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Re: There have been no events and let's talk about that.
@Brax I’d like to be very very clear about something:
The onus to create a drive in the story does not fall in the shoulders of people giving their free time to the game. It is clear to me as a player, even a frustrated one, that volunteers are spread too thin, expected to carry a game that is not their duty to carry, and not given enough credit for it.
The onus to create a drive in the story does not fall in the shoulders of people giving their free time to the game. It is clear to me as a player, even a frustrated one, that volunteers are spread too thin, expected to carry a game that is not their duty to carry, and not given enough credit for it.
This falls squarely on the shoulders of people who are paid to keep this game enjoyable. I am sorry about your personal circumstances. I’ve been there, not during covid, but I have been in those shoes and it fucking sucks so you have my deepest sympathy. However this isn’t on you. This is a failure in management. This is a game no longer having a dedicated lore person and suffering for it. This is a game cutting costs and hoping people will just be happy with more credit deals.
And the thing is, this was clearly becoming a problem before covid. It proves it’s not the fault of the volunteers. Do I wish gods were more active? Of course, but this problem exists well outside of any one volunteer. It comes from the top and needs to be addressed by the people who put us in this situation.
Know that I know people are struggling and know that no matter how little you’re able to do right now as a volunteer, I appreciate it immensely. It’s not your JOB to do it. You don’t get paid but you choose to do it anyway. I don’t bring these things up to be cruel or mean. I do it because I want this game to be what it is capable of being, for all of us.
Rasani
7
Re: There have been no events and let's talk about that.
we've poked a few things and been having a hard time getting the hooks to catch.
I don't understand this, the other night there was a clear, concise "LOOK OVER HERE" global emote out of Sterion, AT LEAST 6 people showed up and found the mob. I caught some feels over what felt like getting chastised in a pmote about a joke on web to fill the time waiting for other interested parties to show up so took the earliest chance to bounce, that being the NPC saying "you wouldn't understand, why are you even here, go away" in a few more words, and from all accounts it wrapped up ten minutes later without having done anything else. Six people is TEN PERCENT of your online player base that's HUGE engagement! Take into account the AFK idlers who are just keeping their vote weight and a facade of activity and you probably had most of the actually there and playing players show up to your one-off, no consequence event, and you even chased off one of them!
Mjoll
6
The Case for Mortal Storytellers
I meant this as a response to @Rasani's thread at https://forums.aetolia.com/discussion/3941/there-have-been-no-events-and-lets-talk-about-that#latest, but it kinda flew off the handle and I needed a new thread for it.
The culture was different when I was in the Pools. You spend a few months proving to Razmael or Oleis that you weren't a total goober, and didn't let your progs lag the game out too many times, and from then on you had a sort of Wild West impunity. Within reason, you could go mobpossess or rmote to your heart's desire, so long as what you were doing helped Make Aetolia Better in some way.
It was great! It worked really well! Some of the game's most lasting stories came out of this format.
I understand, even appreciate, that the culture of the game has shifted considerably since then. I don't need access to the Gods channel to know it - I get a glimpse of its shape every time I ask about event structure and storytelling freedom. It's the same each time: events beget hurt feelings, hurt feelings beget angry emails to Tiur, and more often, angry emails to Matt Mihaly or Jeremy Saunders. I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but the message seems to be clear: big events make players upset. We have to be exceedingly careful in running them now, or they'll cause more problems than they're worth.
I don't really buy it. I have a lot to say about methodology or approach, and originally that was going to be the meat of this next paragraph, but I decided it's ultimately unimportant, as it is neatly solved by my proposal:
We have a framework for this in place in the form of the Guide system. For the unaware, once approved as a Guide, a mortal is able to type BECOME HANSEL/GRETEL and move into one of the two as a shell, at which point they are given certain limited god permissions - the tools they need to do their job, of course. So not a huge paradigm shift!
Once logged into your Storyteller shell, you are not a Great Value God, nor even a Celani. Your name never appears on a WHO list in any way, shape, or form. You are permanently invisible. You should not even have a way to directly speak to a regular player. Your role is to convey spontaneous plots, through judicious use of mob possession, player/room/area-wide emotes, and perhaps even limited creation (for spawning one-off mobs like a stray dog, a vengeful spirit, etc.).
Maybe after a term of distinguished activity, with no marks against you, you are promoted to a higher grade of Storyteller (call it Senior Storyteller or whatever). This could come with relaxed restrictions, a little more freedom in terms of command use, and perhaps even the ability to pursue consistent storylines that can occur in multiple parts.
