Category talk:Object Affects

Before I get started, let me reiterate my primary concerns about wiki-layout:

• users find what they want with a minimal amount of hassle (clicking)
• category names are easy and intuitive so contributors don't have to look them up each and every time

Object Affects isn't an appropriate parent category for its current subcategories (Gear That Applies 'Invis' etc). To understand what I mean, compare Object Affects to Object Flags. Object Flags contains flags: Dark Flag, Magic Flag, etc. It makes sense.

By the same logic you would expect Object Affects to contain affects: Strength, Armor Class, Height, etc. IMO this wouldn't be a useful category. But Object Affects doesn't contain affects, it contains categories of objects. Maybe the name of the category should be Objects That Have Affects, but then it would contain all the other crap (Level Gear, Tank Gear, basically every piece of gear that's potentially useful) so the category (as is currently named) sounds too broad and not useful.

A separate but related issue: why separate the spellcasting potions from the spellcasting swords? Why can't there be a category for ALL objects that provide a character with Protection Evil? I guess the root of my issue is that I don't see the big difference between "applies" and "casts". I've read the builder's guide and I understand that they're coded differently, but joe newbie doesn't know that, so I don't think the distinction is useful. However, after thinking this over for a while, I do recognize that there are cases where a user will be looking specifically for a potion, and not for a sword. One example is if a player already has a good set of tank gear, and wants a way to provide themselves with Protection Evil without swapping out a piece of their ac set. Therefore I'm willing to compromise. We'll keep Gear That Applies 'Protection Evil', but we'll make it a subcategory of Protection Evil Objects.

With that all said, here's what I'm actually gonna do:

• Since Spellcasting Objects was renamed to Spellcasting Gear, for the sake of consistency I will go ahead and rename Sanctuary Objects to Sanctuary Gear (etc).
• Rename Object Affects to Objects That Applies Affects. The name's a little ugly, but a better description of what is actually contained here.
• Rename Gear That Applies 'Protection Evil' to Gear That Applies Protection Evil (no apostrophes). I have a feeling they're just gonna be a pain in the butt to remember.
• Make Gear That Applies Protection Evil a subcategory of Protection Evil Gear (etc)

So that's my plan. I don't have time to do all this right now, but I'll get around to it soon. If someone wants to start on this, feel free, but by no means feel obligated. I'll get there sooner rather than later.

</rant>

--Waite 17:45, 9 March 2006 (EST)

Good points about this category and I appreciate them greatly. I find myself agreeing with most of what you're saying here. And I know that I do, at times, care very much whether I get spells from an object that I can put on or take off at will or from, say, quaffing potions regularly. I'm kind of ambivalent about the apostrophes; I'm not sure it matters one way or the other on them as long as it's consistent. Thanks so much for your thoughts on this! --Dave Garber 20:03, 9 March 2006 (EST)