, 2016, 07:17:35 PM
Once upon a time there was a swell DM who took the +1 greatsword I stole off a guard to make my escape and changed the name and description to fit the story it was part of. I still have that sword, even though I haven't used it since.

Anyway, if you have any items like that, to an extent a DM might be willing to alter those two things a bit-to be more aesthetically pleasing. Don't take that as an assurance, it's up to each of them of course.
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: -Wing on July 18, 2016, 12:15:21 AM
People use numbers as a scale to describe things all the time.  I don't understand why this has to be immersion breaking.
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: dark_majico on July 18, 2016, 06:10:19 AM
I agree, and it's a good thing to have some "OOC", it makes the gaming experience more enjoyable.
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: -Wing on July 18, 2016, 12:43:39 PM
I agree, and it's a good thing to have some "OOC", it makes the gaming experience more enjoyable.

Just to clarify my post - I see no reason the phrase 'Ring of protection +1' can't be considered a valid IC statement.
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: Purist on July 18, 2016, 12:52:41 PM
Isn't it possible to break the code and personalize stuff? As a community effort, not PotM, but those who fuel CEP. A kind of community patch that unlocks this silly things. The game is old, there is no support anymore, at this point, is it legal already to break the hardcodding or not?
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: Arawn on July 18, 2016, 12:59:00 PM
You can't just "break the hardcoding". The game is compiled. You need the source code to make the kind of modifications you are describing, and since the source code without a doubt contains many proprietary elements, I strongly doubt we will ever see it released.
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: modderpunk on July 18, 2016, 04:04:28 PM
I agree, and it's a good thing to have some "OOC", it makes the gaming experience more enjoyable.

Just to clarify my post - I see no reason the phrase 'Ring of protection +1' can't be considered a valid IC statement.

What would the plus one stand for when you use it ic?
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: APorg on July 18, 2016, 04:44:24 PM
Here's an idea... might it be possible to have re-naming scripts fire on login that rename certain items?

i.e. Bud finds a Ring of Protection +1. Next time he logs in, a script looks in his inventory and renames that Ring a "Lesser Ring of Protection".

That might bypass the issue of having to change the loot tables; keep the loot tables as they are, just have the items renamed dynamically.

Plus, only having such renaming scripts fire on login should keep the stress on the server to a minimum...

Just throwing that in for consideration.
Title: Re: <Item Name> +1 naming conventions, a suggestion for the sake of immersion
Post by: Legion XXI on July 18, 2016, 04:46:36 PM
My personal view on it is that we're playing an old computer game, not being plugged into "The Matrix", and pursuits of bringing ourselves closer to total immersion usually lead to nitpicky discussions rather than fixing things that were real issues.


That being said, the number can be as IC as you make it.  The Colt 1911 pistol isn't called the "Handgun of shootiness"  and the new iPhone that comes out every year doesn't get a special name that describes what it does.  Numbers have long been associated with weapons and other objects to reflect the "template" that the object was made to , and you could (if you wanted to) choose to RP a Longsword 1 being the generally accepted template for a slightly above average longsword.  Perhaps this translates into the weapon having a more honed blade, or being balanced differently.  A Longsword 2 would be a weapon made to the specifications of a Longsword 1, but perhaps with some other additional feature (perhaps the blade is honed to an even further degree, or speckled in space rock dust to help it cut through magic creatures if that's what you need to say).

TL;DR - While it may be annoying to some people, it's not any more "Immersion Breaking" than the HUD on your screen at all times complete with mini map and health bar.  The small boon it would do doesn't justify the level of work/resources this would take.  (Aprog wrote a post as I was writing this one, and that's a cool idea.  Not sure how it would tax the server resources, but it's a possible happy medium.)