I played another game with a similar system to this - when a storyteller was in the room, doing their thing, you saw a message at the end of the room, just beneath the exits, saying something like "Storyteller013 is presiding here." I don't love OOC messages like this, and maybe there's a more flavorful way to get it across, but the important thing is that players should be able to see the shell's name, in case they need to report or issue the Storyteller!
If an event isn't enjoyed, or even considered outright problematic, that's on the player themselves. They can be dealt with accordingly, even losing their Storytelling privileges if it comes to that. I think "fewer angry emails to the boss" is a pretty big pro.
Cons: The biggest one that comes to mind is a Storyteller trying to make Official Lore Claims that they have no right to. Again, hopefully with careful choice of which tools to allow and the scope by which they can make changes, this isn't an issue.
This system would, by necessity, engender lots of small one-off events that don't have much bearing on the story. Maybe that's not what's desired by the playerbase, and this solution ultimately accounts for nothing. I think that can be worked around.
Finally, I could absolutely see a system like this having a lasting psychological effect, in which Celani perhaps don't consider it "their place" any longer to run stories. That's pure conjecture and maybe it wouldn't even be an issue, but I guess it's worth throwing out there. Game culture has shifted in weirder ways.
The culture was different when I was in the Pools. You spend a few months proving to Razmael or Oleis that you weren't a total goober, and didn't let your progs lag the game out too many times, and from then on you had a sort of Wild West impunity. Within reason, you could go mobpossess or rmote to your heart's desire, so long as what you were doing helped Make Aetolia Better in some way.
It was great! It worked really well! Some of the game's most lasting stories came out of this format.
I understand, even appreciate, that the culture of the game has shifted considerably since then. I don't need access to the Gods channel to know it - I get a glimpse of its shape every time I ask about event structure and storytelling freedom. It's the same each time: events beget hurt feelings, hurt feelings beget angry emails to Tiur, and more often, angry emails to Matt Mihaly or Jeremy Saunders. I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but the message seems to be clear: big events make players upset. We have to be exceedingly careful in running them now, or they'll cause more problems than they're worth.
I don't really buy it. I have a lot to say about methodology or approach, and originally that was going to be the meat of this next paragraph, but I decided it's ultimately unimportant, as it is neatly solved by my proposal:
Let's create a role for Mortal Storytellers!
Shells
I propose a system in which mortals apply for Storyteller status, are vetted, and approved for the role. From here, they'd establish a shell that is purely OOC and administrative, with restrictions and limited, specific access to certain god commands, such as GO or RMOTE.We have a framework for this in place in the form of the Guide system. For the unaware, once approved as a Guide, a mortal is able to type BECOME HANSEL/GRETEL and move into one of the two as a shell, at which point they are given certain limited god permissions - the tools they need to do their job, of course. So not a huge paradigm shift!
Once logged into your Storyteller shell, you are not a Great Value God, nor even a Celani. Your name never appears on a WHO list in any way, shape, or form. You are permanently invisible. You should not even have a way to directly speak to a regular player. Your role is to convey spontaneous plots, through judicious use of mob possession, player/room/area-wide emotes, and perhaps even limited creation (for spawning one-off mobs like a stray dog, a vengeful spirit, etc.).
Tools
Storytellers wouldn't need the full suite of God tools to play this role effectively. If I were doing the role, off the top of my head, this is what I would want:- GO - to get around. Naturally this'd probably be something you limit only to accessible areas in the continent of Sapience (proooobably not Albedos).
- SD - to put an object in a room or in a player's inventory. Would only work with objects marked as being owned by my shell, so I couldn't help you rob Seurimas.
- PMOTE/RMOTE/AMOTE - self-explanatory. I need to be able to write messages and set the scene!
- ACTION - perhaps with some kind of role-check so I can't instakill anybody or use the higher damage flags. This way, though, we can attack and create elements of danger, if need be.
- MOBPOS - I don't remember the syntax, don't laugh at me. But yeah, mob possession. Maybe make it ultra-restrictive, and allow Storytellers to only possess mobs with no loyalty. Wanna make the Spirean guard say stuff? Sorry, stay in your lane.
