About the stupidest thing you can do without dying...

[Bogatyr]

... is to cast "haste self" (m-d-c) in a major vault @ had cleared out just to see that "+45" show up in the speed column after picking up that second great speed ring. Only to get the message "You rise up through the ceiling". That sinking sensation you get in your gut, argh! I'd dropped my town spellbooks to be able to pick up the loot in the vault and recall, and ended up casting teleport level by mistake. I left the amulet of Ingwe, a sling of buckland, and a wand of annihilation on the floor. D'oh. Got the =Speed +13, though, and didn't lose any core equipment thank the Valar.

[Werbaer]

Originally Posted by Bogatyr

... is to cast "haste self" (m-d-c) in a major vault @ had cleared out just to see that "+45" show up in the speed column after picking up that second great speed ring. Only to get the message "You rise up through the ceiling".

Never cast spells only by letters. Inscribe your books with "@m1", "@m2" and so on, and cast Haste Self as m-4-c.

[Bogatyr]

Originally Posted by Werbaer

Never cast spells only by letters. Inscribe your books with "@m1", "@m2" and so on, and cast Haste Self as m-4-c.

I know, I know, but after decades I have these patterns burned into my fingers.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Originally Posted by Bogatyr

I know, I know, but after decades I have these patterns burned into my fingers.

Inscriptions are the way to go. And it will take at most only 20 days to "burn" a new pattern into your fingers.

[bertoid]

Originally Posted by Ingwe Ingweron

And it will take at most only 20 days to "burn" a new pattern into your fingers.

A blink of the eye for a typical game...

Another good one was typing ',' instead of 'm' and wondering why I was getting hit multiple times and not able to cast! Finally looked down at the keys after YASD.

[Werbaer]

Originally Posted by Bogatyr

I know, I know, but after decades I have these patterns burned into my fingers.

They took a lot of effort lately to stop this habit. Many spells now use different letters depending on whether you're a mage, ranger or rogue. Haste Self is now F9 for me.

[jrodman]

Originally Posted by Werbaer

Never cast spells only by letters. Inscribe your books with "@m1", "@m2" and so on, and cast Haste Self as m-4-c.

Which prompts the question: Why can't we inscribe with @ma, @mb? The numbers are much more tedious to type, so I don't use them despite knowing they're safer. Certain spells I hotkey, but the keymap interface leaves a lot to be desired, and I'm not going to set up hotkeys for 20 spells or whatever.

Alternatively, why not just have the spells have stable letterings, a-z then A-Z (is 52 enough?) so you can just type mb or mz to cast spells.

[Bogatyr]

Originally Posted by jrodman

Which prompts the question: Why can't we inscribe with @ma, @mb? The numbers are much more tedious to type, so I don't use them despite knowing they're safer. Certain spells I hotkey, but the keymap interface leaves a lot to be desired, and I'm not going to set up hotkeys for 20 spells or whatever.

Alternatively, why not just have the spells have stable letterings, a-z then A-Z (is 52 enough?) so you can just type mb or mz to cast spells.

I like this! I too find the numbers tedious (they're outside of the range of the core touch-typing position).

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by jrodman

Alternatively, why not just have the spells have stable letterings, a-z then A-Z (is 52 enough?) so you can just type mb or mz to cast spells.

Not enough. Mage and priest both have 57 spells, and if we ever introduce druid which has access to both realms that would make 114 spells.

[Derakon]

Originally Posted by jrodman

Which prompts the question: Why can't we inscribe with @ma, @mb? The numbers are much more tedious to type, so I don't use them despite knowing they're safer. Certain spells I hotkey, but the keymap interface leaves a lot to be desired, and I'm not going to set up hotkeys for 20 spells or whatever.

Because then you cannot access the inventory slot under 'a' when you use the 'm' command. It'd be an odd way for the program to behave.

Alternatively, why not just have the spells have stable letterings, a-z then A-Z (is 52 enough?) so you can just type mb or mz to cast spells.

We discussed in the past having some kind of unified spell list where every spell was always under the same slot, and possessing books just added the spells to the master list. I don't think anyone thought it was an awful idea; it just has to be implemented.