New “bot" (@magicvoice? @magic_voice?) functions?

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I suspect this requires digging deeper into the Discourse code, but could @discobot or — more likely — a new “bot” with the name @magicvoice (or @magic_voice) be customized a bit for the MST3K forums/Gizmoplex? I’m thinking of added commands specific to the intended audience, to wit:

  • @magicvoice fortune — would respond with a riff or zinger culled from the thousands upon thousands that are available across the hundreds of episodes of MST3K. Alternate commands could be @magicvoice riff or @magicvoice zinger.
  • @magicvoice pushbutton — In an active chat, would clear the screen, i.e., “Push the button, Frank!”
  • @magicvoice moviesign — queues up a random movie segment to play in the Gizmoplex
  • @magicvoice commercialsign — exits video playback to the main Gizmoplex screen?
  • @magicvoice stinger — same as @discobot fortune, except selections are limited to end of episode stingers.
  • @magicvoice rocket9 — brings up the latest snapshot from a webcam in the Alternaversal office(s). If the idea of 24/7 surveillance by MSTies is troublesome, it could be pointed at a coffee maker, an aquarium with a SOL model in it, or something equally silly and yet relevant.1

Just an idea. What do you think, sirs? Does anyone else have some ideas to add?

1 Ooh-ooh-ooooh, Mr. Kotter! Mr. Kot-ter! Put the webcam in the riffing theater, but skip the chromakeying so if live riffing is occurring, we can’t see the movie and must guess at what the heck is going on!
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Discourse is on record as saying they have no plans to make discobot extendable. It’s just an automation user with instructions on how to respond with canned messages (/site-texts). It can be personalized… but not given new powers.

There is an API to make custom 'bots and I really like your idea for magic_voice, so maybe that’d be the avenue to travel. I’d hate for the magic_voice moniker to go wasted on discobot's limitations.

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Thanks for the info on @discobot from Discourse. I’ve edited the topic title and original post to reflect impementing the ideas in a new ‘bot. And I’ve PM’ed the Alternaversal folks with the suggestion to reserve @magicvoice username variations for future use.

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Maybe I’ll have to look up the discourse bot API and see what we could do with that. That could be a fun project.

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Hmmm… What to do with @magicvoice hexfield… hmmm…

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That could introduce you to somebody random who is online?

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I just received a PM from @ivan that the powers that be are adding some variation(s) of “Magic Voice” to the list of reserved usernames. Make of that what you will — I choose to be hopeful. :grin:

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