Topic name should be hidden by default

[Vargr]

Originally Posted by Cornelius

If both names are used then make two topics and link them with either relationships or through a link in a snippet that explains Finn is the Midnight Crawler.

This would be redundant (entering the info twice) and would make the topic list expand quickly for no good reason. And, IMHO, making it more difficult to - at a glance - see what the character is all about.

No, it simply isn't elegant - and certainly not the way I instictively perceive things. It would be counter-intuitive for me.

I know, our look on this obviously differs
Still, I really would like this behaviour to change.

[Farling]

Originally Posted by Vargr

This would be redundant (entering the info twice) and would make the topic list expand quickly for no good reason. And, IMHO, making it more difficult to - at a glance - see what the character is all about.

It wouldn't require entering all the data twice, since one of the two topics would be a stub that contains a relationship (or other link) to the other topic.

[Cornelius]

I agree that it will create redundancies. And I agree that it is counter intuitive.
It is the way things work at the moment. And secret identities create a lot of problems.
You would need to be able to identify which alias you are using and what information has been revealed under that alias.

For instance:
Players meet Midnight crawler and get a description of him. Suppose they notice he is limping (so that information is revealed).
Later they meet Finn Sawdust. They speak with him while he sits behind a desk and so do not know if he is limping.

Now how to show this to the players?
If they look up the Midnight Crawler they will see his description and the information that he is limping. (Not that he is Finn Sawdust).
If they look up Finn Sawdust they should only get the description, but not the information that he is limping.

You may end up revealing more information than you want.
Example. If players compare the notes they will notice an exact copy of the description between the Midnight Crawler and Finn Sawdust.

[Vargr]

Originally Posted by Cornelius

I agree that it will create redundancies. And I agree that it is counter intuitive.
It is the way things work at the moment. And secret identities create a lot of problems.
You would need to be able to identify which alias you are using and what information has been revealed under that alias.

For instance:
Players meet Midnight crawler and get a description of him. Suppose they notice he is limping (so that information is revealed).
Later they meet Finn Sawdust. They speak with him while he sits behind a desk and so do not know if he is limping.

Now how to show this to the players?
If they look up the Midnight Crawler they will see his description and the information that he is limping. (Not that he is Finn Sawdust).
If they look up Finn Sawdust they should only get the description, but not the information that he is limping.

You may end up revealing more information than you want.
Example. If players compare the notes they will notice an exact copy of the description between the Midnight Crawler and Finn Sawdust.

A good point - I haven't thought of that.
Particularly valid if using the player access tools.

I didn't think of this because the way I plan to use this, is to reveal the information to the players on a screen during the session. I am not planning to give them access to the information through webaccess or player client. At least not at the moment (well, it can't be done yet anyway ).

This means that I can finetune the data revealed, switching the limping on and off as needed (for example) and even let players' characters forget things along the way.

But yes, it poses a problem - how can that be solved?
Is a second identity - eh - topic really the best solution?

[ibecker]

I think that the name/aliases should not be automatically revealed, ever. Just like any other piece of information in a topic, each name/alias should be revealed if and only if the GM decides to reveal it. For example, if I (as the GM) wish to reveal that the PCs see a person with a particular tattoo or a building with a particular symbol carved into it, I would like to be able to do that while revealing exactly as many identifiers for that person or building as I choose - be that none, all, or any number in between. From the player perspective, the identifier could simply default to "Unknown", or something similar.

-Ian

[Cornelius]

So the feature request would be that you could determine which alias is shown in the player view. I would +1 that request.

But remember that even in player view you cannot show both characters side by side. So you will not grant them a request if they want to see both topics side by side to compare notes? (This is a legitimate choice on your part, and they should make their own notes, but I know my own players would grumble at that. If you have the means why not use it?)

Ian: The current system is such that you only reveal what you have marked as to be revealed as a GM. So yes you can reveal that the person has a mark of a dragon on his chest, but not that the dragon has three tails as they cannot see that. This also goes for aliases. So if the players know Finn Sawdust, but have not heard his nickname yet, you do not have to reveal the nickname.

[ibecker]

Originally Posted by Cornelius

Ian: The current system is such that you only reveal what you have marked as to be revealed as a GM. So yes you can reveal that the person has a mark of a dragon on his chest, but not that the dragon has three tails as they cannot see that. This also goes for aliases. So if the players know Finn Sawdust, but have not heard his nickname yet, you do not have to reveal the nickname.

Right, that's true, but what I'm suggesting goes further: I'd like to reveal that they see "someone" with a dragon tattoo on his chest, but without revealing any name or alias for that "someone" at all. This is currently not possible, because in order to reveal the "dragon tattoo" snippet, I must reveal at least one name/alias for the person (the Topic itself). I'd like to remove that dependency.

[Vargr]

Originally Posted by ibecker

Right, that's true, but what I'm suggesting goes further: I'd like to reveal that they see "someone" with a dragon tattoo on his chest, but without revealing any name or alias for that "someone" at all. This is currently not possible, because in order to reveal the "dragon tattoo" snippet, I must reveal at least one name/alias for the person (the Topic itself). I'd like to remove that dependency.

Exactly! This ability would be very useful - let's start with that

[Mystic Lemur]

Originally Posted by Vargr

and even let players' characters forget things along the way.

Wholly off topic, but I see this as a problematic GM decision. Players sometimes remember things you don't expect them to, and telling them "You remember, but your character forgot." may go over like a lead balloon. The point, as I understand it, of player view is to summarize things that the characters know but the players may have forgotten.

[Mystic Lemur]

Delete Me, I am a double post.