agent chat spying

i am not sure if this idea was mentioned, but watever. i was thinking that since the agents are the spy type, i think they should be able to intercept wat other players say through channels, /tell messages, and etc.. there are negative side effects. everything you see in the chat window also comes in garbled. being closer helps to lessen all the garbling. to intercept messages and etc, agents would need a high tech nano communication intercepting thingy(hadnt thought of wat yet). the higher the ql, the better the range is and less garbled the messages will be. i am not sure if this would be useful, but it might help in intercepting a planned clan or omni attack and some other stuff. tell me wat you guys think and feel free to add on if you please.

I think that is a very commendable suggestion. I feel sorry for anyone who suggests such things that would make an Agent play like an Agent. Unfortunately, FunCom seems to focus on the Agent as the character that can use other Profession's NanoFormulas. When in reality most players chose the Agent because they wanted to be sneaky, infiltrate the enemy's territory, get the latest high tech gadgets and gear, and blow people's heads off from 500 yards away out of a 5th floor window.

FunCom fails to realize that the players use MP pets to heal because they can't play like secret agents. They don't have the Austin Martin automobile, they can barely snipe with their rifles that have the range of pistols, they can't hide their identity, it's next to impossible to sneek anymore, they don't get the hot babe at the end of the mission, they get punished for finishing a mission without making a bloody mess of everything inside ....

FunCom's latest inquiry to Agents on the AgentSector message boards goes far to showing just how far off base they are with their Agent player base. They ask if Agents think they can be effective healers using the highest line of Assume proffession Doctor. They simply don't understand that a secret agent doesn't want to be helping his group by dishing out half-assed heals. He'd rather be scouting ahead and pulling prey to the group. Or sitting in a tree taking powerful popshots at whatever the group is fighting. Most likely, however, he'd rather be alone in a mission hiding in the shadows with sweat dripping from his brow as he tries to sneak to the radar console for a hasty repair and quick retreat.

Most true-at-heart Agents want to play like Agents. Nothing more, nothing less. So requests like that from the poster above should be considered before any additional false profession tweaks or such crap. The False Professions should just be there so we can fake it well enough when trying to enter Omni-HQ as a loyal Soldier of Omni-Pol after the Amnesty is lifted. It always made me feel cheap when I played my agent to have to depend on the skills of other professions in order to survive because I was nerfed into not being able to play my own profession.

Things must be added that let them spy like hiding their alignment, allowing them to wear Omni cloaks if they are Clan, intercepting enemy transmissions, fixing Conceal in both PVM AND PVP will go further to restoring the dignity of this red-headed stepchild of all professions.

Have you seen these around?:

http://ao.hackersquest.org/show.php3?id=152708&item=1

-or

http://ao.hackersquest.org/show.php3?id=152709&item=1

I'm wondering where they come from. Obviously one of the designers read some Mad magazine,

I think, unfortunately, that it's just too much of an invasion into a person's privacy. I agree it would be neat for an agent to overhear or intercept conversations about a planned attack and what not, but the chat system is filled with topics that are much more various in nature than that. There are conversations people have with each other that you probably wouldn't want to overhear (I would hope).

Also, anything worth eavesdropping on (any important in-game related content) would probably start being sent over third party instant messengers since AO can be run in a window, negating the benefits of this feature.

I think it's a cool idea. I don't know about invasion of privacy since you basically agreed your life away when you start the game. But i'm sure somewhere you have agreed to let FC employees have the right to see whatever you're doing whenever your doing it in the game.

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Originally posted by Bruzar
I think it's a cool idea. I don't know about invasion of privacy since you basically agreed your life away when you start the game. But i'm sure somewhere you have agreed to let FC employees have the right to see whatever you're doing whenever your doing it in the game.

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Agreeing to 'Funcom' being the key word here. Not some 15 year old kid with an agent character getting his jollies off the private tells in Baboons. ;)

Disgusting, but purposely blunt.

Very good point Gyson.

hmmm, i guess you do have a point gyson. third party software and proly nothing worth being heard over the chat. and Bionitrous, where can i get one of those cloaks? ^_^

Good idea. But I would prefer agents to be able to use false names and allegiances just the way they can do for their profession. Cheating about profession is nearly useless. Is it why FC did chose to add THAT feature and not the others?