User:Erszebet/Sandbox

Copied some ideas from User:Aberrant80's Sandbox...Trying out different things on creature listing: Profession listing done as in-game: W, R, Mo, N, Me, E, A, Rt, D, P. Additional listing: lvl - alphabet (asc.) Note: not all bosses have elites or skills. On the other hand, some bosses have multiple skills otherwise unavailable until much later in the game - esp. Prophecies. To quote Tetris L: "It's the few exceptions that kill the system..."

Creatures 1
Basic listing, no species or skill icons involved. Different symbols between name and skill (bosses).

NPCs

 * 5 Ascalon Veteran
 * 6 Captain Calhaan
 * 15 Kilnn Testibrie

Monsters

 * 4 Carrion Devourer
 * 4 Grawl
 * 5,6 Charr Blade Warrior
 * 6 Charr Axe Warrior
 * 8 Charr Axe Fiend
 * 4 Whiptail Devourer
 * 5,6 Charr Stalker
 * 3 Grawl Ulodyte
 * 7 Charr Shaman
 * 3 Plague Devourer
 * 4 Shatter Gargoyle
 * 3 Flash Gargoyle

Bosses

 * 28 Balthazaar's Cursed &mdash; "Charge!"
 * 28 Maxine Coldstone : Quick Shot
 * 15 Ijan the Cursed &rarr; Scourge Healing (unavailable before The Royal Papers at Fishermen's Haven) &rarr; Vengeance (unavailable before The Forgotten Ones at Destiny's Gorge)
 * 28 Dwayna's Cursed -- Martyr
 * 28 Dosakaru Fevertouch (Tainted Flesh)
 * 20 Inner Council Member Argyle &rArr; Panic (only during quest Final Blow)
 * 28 Geckokaru Earthwind - Elemental Attunement

Comment: I like &rArr;, doesn't distract too much but still stands out and a clear divider between boss name and skill.

Pros: Clean, ordered list. Icons make it look pretty. Cons: No species-info, not much of a problem with Monsters - it's mostly in the name - but nice to have with bosses I think. Look at Ijan: multiple skills: simply doesn't work this way.

Creatures 2
Added species and skill icons. Note the wikify-once - rule applied.

NPCs

 * 5 Ascalon Veteran (Human)
 * 6 Captain Calhaan (Human)
 * 15 Kilnn Testibrie (Ghost)

Monsters

 * 4 Carrion Devourer (Devourer)
 * 4 Grawl (Grawl)
 * 5,6 Charr Blade Warrior (Charr)
 * 6 Charr Axe Warrior (Charr)
 * 8 Charr Axe Fiend (Charr)
 * 4 Whiptail Devourer (Devourer)
 * 5,6 Charr Stalker (Charr)
 * 3 Grawl Ulodyte (Grawl)
 * 7 Charr Shaman (Charr)
 * 3 Plague Devourer (Devourer)
 * 4 Shatter Gargoyle (Gargoyle)
 * 3 Flash Gargoyle (Gargoyle)

Bosses

 * 20 Inner Council Member Bolivar (White Mantle) (only during quest Final Blow)
 * 28 Maxine Coldstone (Human)
 * 15 Ijan the Cursed (Undead)
 * (unavailable before The Royal Papers at Fishermen's Haven)
 * (unavailable before The Forgotten Ones at Destiny's Gorge)
 * 28 Dwayna's Cursed (Abomination)
 * 28 Dosakaru Fevertouch (Drake)
 * 20 Inner Council Member Argyle (White Mantle) (only during quest Final Blow)
 * 20 Inner Council Member Cuthbert (White Mantle) (only during quest Final Blow)
 * 28 Geckokaru Earthwind (Drake)

Pros: Same as Creatures 1, species-info available although it only has a real use with bosses in this case. Skill listing like in Ijan's case is definitely an improvement. Cons: Species-info hard to read @ bosses (not aligned - major shortcoming of using lists). Skill icons not aligned, looks messy. Although I strongly support it, the wikify-once rule makes it look...less pretty :/

Creatures 3
Grouped by species. Note the use of singular instead of plural: it's 'Human NPCs', not 'Humans NPCs'. This way it'll also look less silly if you only have 1 to list :p. Also; Plural of some species (f.i. Charr & Grawl) is the same as singular - so I favor singular.

NPCs

 * Human
 * 5 Ascalon Veteran
 * 6 Captain Calhaan
 * Ghost
 * 15 Kilnn Testibrie

Monsters

 * Charr
 * 5,6 Charr Blade Warrior
 * 6 Charr Axe Warrior
 * 8 Charr Axe Fiend
 * 5,6 Charr Stalker
 * 7 Charr Shaman
 * Devourer
 * 4 Carrion Devourer
 * 4 Whiptail Devourer
 * 3 Plague Devourer
 * Grawl
 * 4 Grawl
 * 3 Grawl Ulodyte
 * Gargoyle
 * 4 Shatter Gargoyle
 * 3 Flash Gargoyle

Bosses

 * Abomination
 * 28 Dwayna's Cursed
 * Drake
 * 28 Dosakaru Fevertouch
 * 28 Geckokaru Earthwind
 * Human
 * 28 Maxine Coldstone
 * Undead
 * 15 Ijan the Cursed
 * (unavailable before The Royal Papers at Fishermen's Haven)
 * (unavailable before The Forgotten Ones at Destiny's Gorge)
 * White Mantle
 * 20 Inner Council Member Bolivar (only during quest Final Blow)
 * 20 Inner Council Member Argyle (only during quest Final Blow)

Pros: Wikify-once can be avoided. Easy look-up of what species a certain creature is. Definitely better for bosses imo. Cons: Prof. icons-stream gets interrupted (minor annoyance). Skill icons still a mess. Grouping looks redundant when you only have 1 of a certain species.