- CREATE - maybe, and this is a BIG maybe. I could see a few special OLC objects created and flagged as _storyteller - maybe a generic person, a generic animal, a generic key or macguffin - these being the only objects a Storyteller can create, with strict limits put on how often they can make them. They would be allowed to EDIT these, in case they want to make neat props for their event. All these objects should decay, and any mobs created should poof the instant the Storyteller leaves the shell.
Incentive
This is pretty simple! I doubt I could float the idea of Storytellers being paid a credit stipend like Guides. But how about milestones? Add this:- Run an event as a Storyteller (4 points).
Lore Implications and Promotions
I don't think I need to explain this, but Storytellers shouldn't be defining the lore. But.Maybe after a term of distinguished activity, with no marks against you, you are promoted to a higher grade of Storyteller (call it Senior Storyteller or whatever). This could come with relaxed restrictions, a little more freedom in terms of command use, and perhaps even the ability to pursue consistent storylines that can occur in multiple parts.
Potential for Abuse
Maybe this is where I'll lose some of you, but I'm of the opinion that the Storyteller should be allowed to go wild and free - let the tools limit what they can do. Everything they do will, of course, be logged down to the last command.I played another game with a similar system to this - when a storyteller was in the room, doing their thing, you saw a message at the end of the room, just beneath the exits, saying something like "Storyteller013 is presiding here." I don't love OOC messages like this, and maybe there's a more flavorful way to get it across, but the important thing is that players should be able to see the shell's name, in case they need to report or issue the Storyteller!
- "What if a Storyteller tries to mudsex my alt?" Issue them.
- "What if a Storyteller gives their favorite player a cool powerful weapon?" They can't.
- "What if a Storyteller tells us something that flies in the face of established lore?" 1. They can't tell you anything, the mobs they possess can. Mobs don't have to be correct. 2. Report them if it's egregious. 3. If your buddies believe anything that Attican blacksmith says... well, congratulations, you're officially the smart one of the group.
Why do any of this?
Pros: Players are given the ability to take this aspect of the game into their own hands. The responsibility for making Aetolia a living, breathing world is passed on to the people who also live and breathe in that world. Some of us already love setting the stage and crafting a story for others - but we're bound to using our character as an anchor to do this. This would be a fun alternative; maybe I want to try to introduce Enorian to ritualism, but I don't wanna do it as Lin!If an event isn't enjoyed, or even considered outright problematic, that's on the player themselves. They can be dealt with accordingly, even losing their Storytelling privileges if it comes to that. I think "fewer angry emails to the boss" is a pretty big pro.
Cons: The biggest one that comes to mind is a Storyteller trying to make Official Lore Claims that they have no right to. Again, hopefully with careful choice of which tools to allow and the scope by which they can make changes, this isn't an issue.
This system would, by necessity, engender lots of small one-off events that don't have much bearing on the story. Maybe that's not what's desired by the playerbase, and this solution ultimately accounts for nothing. I think that can be worked around.
Finally, I could absolutely see a system like this having a lasting psychological effect, in which Celani perhaps don't consider it "their place" any longer to run stories. That's pure conjecture and maybe it wouldn't even be an issue, but I guess it's worth throwing out there. Game culture has shifted in weirder ways.
Lin
10
Re: Class Viability pt. 2
I think people have perfectly outlined why it's not happening right now.Yeah, so far I've got:
They don't synchronize well enough
They don't have the right people
They don't have people in the right classes
They don't all know how to code
They don't know who is on what system
They don't know what others have prepared
They don't want to group PK
They don't want to play Aetolia
etc
Anyways, anyone talking about doing actual limb damage hasn't been paying attention to (or hasn't been present to see) what we've been doing in group fights since we got Warden - I don't want a Zealot/Ascendril/Monk with me because they will take too long to help set up a kill. Templar/Wayfarer and Lycan are most preferred since speedknights means more chances to prone from level 1 breaks and lycans can elevate on demand and not have to deal with rebounding to help keep someone prone and/or off salve balance, and these are available to everyone.
I've personally offered to multiple people on the Shadow side over the past howevermany years to code things for them, or include them in Sunder once they had things set up, and whenever someone has brought something to me I've done my best to incorporate it. I've also made this clear multiple times in the Sunder discord. Key note here: barely anyone took me up on that, and the one person who really did decided that I didn't update fast enough and made their own offshoot of Sunder (Darkside) that is supposed to be Shadow focused without even telling me, so I'm not really sure what more I could do other than go through and write team based offenses for every class myself.
Stine
6
Re: Announce post #3177: 2021 Celani Call!
