@create #29938 named Macros/Scripts and the Meaning of Life:Macros/Scripts and the Meaning of Life
;;#73927.("text") = {{" ", "       _What's So Wrong with Scripts/Macros Anyway?_", "                  by Grand_Master", " ", "Every once in a while a player will produce an automatic script (aka macro) that allows them to wander away from their keyboards and still swing at monsters, hurl weapons at targets, and cast spells on themselves or their second chararacters in an effort to raise their skills and attributes.  They get upset with various gamemasters who circumvent their programming and/or punish them for using such tools.  They ask, \"What's the big deal?\" or, \"Why should you care what an individual programmer does with their personal voodoo doll?\".  This is an attempt to answer that question from a gamemaster perspective so that players can see where the game designers are coming from.", " ", "Not all scripts are bad.  The code on Kristia's Friendly Spells FO saves alot of typing and increases the playability by saving us from constantly typing in the name of the focus we're using to cast the spell.  This is nice.  It lets playing the game seem more 'natural' ... if casting magic is ever really natural ...", " ", "All scripts, however, do use ticks.  It is the responsibility of the script programmer to ensure that the script is concise, maintainable, and as fast as is practical.  A script that makes poor use of the MOO programming language is a bad script because it wastes MOO resources.", " ", "\"So is an elegantly written script always OK then?\"   Most definitely not.  Any script that lets you walk away from the keyboard and continue building stats is bad.  The major problem is that you are using LambdaMOO resources even though you aren't really there.  This is really unfair to people who are at their keyboards enduring the lag that you are contributing to.", " ", "It is also unfair to other players and to the gamemasters.  Some folks brag about cheating.  I don't know why.  It diminishes the acheivements of players who play the game by the rules and it makes lots more work for the gamemasters.  The protections and security that gamemasters have to put into their verbs take time and effort.  It also causes more MOO resources to be used in the prevention of exploitation by unscrupulous players.", " ", "Moral:  Don't use scripts that allow you to wander away from your keyboard.  Don't steal.  Don't cheat.  If you write a script and aren't sure if it's OK, ask a gamemaster.  If it's good, maybe it can be included in the rpg core.  If it's bad, you'll know  and you won't cause any acrimony.", " "}, {}, {}, {}, {}, {}, {}, {}, {}, {}}
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;;#73927.("writers") = {#2693, #105941, #104762, #30788}
"#73927.("key") => E_PERM (Permission denied)
;;#73927.("aliases") = {"Macros/Scripts and the Meaning of Life"}
;;#73927.("description") = "A tear-stained steno notepad. Somebody's been crying over something inside ..."
;;#73927.("object_size") = {3681, 1141286627}

"***finished***