Creatures 4
Replaced the skill icons with the &rArr; from Creatures 1. Note: I dropped the arrows at Ijan because they didn't align well horizontally with the little square.

NPCs

 * Human
 * 5 Ascalon Veteran
 * 6 Captain Calhaan
 * Ghost
 * 15 Kilnn Testibrie

Monsters

 * Charr
 * 5,6 Charr Blade Warrior
 * 6 Charr Axe Warrior
 * 8 Charr Axe Fiend
 * 5,6 Charr Stalker
 * 7 Charr Shaman
 * Devourer
 * 4 Carrion Devourer
 * 4 Whiptail Devourer
 * 3 Plague Devourer
 * Grawl
 * 4 Grawl
 * 3 Grawl Ulodyte
 * Gargoyle
 * 4 Shatter Gargoyle
 * 3 Flash Gargoyle

Bosses

 * Abomination
 * 28 Dwayna's Cursed &rArr; Martyr
 * Drake
 * 28 Dosakaru Fevertouch &rArr; Tainted Flesh
 * 28 Geckokaru Earthwind &rArr; Elemental Attunement
 * Human
 * 28 Maxine Coldstone &rArr; Quick Shot
 * Undead
 * 15 Ijan the Cursed
 * Scourge Healing (unavailable before The Royal Papers at Fishermen's Haven)
 * Vengeance (unavailable before The Forgotten Ones at Destiny's Gorge)
 * White Mantle
 * 20 Inner Council Member Bolivar (only during quest Final Blow)
 * 20 Inner Council Member Argyle (only during quest Final Blow)

Comment: It looks better without the icons. I'm in favor of using this (as long as spacey tables are off limits :p see below)

Monsters
Same table - no fixed width & 1 column for every piece of info:

Another test
What ? Too much on the colours ? :p

Dialogues
Farmer: "Help! The dead are walking out of the swamps. Head west to the gates of Lion's Arch and warn them. LOOK OUT!"

&rarr; Upon entering the outpost: &rarr; Recruit and Veteran: Recruit: "This is bunk. Stuck here while everyone else is out fighting."
 * Veteran: "Be patient. Your time will come."

Recruit: "Yes, sir. It's just that I feel so powerless here."
 * Veteran: "I understand. But keeping this location safe is also important."

Recruit: "Not as important as sending all those dead men back to their graves. Do you think this will be like the standoff at the Temple of Mercy?"
 * Veteran: "Hard to say. Let's hope not."

Recruit: "Is it true these undead all come from Orr?"
 * Veteran: ''"That'll be enough, soldier. Stay on your guard. If Hablion doesn't return soon, we may be in for a fight.

Recruit: "But I've heard the guys talking."
 * Veteran: "You've heard talking, huh? What have you heard?"

Recruit: "Well, that their uniforms look like those of the old Orr army. Sir?"
 * Veteran: "Hmm...It's true. There is a resemblance. Still, it's not wise to believe everything you hear."

&rarr; Josephine and the merchant:
 * Josephine: "You've got to be kidding me."
 * Merchant: "I never kid."
 * Josephine: "Four gold for a head of lettuce?"
 * Merchant: "It's supply and demand."
 * Josephine: "Well, then I demand my money back."
 * Merchant: "Look, Joe, my whole crop was trampled by those ghouls."
 * Josephine: "I don't care. I won't pay that much."
 * Merchant: "Suit yourself. All right, look, how 'bout I give it to you for three gold?"
 * Josephine: "Three gold? For that much, I could clothe my entire family!"
 * Merchant: "Then, what would you pay?"
 * Josephine: "Hmm...For a gold piece each, I'll take three."
 * Both: "I'll give you three heads of lettuce for four gold."

&rarr; Cheswick and his father: Cheswick: "Dad, when will we be able to go back to our home?" Orrian Historian McClain: "When the White Mantle have made sure everything is safe." Cheswick: "Do you think my pig will be safe?" Orrian Historian McClain: "I don't know, son. I don't know." Cheswick: "Dad?" Orrian Historian McClain: "Yes?" Cheswick: "Where are all these strange people from?" Orrian Historian McClain: "They're from over the mountains. From Ascalon." Cheswick: "But I though Ascalon was destroyed." Orrian Historian McClain: "Me too, son. Me too. How you holding up?" Cheswick: "I'm scared." Orrian Historian McClain: "Well, I think you've been pretty brave today." Cheswick: "Dad, when this is over, do you think we can go float some flowers for Mom?" Orrian Historian McClain: "You bet." Cheswick: "Can we light the candle, too?" Orrian Historian McClain: "Anything you want. Anything you want."