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Thread: The Chat Interface And The Future

  1. #1

    The Chat Interface And The Future

    Please use this thread in which to discuss and reply to Andrew Griffin's article
    Earn free game time and play with your friends[/b]

    Anarchy Online Community Representative

  2. #2
    Woo! Thread unlocked! first post

    "Multiple, independent windows. This will let you have a couple of windows open at the same time. You would then be able to determine which chat channels go into each of the windows. These will be moveable and resizable."

    This couldn't go in soon enough. Even a simple chat window split, one for chat messages and the other for combat, would be great.

  3. #3
    Still missing one set of needed channels in chat:

    Omni General Com, Clan General Com, and Neutral General Com, all to be 'single zone only'.

    These (IC) channels are needed for general coordination, etc, which is currently being spammed on the shopping or teaming channels, where it doesn't really belong.

  4. #4
    I’d like to see a filter option for the Shopping Channel where I could insert keywords that would only allow certain items (which I express an interest in) to show up in my chat window. This would cut down on the amount of unwanted auction text clutter within it.

    For instance, if I entered there words “E-Beamer”, “Nomad” and “Driving” into my ‘shopping filter’, then only auctions with those words in their message would be displayed to me (in this example, any E-Beamer weapons, Nomad armor, or driving implants and clusters). Everything else would never clutter my chat window.

    I think this would make player auctions a lot easier to deal with.

  5. #5
    Filters on the shopping channels are desperately needed - a word filter would be incredibly nice, as would a quality level filter; if an item description is linked into a message and sent out that is outside my quality level filter, it is not displayed. The ability to expressly include/disclude non-item-linked messages with things such as 'WTB' or 'buffing', etc would be nice as well.

    A side addition on those link-in item decriptions - can we have the game automatically append the quality level to the end of the item? Rugged Sledgehammer (68) as an example. It's terrible clicking item after item just to find out it's quality level, and it's a pain to type the quality level for dozens of items you're trying to sell.

    The trade channels are currently headaches to wade through - I love to trade, to search for items valuable to other players and barter for equipment only other players can obtain, but the chat is filled with tons and tons of messages that aren't relevant to my trading, and it's taxing to filter through them all looking for the items you want.

    As for splitting the chat and general message windows - this would make life easier as well. All in all, alot of the changes proposed are positive for the communication of the game, something which is vital.

  6. #6
    We need to have adjustable transparency on the background of the chat window, from black to totally transparent, so we can make some windows totally see-thru. If you are going to give us the option of having multiple windows, then definitely make them movable and resizeable, otherwise there is no point.

    You should give us the option of moving out drop-down menus also, and make ones resizable like shopping menus, maps, and friends list.

    The Friends list itself is horrendous, and extremely difficult to manage when you have as many people on it as I do... there are a few things you could do to help this:

    1) automatically delete the players on the list who no longer have accounts.

    2) give us the ability to select multiple names and delete all at once.

    3) have more name-managment features, perhaps like a file-directory structure so we can sort the different names by groups.

    4) give us the option to just simply hide the names that are not currently online.

    5) at least keep names from jumping around on the list which happens each time you log on an alt with the same name on the friends list.

    6) link the character info to the name, so we can right-click hold-down and select a bio feature that would tell us the character's race, profession, guild, and level.

    7) perhaps to facilitate all these name management possibilities, you could make a name management window that would open up from the friends list and allow advanced name mangement, and then would close into it's stadard state for normal gameplay.

    I don't have that big a problem with the chat interface, it's selecting the person or channel that I'm chatting in that creates so much hassle. We should have a speed toggle menu that is very tiny and numerically selectable (like perhaps cntrl-shift 1-0) wich we can use to toggle between team chat, guild chat, vincinity, and the last several private messages, or something along those lines.

    Well, there you go - my wish list =)

  7. #7
    As many mistakes as the interface causes now, with mistells and confusion, I'll give *anything* a try..

    thanks for working to improve such a difficult system to use..