I think it's a little goofy that we're putting more constraints on unpaid volunteers than a lot of companies put on their paid staff. I feel like if you're going to ask people to give you their labor for free, the pitch could be a lot better. Should be like a summer camp brochure "Play your favorite God! Eat marshmallows!"
Not
"Dump your entire social network for us on the off chance you might break NDA."
Not
"Dump your entire social network for us on the off chance you might break NDA."
Tetchta
5
Re: There have been no events and let's talk about that.
We just need someone who is paid to maintain an independent pipeline of events and lore. That's it. That's their job, not just one of many hats they must wear for a bigger job.
I feel as if everyone's points here are valid in their own ways. That there's such a varied response with regards to the terms of their agreement means that there's a wide variety of people who are unhappy and no one fix is going to rectify that.
We need a paid lore head/Storywriter for our story driven game. I get that we aren't Achaea and we can't shell out dough like whoa, but it doesn't really sit well with me that Aetolia had always held itself to a higher standard of storytelling but can't seem to muster the output of events or worldbuilding that standard would demand.
It's really frustrating that the most active the game has felt in the last year or so was when my org was melting down over their CL. To me, that's negative activity because it never gets channeled into a proper storyline. We had the Warden event happen during the 'climax' of that little spat - and the two mixed fairly well, making the whole mess feel a little more realistic and story driven due to the contrast and the way the event's lore fit into the current situation. But that was after the damage was already done and I had my eyes opened once more to this thought:
I shouldn't feel as if the world is most alive when players in the same organization are at each other's throats.
I feel as if everyone's points here are valid in their own ways. That there's such a varied response with regards to the terms of their agreement means that there's a wide variety of people who are unhappy and no one fix is going to rectify that.
We need a paid lore head/Storywriter for our story driven game. I get that we aren't Achaea and we can't shell out dough like whoa, but it doesn't really sit well with me that Aetolia had always held itself to a higher standard of storytelling but can't seem to muster the output of events or worldbuilding that standard would demand.
It's really frustrating that the most active the game has felt in the last year or so was when my org was melting down over their CL. To me, that's negative activity because it never gets channeled into a proper storyline. We had the Warden event happen during the 'climax' of that little spat - and the two mixed fairly well, making the whole mess feel a little more realistic and story driven due to the contrast and the way the event's lore fit into the current situation. But that was after the damage was already done and I had my eyes opened once more to this thought:
I shouldn't feel as if the world is most alive when players in the same organization are at each other's throats.
Iesid
10
Re: Announce post #3177: 2021 Celani Call!
I agree the tether rule is dumb but only because it only sort of exists? There are 3 volunteers past and present that makes it very clear the tether rule is open to interpretation.
Bulrok
5
Re: Class Viability pt. 2
It's faster than I ever knew it could be. You should see what their wardens are doing with it right now. There is zero reason we can't be doing the same thing if we had a couple of fex running lessers frequently.Ehtias said:Pulv is fast yeah, it's fast if you have multiple carnifex because of the gate on it.
During the hours I'm around spirit is winning with mostly wardens and our team is using classes that don't compliment each other well with no carnifex in sight. So the issue isn't that spirit has any advantage. They're literally just beating us with one of our own classes.
The lack of participation on shadow where group pk is concerned, combined with the quick willingness to give up is also a contributing factor.
Maybe I'm completely wrong though and everything is butterfly kisses and unicorn farts in the evening? I dunno, just my two cents.
EDITED TO MAKE IT CLEAR MY POST STARTS HERE. NESTED BLOCKQUOTES NEVER SEEM TO WORK RIGHT ???
My limited experience with Wardens has been mostly people doing damage/Czcibor killing half his team (and trying to kill a stack of decongestant pills???) with Sidewind, but I'll happily acknowledge that Pulverize can be pulled off very, very quickly with a group of Carnifex.
Several problems we have on Shadow, apart from attitudes or w/e, include:
- Most people who would be playing Carnifex are tinkering around with Revenant right now.
- Our limb options, aside from Carnifex, are Teradrim and Monk, and neither of them are as well-represented as Zealot is on Spirit. So when we have had Carnifex in the past, it has almost always seemed more pragmatic to stick to either a locking or damage strategy. Our other classes, while not completely incapable of contributing to a limb strategy, are generally not as well-equipped to do so as even, e.g., Luminary, and getting a target fallen doesn't help anyone other than Carnifex to get their kill conditions the way it does, again e.g., Luminary and Sentinel.
