Trait: OCD

Pirrian · 2014-01-06T03:52:31.000Z

I just thought it would be funny to take OCD as a trait.

A negative trait.
If things are on the floor instead of on a table or in something, the person with OCD takes a temporary stat Reduction to Intelligence and Perception. Only works with things that are within sight and kinda close. Maybe 10-20 squares?
I don’t know what strength to put it at, but seeing as most of the junk that’s lying around is doing so on the ground, It might have to be kinda strong.

FunsizeNinja123 · 2014-01-06T11:47:01.000Z

+1.

I hate it when everything is on the floor and build tables to hold it all. This will be good for me

therealskitz0 · 2014-01-06T12:58:33.000Z

but once it reaches a certain size wont it just be put under the table?
LE GASP WHAT IF ITS ALL ON THE FLOOR AND THE TABLES A LIE!?!

Hyena_Grin · 2014-01-06T21:07:19.000Z

This isn’t how obsessive compulsive disorder works.

OCD denotes a habitually repetitive action that is performed to alleviate anxiety and psychological stress. It is comparable to panic attacks.

Someone with OCD doesn’t have a compulsion to clean everything. They have a repetitive compulsion. This may be to organize (and reorganize and reorganize etc) the mugs in a cupboard, or close and lock (and then re-close and re-lock) all the windows and doors in a house, or to walk through a doorway multiple times, etcetera. They perform the action essentially until the episode passes.

It is a popular myth that OCD people have some obsession with neatness or cleanliness. Sometimes neatness and cleanliness and organization might be the end result of an episode, but more often than not the progress made is immaterial to the purpose of their repeated actions. If an OCD person has an episode they may reorganize a single cupboard of food items over and over again while ignoring every other cupboard and any other mess in the kitchen besides. Or organize and reorganize a closet full of clothes while completely neglecting to make the bed. It isn’t about cleanliness, it is about habitual, repetitive actions.

The closest thing you could get to OCD in Cata would be some kind of mood imperative that would kick in and demand that you do something repeatedly until the negative (anxious) mood goes away. Frankly it would be quite dull.

Ferodaktyl · 2014-01-06T21:15:31.000Z

Hyena Grin:

The closest thing you could get to OCD in Cata would be some kind of mood imperative that would kick in and demand that you do something repeatedly until the negative (anxious) mood goes away. Frankly it would be quite dull.

killing zombies, for example

FunsizeNinja123 · 2014-01-06T21:28:41.000Z

Yeah, but how would it be emulated within the game?

KA101 · 2014-01-07T00:28:59.000Z

[quote=“Hyena Grin, post:4, topic:4695”]This isn’t how obsessive compulsive disorder works.

OCD denotes a habitually repetitive action that is performed to alleviate anxiety and psychological stress. It is comparable to panic attacks.

Someone with OCD doesn’t have a compulsion to clean everything. They have a repetitive compulsion. This may be to organize (and reorganize and reorganize etc) the mugs in a cupboard, or close and lock (and then re-close and re-lock) all the windows and doors in a house, or to walk through a doorway multiple times, etcetera. They perform the action essentially until the episode passes.

It is a popular myth that OCD people have some obsession with neatness or cleanliness. Sometimes neatness and cleanliness and organization might be the end result of an episode, but more often than not the progress made is immaterial to the purpose of their repeated actions. If an OCD person has an episode they may reorganize a single cupboard of food items over and over again while ignoring every other cupboard and any other mess in the kitchen besides. Or organize and reorganize a closet full of clothes while completely neglecting to make the bed. It isn’t about cleanliness, it is about habitual, repetitive actions.

The closest thing you could get to OCD in Cata would be some kind of mood imperative that would kick in and demand that you do something repeatedly until the negative (anxious) mood goes away. Frankly it would be quite dull.[/quote]

Following up on this one, here’s a series of clarifications in cartoon form.

Thanks for taking the lead here, Hyena Grin.

Pirrian · 2014-01-07T02:19:39.000Z

Heh, Well thanks for clearing up my misconception of that. I figured it wasn’t spot on, but the notion of someone going “MUST HAVE ALL OF THE CANS OF SODA IN THE GARBAGE CAN” While looting a house just tickled me funny.

Perhaps “Neat Freak” would be a better, more accurate name.

Though, yeah, I have no real clue how to emulate an actual OCD trait without it becoming very boring…

Hyena_Grin · 2014-01-07T02:49:35.000Z

[quote=“KA101, post:7, topic:4695”]Following up on this one, here’s a series of clarifications in cartoon form.

