CLOK BBS

So, it's always a bit awkward when someone tries to teach someone something only for them to get the message 'You can't teach them that' and kinda have to stand there and be all 'Well, I guess not!'. So why don't we have a message that goes out when ever you try and teach someone who you can't, something like...

<Teacher> pulls <Student> aside and has a quick word with him, but it quickly becomes clear that he has nothing to teach.

Someone poke me to do this in the evening when I'm not at work.

Aww! I do like the RP that that sort of thing sort of requires. Thta's probably just me though.

I think the trouble is in that the teacher can attempt to teach the student and, without any indication to the student that anything is happening, be informed that he is incapable of teaching the skill to the student. Logically, the student would need to be aware of the teacher's attempts and respond for the teacher to then become aware that he cannot in fact impart any new information or effective training.

I was thinking of this recently as well. To walk up to another character and type in, Teach Joe Melee, for example, can currently be used to check if Joe has more melee than you with no corresponding feedback via second-party messaging to Joe...not really fair to Joe nor realistic.

Also, especially with new players, there are requests for lessons wherein they are already studying three lessons. It would be desireable at this point for the potential student to get second-party messaging to the effect of, "Sally tries to talk to you about herbalism, but you are already studying three skills at the moment and will need to work at least one of them off first (Also: See Help Abandon)". The parenthesis I suggest because a FAQ of newbies is, How do I stop studying a skill?

Yeah, I've been stumped on how to roleplay the second one (already studying 3) until this morning. I think I'm going to go with, "you seem distracted, are you focusing on other things?" and perhaps a tell to explain.