- Sadly, neither Indorani nor Archivist instakills are especially viable in groups. The former's insta (Vivisect) is gated by a delayed-onset affliction, and the latter's is gated by a slow ability that only makes the instakill available to the user. In both cases, there's a lot of precious time wasted - far too much in a large group. Our OTHER instakill options are Teradrim's Hammer, which requires bruising (a condition that was completely unavailable to our other classes prior to Revenant), and Praenomen's Annihilate. Annihilate is a mana-based finisher, though, which makes it somewhat unwieldy for reasons I hope I don't have to explain.
- I recognize Spirit isn't monolithic in its use of Sunder, but on the whole, Shadow's players are much more spread out across systems than Spirit players are. This makes it harder for group leaders to know what people will generally have prepared, as well as how to help less-experienced people use their system.
Alela
6
Re: There have been no events and let's talk about that.
Some totally unsolicited perspective from a volunteer side of things. Not speaking for anyone else, but this is my part. Not diminishing anyone's feelings (they are valid) but perspective anyway from just one part of a small team.
I'm a Celani that hasn't been able to contribute to events, and I play one of those gods Rasani mentioned in the other thread that logs in to chat on OT, bless people, then peaces out.
In the past year since I've been up:
1) A high chance that it'll go way over that two-hour window, I get no sleep, then have to do all of the above the next day feeling like I was hit by a truck
or
2) I have to pause mid-scene to go change a diaper, stop a fall, give meds, whatever. Let me tell you how much screen scrolling goes by in a huge event in just that little bit of time, super super difficult to catch up
Neither of these things goes together super well for event execution.
Here's the part where you might be saying: Well why have a role? Why not step down then?
While I haven't been able to do a whole lot of order interaction outside of blessing and quick chats, I was able to chip away in the small and inconsistent bouts of free time I had to write ~70% of the skill messages and descriptions you see in Revenants and Wardens. I can chip away in spreadsheets at style messages for Ascendril/Sciomancers, things like that.
Those increasingly rare times I get to log into a god shell and RP with some of our super talented writers here are a reward for the above. It's by far one of the biggest perks of doing the job.
The good news:
This is just my experience, but I'm definitely not alone in RL struggles just being relentless right now. A chunk of us are practically in survival mode at the moment, and even if Tiur popped in with a whipcrack and said "HEY DO EVENT" we would still be struggling.
If I was told to do an event or step down right now, I'd probably need to step down, but then my contributions in other less visible places would be lost too.
It sucks. I hate seeing the discontent when (in theory) I have the ability to help stop it but can't. I hate feeling like I'm letting order peeps down by being sparse. It's rough knowing you're a contributing factor to a lack of events.
But it's temporary, and there's light on the horizon even if I need to squint a little to see it.
This isn't an attempt at pity, or trying to make anyone feel bad, but just some perspective. If I had the spoons right now for a world event I'd be doing everything I could to make one happen, and I'm definitely not the only one in that state.
I'm a Celani that hasn't been able to contribute to events, and I play one of those gods Rasani mentioned in the other thread that logs in to chat on OT, bless people, then peaces out.
In the past year since I've been up:
- COVID and all of its ups and downs that come with it. Everyone's working suboptimally, and headspace is not so hot
- I've been taking care of my grandmother in my house who's got stage 4 breast cancer and a < 10 minute memory span
- Said cancer progressed to hospice care starting almost 5 months ago. I'm now changing old lady diapers (
) and spending most of what little free time I have doing extra work there with bedbound status taking effect - Breast cancer diagnosis from mom, two weeks of taking care of my autistic little brother on top of grandma during intense surgeries that all went awry for mom's cancer
- Planning a wedding (this Sunday, praise be)
- All on top of working 60-80 hours a week at my day job
1) A high chance that it'll go way over that two-hour window, I get no sleep, then have to do all of the above the next day feeling like I was hit by a truck
or
2) I have to pause mid-scene to go change a diaper, stop a fall, give meds, whatever. Let me tell you how much screen scrolling goes by in a huge event in just that little bit of time, super super difficult to catch up
Neither of these things goes together super well for event execution.
Here's the part where you might be saying: Well why have a role? Why not step down then?
While I haven't been able to do a whole lot of order interaction outside of blessing and quick chats, I was able to chip away in the small and inconsistent bouts of free time I had to write ~70% of the skill messages and descriptions you see in Revenants and Wardens. I can chip away in spreadsheets at style messages for Ascendril/Sciomancers, things like that.
