The concept of the role has been quite useful in differentiating forms of behavior, but it has also generated a new problem. Emotional reactions differentiate the roles differently. So how do we reconcile these conflicting implicit role definitions?
A related issue comes from the sequencing of role activation equations. The sequentiality of activation equation evaluation is unavoidable; should we not take advantage of this? In other words, should the storybuilder acknowledge and respect the fact that the first role to be activated precludes the consideration of future roles? The alternative is to declare that all role activation equations are considered, and then form the union of the responses. What's dangerous about this is that changes in one role could have unforeseen consequences in every other role in the set. I don't like that possibility. The exclusive-or option is clunkier but safer.
If I am to assume sequentiality, then the storybuilder must be able to control sequentiality. The order of roles in the role list must be assignable. How to do this? I suppose that the cut and paste capability addresses this in a clumsy fashion. Let's see, suppose that you have the following set of roles that you wish to place in alphabetical order: BDEAC. What's the sequence of cut and paste?
Cut A, Paste: BDECA
Cut B, Paste: DECAB
Cut C, Paste: DEABC
Cut D, Paste: EABCD
Cut E, paste: ABCDE
Yes it works, but it requires 5 mousepoints and 10 menu selections. Couldn't we come up with a cleaner system? I suppose not for now.
Resource costs: this will certainly yield a proliferation of roles, which in turn will expand the size of the Verb Data file. We have RAM to spare. It will also cost CPU cycles, as the machine will have to wade through more activation equations to get to its desired goal. The storybuilder can help in this by having the most frequently used role come first. Oops, a problem: the most frequently used role might be an emotional-reaction-only role. Such roles would have to be relegated to the rear of the role list. How can we permit these frequently-accessed emotional reaction roles to be quickly accessed without blocking the physical action roles? No, they have to come last, because they are defined primarily in negative terms: if you aren't the subject, and you aren't the dirobject, and so forth.