[I7-2070] [GH:inform7-bugs 3] Rooms is actually a common last name - Object names including the plural form of the name of an instantiated kind (or of any specifically declared plural form) cause inappropriate parser responses #14
When the player tries to talk to a person whose last name is Rooms, e.g. George Rooms, the default result is "To talk to someone, try 'someone, hello' or some such." However, if the player has examined or tried doing anything other than examining to any person or object anywhere in the game (including George Rooms), then the player can talk to George Rooms and get an appropriate result.
Here's an example of what's happening:
GEORGE ROOMS, HELLO
To talk to someone, try "someone, hello" or some such.
MARCY GRANT, HELLO
There is no reply.
LISTEN TO MARCY GRANT
You hear nothing unexpected.
GEORGE ROOMS, HELLO
There is no reply.
In this example, I could have listened to (or tried other actions on) George Rooms, and that would have had the same result that I got with Marcy. So the game recognizes his name, except when the player talks to him before doing anything else to him or anyone or anything else.
This suggests that some condition changes when the player tries a certain type of action (in the example, listening to a character). Can I set that condition in the code, so that the player doesn't need to try such an action before talking to George Rooms?
Reported here: https://intfiction.org/t/rooms-is-actually-a-common-last-name/50922
imported from: [GH:inform7-bugs 3] Rooms is actually a common last name - Object names including the plural form of the name of an instantiated kind (or of any specifically declared plural form) cause inappropriate parser responses