Reducing Breathing Spam

Nim

I brought this up in another thread, but I think it better deserves its own thread in the correct category!

HOLD BREATH is basically one of those defenses that most people with systems automatically just keep up whenever there's any threat of combat. It's almost free to put up, except that it requires balance and costs unnecessary lag for everyone involved. Most people gag it client-side, but if you don't, it's fairly distracting as well!

My suggestion is to shift this reapplication to the server side to reduce unnecessary lag and to reduce the penalties associated with having a suboptimal connection speed or client. There are a few possible approaches I've got, although I readily welcome more!

1. It could just reapply itself at the first moment it becomes possible, taking a small fraction of time to do so. It'd still be lost after every action, but it wouldn't send out lines or require HOLD BREATH - it'd just automatically regenerate X seconds (I'm thinking 0.05) after it becomes possible to re-apply (eg. once you have balance or equilibrium back). That way, it's still possible to choke someone who's dashing around or otherwise acting, for example.

2. I think it's somewhat uncommon to get a choke out on someone over them sipping health or doing other free actions aside from movement, which tends to be fast and regular enough that there's a significant gap where HOLD BREATH would be down. If people agree with me, maybe it could just be up whenever you have balance, equilibrium, aren't asthma'd (the existing requirements, in other words), and (as an additional requirement) you have full movement balance.

3. If it's common belief that even movement doesn't cause kai chokes (I beg to differ, but maybe people're doing something like NORTH;HOLD BREATH and it's working), then it could just be up whenever it'd normally be raisable (eg. on balance/eq, etc.)

As far as information, it could be:

1. A configurable option, so some people can still be spammed with people inhaling and exhaling all the time if they really want to be.

2. Maybe you can just see if someone's holding their breath via LOOK or as part of the room description, so the information is still available but not always there.

3. Maybe we don't need to know that people are holding their breath unless they emote it!

I realize that one strange weakness of HOLD BREATH is courtesy - that is, people lower it in relaxed conditions to avoid pissing off other people. That could be maintained with an irregular message (kind of perfume). I think that would definitely still add the disadvantage of pissing people off in settings where HOLD BREATH would be impolite (such as a senate meeting). Alternatively, maybe it could be given some kind of endurance drain or something so that there's an advantage to not keeping up 24/7. That's more for ACC-type folks to discuss, though. I just want it to be less spammy!

Penwize

My only real concern with this is that it's currently possible to watch breathing if you're in the room and choke when someone loses breath.  That's easily fixed by giving monk something to watch for breathing specifically.  Otherwise, anything to reduce spam in melee is okay by me.

Jonners

Please please please find a way to reduce breathing spam. I can't gag it (effectively) and so I get spammed out constantly by people who don't even realise it's up. I hate breathing spam, with a deep seated passion reserved for child molesters and people who talk at the theatre.

Sarapis

Definitely something on my mental list. I also freaking hate breathing spam. 

Nim

Penwize said:

My only real concern with this is that it's currently possible to watch breathing if you're in the room and choke when someone loses breath.  That's easily fixed by giving monk something to watch for breathing specifically.  Otherwise, anything to reduce spam in melee is okay by me.

Although I agree that information is useful, I will provide the counter-point that even with no other messages, you could still do that in reaction to them doing something that takes up balance, not unlike how Blademasters can currently get impales off balance loss.

Penwize

Not entirely.  It can be dropped by something as simple as a TELL or PT while off balance, which you'd have no way of knowing about.  Plenty of things are hidden that would drop it.

Jonners

Why does mental exertion that doesn't require you to use your lungs to speak drop breathing?

Eld

Would also need to consider how this would work in retardation. 

Nim

@Eld: With implementation #1, the one where it comes back X seconds after doing something (where X is normally something really small), then in retardation/aeon, X can just be 2 seconds instead, and reset down to the smaller value (or, in the rare case the 2 seconds would be up before the smaller value, then not reset, if that's actually an issue) if aeon/retardation ends before you get it back.

Another option is that it works as it originally did in retardation/aeon - eg. requiring deliberate HOLD BREATHing.

A final option I've thought of that would effectively buff HOLD BREATH in retardation is that it could just not work while you're sluggishly moving into action, and automatically be up again after the fact. I imagine that's the simplest approach, but it's still definitely a buff, although I don't know how significant of one it is!

Eld

Nim said:

@Eld: With implementation #1, the one where it comes back X seconds after doing something (where X is normally something really small), then in retardation/aeon, X can just be 2 seconds instead, and reset down to the smaller value (or, in the rare case the 2 seconds would be up before the smaller value, then not reset, if that's actually an issue) if aeon/retardation ends before you get it back.

Another option is that it works as it originally did in retardation/aeon - eg. requiring deliberate HOLD BREATHing.

A final option I've thought of that would effectively buff HOLD BREATH in retardation is that it could just not work while you're sluggishly moving into action, and automatically be up again after the fact. I imagine that's the simplest approach, but it's still definitely a buff, although I don't know how significant of one it is!

Your first suggestion is also a buff, as you automatically get the defense back without having to sacrifice another action for it. I also don't know whether it's a big enough difference to worry about.

Nim

@Eld: I'll agree that it's a minor buff in that it grants you the assumption that you'll HOLD BREATH immediately upon recovering balance or finishing any other action, but a very minor one. Just to clarify, that timer would reset upon doing any other action, so in retardation, it would kick in after 2 seconds of not doing anything, and only after you've recovered balance/equilibrium, and cured any asthma.

Of course, I could be misremembering how long the aeon/retardation timer is, but I swear it was two seconds.

Anaidiana

third person message suggestion:

@penwize starts to turn blue from holding his breath for so long.

Just a thought.

Eld

Nim said:

@Eld: I'll agree that it's a minor buff in that it grants you the assumption that you'll HOLD BREATH immediately upon recovering balance or finishing any other action, but a very minor one. Just to clarify, that timer would reset upon doing any other action, so in retardation, it would kick in after 2 seconds of not doing anything, and only after you've recovered balance/equilibrium, and cured any asthma.

Of course, I could be misremembering how long the aeon/retardation timer is, but I swear it was two seconds.

Retard effect is 1 second per command. I misunderstood what you were saying.