Hourglass item

Aalm

While this can be accomplished with reflexes, I think it would be nice if we had an hourglass item, either in Artefacts Misc or the Shop of Wonders. Basically, a fantasy version of the alarm clock. The user could enter a time in Achaean days (fractions permitted, such as 1.2 Achaean days) and a note. When that time elapsed, the owner would be notified and the message displayed in clear letters. After this happened, the hourglass could be used again.

I hope this isn't an idiotic idea. I've caught myself wanting something like this many times.

Kresslack

Would be pretty nifty, I'll grant you. I'm certainly now considering clocks or sundials sold as furniture items in Delos as well.

Yae

* A REMINDER system has been added, allowing in-game reminders to be set for a specific date. The syntax is as follows:

REMINDER SET <day> <month> <year> [REPEATING] <message>
REMINDER LIST
REMINDER SHOW <reminder#>
REMINDER DELETE <reminder#>

(from Announce 4063).

Does this not cover it, or are you looking for something else?

Aalm

Yae said:

* A REMINDER system has been added, allowing in-game reminders to be set for a specific date. The syntax is as
follows:

REMINDER SET <day> <month> <year> [REPEATING] <message>
REMINDER LIST
REMINDER SHOW <reminder#>
REMINDER DELETE <reminder#>

(from Announce 4063).

Does this not cover it, or are you looking for something else?

@Yae : that's precisely what I wanted, I feel pretty silly now. Thank you for telling me.

Jules

Wait.  Does the furniture store sell pretty clocks or not? 

Kresslack

Jules said:

Wait.  Does the furniture store sell pretty clocks or not? 

I do not think they do at this time. I haven't had a chance to verify so haven't made a suggestion for it at this time (pun unintended).

Jurixe

They don't, no.

Suggest it in the furniture thread buried somewhere in this forum! I'm not sure if admin still read it, but if they do at least it's got all the furniture and housing-related suggestions in one place.

Synbios

Would be nifty to get an hourglass that functions in this manner:

TURN HOURGLASS 10/30/60

Letting the grains of sand in an hourglass empty to the bottom bulb, you measure out a ten/thirty/sixty-second limit.

DROP HOURGLASS

You place an hourglass on the ground, turning it so the sand in the bottom bulb can now flow downward.

When hourglass is now 50% done:

The grains of sand continue to trickle down as five/fifteen/thirty seconds remain in the hourglass.

When hourglass times out:

The last of the grains of sand trickles through, marking the end of the hourglass's time.

Aalm

Ack, I was hoping to add to this if it's not too late, in addition to what @Synbios was thinking.

The Reminder function tells you when the time has elapsed.

This item would also tell you how much time is yet to go before the reminder occurs.

So let's say I use the item and set the timer for 1.2 Achaean days. 1 Achaean day passes, and I CHECK HOURGLASS. The Hourglass item would then tell me that 0.2 Achaean days have yet to go before the sand drops fully and the reminder occurs.

Does this make it sufficiently different from REMINDER to merit being made into an item? Or is it not good enough?

Thanks!

Sena

I'd say "alert me <x> amount of time from now" is already different enough from reminders (which are "alert me at <x> date") to justify the item. The hourglass could also have a room message, so it's not just visible to you, which isn't an option for reminders.

It would be a nice tool for IC games, like the ivory dice but with more general usefulness.

Sarapis

I like. Will make it onto my new artie/sow idea list. Would be inexpensive, relatively speaking, especially as reminders are free.

Kresslack

FYI, I was just checking The List and noticed something of the sort already on it: Sundials/waterclocks as furniture items that can tell the time when LOOKed at.

Aalm

Kresslack said:

FYI, I was just checking The List and noticed something of the sort already on it: Sundials/waterclocks as furniture items that can tell the time when LOOKed at.

@Kresslack : This item has other functions than just telling the time, and I conceptualized it as something you could carry with you.

Kresslack

Aalm said:

Kresslack said:

FYI, I was just checking The List and noticed something of the sort already on it: Sundials/waterclocks as furniture items that can tell the time when LOOKed at.

@Kresslack : This item has other functions than just telling the time, and I conceptualized it as something you could carry with you.

I know; I was referring to my offhanded comment about how it would be interested to see a furniture equivalent, for those who expressed interest.

Jamethiel

@Aalm‌ - I can't see why one couldn't carry a sundial around; seeing I can carry 14 of things like this around (albeit dead):

I can't see a problem carrying just one of these around:

Aalm

Jamethiel said:

@Aalm‌ - I can't see why one couldn't carry a sundial around; seeing I can carry 14 of things like this around (albeit dead):

I can't see a problem carrying just one of these around:

@Jamethiel : I once proposed an Artisanal idea whereby the artist would illustrate a verbatim rendition of what the average Achaean character carries around. Picture a tiny person, his back bent nearly to the ground, sweating profusely, with a literally a mountain of junk on his back, ranging from five halberds to 15 thick bulky tradebooks to 17 large journals to a stove. Hammers, shovels, a whole wardrobe of clothes. Flowerpots. Cauldrons. Seven suits of 70lb steel fullplate. Dozens of little vials with stoppers fall off the miserable guy's back, covering the ground all around. (But never fear, he can still sort them all out in 1/16th of a second and sip immunity just in time to avoid getting killed by voyria.) And yes, a 1875lb winged horse and roughly 147 giant dead corpses, all gushing blood and all stinking the place up to high heaven.

I think the Achaean inventory is one of those things best left abstract and unimagined. If it wasn't, the greatest feat of heroism any of us could hope to aspire to would be to get from the Dancing Boar to Centre Crossing without getting a hernia.

...all that said, furniture items are only useable in the room where they are placed, whereas this item functions anywhere as a normal part of the inventory. Also, the sundial just tells time, where the proposed item has other functions, such as a fantasy alarm clock.

Trevize

Sundial watch with an action...

Trevize looks at the sky and holds his arm out. Looking a little silly, he turns until he's facing just the right direction and attempts to keep his arm steady. After careful study, he announces "a quarter past six!"