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Basics

Make sure all appropriate flags are filled out, including material type!

Make sure your object has appropriate keywords. If you have a word in the description or long description that someone may use as a keyword to try to pick it up, use it, or look at it, you should be including that word as a keyword. Many objects will end up having more than one keyword. If the player can't find the keyword to look at your object, it makes all of your hardwork on writing the description and creating the object moot.

Although players can not see unseen objects, you should still write a long description. You can write it the way you normally would for a visible object or you can use it to briefly describe what the object is for. You can also include a note such as (unseen) so it is easier to check later, especially by imms who can see unseen objects and mobs.

Descriptions and Building with Objects

A lot of the same basic rules and tips that apply to mobs and rooms will apply to objects. While Matreya's Building Style Guide talks mostly about rooms, these guidelines are good to keep in mind for objects as well.

For instance, unless there is a very specific and good reason for it, you should not have repeat descriptions for objects. Matreya also points out being careful about being redundant in describing your objects between the long description and the extra description. The long description specifically describes the way the object looks in a room. The extra description allows you to give more detail when someone decides to take a closer look. Keep in mind that if the object has the Take wear flag and can be moved, the long description needs to fit any room it may end up in.

Furthermore, everything under "Assumptions" for rooms also applies to objects. There are ways to use LML to appropriately incorporate some of these and other aspects if you wish. See the guide on appropriate building for more information.

• Emotion: Forcing emotion onto someone with an object is not anymore appropriate than it is with a room. If you want someone to feel a certain way, you do your best to try evoke that emotion through your awesome description.
• Actions/Direction: Similar to the way you can not assume someone is entering a room in the room description, you can not assume that someone is doing something with the object in the description. In the extra description, you should be only describing what can be seen or seems evident by vision alone about the object. If you want to include something more specific such as when someone picks the object up, you can accomplish this with object actions.

For instance, "As you wield T-Rex's claw of doom" or "As you put on a T-Rex costume" are not appropriate for a description. Instead, these could be done with echoes in a 'wear' trigger object action.

Another example: "As you pick up some T-Rex droppings you notice..." would also be more appropriately done with a 'get' trigger object action.

Browse through the actions - there are some very useful tools at your fingertips that are often overlooked and underused!

Time and Weather: Some time and weather elements can be addressed with LML. However, it is also important to note that your objects are a permanent part of a zone. You need to be careful about assuming current events in the game when describing the object because, a year or two from now, the events will have changed and your object will still be there. For instance, the following description could be problematic in the future: "This is a rare and special dinosaur egg stolen from T-Rex during the recent Griftmire uprising of year 350."

Adding Depth

Objects are also one of the tools you have to add depth to a zone. There are several different ways you can use objects to do this.

• Adding background and realism. Let's say you create a mob who has a background as a carpenter. You could create a hammer that the mob carries around, sawdust shavings on the floor of the workshop, or even some of the things the mob has built as a carpenter. These do not have to be directly useful to the vast majority of players (the hammer does not also have to be a skill object, for instance). It's a small touch that can go a long way in creating a more in-depth context for your zone's story and essentially "bringing Lensmoor to life."
• Adding to the zone's theme, concept, or story. While this is related to the tip above, it can be executed a little differently and is important enough to address alone. You can have a fairly empty zone relying on the room descs to describe and evoke the world you want to create. However, your zone can feel a little richer with the addition of a few well-placed objects. For example, you attempt to describe a large field with lush grass and plantlife described in the room descs. You can also create a plant or grass object or wildflowers that players can "pick" as they might do in a real field.
  • This may seem overly simple for some people but it can be a great tool. One of the ways it can really help is with trying to evoke emotion. Rather than just describing a room in a way that's meant to look scary and life-threatening, you could leave an object there to emphasize this feeling, such as a bloody piece of clothing. Rather than describing a room meant to evoke calm and peace, you could include objects that emphasize these feelings, such as candles or a soothing resting place.
• Giving hints and puzzles. An object can easily be used to give hints about secrets, zonequests, and hidden things to find or figure out. For instance, a rock that seems to "point" in a certain direction or a shelf that seems to be scooted slightly away from a wall (where a hidden door can be found). An object itself can be a puzzle (e.g. how do I open this thing?) or it can be used to aid in discovering a puzzle that plays out through rooms or mobs (e.g. giving it to the right mob, using a key on the right door).