Goblin Squad Member
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The chat channels have been changed, now we have:
Chat, Party, Hex, Local, Help
If you select Chat you get a Local label in your chat window. It is the same as local? What is the range?
Party seem straightforward
Hex the same
Local: what is the range? 1 hex, more, Less?
Help: again it seem straightforward. Some reason not to use it as the standard chat if its range is unlimited (as least until we get a lot of traffic in it)?
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Goblin Squad Member
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...reason not to use it as the standard chat...
Given that there's no in-game rationale for mass-telepathy in Pathfinder, there's been some hope that the devs will control the Help channel so it's used only for that purpose. If one needs to communicate across the map, one might use whispers or external voice-chat.
While I like Takasi's response, I have to offer what I know about the intentions for Help.
I believe the intention is for Game Moderators to be active most of the time (or at least during peak hours) to provide assistance to players. GMs will monitor the help channel for various requests for help, ranging from game questions to assistance with abusive players. GMs will also have the power to boot players that are using Help for general chat purposes.
Local is, per my experience, local to people on your mini map. I foresee this being helpful when we are in settlements with lots of spam coming through on the Hex channel and want to chat with the person standing next to us about a trade.
Chat channel monitors Local, Hex, Party and Whispers, but posts only to local.
Help Channel only shows what is in Help, and does not display Whisper Chats.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Currently, Help also shows system notifications, which I am hoping is a bug. It seems to me that the Help should be strictly for Help chat and Whispers from GMs.
Can I get a 'what-what' on that?
I think limiting the default channels for the Help tab to Help and Whisper (all, not just GM) is correct. But I really want the option to explicitly specify which channels are displayed on which tab.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I think limiting the default channels for the Help tab to Help and Whisper (all, not just GM) is correct. But I really want the option to explicitly specify which channels are displayed on which tab.Currently, Help also shows system notifications, which I am hoping is a bug. It seems to me that the Help should be strictly for Help chat and Whispers from GMs.
Can I get a 'what-what' on that?
Agreed.
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Goblin Squad Member
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...reason not to use it as the standard chat...Given that there's no in-game rationale for mass-telepathy in Pathfinder, there's been some hope that the devs will control the Help channel so it's used only for that purpose. If one needs to communicate across the map, one might use whispers or external voice-chat.
Bolded the relevant part.
So people that use a external resource get a benefit, people that can't or don't want to do it are handicapped. We will end with trade channels for the people in the know only?
That will happen even if we get a few global channels, but it will be less relevant.
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I would like to see settlement and possibly general trade forum sections later on the GW site. In the same fashion as the "they're going to do it anyway, let's let them do it in-game(ish)" policy that GW seems to have about stuff, this would ease the handicap against PFO only players. Disclaimer: I am one of those ludite players who doesn't use third-party stuff (I mean, I mumble to myself a lot but I don't think that counts).
Tavern Posting Boards - Since we're on the topic of chat and communication in game, I would like to push this little idea again. It would be great to have an in game Posting Board in the settlements (and maybe certain POIs). It would be great for local buy and sell orders, mercenary for hire/wanted, other bounties, crafting requests, travelling merchant schedules...all that stuff. It could provide foot traffic to the Tavern and maybe some other benefit (cost to post going to the house, gotta start adding value to that Tavern package sometime, heh). I understand the AH, might have some buy/sell order capability...but I need to see the AH work better first.
Just a simple BBS style (damn I'm old) local in-game forum would do the trick.
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Goblin Squad Member
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So people that use a external resource get a benefit, people that can't or don't want to do it are handicapped. We will end with trade channels for the people in the know only?
That will happen even if we get a few global channels, but it will be less relevant.
That is going to happen in anything humans do. Painting it as though it is a flaw in any way specific to PFO is disingenuous.
