Some of you may remember beta, when we had upwards of 600 players online simultaneously all asking newb questions. Channel 100 was so noisy it was almost impossible to read what anyone wrote. If Vendetta ever plans on recruiting more players the chat system is going to have to change to accommodate a larger player base.

I propose one of two possibilities:

A) Limit chat by system

In this case under general chat you would only be able to hear people in the same system as you. Guild chat, group chat, and private messages would remain unnaffected.

B) Limit channels by number of players

In this case only a certain number of players would be able to tune in to a certain channel before that channel became "closed." 100 seems like a good limit. Bear in mind that you can sign in to up to 32 channels but can only speak in one of them. Of course when you logged off you would be opening up your spot in the channels you were signed in to.

If the chat system remains as it is... can you imagine the torrential bombardment of text on channel 100 from 500-1,000 players?

Right now the universe isn't very well populated. If anything limiting communication will be more of a hinderance than a help. But I strongly agree that something will need to be done to deal with hundreds of players chatting online, once the active player count reaches those higher numbers.

This is kind of resurrecting an old suggestion of mine but I'll repost my ideas anyway...

Stations have antennas, right? This would seem to suggest that they're capable of long-range communication. Ships, however, do not have them. Which would seem to suggest that they're only capable of short-range communication. That being said, I think if someone wants to chat globally, they'll need to dock at a station and chat there. Or I guess you could argue that global chat isn't even necessary. But I don't think we're at that point yet.

And like Phaserlight said, limiting outside/in-ship chat to systems only would be a great idea. With the exception of guild, private, and group chat of course. But anyway, that would help reduce chat spamming and it'll give the universe a greater sense of mystery and danger. You know... not being able to call in for help on open channels or not knowing who is listening on the other end can add a little excitement to the game.

I'm sure that if the game's population reaches levels that ruin channel 100, the devs will eliminate the global chat and bring back the shortlived system and sector limited chats.

100 is already ruined.

*points at self*

Heh I talk to my self on chan 666 all the time, so I don't care what the rest of y'all do.

I would like to see system chat reintroduced, but other than that I don't think the vhat sytem will need many changes. If 100 gets too busy, people can leave it if they want.

There are already at lest 200-300 chanels in the general chat, guild chat, group chat, sector chat, and privat chat. a System chat wouldn't be a bad addition, but i don't see overcrouding on the general chat being a problem in the forseable future.

Another potential issue is the forums... in beta the forums were bombarded by dozens of question threads often repeating the same things over and over. Should you have a minimum amount of time spent in game required before posting in the forums? That may prevent newbies from voicing valid concerns or problems though... or should you require that people sign up on the forums separately? That may cut down on the number of fluff threads.

ooooh. I get it!
Phaserlight is a troll posting loads of frivolous, idiotic and entirely useless threads, often relating to things which are far enough off to guarantee that the thread has absolutley no bearing on them!

Good work phaserlight! I wish I was as clever and daring in my trollish endeavors as you are. My hat goes off to you.

If you can convince a dev/guide to move it out of the Archives, my thread entitled "Long-Distance Chat System Revision" is highly pertinent.