Those increasingly rare times I get to log into a god shell and RP with some of our super talented writers here are a reward for the above. It's by far one of the biggest perks of doing the job.
The good news:
- Things are getting closer to normal with COVID thanks to vaccines. Headspaces improving/improved!
- (This is not as horrible as it sounds I promise) my responsibilities taking care of grandma are likely going to be measured in weeks left as things go downhill.
- Wedding is Sunday, no more planning! No more vendors, calls, zooms, payments, decorations, none of it, noooone of it
This is just my experience, but I'm definitely not alone in RL struggles just being relentless right now. A chunk of us are practically in survival mode at the moment, and even if Tiur popped in with a whipcrack and said "HEY DO EVENT" we would still be struggling.
If I was told to do an event or step down right now, I'd probably need to step down, but then my contributions in other less visible places would be lost too.
It sucks. I hate seeing the discontent when (in theory) I have the ability to help stop it but can't. I hate feeling like I'm letting order peeps down by being sparse. It's rough knowing you're a contributing factor to a lack of events.
But it's temporary, and there's light on the horizon even if I need to squint a little to see it.
This isn't an attempt at pity, or trying to make anyone feel bad, but just some perspective. If I had the spoons right now for a world event I'd be doing everything I could to make one happen, and I'm definitely not the only one in that state.
Brax
12
Help Popup Module for Mudlet
Hey guys,
One of my favorite, and I mean favorite features of Nexus is that, if you look up a help file, it pops up in its own separate window. this makes reading files a snap. Instead of painfully scrolling up while bashing to try and read, you can literally just have a liddle window that overlays over everything and can be moved around at your convenience.
When I first started getting into coding, I really wanted to emulate this feature, but it turns out it's surprisingly tricky to make work. Instead of piping help text into the GMCP table, Nexus instead uses a proprietary GMCP flag to remove the page length limits on generic help files, and then individually copy-pastes each line in the help file into the window and then deletes it from your screen. It's a pain, and a bit goofy, but it works. I gave up on that project then, but came back to it now that I'm better at coding. A year later, I'm like, "Hey, I'm just dangerous enough to copy multiple lines and delete them." And mostly that's because I already had the code in my system to do that, because I shamelessly stole it verbatim from @Lin.
Anyway, if you want it, here it is, a help popup window that's very similar to Nexus. It's actually better in some ways--mainly in that, since it's a UserWindow in Mudlet, you can actually move it all the way off your mudlet main window and completely out of the way. It works with MXP clickables, and I think I got all of the bugs out:
There are a few settings you might want to tweak in the help_grabber script, mainly setBackgroundColor() setting if you have a color other than black as your background (it uses RGBA format), and setWindowWrap() if you find you want it to be narrower or wider to your tastes.
Other than that, I think this should be plug-and-play with any system out there, providing the system in question isn't already scraping command strings for help messages.
One of my favorite, and I mean favorite features of Nexus is that, if you look up a help file, it pops up in its own separate window. this makes reading files a snap. Instead of painfully scrolling up while bashing to try and read, you can literally just have a liddle window that overlays over everything and can be moved around at your convenience.
When I first started getting into coding, I really wanted to emulate this feature, but it turns out it's surprisingly tricky to make work. Instead of piping help text into the GMCP table, Nexus instead uses a proprietary GMCP flag to remove the page length limits on generic help files, and then individually copy-pastes each line in the help file into the window and then deletes it from your screen. It's a pain, and a bit goofy, but it works. I gave up on that project then, but came back to it now that I'm better at coding. A year later, I'm like, "Hey, I'm just dangerous enough to copy multiple lines and delete them." And mostly that's because I already had the code in my system to do that, because I shamelessly stole it verbatim from @Lin.
Anyway, if you want it, here it is, a help popup window that's very similar to Nexus. It's actually better in some ways--mainly in that, since it's a UserWindow in Mudlet, you can actually move it all the way off your mudlet main window and completely out of the way. It works with MXP clickables, and I think I got all of the bugs out:
There are a few settings you might want to tweak in the help_grabber script, mainly setBackgroundColor() setting if you have a color other than black as your background (it uses RGBA format), and setWindowWrap() if you find you want it to be narrower or wider to your tastes.
Other than that, I think this should be plug-and-play with any system out there, providing the system in question isn't already scraping command strings for help messages.
Tetchta
8