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  • So we can be more aware of the city buzzing in our brain

SIC connect/disconnect alerts
So we can be more aware of the city buzzing in our brain

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I think there should be a message when you enter or leave SIC signal.

It just makes sense to me that we should be immediately aware of it cutting in and out.

It leads to a lot of situations where Mixers are in SIC for five minutes and then are like 'Oh hey, SIC's back.' - well you don't say, the 'city' has been yapping for five minutes. :P

Something as simple as 'SIC signal lost' / 'SIC signal established'. This would lead to a bit more screen clutter than somebody who literally never checks for SIC with who/ch, but I think it'd be overall an improvement or nice option.

But that's just my opinion, so here's a thread.

By Euclid at Dec 28, 2017 6:59 AM
No.

You know when SIC is back because you start seeing SIC messages.

By MrJDucky2 at Dec 28, 2017 7:00 AM
False. You don't know when SIC is back because you start seeing SIC messages in lull times (or just when people aren't currently talking), despite there being millions of non-players using it at all times, unless you test for signal with one of the commands or posting on it.
By Euclid at Dec 28, 2017 7:01 AM
From the perspective of a new player, I'd be running all around from room to room trying to work out why my sic isn't working. I even wondered if it was an ACTUAL problem OOC, like technical difficulties for the mud.
By L4444 at Dec 28, 2017 7:01 AM
Would help to time that highly dangerous illegal action perfectly :P
By villa at Dec 28, 2017 7:01 AM
So you want the system to constantly generate messaging based on brown out coverage of thousands of rooms to 60-100 players any given time?

I think we'll probably pass on the performance impact when you can type 'who' or any other low impact command to determine if signal is up or down.

By Cerberus at Dec 28, 2017 7:03 AM
What if there was a command specifically with the purpose to check for SIC instead of using WHO to generate a long list or 'chelp' for a long list of keys (if you have a lot of keys). Maybe like a 'ccheck'?
By Diani at Dec 28, 2017 7:05 AM
Yes Cerberus, that's what I'm saying, clearly.

Such is the point of opening a discussion; I have no idea about the specifics of how it'd impact MOO performance, and performance of the MOO can always be subject to change as our technology changes, so I think it's a fine topic to have open. Even it isn't feasible right at this moment.

By Euclid at Dec 28, 2017 7:05 AM
Instead of "no signal detected" maybe a "the SIC is down for ... R E D ... sector... the service will resume shortly"

Just want new players to understand the mechanic.

By L4444 at Dec 28, 2017 7:06 AM
The technology hasn't changed much at all in the past 20 years. We're still a text based game, and we're still trying to save ticks as much as we can everywhere we can. >.>

By Cerberus at Dec 28, 2017 7:07 AM
I'm really interested in the passive element of this, personally. Just about every MOO/MUD I've played makes regular checks on literally dozens if not hundreds of parameters with negligible latency.
By Euclid at Dec 28, 2017 7:07 AM
"Just want new players to understand the mechanic."

Then do what everyone else does and when they ask in xgame "Why don't I have signal anymore?"

You answer "Find out in character."

Then when they aks ic "Why don't I have signal"

You answer "Because game mechanics." (in an in-character fashion)

By MrJDucky2 at Dec 28, 2017 7:08 AM
Why would you want a whole new command when you can just use something as simple as 'ct' ?
By SmexyCucumber at Dec 28, 2017 7:09 AM
Not a new command, just a tracker.

Such stat trackers are a staple of most games of this variety, if it's a technical issue for Sindome, then I guess it's an architecture issue, and not much can be done about that.

Why I would want it: years of seeing it create weird RP playing by and far mostly characters who live in the Mix and dozens of timing-sensitive conflict scenarios that result in SIC check spamming.

By Euclid at Dec 28, 2017 7:13 AM
Can PCs CAUSE the SIC to go down? Now that would be interesting. Hack the SIC.
By L4444 at Dec 28, 2017 7:14 AM
Well, I do think that Euclid has a point in that a person with a SIC implant would immediately notice sudden silence or the return of the constant buzz. I wouldn't suggest that the SIC network send a message notifying of a coming brownout or the return of service necessarily.

Maybe simply have a message pop up (kind of like the messages you get from a disease) saying "SIC has grown eerily silent." or "A constant buzz of noise returns to your head" (Or something similar).

I think that something like this would not only be useful for planning attacks s suggested by Kuzco but could also be a warning - if SIC goes silent on Gold or Green, maybe you should be wary. It is also, in my opinion, a good way of reminding characters of the ambient population.

By Grey0 at Dec 28, 2017 7:20 AM
Sorry. I meant Villa, not Kuzco. My bad :-P
By Grey0 at Dec 28, 2017 7:21 AM
That's essentially what I'm saying.

Other games have this in forms of weather systems making regular ticks on everybody outdoors or maintaining many, many buff/debuff timers across the online population as well as things that hunger that the MOO doesn't watch for.

