When I read descriptions, I look for what is different. You can write a 15 line description that covers all details, or you can use a few simple adjectives such as:

of average height
or with tanned skin

and then add the important details such as:

a thin lipped mouth, drawn down naturally into a frown
or a snaking scar across the jaw

I would rather see a couple unusual features then every interesting thing about your character. After all, isn't that how we first recall people, by what features stick out?

As for rooms, the more you can interact with features the better. Though I would agree that a desert with nothing but sand does not need a long description, a mention of a piece of bone or wood, perhaps of the slope down or up, or the rippling waves caused by the wind, would all add to the room. In indoor rooms, long to me, is good. Because inside, you may not look around a lot at first (so you just scan the description) but if you spend some time in the room you might begin to notice details (at which point you are reading specific extra descriptions for objects, etc.) Like real life, give layers to descriptions, so as you begin to spend more time around a place, you get to know it better.

Ooh, that sparked a thought. Too bad we can't have extra descriptions on our characters. 4-5 lines for our description, and then 2 lines or so for a few chosen features. So if I had that snaking scar, I could add a description that if you "look sapphar scar" you would see a few lines describing the path of it, or the color the scar tissue has taken, or how it pulls her lip down at an odd angle. *ponder* bet thats something that will never be implemented. *pout*

Sapphar