Because, like, remembering all them channel numbers and what they're for sucks. Unless, of course, we're moving back to the regional chat system from back when the new universe came out. Then this thread should be entirely ignored.

possibly dumb idea. how about mapping the current channels straight to their ascii values?

as in:
   B = 0x20202042 = 538976322
AAAA = 0x41414141 = 1094795585

I'd rather see the original chatsystem back though :P

For those not old enough to remember it, what was the original chat system?

If we switch back to regional chat, it will just mean that anyone who knows what they're doing will be in IRC #vrelay and newbies will have a much harder time getting answers. = bad idea.

However, having non-numeric channels could be interesting. I am not entirely sure what the point would be though as the names probably shouldn't exceed 4 characters...

'Original' Chat System: General Chat, Sector Chat, Nation Chat, Group Chat, Private Messages (ranked by exclusivity).

I don't really see why the names would need not to exceed four characters, since the database could just keep a table mapping, say, 11 to the channel called "Nation" and 100 to "General".

Also, it would be nice to be able to search through these mappings for a channel you want to join.

Of course, this puts in a limit of roughly 4.2 billion chat channels, though that shouldn't be a problem.

(I'm disregarding the pre-3.0 period)

First we only had General, Sector, Nation, and Private Messages

Then we added Group.

Then we added System and Guild chats.

Then we dropped System and General and Nation and added Channel.

Then we re-added Nation as Channel 11.

Thanks for the explanation of the chat system evolution, roguelazer.

Scuba Steve, I was thinking it would be a bit hard to read the chat box if it gets filled with:
[HI! This is my channel for only ME!!!] <Sylvanas> So, why does
this channel exist?
[HI! This is my channel for only ME!!!] <JoeBob> Because I am
super special!
[HI! This is my channel for only ME!!!] <Sylvanas> Can I use it
to find you so I can shoot you for having such a silly channel
name?
[100] <Sylvanas> Has anyone seen JoeBob recently?
[100] <TheTattler> PM me.
[HI! This is my channel for only ME!!!] <JoeBob> Go away...

It would also be a bit harder to read since the channel names would no longer be the same length.

How about letting individuals name channels however they want to? I'd call 201/202 'ctc' and 11 'nation'. It's still nice to have all the numeric channels at our disposal. I'd still leave 100 as 100 and 3927475 as 3927475. Store the names of the channels client side so that JoeBob can clutter his screen if he wants to.

How about a '/channel list' command to get a screen echo of all the channels you currently belong to?

How about being able to set custom colors for specific channels or people too?

I like your first idea there, krazyivan: "letting individuals name channels however they want to . . . Store the names of the channels client side so that JoeBob can clutter his screen if he wants to.".

If you type "/join", you already get a list of the channels you currently belong to - right above all that stuff about how the command works.

The whole point of alphanumeric channel names is to make things easier to remember and figure out, since I'd imagine that new players trying to figure out which channel is which get a bit confused.

Now, obviously, it would be problematic to have ultra-long names and I doubt people would be willing to give up being able to see multiple channels at once- so along the lines of Ivan's suggestion: Put a dialog box that allows players to rename channels as they see fit, assign a color to designate which channel is which color, and optionally assign a key to send a message to that channel. However, I would still like channel names to be joinable as alphanumeric(The title you have bound to the channel on your side and the actual channel name on the server's side) to allow for easier recollection and communication of channel names.

I'm fine with that, Scuba, as long as it remains client-side.

So basically, make it exactly like IRC, instead of somewhat like IRC.

Genius.

Thanks for the tip on /join LC.

And yes, I definitely need to be able to use alphanumeric names and channel numbers interchangeably ('/join 201' and '/join ctc' both produce the same result.)

That pretty much sums it up, Incarnate.

I like the idea of being able to assign names client side but adding it server side, then vendetta is just a very CPU and GPU intense IRC client...

So...

client side aliases to numeric channels *stamp*

Server side support of long channel names *kick*

I don't understand, Spence. The whole thing with long channel names means that a new player could join the "Itani" channel and- oh my! Be talking in the Itani nation channel(Or refused if they aren't Itani). Or perhaps join a channel named "Trade" for buying and selling, instead of trying to remember to join the channel "71493" for the same purpose.

Though, on another note, actual IRC functionality would be nice too.