SELECT YOUR CHARMThere has been a big change to
the way keyring accessories are displayed when you
examine another player. Don't panic if it looks like your
charms have all vanished - they haven't! Read on to find
out what's going on.
The change is intended
to solve a problem that has been getting worse over time.
When we first came up with the idea of the TenBrane
keyring, and the charms you can buy to hang from it, it
seemed logical that all the charms should be listed when
you look at somebody else. After all, why would you
bother to buy charms if you couldn't show them off? But
as we kept adding new charms each month, as well as the
special charms for holidays such as Christmas and
Halloween, anyone who bought them all was soon trailing a
long list, which meant that if you wanted to check what
they were wearing, you had to scroll back or you'd miss
their actual description. Take me, for example:
> ex me
Examine Founder Hazed
Hazed is only wearing black because they haven't
invented anything darker.
Hazed is carrying a multi-dimensional keyring made by
the prestigious TenBrane Corp. If you look carefully
you can see the glow of the macro-superstring logo.
It has on it:
An executive washroom key. The ornate key is a much
sought after key to the Galactic Administration
executive washroom, and is genetically coded to its
owner.
A 2005 valentine heart. You can see a small red
valentine heart with the number 2005 etched into it.
A croquet mallet. You can see a miniature croquet
mallet cunningly carved so that it also appears to be
a tiny pink flamingo.
A silver shamrock. The shamrock is an exquisitely
wrought silver keyring accessory.
A 2005 jester. You can see a square cut Venusian
diamond. At its heart a tiny holo of a jester juggles
balls, turns cartwheels and performs fire eating
tricks for your entertainment. In tiny letters on the
edge of the plinth on which he is performing is the
number '2005'.
A 2005 maypole. The maypole is a marvel of miniature
engineering. Tiny figures holding the ribbons dance
round it as you watch. Power is supplied by the
keyring, and etched into the pole, just visible, is
the number 2005.
A 2005 tarot card. The tiny tarot card is made of
burnished gunmetal depicting a highly stylized sun on
the obverse. The reverse side is an art deco
geometric design with the number 2005 in the center.
A 2005 liberty bell. The tiny replica of the Liberty
Bell is made of bronze. If you look carefully you can
see that it even has a crack down one side - just
like the original. Stamped on the rim is the number
2005.
A 2005 magellan ship. This keyring accessory is a
silver replica of Magellan's ship, the Victoria.
Engraved on the sails are the numbers 1522 and 2005.
A 2005 jack o lantern. The jack o lantern grins
evilly at you. The light inside is powered by the
keyring, and has been set to pulse in an odd, and
rather unsettling, arrhythmic fashion. The number
2005 is imprinted on the back.
A 2005 firework. As you touch it the firework emits a
shower of multi-colored sparks which crackle and
flash as they float away. The legend Diwali 2005 has
been embossed into the side of the firework.
A 2005 turkey. You inadvertently squeeze the tiny
rubber turkey, a 2005 special, and it immediately
makes a farting noise the volume of which completely
belies the size of the charm!
A 2005 cracker. You examine the TenBrane Corp
reverse-entropy Christmas cracker. There is a *BANG!*
as it comes apart, and then, before your very eyes,
the exploded parts drift back together to form a
whole. On the side is an ornate number, 2005.
A 2005 staff star. The tiny star glitters with an
intense blue-white light. It reminds you of Rigel
seen from its fourth planet. Squinting slightly, and
donning a pair of Raybans, you can make out lettering
deep in the heart of the star - 'Fed2 staff 2005'.
A 2006 music box. It starts to play Auld Lang Syne
and a hologram appears with the numbers 2006.
Suddenly they vanish and are replaced by a shadowy
figure - it is the ex-Emperor Ming! He laughs
maniacally, shouts "I'll be back" and then
fades away.
A 2006 camera. This is one of the new 53 tera-quantel
'Box Brownie 2006' holo cameras. At the touch of a
button the tiny camera expands to operating size,
making it easy to use both camera and projector
modes.
A 2006 rose. This Valentine rose is perfectly formed,
with deep red petals that will never fade, droop or
fall off. In the centre of the bloom, a small holo
flashes the number '2006'.
A 2006 prism. This four-dimensional glass prism
gathers in light and disperses it, sending rainbows
spreading out in all directions. Every so often, the
number '2006' flashes in amongst the seven bright
colors.
Phew! The whole charm
thing has got much too unwieldy.
The long-term solution
will be to give planet owners a way to take off some of
their charms and display them in a trophy cabinet on
their worlds, but there's a lot of coding involved in
that, so it's going to have to wait until Alan can
schedule it.
So as an interim
measure, the way charms are listed has changed. Now, only
one charm shows up when you examine a player - the charm
they are wearing.
> ex hazed
Examine Founder Hazed
Hazed is only wearing black because they haven't
invented anything darker.
A 2006 prism. This four-dimensional glass prism
gathers in light and disperses it, sending rainbows
spreading out in all directions. Every so often, the
number '2006' flashes in amongst the seven bright
colors.
You can still see all
of your own charms with the command 'EXAMINE ME',
so you can decide which of your collection you want to
display. The command is 'WEAR charmname' - the
name of the charm is the bit at the beginning of the
charm description, after the "A" and before the
period - 'wear 2006 prism' or 'wear 2005
magellan ship', for example.
You can check what
other people see when they look at you by using 'EXAMINE
yourname'.
You can change the
charm you display as often as you like - simply wear a
different one to match your clothes.
For the time being,
medallions are not showing up in the description at all -
they are still there, you haven't lost them, but Alan
needs to decide how best to display them.
|