Semi-Permanant Character Descriptions

[toon]

I was trying to think of a way to allow people to still use their imaginations on their descriptions but a way that would carefully moniter changes to prevent unreal changes. I'm all for having spots for eyes, hair, scars, and tatoos that would be like I said instead. Make it to where you have seperate fields for these and make it to where changes can be carefully monitered.

[Chroma Key]

[...]I also think that making tattoos should be a project such as, say, naming a building, in which you describe the tattoo and where it's placed, and which couldn't be removed once it's done, staying permanently in the description page.

+1

I can't quite agree with that. Okay, a silly example, but an example anyhow (purely hypothetical):

X is in love with Y, so has his/her name tattooed. Great, right? Some time down the line, X finds out that Y is cheating on him/her. X grabs a knife, slashes at her/himself with a sharp blade, it hurts like hell but the tattoo is now covered in ugly slashes etc... Not. X is sadly stuck with the tattoo for the rest of her/his life, carrying the name of that rat.

Let's give another example:

X is a member of Y clan, really devoted to them so has their symbol tattooed. Then finds out that they no longer want to be a part of what was actually a corrupt organisation and leaves but is stuck with the tattoo because of the mechanics of the game.

Well, as far as I know the tattoos in game are not made with real ink per se, and of course there is always the argument of whether the game should reflect real life in every aspect, and even then tattoos can be removed/hidden/disfigured IRL.

I actually thought of this after watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PAexXAT_JA

I think some goodwill goes a long way, as it has, in game. I am aware that I have not made a suggestion of my own, but want it known that I object to permanent tattoos. Leave it to RP, without the need to introduce game mechanics into it.

[Indigo]

Well, I still think that tattoos should be somehow "permanent", not something that anyone can put-and-take off of their descriptions just because circumstances are not what they want. If you have a tattoo on your arm, and you don't want people to see it, wear long sleeves. If you got the name of your lover tattoed and you get a new one, well, you should have thought about it before getting that tattoo.
I agree that it should be a way of "getting rid" of them, though. Maybe another project, with some expensive tool, could remove it, changing the description to "the marks/scars of an old tattoo". Maybe this is not so frequent that the staff in charge of watching the changes on descriptions couldn't handle, so they could be "erased" that way just via contact with them.
What I don't like of how it's working now is that players can have them in their descriptions, and when they don't want to be recognized for some reason they just take that part away, as if it never existed. Same with other physical marks (like birthmarks, as I wrote in my previous post). If you want your character to have a birthmark, you should decide it -before- its spawning, and it should work the same way as tattoos.

[Chroma Key]

If they can be removed then they cannot be permanent. Paradox. . The removal project is a good idea too, but I do not agree with the statement that "you should have thought about it" in the way that your character should be punished for the rest of their life because of change of circumstances. Going on my examples again, no matter how silly they are, your char may have believed that the tattoo was going to be for lifetime. People make mistakes, and choosing the wrong tat should not be so costly, a constant reminder of the painful memories and your stupidity (if so you wish to inyerpret)/the said mistake.
Another question: How would you prevent players from putting a tat on their desc even if tats were made to be into a project? What will differentiate what was put in descs as a result of a permanent project or by mere player input? Will the use of words such as "tattoo, tat, pic, image" etc be banned from descs to prevent that?

The man in that video has nothing but a scar on his skin after the removal, no hint of the actual tat, just the scars from the air grinder. Just a thing to think about. Still, if the tats can also be removed by a project as well, I will not take issue as the permanency argument is then moot.

I also need to say, my apologies for not remembering who said it (Doug maybe?) and the full content of the suggestion, but it was something like enabling players to monitor the changes, I really like that idea and trust that we do have a few people with watchful eyes.

PS: I am obviously in total agreement with the prevention of abuse and am bugged by it just as much.

[Indigo]

That's why I said "permanent". Permanent, until removed. No paradox there. But I still think that it shouldn't be so easy to remove them as just changing the words in the description. The title of the thread is "Semi-permanent character descriptions", and that's what I was trying to propose and explain.

Following your trail of examples, let's say that there's a murderer in the next town, and it fleeds to your town. You receive a radio message that they're heading your way, along with the description, in which they say they have a tattoo, say, on the neck. Then, when they arrive in your town, whoops, the tattoo is magically gone. You can't recognize them (they've changed their clothes and dried their hair on the road, which is totally valid) by the description you heard, so that you can't act against them with any in game reason.

I think that my point is clear here, and there's not much to add on my side, because, at the end, everything will lay in that "Cantr has not to be as real life", and no arguments can be raised against that.

[Chroma Key]

Permanent until removed? Doesn't make much sense to me. I have always taken it to be meaning it cannot be undone/reversed etc (permanent injuries etc). I see your context now, though.
I have not said they should be just changed, and did say I was against the abuse of it - so your example is perfectly fine for me.
What I also appreciate is that not everything discussed under a thread strictly follows the said thread, such as the initial suggestion of making tats permanent under the thread of semi-permanent descs. One idea flows from another... The removal idea came later, which I like, and support. It sounds like a good solution to me.

[SekoETC]

If bodie would be divided to slots and clothing would cover certain slots and tattoos would also occupy certain slots, and would be invisible if that slot is covered by clothing, and if someone wanted to get rid of a tattoo, it would be replaced by a scar, which would be permanent.