Data Without Vision
Seeing Through Optics

There's an IC item this idea pertains to, and I don't know that I should share its existence here (because it seems extremely underutilized, hence likely little known or is undervalued for some reason). So I'm going to be vague.

It covers your eyes.

The issue I see (hur hur) is that, while worn, it doesn't hinder your ability to travel unassisted. I.E. My eyes are covered and I 'go e e e e s s s w n u in', and I do that. Null sheen. Except it shouldn't be null sheen. It should be hard.

In short, the item treats movement and vision as some kind of weird bastard akin to the sonar chrome, except you don't have to 'click' to get the chrome-esque echo. It's passive.

So the idea is simple: Change this to mechanically behave like the wearer is drunk in the dark. Command input isn't guaranteed to send you where you want to go. You stumble, get turned around, go the wrong way. And you get the same echos you would get in the dark, regardless of light in the room.

But every now and then, the wearer might get hazy/vague descriptions of what's going on around them as they move - which denotes the quality/thickness of the material. Maybe even have the item wear out over time so it becomes less obstructive to sight as it sees more use.

This would give it a shelf life (much like some disguise items) and require characters to make repeat purchases if they intent to go this route regularly. Might as well stimulate the economy while we make this item better/more interesting.

I think it's plenty useful at a glance. I just think there are some things that simply don't make sense. Having a perfect sense of direction without eyes is one of them. The item also gives you the name of speakers in the room, which indicates you can see through it a bit? There are workarounds for this, but still. What I really want to see is the 'see through' aspect being less 'always' more 'sometimes' and more frequent as it wears down over time.

I think that would just discourage more people from using it if you never knew when it would stop working. How about it could be more like wigs, where it works while you are wearing it but then each time you use it, it gets 'used up'.

@Svetlana

I wasn't unclear, but that's exactly what I mean.

Thanks for the clarification.

Also when somebody wearing the item is being dragged to another location, it shows what direction you are being dragged in. Which would make it too easy for the person to retrace their steps and have some idea of where they are being taken.

Upon greater interaction with the item in question (and also, rooms with the lights turned off, so these problems are probably inherent to the “darkness” code and not unique to the specific item):

You’re not supposed to be able to see. However, when people in the same room as you talk, you see their display name. This makes it harder for people who might be relying on darkness to make up for their lack of disguise skill, for instance. Sure, the player could just pretend that they didn’t see the display name so as not to meta, but some might think that maybe the game showing them the char’s display name is a sign that their character can see the other person’s faint outline if they squint, or something.

It also shows you messaging for people’s poses/socials/actions, including the display name. Of course I understand that there are logistical gameplay reasons for this because if you couldn’t see characters’ actions in the dark, you would know if they’re doing anything.

Here’s what it generally looks like. Imagine your character is wearing an item that makes you unable to see anything.

A Dark Building

It’s dark and you can’t see anything. The darkness is oppressive.

A shrouded average playa *speaking english, in a fake voice*: Aha, you’ll never know it’s me.

A shrouded average playa reaches a hand up, gripping his mustard poncho at the scruff of his neck, and give it a good hard tug, sliding it off his body in one swift motion.

Joe puts his mustard poncho away.

Joe shrugs, shifts, and relaxes, his posture and demeanor now completely different as he stops presenting himself as a playa and taller.

Joe sneers at you. *speaking english, in a fake voice* “Now tell me who you’re working for or say goodbye to your limbs, baka.”

——

I am not quite sure how to address this issue but maybe when it’s dark, you could replace each person’s display name with “a shadowy figure” or even “a shadowy average playa”:

A shadowy average playa *speaking english, in a fake voice*: Aha, you’ll never know it’s me.

A shadowy average playa reaches a hand up, gripping his mustard poncho at the scruff of his neck, and give it a good hard tug, sliding it off his body in one swift motion.

A shadowy average playa puts his mustard poncho away.

A shadowy short fellow shrugs, shifts, and relaxes, his posture and demeanor now completely different as he stops presenting himself as a playa and taller.

A shadowy short fellow sneers at you. *speaking english, in a fake voice* “Now tell me who you’re working for or say goodbye to your limbs, baka.”