Forums » Suggestions
Long-Distance Chat System Revision
Our current chatsystem is fine and good for now, but in the future it's going to be a problem. Can you imagine a chat if 1000 active players are all talking at once? I can't. So I propose a new, radical redesign of the chatsystem. It shouldn't be implimented now, but I think it will work well in the future.
This chatsystem is based off the same principles as current e-mail and telephone services. Namely, e-mail is free letters and telephone is [expensive] real-time communication. So therefore, my system is two-fold. Access is through a new tab in station menu, the "Communications" tab. There, you can either launch a real-time chat or send messages, or recieve the aforementioned.
Messages are free. They can be of length up to 2000 characters, and can be addressed to up to 20 people (who can be grouped together if necessary) in up to 10 sectors. They are adressed in the following manner "Name@Sector", with "Roguelazer@Sector1" as a valid example. You would normally adress them to wherever you believe the person to be, although addressing it to their homesector would work as well. Whenever they enter a sector in which they have mail waiting, a small indicator comes up on the HUD and they can dock at station to retrieve their message. Each station can hold 2 messages for a given user, but additional space can be bought for ingame credits. For example, if I want to have people send stuff to my homestation, I might buy a 50-message messagebox for 100c/month and I would be able to have 100 messages in it. You can, of course, delete messages.
Real-Time chat is the other option, and is rather like telephone. You pay a rather large initial fee for which someone is located and contacted. They go to station and recieve your call. Then, you can chat with them as we normally chat for a fee of x amount/minute/sector. If, say, it was 10c/minite/sector, a 5 minute call to someone 10 sectors away would cost 500credits plus the initial fee to find them.
There would have to be exceptions, of course. In-sector chat should, in my opinion, remain largely the same as it is now, except you should be able to define groups of people to chat with (across multiple teams). Also, I think you should be able to chat from your nation's homesector to anyone else in the galaxy as we chat normally. That way, governments and so forth could still issue orders and so forth.
So, what do you all think?
This chatsystem is based off the same principles as current e-mail and telephone services. Namely, e-mail is free letters and telephone is [expensive] real-time communication. So therefore, my system is two-fold. Access is through a new tab in station menu, the "Communications" tab. There, you can either launch a real-time chat or send messages, or recieve the aforementioned.
Messages are free. They can be of length up to 2000 characters, and can be addressed to up to 20 people (who can be grouped together if necessary) in up to 10 sectors. They are adressed in the following manner "Name@Sector", with "Roguelazer@Sector1" as a valid example. You would normally adress them to wherever you believe the person to be, although addressing it to their homesector would work as well. Whenever they enter a sector in which they have mail waiting, a small indicator comes up on the HUD and they can dock at station to retrieve their message. Each station can hold 2 messages for a given user, but additional space can be bought for ingame credits. For example, if I want to have people send stuff to my homestation, I might buy a 50-message messagebox for 100c/month and I would be able to have 100 messages in it. You can, of course, delete messages.
Real-Time chat is the other option, and is rather like telephone. You pay a rather large initial fee for which someone is located and contacted. They go to station and recieve your call. Then, you can chat with them as we normally chat for a fee of x amount/minute/sector. If, say, it was 10c/minite/sector, a 5 minute call to someone 10 sectors away would cost 500credits plus the initial fee to find them.
There would have to be exceptions, of course. In-sector chat should, in my opinion, remain largely the same as it is now, except you should be able to define groups of people to chat with (across multiple teams). Also, I think you should be able to chat from your nation's homesector to anyone else in the galaxy as we chat normally. That way, governments and so forth could still issue orders and so forth.
So, what do you all think?
Well, I think everyone that has thought about it knows something needs to be done. Not only is there the very practical considerations of spam and bandwidth, but the chat system needs to do more to encourage IC behavior.
First, the concept of 'chat' needs to die. As Panda says, Vendetta is becoming the world's prettiest chat room. People need to understand that the ships are using a IC form of communication - 'sub-space radio' or whatever technobabble your prefer. This IC communication needs to have limited range - certainly no more than a few sectors. Free radios should have very limited range, and radios with large range should consume small ammounts of continious power as a drawback (making them less well suited as fighters, but important as coordinators for teams). Eventually, there needs to be real sim drawbacks to broadcasting. Blabbing your mouth should be hazardous to your stealth, giving away at least your presence if not also your position, and could potentially get your messages intercepted by your enemies. Most communication should be on 'coded' faction channels between members of the same faction, and open broadcasts rare events normally done in emergencies. Think how much social problems that one change alone would solve.
Secondly, we need more person to person conversations (line of sight) and less 'broadcast to the universe because I'm bored'. Ships normally 'hail', each other and we need easy 'message my target' and 'send hail to my target' commands. (I know you could conceivably bind a /talk <message> to a key, but we need more of /msg_target <message> sort of stuff.) Typing can get you killed, and so can misunderstandings.
