Possible bug?

[d_m]

Regarding the item memory, it wouldn't change the strength of blindness at all as this feature is already available as long as the player is willing to put up with tedious note-taking. This is the same concept behind monster memory and ID-by-use, among other things.

Your argument is simplistic. Monster memory and ID-by-use deal with things that never change in the game (the stats of monsters, and the state of a particular item, or item kind). The whole question is whether things that might or might not change while blinded should be displayed as if they haven't changed.

Do you also think that "old" monster positions should be saved and shown while blinded? That seems like the logical analog of continuing to show items while blinded. I would support either doing this, or hiding the items.

[buzzkill]

You could always revoke the current 'perfect memory' that every PC is blessed with.

Imagine a circular area centered on the player, the size of this circle 10' x (INT+WIS), and outside of this circle, a characters memory starts to become imperfect. Items, monsters, traps, and even walls and floors may not be exactly where they appear to be until you re-explore (or re-detect) the outlying area.

It's just an idea. I'm not saying it's a good idea.

[Marble Dice]

Thinking about my comment, I guess I had always assumed that blindness should be very harsh.

Right now I am mostly playing priests and rangers; if you carry CCW, staff of teleport, etc, then blindness is no worse than, say, confusion (which is bad, but you can work around it).

I guess my point wasn't that you can't work around it, just that it's still a potentially character killing status effect if you're caught unprepared. Blindness specifically is one of the reasons I carry !CCW, the others being HP and confusion.

Your argument is simplistic. Monster memory and ID-by-use deal with things that never change in the game (the stats of monsters, and the state of a particular item, or item kind). The whole question is whether things that might or might not change while blinded should be displayed as if they haven't changed.

Do you also think that "old" monster positions should be saved and shown while blinded? That seems like the logical analog of continuing to show items while blinded. I would support either doing this, or hiding the items.

Yes, it's a bit of a simplification as items can sometimes be removed. However, there's a big difference between items which are still going to be there 95% of the time when you become un-blinded and monsters which will move every turn. I wouldn't mind having a "phosphor-burned image" of the state of the dungeon from the time you become blinded, but the monsters would really only help remind you what was in the vicinity, as they will almost always move every turn. The items and the walls both can change, but only rarely compared to the monsters. Should the walls be hidden because an Umberhulk could possibly say hello?

I feel kind of silly debating about this... because I'm still just going to quaff !CCW when I get blinded, and I'm not sure I've ever needed to remember where I left an item on the ground while I was blinded in combat.

You could always revoke the current 'perfect memory' that every PC is blessed with.

...

It's just an idea. I'm not saying it's a good idea.

My heart stopped between these two statement.

[d_m]

Imagine a circular area centered on the player, the size of this circle 10' x (INT+WIS), and outside of this circle, a characters memory starts to become imperfect.

Just like Dragon Warrior! Now we can all draw our maps on graph paper like $DEITY intended!

[d_m]

I feel kind of silly debating about this... because I'm still just going to quaff !CCW when I get blinded, and I'm not sure I've ever needed to remember where I left an item on the ground while I was blinded in combat.

Yeah, I am involved in several of these vision arguments and I feel the same way. In my case I may be hounded by a foolish desire for consistency in the way monsters and items are viewed.

[buzzkill]

Just like Dragon Warrior! Now we can all draw our maps on graph paper like $DEITY intended!

Don't you miss the good old days. I remember drawing graph paper, then drawing my map on it. It seems I had a lot of free time on my hands back then.

[PaulBlay]

Don't you miss the good old days. I remember drawing graph paper, then drawing my map on it. It seems I had a lot of free time on my hands back then.

Ah, there was nothing like mapping half the level then finding that you'd slipped one square out somewhere and having to go back over it all again.