Thread: You
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Old 04-03-2003, 12:54 AM   #2
Iluvatar
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Mississippi USA
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I don't think it's really a debate at all. 'You' is obviously a part of speech and has places where its use is warranted. Where it's used though is historically for "you are here" type rooms the basic licensors enabled as examples for descriptions and carried onward by simplistic downloaders.

To me and to quite a few whose opinions I value, 'you' is a result of either force or conscious choice by the 'actor' ie <look west> "You see tall buildings with spires of smoke curling from the chimneys." "You were swept into the maelstrom of the storm and carried far aloft. Prayers to your Gods for a soft landing would be wise."

A basic room should be somewhat generic and never impose questionable standards or emotions or potentially unreasonable actions upon a player. "There is a wonderful smelling flower here, you pick it up and get warm feelings from the heady aroma." Okay, I'm an Anti-Paladin, give me a break, I want to eat it.

'You' is typically an imposition, a potentially unwanted word that implies 'you must or you did' when it's not really an option you would choose or are capable of in roleplay or real life. Many worlds handle it differently with either uncaring apathy due to need for growth concerns or lack of a clear understanding what the proper function should be in their particular context. I mean "you are here and about to get your butt whupped by $n" is perfectly fine in a PK intense world but it seems lacking in a world that prides itself in room interaction, quests or role-play.

Is there a hard, fast rule? Not really. Totally banning 'you' from descriptions is silly. Making it something that builders are always cognizant of avoiding is smart and solves tons more problems than it creates.
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