Leaving 'mail' for someone in the stations would be cool, provided you are 'in range' of a station. It need not be limited to only a few sectors though, because presumably the stations could pass along the messages to each other.
In station chat should be basically as normal, but should basically be only between other people 'in station'. A person chatting in station shouldn't hear someone in deep space 6 jumps away, and vica versa. For a fee, stations might allow 'shouts' which broadcast into space over wide areas with the fee being proportional to the range (10cr for a basic broadcast, to 10,000 credits for a universe wide announcement.). Perhaps in a really fully fleshed out universe, characters with sufficient skills and reputation could purchase licenses allowing them to operate expensive 'sub-space transmitters', letting them broadcast as a station basically for free (at a high continious energy cost) provided that they had a ship big enough to carry the thing.
First, the concept of 'chat' needs to die. As Panda says, Vendetta is becoming the world's prettiest chat room. People need to understand that the ships are using a IC form of communication - 'sub-space radio' or whatever technobabble your prefer. This IC communication needs to have limited range - certainly no more than a few sectors. Free radios should have very limited range, and radios with large range should consume small ammounts of continious power as a drawback (making them less well suited as fighters, but important as coordinators for teams). Eventually, there needs to be real sim drawbacks to broadcasting. Blabbing your mouth should be hazardous to your stealth, giving away at least your presence if not also your position, and could potentially get your messages intercepted by your enemies. Most communication should be on 'coded' faction channels between members of the same faction, and open broadcasts rare events normally done in emergencies. Think how much social problems that one change alone would solve.
Secondly, we need more person to person conversations (line of sight) and less 'broadcast to the universe because I'm bored'. Ships normally 'hail', each other and we need easy 'message my target' and 'send hail to my target' commands. (I know you could conceivably bind a /talk <message> to a key, but we need more of /msg_target <message> sort of stuff.) Typing can get you killed, and so can misunderstandings.
Leaving 'mail' for someone in the stations would be cool, provided you are 'in range' of a station. It need not be limited to only a few sectors though, because presumably the stations could pass along the messages to each other.
In station chat should be basically as normal, but should basically be only between other people 'in station'. A person chatting in station shouldn't hear someone in deep space 6 jumps away, and vica versa. For a fee, stations might allow 'shouts' which broadcast into space over wide areas with the fee being proportional to the range (10cr for a basic broadcast, to 10,000 credits for a universe wide announcement.). Perhaps in a really fully fleshed out universe, characters with sufficient skills and reputation could purchase licenses allowing them to operate expensive 'sub-space transmitters', letting them broadcast as a station basically for free (at a high continious energy cost) provided that they had a ship big enough to carry the thing.
*drool* I want... I want... Message lag between sectors would be cool, too...
shivers
/me shivers some more.
Will give you guys a fundated opinion in 5 days
cheers
/me shivers some more.
Will give you guys a fundated opinion in 5 days
cheers
In another MMORPG ive played called Mimesis there was somehting like this as in you have limited range to speak or shout. But if you found Somebody else you could put them on your "Team" and have a small transmitter that will allow you to speak to them no matter where they are.
Something like this would be nice to include as well.
(Say player A agrees with player B to have an Ansible Transmitter Line to each other. Player A goes to the menu and select "setup communication" and types Player B's name in a box. Then Player B would get a message if they would like to set up communication with Player A. Player B could then press okay and Player A and Player B could talk to each other no matter where they were in the Universe.)
And make a limit on how many communication you could setup depending on clearence, respect, charisma, and the like.
And anybody linked to one player could talk to another linked to that player. Say Player B has 8 links and Player A has only 2. Those links would come together. So if Player A wanted to talk to Player C on Player B's link, then the message would bounce off of Player B to Player C.
Something like this would be nice to include as well.
(Say player A agrees with player B to have an Ansible Transmitter Line to each other. Player A goes to the menu and select "setup communication" and types Player B's name in a box. Then Player B would get a message if they would like to set up communication with Player A. Player B could then press okay and Player A and Player B could talk to each other no matter where they were in the Universe.)
And make a limit on how many communication you could setup depending on clearence, respect, charisma, and the like.
And anybody linked to one player could talk to another linked to that player. Say Player B has 8 links and Player A has only 2. Those links would come together. So if Player A wanted to talk to Player C on Player B's link, then the message would bounce off of Player B to Player C.
Well, how about a relay network?
A shipboard comm system would only go so far, but if you subscibed to VendettaNet (tm), you could access a master relay network spanning every sector...in station, you could even launch a "browser" to "surf" to "pages" offering things like bounties, missions, escort requests, classified ads, etc. VendettaNet would require you docking in-station every so often and buying a "subscription widget" or contributing to the network by laying / replacing beacons in uncharted sectors. When you lay a beacon, a "subscription widget" would be ejected for you to claim to get free service for a while.
