Local Chat Channels - how could they work?


Pathfinder Online

Goblin Squad Member

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The purpose of this thread is mostly to bounce around ideas - how could local chat channels work? Could players control local channels?

Many MMOs have both local and global chat channels; the size of local chat can vary according to the game. But local channel is often a good place to look for someone to game with, to locate a trading partner, or to just chat about stuff. They also have their share of abusers; foul language, abusive language, gold sellers, and trade spammers.

So in PFO, if we have local chat channels, what area will they cover and who controls them?

Here's a starting proposal:
- Local chat channels could cover 1 map hex. (This would mean that there's a large number of chat channels)
- Whoever owns the hex, controls the chat channel. So that means the owning company of a settlement controls the chat channel for that player settlement, the owning company of a watchtower POI controls that hex's channel, etc.
- The owning company has some (limited) moderation tools. So they might be able to mute someone for breaking the local rules, or for no reason at all. The players with these abilities wouldn't be able to block a player's personal chats, party chats or guild chats.
- Whatever moderation PFO provides would of course supercede any hex owner controls.

As an additional chat proposal - I think Taverns, Inns, and other meeting places should have their own chat channel. I don't know if these channels should be limited to current patrons. Perhaps visiting a tavern and buying a drink could unlock that channel for a week of real time. Just don't anger the barkeep or you're out!

So - not discussing GW moderations - could this work? What controls would you like over chat in your settlement? What protections do you want from overzealous chat police?

Goblin Squad Member

I don't think there is really much need to control local. All that's needed is two things.

1. The already hinted at trespass or exile mechanic.
2. The inability to use local while stealthed or a good mechanic for hunting stealthed players in your hex.

So if someone creates enough trouble in your hex, you exile them. If they decide to hang around and continue to create problems, they are alerting you to their presence and allowing you to kill them.

If it becomes a persistent problem (Someone hanging out at the edge of your zone and being abusive in a naked character all the time) you can report it to GW, because that sounds a lot like griefing.

Goblin Squad Member

Maybe there could be a very near 'talk' channel and a farther-reaching 'yell' channel. 'Yell' should have a much shorter character limit, to keep it from being convenient for extended conversations or trade ads. Months ago, tGQ said they were dividing each hex into 7 sub-hexes, so perhaps 'talk' should cover only the sub-hex you're in, while 'yell' covers that and the 6 surrounding sub-hexes (making one full hex). A building interior should have its own 'talk' channel, with 'yell' being transmitted to the streets outside as well.
I'm not keen on server-wide global channels, but as long as they can be turned off I guess that's acceptable. Still, I'd prefer a system in which you need to be near those you're conversing with. People tend to use chat more respectfully when those they're talking to are within potential attack range. I like the idea of allowing a hex owner certain moderation powers over the hex's chat channels, so you can mute them for a few hours if they're annoying enough. If they're a repeat offender, then you could go to the step of exiling them.

Goblin Squad Member

I actually think player control of Local Chat in player-controlled Hexes is a great idea. There will often be cases where it's more appropriate to give someone a short timeout from Local Chat than it is to hunt them down and kill them.

Goblin Squad Member

I think there at least needs to be a global help channel that allows people to ask and answer questions. This should be disabled for you if you use it for any other purpose or give rude/misleading answers such as "You go back to WoW!" or "Alt+f4".

Goblin Squad Member

Local channel: company
local channel: settlement
local channel: those in this hex
global chat: any one
global help: two groups 1) any query 2) those tagged by GW as helpers and they are marked special.
medium channel: Nation

Goblin Squad Member

AND private channel -- only those I invite no matter if they are Bludd and Nihimon and Hobs

Lam

Goblin Squad Member

Lam wrote:

AND private channel -- only those I invite no matter if they are Bludd and Nihimon and Hobs

Lam

*grins* Poor Hobs :)

Goblin Squad Member

Keovar wrote:

Maybe there could be a very near 'talk' channel and a farther-reaching 'yell' channel.

'Yell' should have a much shorter character (Letters & numbers, not player avatars) limit, to keep it from being convenient for extended conversations or trade ads.

Months ago, [GW] said they were dividing each hex into 7 sub-hexes, so perhaps 'talk' should cover only the sub-hex you're in, while 'yell' covers that and the 6 surrounding sub-hexes (making one full hex). A building interior should have its own 'talk' channel, with 'yell' being transmitted to the streets outside as well.

I'm not keen on server-wide global channels, but as long as they can be turned off I guess that's acceptable. Still, I'd prefer a system in which you need to be near those you're conversing with. People tend to use chat more respectfully when those they're talking to are within potential attack range.

I like the idea of allowing a hex owner certain moderation powers over the hex's chat channels, so you can mute them for a few hours if they're annoying enough. If they're a repeat offender, then you could go to the step of exiling them.

Made some edits, since I was apparently pretty tired when I replied before.

Nihimon wrote:
Lam wrote:

AND private channel -- only those I invite no matter if they are Bludd and Nihimon and Hobs

Lam

*grins* Poor Hobs :)

He made the "top three posters memorable enough to be recalled quickly" list. That's not so bad.

Goblin Squad Member

I expect that Ryan will say at some point that channels can be created and utilized game-wide similar to how they work in EVE and DUST514. The reason behind that is that it's so easy to chat out of the game using any number of different protocols or chat programs. They might as well allow us to do everything in the game so that advantage isn't given only to those who require out of game identities to be disclosed.

I expect that voice chat will either be done the same way or not offered at all, as anything in between would only unnecessarily restrict those who want to be more casual.

As a side note, I think that channels for Company and Settlement should be created and auto-joined by default, with the option to hide or close them.

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