Re: Read languages(runes) skill

From: ShadowLord (dkoepke@california.com)
Date: 04/29/96


On Mon, 29 Apr 1996, Eduardo Gutierrez de Oliveira wrote:

> Actually is "Estacion de Radio es esta"...:)

	So it's been a few years... :P  Hm, isn't "estacionamento" parking
lot?  So I goofed.  BTW, why "esta"?  Is estacion fem.?

> The way they do it is by ramdonly erasing parts of messages and 
> substituting them with "x"'s, so "What radio station is this" Could be 
> read as "Wxxxt xxdxo xtxtxon xs xxis" for someone that has no idea of 
> the language (thus simulating in some way the way some languages can be 
> partly understood) to something like "Whax radxo statxxn ix txis" for 
> someone more versed (say, 90%) and to the full "What radio station is 
> this" for a 100% knowledge of the language. This could apply to read and 
> heard language.

	Hm, that would work, and probably be easier than scrambling it up
in random places.  Just pick a random place, drop an 'x' in there, and
done. :)

> 
> Now to the disadvantages: Unless someone is very good at programming, I 
> cannot see the way in which it could be provided that users wouldn't read 
> a paper 20 times and then figure out the message since every time they 
> get different parts of the message (in Nethack some messages erase more 
> every time you read them, so you cannot do this). Maybe recording in some 
> way what each user has read in the paper and sticking to it (I repeat, 
> this could apply to spoken messages too).

	Your players must have some kind of memory, or be really lame to
sit there and write down things on paper to decipher a [probably]
worthless message -- unless it says that a nuclear bomb is about to hit
the US, they'll probably get bored with it (unless they're sooooo bored
that it's the most interesting thing they can find).
	In any case, it'd be easy to decrease their skill in the language
if they kept reading it.  Just keep a pointer to the last read object and
a count of how many times they've read it.  If they read it 3 times in a
row, decrease their skill in reading that language by some.  Then it'll
become harder to read all of the message if they sit their concentrating
on a few words in a sentence...  Heh, it's slightly unrealistic, but a
very easy and applicable solution.

> 
> Also, it should be possible for several people in a group to read a piece 
> of paper and each get different parts of the same, so with the united 
> knowledge decipher it (this could be very close to some realities, so it 
> should be ok and even mandatory..:)

	That's not quite possible, really.  Because the chances of each
group memember coming up with different letters for every word and being
able to correctly place them in order and convey their learned information
to each other is unlikely.  Especially since not all of them will be
speaking the same language (it's more than likely, anyway, that they'll
have a small communications problem, unless they refuse to group wit
hsomeone whom only knows their language to 75%).  Anyway, if they're
willing to spend the time on it, then they should be able to do this.  But
what's the liklyhood of a group of players that all speak the same
language and have good reading skills in another language that is not
their native one?

>[snipped ,sig]

	Just one question -- why would you run a MUD that uses English but
requires it's players to speak in Spanish?  Sounds kind of inconsistent to
me; but do what ye' like, as long as you enjoy it. :)



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