Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 daladinn Oct 19, 2010 10:37:18	i would like to ask the developers to add these two steps into the developement process. yes , it may slow things down a bit , but i think overall it will increase the quality and popularity of the products that are being made. 1 - have we thought throguh the implications of this? 2 - have we done a thorough enough playtest of this before we make it live? as for ways to help WoTC handle the new workload .... regardign question 1 , posting an advanced preview to the DDI base for review and comment will halp to spot any glaring issues. regarding question 2 , pushing things in as a playtest the way the monk was playtested with the DDI community will help resolve many of these issues. on top of raisign the standards of the published material this will also help raise the attitudes of the DDI community.
#2 cathak Oct 19, 2010 14:21:10	There was a thread somewhere with an outline of a meta-language that could be used to define how powers, feats, et.c. actually works. This language could be translated into flavor text as well as computer-readeble logic. That thread seems to go hand in hand with your suggestion.
#3 lokiare Oct 21, 2010 15:27:08	I'd be interested in reading that thread if you could find it.
#4 cathak Oct 21, 2010 17:17:03	Found it: Suggestion: Create a RAI = RAW language standard, didn't get very far though…
#5 lokiare Oct 22, 2010 0:47:42	Found it: Suggestion: Create a RAI = RAW language standard, didn't get very far though… thanks for finding it, after reading it I can see why it wouldn't work well. A better way would be to create a language parsing engine similar to a programing compiler. It would read in the description and then parse it. something like this: "Fly Bite     fighter Attack 13 fluff fluff, fluff, more fluff Encounter * marital, weapon standard action    melee weapon primary target: one creature Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex Hit: 1/2 [w] + dexterity modifier damage. Make a secondary attack. Weapon: if your weilding a dagger you gain a bonus to the damage equal to your charisma modifier. Secondary Target: one enemy adjacent to the primary target and within your melee reach. Secondary Attack: Dexterity - 2 vs. Reflex Hit: dexterity modifier damage Weapon: if your weilding a dagger you gain a bonus to the damage equal to your charisma modifier." would be parsed into the following tokens: fly bite [tab] fighter attack 13 [end of line] fluff fluff , fluff , more fluff Encounter * marital , weapon [eol] standard action [tab] melee weapon primary target : one creature Attack : Dexterity vs. Reflex Hit : 1/2 [w] + dexterity modifier damage . Make a secondary attack . Weapon : if ..... and so on. then they are parsed to match patterns. to update all u do is add a new pattern to search for and what to do with it. trivial. instead of having to rewrite the entire CB from the ground up each time they update. in fact put the patterns in a database and they can be updated by someone without a lot of experience, or even added in a seperate file for 3rd party publishers. Call it a mod or whatever.