Preservation Shield not Splendid?

[bron]

I'm playing human warrior in 3.5.0, and I pseudo-id a shield as {ego}. I wield it, and it is further pseudo-id'ed as {excellent} (note: not {splendid}). I then Identify the shield, and find that it is a Shield of Preservation.

I really think this should be changed. I assume that if I'm squelching "excellent, but not splendid" shields, the shield would auto-squelch. I think a Preservation Shield certainly should count as Splendid. Perhaps they could be given something relatively harmless, like +1 Infravision or something, so they would pseudo-id as Splendid?

[Derakon]

The problem here is really with the term "splendid", which implies "better than excellent"; really all it means is "has obvious bonuses". IMO the term "splendid" should be retired since the obvious bonuses are, well, obvious, and thus automatically ID when you equip the item. But unfortunately that "tier" of egos is also baked into the squelch system...

All of the ID process is due for a revamp sometime this decade anyway. Once we get rune-based ID this stuff should stop being an issue.

[Timo Pietilä]

All of the ID process is due for a revamp sometime this decade anyway. Once we get rune-based ID this stuff should stop being an issue.

With rune-based ID I think we need completely new squelch system too. Boolean combination game.

Seriously, I think much more detailed squelch is in order. Something that allows you to select resists that you want/don't need, weapons based on damage it does and so on. Aman cloak with light resist once you have Arkenstone is just Stealth cloak that ignores fire and acid. Same thing with Disenchantment and you want to keep it.

[bron]

I got nothing against these more grandiose schemes. But could we have a little hackish tweak now, and let the "real" fix be debated later (probably for years to come ) ?

[Nomad]

It took me forever to find out Shields of Preservation even existed, because by the time they were showing up in the game I was already auto-squelching {excellent} shields without bothering to ID them.

So I'm in favour of the suggested hack of giving higher level {excellent} egos like Permanence and Preservation some sort of tiny visible bonus like +1 infravision or stealth. I don't think that's too unbalancing, and it would save a lot of aggro when it comes to squelch and ID decisions.

[PowerWyrm]

I never bother because usually when shields of preservation start to appear I already got Thorin

[Timo Pietilä]

I never bother because usually when shields of preservation start to appear I already got Thorin

Thorin is now a lot rarer than it used to be. Or I'm having really bad luck finding it.

[fizzix]

It took me forever to find out Shields of Preservation even existed, because by the time they were showing up in the game I was already auto-squelching {excellent} shields without bothering to ID them.

So I'm in favour of the suggested hack of giving higher level {excellent} egos like Permanence and Preservation some sort of tiny visible bonus like +1 infravision or stealth. I don't think that's too unbalancing, and it would save a lot of aggro when it comes to squelch and ID decisions.

Not a bad idea. One that's really easy to make as a change for yourself without any coding. I would suggest that anyone that's been annoyed by this, just make the appropriate changes in the edit file.

[Timo Pietilä]

Not a bad idea. One that's really easy to make as a change for yourself without any coding. I would suggest that anyone that's been annoyed by this, just make the appropriate changes in the edit file.

Is {splendid} done that way in code level? Weapons with brands are splendid and those don't have any PVAL.

[Derakon]

Is {splendid} done that way in code level? Weapons with brands are splendid and those don't have any PVAL.

Branded weapons are obvious on-wield ("Your Scimitar spits acid!" or something), which is all that's needed to be splendid. Dunno why that was done for brands and not, say, armors with elemental resistances (I could imagine "You are surrounded by a cooling barrier!" for rFire, for example), which would in turn make those armors "splendid". But whatever.

This is part of why I think the excellent/splendid distinction is silly.

[Maddz]

What I'd like to see is a bit more granularity in terms of +'s, especially stat rings. In other words, set it up so you can auto-squelch up to, say +4, but leave +5 and +6 alone.

Also light sources - at the moment, you have the choice to squelch all lanterns - which would include the Brightness etc. I'm high enough level to not bother even ID'ing them, but at lower level, it could be useful to only squelch bog standard lanterns.

I'm not proposing an auto-squelch table which includes every possible item in the game, but a bit more granularity would be welcome.

Actually, another possible squelch setting could be based on base resale value. It bugs me that once you've ID'ed and sold an item, you don't remember the resale value. This would be particularly useful for non-ego items with a high base resale value - do you lug around an ego item that's heavy and it worth less than a non-ego item that's light and is worth serious money?

[MattB]

I'm not proposing an auto-squelch table which includes every possible item in the game, but a bit more granularity would be welcome.

FAangband already has this