tbaMUD Continued development of the CircleMUD core

Parna brought this up a while back here. And I agree it should be added. The question is to what level we should go. A command (all players), a skill, a spell, a scroll, or a combination of any of the above.

My initial thought is as a spell (cleric 12, mage 20), a scroll (expensive >1000 (100 fido's), and identify command in shops.

What does everyone else think?

I don't know, it could end up being something removed from various codebases as a conflicting command/spell/scroll based on the type of mud the person is making.

Unless if can be put in as a immortal_command toggle to disable usage.

Yes, I think it should be added. However one sees TBA, it should have a spell like that in the available spell list - as a template to "roll your own". After all, most of the spells (that are already in the game) are likely to be restructured. They're there as templates and inspiration - made to be altered by future mud owners.

In this regard, the identify spell is nothing special.

However, because the spell needs to passed the given argument as well as the spells needs to find its own target, it needs special handling, and this part is the reason the spell should be implemented as an example of how this can be accomplished.

Also, in the spell handling for identify, the appearance of the results will vary based on the type of the target object. Again, this would be a good illustration of how to implement something like this.

I have a feeling that I'm missing something here. Why would a mud not want players to be able to ID? A mud is all about gaining experience and becoming bigger and better. One of the ways to do this is by getting bigger and better equipment. On muds with no ID, how do you choose your equipment? I've been told by some people that AC is everything. I've been told that AC is worthless if your stats aren't right. I've been told that different classes need different stats. Obviously, there are many different opinions on what makes good equipment which is one of the things that keep builders (like me) in business.

When I go on a new mud, I generally base my first character around the ability to id so I can plan a stronger character. If I were to be told to choose my equipment by looks and level alone, I wouldn't be there long.

Because some muds in general might want to handle using ID in a different way. If its already in, and not what the admin wants, they have to go around taking the time to remove it, or change it. I have no quirks with it as a spell, or even a scroll. But not added to a shop list.

I think with a spell, you just don't assign it to any class and as a scroll, you just don't use it in any scrolls, which is probably why you aren't worried about those. I can see the point about shops though. For instance, I've been on muds where things can be randomized or changed in various ways which could make shop id misleading.