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OOC warning on APPEAR command

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Staff's been cracking down lately on making sure there is emotes/poses surrounding use of the APPEAR command as well as changed @descriptions/etc. This is a good policy, but one that's sort of inconsistently applied, especially because staff can't see everything everyone is doing.

Maybe there should be an OOC warning like there is when installing security gear?

Something like:

WARNING: Use of the appear command requires RP, even if you believe you are alone. By using this command, you acknowledge that you will pose appropriately for your transformation and change your @description and @nakeds as needed to match your new short description. Do you understand? YES/NO.

Having to hit 'yes' every time like you do with security gear would force people to be more mindful about it, I think.

By Pavane at Oct 13, 2020 10:49 PM
What do other people, including GMs, think about this?
By Slither at Oct 14, 2020 4:51 PM
I've seen appear used in a lassez-faire fashion in practically every instance I've seen it. I'm fully in favour of this.
By Wonderland at Oct 14, 2020 4:52 PM
This could get pretty annoying considering how often people use appear. I'd rather see this as a Tip-Line note, or a first-time warning like we do with ccom bill.
By Rhicora at Oct 14, 2020 4:54 PM
It's a good idea. I'd reword it, make it simpler and shorter, much like the constant OOC tips every time you get a good-idea bad-idea.
By villa at Oct 14, 2020 4:55 PM
Yes, I'd do a general "remember to put RP effort into your appear" rather than a reminder about everything you need to do. Sometimes it's funny to see people wearing disguise items without changing their description/nakeds. Which I think is one of the prevailing measures used to identify people now.

But it does need a reminder to put RP into it at all. I rarely see much effort, I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen who do in my experience.

By crashdown at Oct 14, 2020 4:57 PM
Seems like a great idea, reminders are good in the moment, harder to forget.
By Blinder at Oct 14, 2020 4:58 PM
> This could get pretty annoying considering how often people use appear. I'd rather see this as a Tip-Line note, or a first-time warning like we do with ccom bill.

That's sort of the point. The ease of the command runs directly contrary to what the GMs say should be the effort required to use it. It's very easy to be cavalier about 'appear' when the OOC command and the IC effort are so very different.

I think a an scheme could be a timer to accomplish a change like on tattooing or removing security gear, but that I think would be a lot more code intensive than a warning.

By Pavane at Oct 14, 2020 4:59 PM
Absolutely any change to make it harder to abuse appear and reduce the effort on players to report abuse, and GMs to enforce it is a good thing in my opinion.
By TalonCzar at Oct 14, 2020 5:00 PM
Annoyance should never be the point; getting the message across should be. Once people understand they should update their @nakeds with pronouns and affect different mannerisms if they're going to use disguise? They get it.

Continuing to remind people after they already know something isn't great design.

By Rhicora at Oct 14, 2020 5:04 PM
I am fundamentally against forced response prompts in-game where unnecessary. I simply do not like the design.

I think appear and disguise as it stands needs some slight retooling to get it across the finish line. These are widely adopted features and I think we should take a look at how they're being used.

Some elements are very conducive to promoting RP and telling the story.

Some elements are just plain immersion-breaking and cumbersome.

I think better design will dictate better RP.

By ReeferMadness at Oct 14, 2020 5:06 PM
> Annoyance should never be the point; getting the message across should be. Once people understand they should update their @nakeds with pronouns and affect different mannerisms if they're going to use disguise? They get it.

> Continuing to remind people after they already know something isn't great design.

I think this gets at the confusion. GMs aren't in my experience saying that you should RP differently when disguised. I think that's up to you.

My understanding is that the policy is you need to RP becoming disguised, above and beyond the emits given when you use the appear command. That's what doesn't exist anywhere in a help file and isn't made intuitive by the command, and I think without some kind of coded reinforcement is going to be very unevenly followed. If you're supposed to take minutes of real time to use a command that takes seconds, I think you need at least a frequent reminder, much like with security gear.

I can say that since the appear command began, I have never once seen someone RP out making changes to their form other than that which the command emits itself, or taking longer than the cool down time on the command. That suggests to me a serious disconnect between the coded system, the policy, and people's practice on the ground.

By Pavane at Oct 14, 2020 5:11 PM
> That's what doesn't exist anywhere in a help file and isn't made intuitive by the command.

If this is really the case then it sounds like the first step is to put it in the help file.

By Rhicora at Oct 14, 2020 5:12 PM
The help file was updated eight months ago to reflect the rules changes.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO WHEN PRESENTING A DIFFERENT APPEARANCE

You must ROLEPLAY the appearance you are affecting. If you are affecting the appearance of a hag, you should roleplay as such. If you are affecting the appearance of a bro, when your character typically presents themselves as dainty and feminine, you should be roleplaying your character moving and talking like a bro.

You should consider your @nakeds and @description and @voice as well when affecting changes to your characters appearance. If your nakeds have hard coded 'he' or 'she' or 'him's in them, it is going to be jarring, so please consider using pronouns in your nakeds like %p (help pronouns).

The problem is that people still aren't roleplaying appear commands, they're not making changes to @nakeds and @describe when changing gender appearance, and they're not roleplaying different 'character mannerisms' when disguised. That's the issue. So when this happens, it's on the players to XHELP and report it to staff, and then staff has to go and verify it and then talk to the person who's not using the command correctly.

I've advocated since inception that the APPEAR command is primed for abuse, and that it needs additional coded restrictions placed upon it. Even today, the APPEAR command makes it entirely way too easy to commit perfect crimes or to game Sindome's chatter system in such a way as to strip nearly all information about things going on in the city. While it was made to make smallworlding less of an issue, it also appears to have made tracking down crimes and pinning people to actions through legitimate means -also- very difficult, and I don't think that was the intended purpose.

I fully support any changes to the command that make it easier on players and staff to uphold it to it's intended use, but I have to agree with ReeferMadnes here. Appear gives you significantly more 'bang for your buck' for hiding your identity than the disguise skill itself does, and considering disguise is one of the most important skills in the game for anyone looking to get into illicit activity, and takes a non-trivial stat and skill UE investment, I see that as a problem. I'd really love to see a comprehensive overhaul of the way disguises are handled in SD- and I've left suggestions and feedback both on the boards and via @notes in ways I think it could be changed in a positive way.

By TalonCzar at Oct 14, 2020 5:22 PM
The helpfile describes what you need to once you have used 'appear'. It doesn't say what RP is required to use 'appear.' That's the feedback I've been seeing recently from GMs -- that it is supposed to take both time above and beyond the commands and poses/emotes above and beyond the commands to implement changes via appear.
By Pavane at Oct 14, 2020 5:26 PM
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