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CEO, Goblinworks
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Answer to original question:
Local: The range of your minimap
Hex: The whole hex
Party: Your party
Help: The whole server
Chat: Any message you can receive
What you use them for:
Local: Talking with everyone fighting for a Tower
Hex: Talking with people working on an escalation or socializing at the Settlement
Party: Talking to the people you're grouped with
Help: Getting and receiving help
Chat: Where we think most people will monitor Chat until some topic comes up that they want to interact with
Why not have "General chat":
Because it becomes useless very very quickly. Even a relatively small number of concurrent users will swamp it.
Note that as of Alpha 13 we don't post notifications that people are entering and leaving the game, which reduces the clutter substantially.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Why not have "General chat":
Because it becomes useless very very quickly. Even a relatively small number of concurrent users will swamp it.
It seems inevitable that folks will use Help as a substitute for Global. Might it be better to create a sanctioned Global channel for the folks who insist on finding some way to have it? Otherwise, it seems to me you'll either have to spend a significant effort policing the chat in Help, or Help will become much less useful for its intended purpose.
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Goblin Squad Member
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There's no intrinsic reason not to have Company and Alliance channels. It just requires more work so it didn't make it into MVP.
Company and Settlement may even be good enough.
In Alpha many settlements have turned into detached groups of solo players and small groups of people who are already friends. without a lot of interaction between those settlement members that do not already know each other.
That is not a good thing.
The equivalent of EVE corporate chat is totally missing.
My suggestion is introduce a company or settlement chat and make all new players by default a member of a NPC starter company/settlement.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'm pretty sure that the creation of custom channels exists (I recall playing with it). Sunholm plans to have such a channel, that will be a defacto guild chat. It is of course not secure, but sensitive discussion is what forums/vent are for anyway.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'm pretty sure that the creation of custom channels exists (I recall playing with it). Sunholm plans to have such a channel, that will be a defacto guild chat. It is of course not secure, but sensitive discussion is what forums/vent are for anyway.
This doesn't appear to be working anymore. Specifically, the /AddChannel and /JoinChannel commands don't seem to do anything, although the /Channel command still works as expected, but only for the pre-defined Channels (Party, Hex, Local, Help) but appears to simply change tabs. Apparently, it's not possible to stay on the Chat tab (to monitor all Chat) and talk in another Channel at the same time.
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Goblin Squad Member
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That is going to happen in anything humans do. Painting it as though it is a flaw in any way specific to PFO is disingenuous.So people that use a external resource get a benefit, people that can't or don't want to do it are handicapped. We will end with trade channels for the people in the know only?
That will happen even if we get a few global channels, but it will be less relevant.
If PFO don't give a way to replace them, even in a less efficient way, it is a flaw.
Local/Party do part of that, but we lack a trading channel in a game where trading will be important.
Why not have "General chat":Because it becomes useless very very quickly. Even a relatively small number of concurrent users will swamp it.
Note that as of Alpha 13 we don't post notifications that people are entering and leaving the game, which reduces the clutter substantially.
I know, but it feel damnably lonely. When I play normally there isn't anyone in range.
There's no intrinsic reason not to have Company and Alliance channels. It just requires more work so it didn't make it into MVP.Company and Settlement may even be good enough.
In Alpha many settlements have turned into detached groups of solo players and small groups of people who are already friends. without a lot of interaction between those settlement members that do not already know each other.
That is not a good thing.
The equivalent of EVE corporate chat is totally missing.
My suggestion is introduce a company or settlement chat and make all new players by default a member of a NPC starter company/settlement.
This!
There may be times when Help asserts itself. I had chat set to hex, because I was moving a lot. I found the Tavern in the copper hills. When I walked in, help came up and my comment about finding the tavern got a help response.
It was a shell, but still the first I have seen.
Copper Hills, very apt. If the Devs want to see the names they have chose stick they should label the map ASAP or we wills tart naming it this way. In RL that is how most location names were born.
And a lot of "What?" and equivalent in the native tongue taken as a animal/plant/location name by foreign explorers.