Change, Part 1: Caller Automation

[Wulfson]

Having been a developer and a user of a calling tool in the past, I'll post my two cents. My interest in a calling tool was more of a desire to know more about Windows GUI programming than a need for a tool to help me call. Mine wasn't automated. I'd click on the moves for each duelist, hit "call round" and it would generate text that could be pasted into the chat. It was fun to work on, but it didn't really add to my hosting experience. I used it on a few nights for validation, and on some other nights when I felt brain dead.

A tool doesn't have to use the same repetitive call each time. I'd developed mine to allow each to user to customize their own to their character's style and add multiple possibilities for the same combination. Since it doesn't personally know each duelist, the calls still can't be personalized to the duelists. If I felt the call text didn't fit well, I could still type my own into the chat.

Now, to the point of this post. In order to be considered, an automated calling tool has to be just as reliable as a host, which I don't see happening. Topaz pointed out some issues with the present tool. I've only used it once, but I had issues with it then too. I've also been on the duelist side when it hasn't worked. Let's consider some of the other nonstandard issues we've had to deal with as callers.

Even when I did use my calling program, I wrote all of the moves down on paper. Paper is immune to crashes/reboots of any sort (unless you've got a laptop with a recalled battery that wants to burst into flame, or perhaps a two year old...). Paper doesn't care if the user's account somehow got locked out of the chat room halfway through the duel and they had to switch SNs. Paper doesn't care if I lose power, my Internet connection, or if my hard drive crashes. If the flash chat session dies, I can restart it. If the server crashes, I can switch over to an AIM/AOL chat room. If the user's IMs die, I can switch to email. Let's see an automated calling tool do that.

An automated calling tool would also have to keep track of rank and not allow a duelist to use more spells/fancies than they already have. It would also have to allow those same users to use more or less spells/fancies during special tournament play. It should also allow the DoMers to use their "tornadoes in a jar" when applicable and log their use. It would need to know if a duel round limit was 15 or unlimited.

An automated calling tool would have to allow users to send in stupid moves (Mage Bolt after Mage bolt, providing someone wants to fizzle a spell, it does happen, although I don't think it would need to allow a Fancy Spin Kick to be used in DoM). It should also warn people that they've made a stupid move (but only if they're new at this, I didn't give the experienced players a warning). Of course, if someone wants disengage, or to CP after an opponent's LC, that's still okay...

An automated calling tool would have to handle cases where people punt and don't return. It should also replay a previous round's results for someone who punted and missed it.

An automated calling tool would have to handle when someone has to leave and decides to forfeit. Some hosts give the option to the other player whether or not they want a win or a tie, others don't. A calling tool should consider including the same option.

[Wulfson]

Back to a calling program as non-automated tool. Some people like them, some people don't. If someone's calling style is: "HC/TH point G" then a calling program isn't going to hurt.

If someone wants to play around and develop their own, here are some requirements:

1. Customizable ring names.
2. Choose duelist gender (male/female/it, ties into customizable results)
3. Customizable results. Each caller should be able to modify the default calls and/or add their own personalized calls.
4. Multiple results for each combination.
5. Ability to revert back to and correct previous rounds after a miscall.
6. Generate log file (although I still believe paper is the way to go). Make sure the log file is closed properly if the app crashes.
7. For any results (this is a pet peeve of mine), it should be obvious what ring it is, who did what move, who scored, what the score is, and what the round is. For example, these are acceptable:
Ring of Runes. Marzan's mage bolt masticates Mystic's mind whip! Point Marzan. r1 1-0, Marzan.
Ring One. Marzan cuts over Mystic's defense! (HC/FCP) Point Marzan. r1 1-0, Marzan.
8. At least 4 rings. If your code doesn't use a #define, a single variable, or an equivalent for changing the max number of rings, you're doing something wrong.
9. Possessives in calls should be properly formatted. I want to see "Tarsus' mage bolt" instead of "Tarsus's mage bolt".

[G]

Let us not forget it must work with the flash chat, and tie into the database(If it were used for official calling)

And it always drove me crazy when someone did a fancy stop hit.

[Napoleon Bonarat]

I agree that a caller program and callers should be clear about who did what where and when.

And your paper comment is a good one. I'm always surprised that people don't write down their moves in some manner, especially callers. When I call a duel I write it down, use the recorder or the tool, and I generally wait a few minutes to submit in case there's any problems brought to my attention that will need to be corrected. Crashes suck as does my memory!

The singular possessive apostrophe S is actually correct with Tarsus's rather than Tarsus'. The modern convention is if you pronounce the extra S, then the 'S is used but it is also acceptable to leave the S off after the apostrophe--the key is to be consistent. So properly formatted would be either way, though the convention for plural possessives is to still leave the extra S off.

[Wulfson]

Let us not forget it must work with the flash chat, and tie into the database(If it were used for official calling)

(Assuming that this quote references my requirements for a non-automated tool)
The tool I had developed just copied the text into the Windows copy/paste buffer, so it didn't matter if you were using it with flash chat, AOL, AIM, etc. <Control-V> got it where it needed to go, and I could edit it before hitting send if I needed/wanted to. I know some of the other tools automatically paste it in and hit send for you, but I never figured out how to vector the output to the AOL chat window using Borland 4.51. This also allowed me to test it out without needing a chat room.

As for tying into a database, I would prefer to leave that out. That lets it be used for duels of any type (RoH official, RoH tournament, IFL, TDL, etc.) without conflict. If it was included, I'm sure someone would forget to turn it off (assuming it could be turned off) and have non-official duels reported as RoH... Also, it minimizes the chance for database corruption.

As for Nap's comment about the apostrophe, I guess I've just consistently always left the extra S off in writing, regardless of how I speak it.