  8. #8
    I always liked the text over the head UO has.
    I know that in 3D it's much harder, but I'd really love to see it in AO.
    It's always hard to say who is telling what in AO.

  9. #9

    Arrow

    Hi there,

    As i know, a filtering-system is included. Try "/tell shopbot /help" ... its working for me and lot of my clan-m8s are also using it.

    The ideas of chat changes are great!

    One point for me, still needing: ADD a RP-"under"-channel or like that to the public vincinity.

    Greetings.

  10. #10
    Personally all that needs to be changed is maybe (in stead of the idea for multiple windows which leads to a massive amount of screen clutter) is each conversation. either players or vacinity or team etc takes a window, but these windows stack and you have a small tab with the name of the window above them all (or under so its on the bar along the base of the screen). With possibly the console as the only screen usually there until you have another chat started. For all the people who like to have loadsa windows around the place have the windows so you can also pull them away from being together. Add to that a pop up colour menu for text colour etc, and then move the friends list to a pop up menu along the bottom and hey presto thats it sorted. Having the tab hilight in red when you have a message you haven't read as well, and of cause have the window resizable. The ability (as so many others have said) to also have a grouping structure in the friends list so you can move ppl in guild, friends, traders etc. Hmmm, although it does kinda remind me a lot of Ircle and mIRC it would be great to have something in the game like this.
    Major "Nyadach" Prabel
    Neutral and proud of it!

  11. #11
    One part of the chat that hasnt been mentioned here is the Chat Client on the AO- website, I Love It!

    It is a great tool to check quickly if friends are playing or not. Or just have a discussion in the guild or whatever. A really nice feature would be if this could be intergrated into other existing IM services. There are several opensource IMs out there that intergrate with existing once, such as ICQ, MSN etc. So it wouldnt be that hard.

    Does FunCom plan to develop the web-chat further?

    Would they support intergration with an opensource IM?
    /Teamdoc of the The Healing Hands

  12. #12

    Wink I'd like to see

    As the queen of the mistells, I want to see a plug in that automagically figures out who my messages are supposed to be to, and route them accordingly. I'd say link it to my brain, but that is the source of the mistells in the first place. And make it work for those multiple future windows too.

    Um Hey, why is everyone laughing?


    HMPH! Fine then, how about cut and paste like the Chat Client has? That would be a neat option, and yes I like the multiple windows. I also like the fact that I can still MOVE while in chat (Locked arrow keys) but I'd love a way to use the number key while chatting. It's embarrassing to be paying someone 20,000 credits for something and break into a full run in the middle of the trade I do like the fact that if you scroll up, the text window stays put instead of jumping around.

    One other thing, how come we neutrals cannot shop Omni and Clan channels like they can? Hae they always been able to cross shop, or is it just during the amnesty? Did no one think we had any money? *giggle*
    "Ignorance is the greatest evil we will ever face" . -Dr. James Cone, ca 1990 CE


    Available for Weddings, Mediations, Treaties, Celebrations, and Hugs...
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    Counseling available by appointment-Priestess Cathryn Ardman
    Cat's Closet

    Favourite Chat Colours: 250 200 250, try it!
    I am an adventurer, of COURSE I like going camping! :P

  13. #13
    All those ideas sound good. In addition:

    I would like to be able to use the mouse wheel in the friends window, as well as having an easy way to clean it out. I have at least 100 people in the list that I have only talked to once, and it's a pain in zee butt to get rid of them all.

    Also, a window manager would be nice. So I can open the window manager, with say Chat1 and Chat2 windows. Then I can drag Shopping and LFG chats to one window, drag combat, and vicinity to another, and guild chat would have it's own window. Oh, and another for tells. Maybe add like a little windows-taskbar type thing at the bottom, and have the icons blink when there is activity. Make the windows able to hide and restore easily. I love the interface the way it is, it would be a shame to clutter it up with a bunch of windows.

