Slightly off topic but related in a roundabout way.
What I find weird about this whole situation is that we've had MU*s that featured "real" programming languages (which were easily comparable in capabilities to, say, Python or Ruby, but without all of the mainstream support) for as long as we've had MUDs themselves and yet these have largely been ignored in favor of MUSH. What changed to suddenly make ditching MUSH in favor of Ares (or Evennia), a good idea?
@faraday said in What's So Hard About Ruby?:
20-30 years ago I would absolutely agree. Now? MUSHcode is so far divorced from modern programming paradigms and languages that any concepts you learn from it don't translate very well.
I ran into this from the opposite direction. I came into MUSHing with some QuickBASIC and Turbo Pascal experience, neither of which helped me learn MUSHcode. In fact, the experience led me to learn C so I could hard code the things I wanted and avoid MUSHcode almost entirely.
That was back in 1998. Since then, I've gotten a lot more comfortable with MUSHcode and can do pretty much anything I need to do in it provided I am sufficiently motivated to do so. I still much prefer a 'real' programming language though.
@roz said in Talking 'Bout Ares:
Newer codebases removing command prefixes is literally the best thing to happen to this hobby in like 20 years.
I will admit that I was dead set against the removal of command prefixes at first, but then I took a very long break from MUSH to work with Evennia, and when I returned, I found them to be terribly frustrating to use, mainly because I kept forgetting to type them. It was enough to make me grit my teeth in frustration and curse whoever it originally was that thought having WHO, who and +who commands on the same game made sense.
I have noticed that one of the most common complaints that I hear about MUSH on the Evennia Dev site, is the "weird and confusing" command syntax. This includes command prefixes, switches and use of the "=" sign to separate args.
Same basic function. The only difference in the complexity is the Evennia version supports the use of player-defined UI colors. One is clearly simpler than the other.
Ares/Ruby:
def header(str = '', width = 78)
return line if str.empty? || str.nil?
"%xn%x27-- %x33<< %x15#{str} %x33>> %x27%xH#{'-' * width - (str.size + 10)}%xn"
end
Evennia/Python:
def header(text: str, player: Character, width: int = settings.CLIENT_DEFAULT_WIDTH) -> str:
if o := player.options == None:
return ''
if not text:
out: str = f"|{o.border_color}{o.header_fill * width}|n\n"
else:
flen: int = width - len(strip_ansi(text)) - 10
out: str = f"|{o.border_color}{o.header_fill * 2} |{o.header_star_color}<< |{o.header_text_color}{text} |{o.header_star_color}>> |{o.border_color}{'-' * flen}|n\n"
return out
The only thing I do not like about Ruby is how it handles truthiness. Coming from C and Python, it knocked me for a loop when I discovered that only 'nil' and 'false' are false. Everything else, including empty strings and the number 0, for example, is true. Which just feels so... wrong!
It's easy enough to get used to though.
I have absolutely no idea!
Ruby is so similar (IMO) to Python that I was able to start programming for Ares (simple stuff, obviously) without knowing the first thing about Ruby. I just followed the examples in the code and looked up things online when I needed to. I've since taken the time to learn it properly and I like it so much that it has become my go-to scripting language. In fact, I am using it for my current Rhost based project, which makes extensive use of Rhost's RESTful API and execscript functionality.
Oh, and if you want to see what picky looks like, try running your Ruby code through Rubocop 
It may please some of you to know that there is a TTRPG version of FunCom's Secret World in the works. Check here for more info.
Can't recommend BeipMU enough to folks on Windows (and even Linux or BSD with WINE!).
@zombiegenesis said in Game System Tutoring?:
I've actually been working on a Savage Worlds plugin for Ares. Been tempted to try it out using Deadlands or an OC superhero setting.
Hey, me too, but I ended up switching over to Evennia for... reasons.
@bloodangel said in Cyberpunk:
@rnmissionrun I hope it comes out I love Cyberpunk Red. Running a real-life game.
I've never actually played it, but I was a huge fan of it's predecessor, CP 2.0.2.0., which I both played and ran on and off for more than a decade. I do own the book and I like what they have done with the setting.
@squirreltalk said in Cyberpunk:
Too bad that Cyberpunk Red(?) mu never ended up happening.
There's still at least one more of those in the works 
Bisexual male here.
When I first started MU*ing, I played female characters exclusively. This
was after I discovered (quite by accident, after creating a character with a
gender-neutral name) that female characters get a hell of a lot more
attention than male ones. This was in late 1996/early 1997 and being openly
gay/bi wasn't cool back then, so I became OOCly female as well. This had
the side-effect of allowing me to talk a little bit about RL stuff without
weirding people out. For example, I remember telling the story of how I had
sucked my date's room-mate's dick while I was waiting for him (the date) to
get out of the shower (he was in there for a good 40 minutes), and became an
instant hero to every guy on the game. To an attention starved, lonely,
confused scrawny bi kid stuck in a hellhole college where he didn't know
anyone, this was like mana from heaven, and I had a blast with it.
At least for a while.
Then I got tired of the BS.
You get tired of people assuming that just because you were willing to RP
with someone that you must be willing to fuck them, too.
You get tired of nearly every situation in which you find yourself alone
with a male on a game, turning sexual, no matter how hard you try to steer
it in other directions and no matter how inappropriate/unlikely the
relationship might be from an IC perspective.
You get tired of being stalked, watched and monitored because apparently
women cannot be trusted to not turn into whores the moment their man is not
around to keep an eye on them. It's amazing how quickly you can go from
being the big damn hero, to being a dirty whore. All it takes is RPing with
someone that your partner doesn't like or feels like he is competing with.
You get tired of dealing with supposed adults who don't seem to know
anything about women. I'm talking zip. Squat. Nada. Rien. Nothing.
It's not like I have any special insight into it being a man and all, but
some of the things I have had people tell me during TS made me want to shake my head in bewilderment and shout "WTF, dude, are you even from this
planet!? A woman's body doesn't work like that! I suck dicks and I know
that!!"
These days I find that I prefer to play hetero male characters. I usually
try to avoid relationships, but there have been a few situations in which a
relationship grew organically from RP so in those cases, I discussed it with
my partner so we could mutually decide, in advance, where things were headed and how we were going to handle it.
I have never explored gay male relationships online and I probably never
will, and that's because I am in a RL relationship with a wonderful guy and
I don't feel the need to vicariously explore that side of my personality.
P.S. Sorry if this rambles, but I am a bit drunk.
@Ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
@RnMissionRun said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
You can also get really good deals on last year's models.
These were Christmas gifts. I just can't immolate them.
Ah. Pity.
If you want a decent tablet experience, don't buy Android regardless of who makes it. Even Google has given up on them. If you want a good experience, buy an iPad. If you don't want to spend $500 on a toy for your kids to break, get a refurbished or used one. You can also get really good deals on last year's models.
The best part about being sick with a cold is I can eat as much of this as I want!
For when you really, really want to make bath time confusing. https://www.foodbeast.com/news/del-taco-french-fries-soap/
Apparently, stealing catalytic converters is a thing.
I don't think shower preferences are a gender thing. I'm a guy, and I like my showers so hot that it leaves my skin red after.
@Thenomain I hope you don't have the same thing I've got! I've been miserable for two days, I even took a sick day from work, and that's something that I just don't do. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.