Thanks for taking the lead here, Hyena Grin.[/quote]

Nice, I like those cartoons. I’ll need to bookmark that link!

Dispelling myths about mental health issues is important to me, as someone in the field of psychology. Though I don’t like to rain on people’s parades in suggestions, and obviously Cata is not a perfect reflection of real life. But while, for example, the schizophrenia flaw is obviously not a perfect representation; it’s not a bad abstraction of the illness either. Where it comes to the portrayal of mental illness, abstraction is wholly preferable to obvious misconception.

As per cleanliness etc, I have for a while kinda wanted some system where an area could be designated your ‘safehouse’ and then attach some mood-related systems to that. Like stockpiles of food improving morale, dirty surroundings imposing a mood penalty, etc. But it’d be a pretty huge piece of work.

Waladil · 2014-01-14T12:22:35.000Z

You have to do things in threes (I know OCD isn’t always that clear-cut, but gotta make a few sacrifices for the coders). You can’t craft one item, you have to craft three. You have to eat three foods at once, take three drinks, down three pills, etc. It would be a total PITA to play with though… it’d have to be worth a lot of chargen points. 5-10.

What if there was a partial-upside of “doing things repetitively allows you to repeat your actions more quickly” so while you do whatever three times, it only takes the time of two. So it’d save some time at least.

Sharklaser · 2014-01-14T17:53:44.000Z

How about this form of OCD:

Player made stacks made from several different types of items (like mixing food and medicine in same stack) causes penalties.

VampyreLord · 2014-01-15T11:31:23.000Z

Considering that 90% of the items spawn in the floor, this OCD makes it a job to put items back on tables. No.

Besides, that is not OCD, it might be part of it, but not.

deadmerits · 2014-01-15T11:46:45.000Z

So only for gaming purposes and using Sharklaser’s (all I want is fricken sharks with fricken lasers attached to their head’s) idea, it should obviously apply only to a building you’ve built a bulletin board in.

If I recall correctly (there really should be an abbreviation for that), the bulletin board was originally meant to signify a base/give npc’s orders. Making said place a base/home would be a good reason for the OCD character to care about it.

Then again this is going gamey rather simulation-y. And I have always been torn between the two.

Sharklaser · 2014-01-15T14:20:18.000Z

Maybe this game needs “habitat” system, for example, if you stay in house for say - 3 hours - it becomes your “habitat”. OCD kicks in on your habitat-areas, visiting in messy area is not problem because its not “space under your management”.

This would create interesting situations when exploring, you go into house and decide to camp up for the night… except you need to clean the place first because your OCD would kick in when you try to make space comfy for night. Randomly looting houses is not a problem… unless you create unorganized piles of loot.

OCD characters would sometimes sneak near zombie brutes just to pick up misplaced socks and put it where it belongs. I mean, you need your rest and relax right?

FunsizeNinja123 · 2014-01-15T14:23:45.000Z

Just 3 hours? What if I’m just staying in a house for the night?

Pthalocy · 2014-01-15T19:30:27.000Z

Point is, if OCD behaviour is a coping mechanism (like avoidance, or crying, or nail-biting, or whatever you happen to do to cope,) you’re gonna have episodes brought on by stressors.

You could tie it to sudden morale drops greater than some value, so you’d wind up with situations where your character is plausibly stressed out more than usual (in the apocalypse anyway). Like ‘oh crap I killed a kid I feel terrible’, and then instead of just chugging down chocolate bars for free morale boosts, you’re left with the ritual behaviour of organizing, or pacing, or locking a door over and over, or whatever it is you do to cope, as your best morale lifter. It’d be extremely tedious imo. And still pretty simplified.

Semi-accurate disorder portrayal might still not work at all with gameplay value.

wad67 · 2014-01-17T13:29:36.000Z

I think OCD could do with a much simpler system, perhaps renaming it to something along the lines, or pertaining to “thinking differently”.
Basically the description would correlate to the player behaving differently than other people in normal circumstances.

Let’s not name it after any particular disorder, that way there would be a lot less negative stigma inserted into the player base, for example the average person would probably find it easier to RP to some kind of “minor mental disorder” than to “Autism” or “OCD”, simply because it leaves the door open in terms of how it would all play out.

In terms of actual effects, and how that would relate to the player, I think generally what people in this thread have already stipulated could be condensed and consolidated into a few minor affects. Some positive, some negative.

Overall, a simpler system is generally more effective. And a huge complex trait like OCD, would take time to develop.