I guess I'm starting to think of it as not just an interface. I'm thinking of it as a representation of in-game reality - you walk into a room full of treasure and say "Junk, junk, junk, ooh nice looking sword, junk, ...". And what you say "junk" to is represented by your ignoring settings.
Now this works perfectly for potions, scrolls etc where you've seen one, seen them all. But the situation with (most) things you can wear/wield is you have no idea until you ID it, or use it for a bit, or carry it round for a bit, or some combination of those.
So what I'm trying to do is rethink the whole thing, and work out what makes sense. People have certainly made some very good arguments for rune-based ID, here and elsewhere, but I don't want to just assume it's the best thing without examining alternatives.
Rune-based ID also AFAIK doesn't deal with bonuses, but I don't think anything really does that very well.
Now this works perfectly for potions, scrolls etc where you've seen one, seen them all. But the situation with (most) things you can wear/wield is you have no idea until you ID it, or use it for a bit, or carry it round for a bit, or some combination of those.
So what I'm trying to do is rethink the whole thing, and work out what makes sense. People have certainly made some very good arguments for rune-based ID, here and elsewhere, but I don't want to just assume it's the best thing without examining alternatives.
Rune-based ID also AFAIK doesn't deal with bonuses, but I don't think anything really does that very well.
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