Consider (MUD)

Consider is, in MUDs (particularly DikuMUDs and EverQuest), a player character capability, usually implemented as a command, for evaluating the likely outcome of engaging in combat with a potential enemy.^[1][2][3] It is often abbreviated con.^[2][3]

While the ability to estimate the difficulty of combat is valued by players, particularly newbies,^[4] this capability has its downside in that implementations of it are often bug-ridden,^[1] and the more complex a MUD's combat system and the capabilities of an individual opponent, the less likely it is that a consider will give an accurate result.^[3] Some MUDs have implemented consider commands only to disable them because the results were sufficiently misleading as to be worse than having no such capability at all.

In text-based games, the results of a consider are most often expressed as a verbal result such as "Fairly easy", "You would need a lot of luck", or "You ARE mad".^[3] In graphical games, a common convention is for results to be color-coded, typically with green or blue indicating a weaker target, white or yellow signifying a close match, red or orange meaning a stronger target, and purple or special-case graphics such as a skull indicating that one is completely outclassed.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Shah, Rawn; Romine, James (1995). Playing MUDs on the Internet. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. pp. 74. ISBN 0-471-11633-5. "You should use the consider command as a good way of guessing whether you should attack a mobile. Usually, it will take into account your current equipment and level, but not your status in general (i.e., hp, mana). Often, consider will only compare your level to your opponents. This command is sometimes buggy, so be prepared to flee if you have not fought the mobile before." 
2. ^ ^{a b} Benedikt, Claire Lisette; Ciskowski, Dave (1995). MUDs: Exploring Virtual Worlds on the Internet. BradyGames. pp. 208. ISBN 1-56686-246-9. "consider, con In combat MUDs, usually a command to gauge the relative strength of a monster against yourself. Often used as a verb. "If you had con'd that mob before attacking it, you'd have known it was suicide."" 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Busey, Andrew (1995). Secrets of the MUD Wizards. SAMS Publishing. pp. 144. ISBN 0-672-30723-5. ""Considering" an Opponent It often is useful to have a rough idea of the capabilities of an enemy before beginning combat. The con <target> command gives you a rough estimate of the difficulty of a battle with the target monster or individual. Note, however, that this etsimate often does not take into account spellcasting capabilities and the like, which may make combat much more difficult—proceed into combat with care. Results of You ARE mad! and You are a dumb player for even considering, two messages common to many DikuMUDs, indicate that the target creature is much more capable than your character—beware!" 
4. ^ Towers, J. Tarin; Badertscher, Ken; Cunningham, Wayne; Buskirk, Laura (1996). Yahoo! Wild Web Rides. IDG Books Worldwide Inc.. pp. 139. ISBN 0-7645-7003-X. "Use the consider command around town and find out what you can handle, or find somebody nice and ask him where the best place for newbies is. [...] Once you've set your prompt and wimpy (more on that later), find a suitable target for your first planned act of aggression. Check it with consider, and then make sure your fingers are ready to quickly type the word flee." 
5. ^ Jennings, Scott; Macris, Alexander (2005-12-19). Massively Multiplayer Games For Dummies. For Dummies. pp. 307. ISBN 0471752738.