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2.3.1 Bogus Exits

It is (or was) a relatively common practice to create lookable details and realism-enhancing actions in rooms by means of `bogus exits'... exits that do not lead anywhere. The exits can be given a description, so that doing look <exit> shows some detail of the room, and realistic messages can be put in the exit's @fail/@ofail or @succ/@osucc.

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> @open Grandma's Rocker;grandmas rocker;rocker;chair;sit
  Exit opened with number #5797.
> @link chair = $nothing   Linked to gen-nothing(#114).
> @desc chair = An old, old rocker that has been in the family
  for generations.
  Description set.
> @succ chair = You take a seat in the old rocker.
  Message set.
> @osucc chair = takes a seat in the old rocker.
  Message set.
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The above example creates a `virtual chair'. Though it will not appear in the room's Contents list, people can look at it, and can sit in it by typing sit (or any of its other aliases).

Bogus exits may have their place, but builders should be aware that there are other ways of accomplishing the same goals without creating a separate exit for each item (an approach that quickly leads to dbase bloat). Lookable details can created with `looktraps' (see Section 2.2.2) and many events like the `sit' message in the above example can be handled by a single action (See Section 3.1.2, MPI Examples).

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