Whispering

This is an idea I had a while ago about improving the flavour of whispering. Right now WHISPER seems to just act identically to SAY, except for a minor change to the message that is displayed (it says "whispers" rather than "says"). I think it would be interesting if it had some actual mechanical differences, in the same way that MUTTER (or MUMBLE, I can't remember which) does.

Essentially WHISPER <some text> would result in you actually whispering. People in the room would only catch the occasional word, the rest would be replaced with a "..." to indicate that there are words there, they just weren't able to catch them. If you were to WHISPER TO <person> <some text> then that person would hear it perfectly (because you're assumed to be close enough and whispering loud enough that they can hear you), but everybody else would still only hear the occasional word (as with an untargetted whisper).

The aural earring artefact (and possibly the hearing enchantment) could be extended to allow you to always hear what somebody is whispering due to your enhanced hearing capacity, regardless of whether it's targetted at you or not.
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  • NieelensarsNieelensars Southern, Texas
    Antonius said:
    This is an idea I had a while ago about improving the flavour of whispering. Right now WHISPER seems to just act identically to SAY, except for a minor change to the message that is displayed (it says "whispers" rather than "says"). I think it would be interesting if it had some actual mechanical differences, in the same way that MUTTER (or MUMBLE, I can't remember which) does.

    Essentially WHISPER <some text> would result in you actually whispering. People in the room would only catch the occasional word, the rest would be replaced with a "..." to indicate that there are words there, they just weren't able to catch them. If you were to WHISPER TO <person> <some text> then that person would hear it perfectly (because you're assumed to be close enough and whispering loud enough that they can hear you), but everybody else would still only hear the occasional word (as with an untargetted whisper).

    The aural earring artefact (and possibly the hearing enchantment) could be extended to allow you to always hear what somebody is whispering due to your enhanced hearing capacity, regardless of whether it's targetted at you or not.
    Essentially in one of the other IRE Games this is how it is, and I love the idea! I hope it goes through you've got my backing.
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  • ShirszaeShirszae Santo Domingo
    Excellent idea!

    And you won't understand the cause of your grief...


    ...But you'll always follow the voices beneath.

  • Yes, please.

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  • Yes. The potential for hilarity would be immense. 

  • edited April 2014
    Allow lipreading to see what's being whispered as well. And probably listen/eavesdrop, to make it consistent with SAY TO SEATED (which I've always interpreted as a limited sort of whispering).
  • I do not agree.

    I often use whisper instead of say when I have intimate/personnal conversations, though I do not want my interlocutor does not catch half of what I say. It is just a way for me to emphasis that the current conversation is beyond my usual formal way to address people. 
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  • @Orzaansyn If it's a private conversation between two people you could just WHISPER TO and they'd always hear exactly what you're saying.

    If there are more than two people involved then whispering might not be the appropriate method of communicating.

    If necessary it could be extended further to allow you to have private whispered conversations between multiple people, with the potential for people to overhear parts or all of it depending on lip reading, aural earring, etc. I think there's already something similar to this for furniture.
  • In that case, I agree.

    :D
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  • I'm just not sure when you would use this. If you don't want anyone to hear what you're saying, you send a tell. If you want people to know that they can't hear what you're saying then you send a whisper? I just can't help but feel it would mostly be used to be a dick.
    Tvistor: If that was a troll, it was masterful.
    I take my hat off to you.
  • Definitely make whisper target only one person, and make it appear like an emote to everyone else in the room. Then give serpents an ability they can use to overhear them.
  • edited May 2014

    Course most of us are deaf anyways and read speech with our mindseye.

  • TharvisTharvis The Land of Beer and Chocolate!
    Greys said:

    Course most of us are deaf anyways and read speech with our mindseye.

    this is a good point actually, how would it work if there was a serpent in the room with that lipreading thing?

    Aurora says, "Tharvis, why are you always breaking things?!"
    Artemis says, "You are so high maintenance, Tharvis, gosh."
    Tecton says, "It's still your fault, Tharvis."

  • Then you could buy a ventriloquism artefact so that you would whisper without moving your lips, thus preventing lipreading from working.

    Then you could buy a highly-sensitive hearing artefact that would allow you to hear all the whispers in the room.

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  • I don't see how lipreading must necessarily circumvent it to be logical. Generally, people who can read lips can only do it when the other person is facing them and speaking very clearly. When someone turns away and quietly whispers to another person, it would be very difficult to read their lips.


  • TharvisTharvis The Land of Beer and Chocolate!

    @Iocun, the voice of reason, bane of new artefact ideas!

    Aurora says, "Tharvis, why are you always breaking things?!"
    Artemis says, "You are so high maintenance, Tharvis, gosh."
    Tecton says, "It's still your fault, Tharvis."

  • CaladbolgCaladbolg Campbell County TN
    >_> So whispering doesn't already do this.. 

    I've been using it wrong this entire time..

  • Inevitable result of whispering:


    DOODLY-DEE-DOO-TIN-TA

  • KresslackKresslack Florida, United States

    I really hope this gets added. My attempted uses at whispering in the past seemed a bit pointless considering -everybody- in the room apparently just heard you whisper to your companion a comment on how large that woman's rear end is and why is she now staring at us angrily like she just heard everything I said?



  • KresslackKresslack Florida, United States
    Kyrra said:

    I always saw whispering more for comedy value than anything else. Like loudly confiding to someone next to you about something, like those assholes at the cinema that never stop whispering but everyone can hear them anyway. Otherwise, you know, there's tells.

    Well we have mumbling (or is it muttering?) which gives you bits and pieces of the spoken sentence. Secrets don't have to be confined to tells! 



  • Kresslack said:

    Well we have mumbling (or is it muttering?) which gives you bits and pieces of the spoken sentence. Secrets don't have to be confined to tells! 

    Yes, which seems to have been especially coded to not occlude any of the letters when you're saying something offensive.

    Tvistor: If that was a troll, it was masterful.
    I take my hat off to you.
  • I think it's a good idea. Unless correctly roleplayed, whispering doesn't make much difference now.


  • IsaiahIsaiah Georgia
    edited June 2014
    Just finished reading the rest of the forum, no need for double post

    Eat like a caveman, train like a beast. Champions are not born, they are made. 

  • VayneVayne Rhode Island

    Whispering already had mechanical differences if I remember correctly. If someone is eavesdropping they cannot hear you if you whisper.

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  • Vayne said:

    Whispering already had mechanical differences if I remember correctly. If someone is eavesdropping they cannot hear you if you whisper.

    If that's true, it's pretty strange, considering eavesdropping can hear things that people in the room can't hear.

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