    Oh, and since you're on the topic of chat, add a "Zone OOC" channel. That way people who want to buy/sell can do it, and people who want to yap about football can talk in their own channel, and I can mute it.

  14. #14

    Chat Suggestions

    I think the current other suggested ideas are great! My thoughts on what needs to be changed for the chat/friends system. I find myself constantly deleting people out of the friends list. I want to decide who is a friend and who is not. Do not auto-add them! or give us an option to turn that on or off.

    1. Add a "ADD" friend button which will add the target to your friends list if real person of course.

    2. Take out all the sections in friends list, make one section that just shows them if they are online and that's it. If no one is online it's empty, simple and clean.

    3. When a friend you added logs on send a message to the chat window "<Friend> is now online." or something to that effect in a more roleplaying type of wording.

    4. Allow us to click a friend in the list and pull their character info so we can see how our friends are doing. Also maybe add a Location: field which shows the zone they are in.

    5. Make the mouse scroll wheel work when in the friends list area, and channels area.

    6. Add a CTRL-PGUP and CTRL-PGDN key or SHIFT etc. to move up and down the chat channels. Like from Team to Vicinity and Shopping etc. for quick/easy changing. And if your currently selected on a friend and you hit these keys it would drop you back to the channels list on the last channel you were in.

    Best Wishes,
    Daxe

  15. #15
    the short cuts are a great suggestion ie: /t team chat /v vicinity etc allows smooth easy flow for chat.. gui's take time.. time usually means death lol

    could you block items from being shown in the searching for team channels ? traders spam there sometimes maybe by accident maybe not.

    when u open the friends gui i think the first thing you should see are - vicinity - team - then seperate channels i always have to clik scroll down to get to team

    i sawa suggestion about making the friends window work with the mouse wheel i think this may be a mistake .. many times i use the wheel to scroll fast up and down to team view for heals etc durring play and i get stuck on the control window because its wheel reading...

    the last thing that comes to mind is the end result ie what everyone sees should be universal.. allowing players to make there chat pink and there combat bright blue and shouts hunter orange makes me PUKE durring combat or any chat crowded area
    stay consitant with the output...easier on the eyes for all

    thanks and have a great day

  16. #16
    Shredder, you can use (enter to open chatline) !cc rembuddy ? to remove all entries in the ? area of the friends list.

    !cc addbuddy <name> will add someone to your approved friends list, no need to target them.

    !cc rembuddy <name> removes them.

    Undocumented commands, don't ya love 'em?

    By the way, /ignore <name> will now add (or remove, it's a toggle) anyone to your ignore list, don't have to be able to target them anymore.

  17. #17

    Floodguard...

    I'd love to have the floodguard removed when chatting with yourself. I use scripts to remind myself of things in game (grid/whompa locations, nano formula criteria, shop locations, etc.) Now I have to write the scripts with pauses in them so that auto floodguard doesn't cancel my script.

    I'm not going to be annoyed by flooding to myself, am I?

  18. #18

    Categorize the friendslist

    I'd like a way to categorize my contactlist. One group with guildmates, one with closer friends, one with good teaming comanions and so on, and so forth.

    /Skymt

  19. #19

    Thumbs up Virtual Desktops

    Having multiple "desktops" similar to virtual desktops in XWindows would be a nice feature particually for people not playing in 1024x768 or greater. That way I could say switch between say my main screen where I want it clear so that I can see whats going on and then quickly swap to my chat screen to see what up in the various channels I might be in. Of course you could use this feature for more than just chatting but it would be a nice way to keep your view uncluttered while still allowing you to get at information you want quickly and easily or maybe this could be some kind of eye upgrade you could purchase ingame

  20. #20

    Talking My oppinions

    Whew, it's good to be back...

    I agree and think that a few more channels are required. An ooc channel, or a general channel, would be great. Otherwise I am satisfied with the current layout.

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