I'm sure that this would demand resources and some technical fuckery but I'd rather focus on the merits of the idea considering that the MOO is constantly evolving. These threads have a way of hanging around for years.

By Euclid at Dec 28, 2017 7:23 AM
Euclid, Sindome has the same things you are talking about, I'm not sure why you are saying that we have more or less features that require processing time than other MU*.

I'd also like to point out that Sindome has anywhere between 2-10 times the population of other games, and these things don't always scale linearly as you might expect with players. There is a certain amount of background tasks that eat a percentage of utilization at all times, regardless of population. I'm no expert in this codebase, so I can't speak to the backend side of things, but I can say that most days, if you are watching the CPU utilization of the server we're not simply sitting idle. It's possible to code things with low overhead, but any kind of state-based and time-based check like what you are proposing is going to take it's toll

I think it would really depend on how the code handles current SIC commands. If doing a CH or CT is demanding (I assume it is not), then it might be possible that what you propose could lower some load as there will not be a need to constantly spam the server checking for SIC during brownouts.

In any case, I'm speaking in generalities here, so please don't assume I have any idea I know what I'm talking about with regards to the tech stack. I think it's a neat idea and I've thought about it once or twice, but this kind of thing can have a performance impact, which is why I'd assumed it had not been implemented.

By TalonCzar at Dec 28, 2017 7:37 AM
I don't want this to be a thing because being aware enough to notice when you have signal or not is a gameplay skill and not something that should involve any hand holding.
By Vera at Dec 28, 2017 3:15 PM
I would like this to be a feature because it would make sense, you would notice the sudden absence and appearance of that constant drone in your skull, but at the same time I'm aware of the coding limitations on implementing this. Still, if someone thinks up an effective way to implement it at some point in the future, that would be amazing.

Also;

By Stelpher at Dec 28, 2017 8:10 PM
'I don't want this to be a thing because being aware enough to notice when you have signal or not is a gameplay skill and not something that should involve any hand holding.'

Absolutely not.

Taking the OOC steps to find out you have SIC signal when in 'reality' the SIC is storming off in your characters' head is not a gameplay skill. There's no skill whatsoever in that. This is a purely elitist argument, not an argument from what makes sense IC. For disclosure I'll also say that I'm extremely intimately accustomed to tracking SIC in life or death situations -- it's second nature to me, but I also think there's no need for it, and it's a routine that I think doesn't need to exist.

We are not our characters.

I didn't respond to Talon earlier because their post makes a lot of assumptions about what I'm talking about. I'll just say to them that this kind of feature is prevalent in many modern MOOs with more things to keep track of on characters and larger playerbases than here; but again, besides the point, if there's a technical issue regarding Sindome's architecture than that's that. The technical part of the discussion has been pretty well covered.

By Euclid at Dec 29, 2017 8:21 AM
'Taking the OOC steps to find out you have SIC signal when in 'reality' the SIC is storming off in your characters' head is not a gameplay skill. There's no skill whatsoever in that. This is a purely elitist argument, not an argument from what makes sense IC.'

OK, go stand in a busy shopping mall next to a wall of TV screens blaring ads and try to hold a conversation with someone while also listening to a chatty radio station on a handheld radio that keeps cutting in and out.

You might not in any given moment be aware of what's going on with that radio unless you actually specifically directed your attention to it. There's noise everywhere. You're being jostled by passers-by. You have shit to do. The radio's not really at the fore of your mind the entire time.

You can't really go anywhere in Withmore without there being more people than you would normally ever see in one place IRL, especially in the Mix. It's always loud, it's always stressful, it's always distracting. SIC is chatty but it's just mental noise. If I'm working or doing something I'll often forget that I have a podcast going or accidentally let a music playlist end without starting a new one, and that's real actual sound in the comfort of my own home where there are no street samurai. I don't think it requires a lot of suspension of disbelief to say people might not notice when the signal blips out unless they were paying attention (IE inputting commands).

By Vera at Dec 30, 2017 2:27 AM
That still doesn't hold.

You are not your character, OOC should not be a factor here.

Your characters merely needs to be aware that there is the background noise. That isn't to say they're hyperaware of every thing that's happening in that noise at all times.

By Euclid at Dec 31, 2017 12:05 PM
Well... Perhaps it's a perception based thing? SIC goes out and you MIGHT notice it if you succeed in an appropriate Stat/Skill check?

I mean Vera makes a good point. People, over time, do kind of acclimate and it's not like SIC is the only source of constant noise. It's one of at least three. But at the same time it COULD be noticed.

As it is it's a player skill thing that determines if it is noticed or not. I think that the argument is that maybe character's should be able to notice it based on the situation/character. Not sure.

In the end I guess it doesn't matter too much as it sounds like it would be technically infeasible and adding a stat/skill check is only likely to make it even more so!

By Grey0 at Dec 31, 2017 12:21 PM
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