The relay network would consist of relay buoys scattered throughout sectors...the primary ones would be by each gate but backups would be hidden...very well hidden (making for cool assaults where you could try to cut communication before you begin). Players wanting to stay connected could head out with a "Relay Buoy" class of 'mine' to replace lost beacons. As I said earlier, they'd get free service for a while for contributing to network integrity (and possibly capacity). However, after a certain amount of time, an AI would go replace the beacon anyway if no one else had - but this length of time would be really long.
On your ship, you could send and receive "IMs" to a given player...when you subscribe to VendettaNet, you'd pick a globaly-unique identifier that other subscribers could contact you with. You might have capability for small chatrooms for coordinating escort runs, etc.
If you didn't subscribe to VendettaNet, you'd be stuck with your shipboard comm system, which might only work in the sector you're in and the sector whose jumpgate you're nearest (e.g. if you're in s12 near the s2 gate, your ship comm works in s12 and s2 - as you head for the s5 gate, the "strength" of your signal in s2 fades out and starts to increase in s5. If two wormholes are close together, you get lucky and can chat in 3 sectors, not two. The strength could be demonstrated by dropping random characters / words from messages).
A shipboard comm system would only go so far, but if you subscibed to VendettaNet (tm), you could access a master relay network spanning every sector...in station, you could even launch a "browser" to "surf" to "pages" offering things like bounties, missions, escort requests, classified ads, etc. VendettaNet would require you docking in-station every so often and buying a "subscription widget" or contributing to the network by laying / replacing beacons in uncharted sectors. When you lay a beacon, a "subscription widget" would be ejected for you to claim to get free service for a while.
The relay network would consist of relay buoys scattered throughout sectors...the primary ones would be by each gate but backups would be hidden...very well hidden (making for cool assaults where you could try to cut communication before you begin). Players wanting to stay connected could head out with a "Relay Buoy" class of 'mine' to replace lost beacons. As I said earlier, they'd get free service for a while for contributing to network integrity (and possibly capacity). However, after a certain amount of time, an AI would go replace the beacon anyway if no one else had - but this length of time would be really long.
On your ship, you could send and receive "IMs" to a given player...when you subscribe to VendettaNet, you'd pick a globaly-unique identifier that other subscribers could contact you with. You might have capability for small chatrooms for coordinating escort runs, etc.
If you didn't subscribe to VendettaNet, you'd be stuck with your shipboard comm system, which might only work in the sector you're in and the sector whose jumpgate you're nearest (e.g. if you're in s12 near the s2 gate, your ship comm works in s12 and s2 - as you head for the s5 gate, the "strength" of your signal in s2 fades out and starts to increase in s5. If two wormholes are close together, you get lucky and can chat in 3 sectors, not two. The strength could be demonstrated by dropping random characters / words from messages).
*bump*
This topic came up recently, so I thought I'd bump for good luck.
I think that communication should be more in the form of radio. It has different channels. I.e. channel 1-16 public channels channels 17-20 emergancy and important news channels, channels 21-X private channels.
That way chat doesn't become too crowded. And private communication can always continue without interception by intruders. Voice chat would be a nice addition. Only private channels can go cross sectors, and all public channels stick to sector only chat.
That way chat doesn't become too crowded. And private communication can always continue without interception by intruders. Voice chat would be a nice addition. Only private channels can go cross sectors, and all public channels stick to sector only chat.
Here's an idea...Radio uses electracity, does it not?
why should'nt the Chat use Energy??? for the public chat room (which will be limited to 3 jumps in space, and all stationed sectors inside a station) will have a 5 energy per a message (or what ever you think is fit) and for private chats it will move from 5 energy to 50 energy per a message (considering the distance from the targed. the further he is the more energy it will drain from the ship to transmit)
in the end we will have a frigate that will be comunicating with it's fighters, frigate communicating with another frigate and a squad communication amoung itself or with in sectors. not as much chat between 2 distant players.
when you think of it, where have you seen a small fighter capable of transmiting in the big distances of space? you see a capital ship transmiting, and when it is hit it cant transmit.
there is no reason on eath that chat should be free...like every thing else, it has it's 'price'.
why should'nt the Chat use Energy??? for the public chat room (which will be limited to 3 jumps in space, and all stationed sectors inside a station) will have a 5 energy per a message (or what ever you think is fit) and for private chats it will move from 5 energy to 50 energy per a message (considering the distance from the targed. the further he is the more energy it will drain from the ship to transmit)
in the end we will have a frigate that will be comunicating with it's fighters, frigate communicating with another frigate and a squad communication amoung itself or with in sectors. not as much chat between 2 distant players.
when you think of it, where have you seen a small fighter capable of transmiting in the big distances of space? you see a capital ship transmiting, and when it is hit it cant transmit.
there is no reason on eath that chat should be free...like every thing else, it has it's 'price'.
I think IRC style chat would be good. You can communicate only 10 sectors out or so, so for team work you would have to have people spread out for messages to come and go about battle locations and stuff
There's an idea for a future ship type: Radio Relay. A medium ship with good speed, no weapons (maybe just mines) and a smallish cargo bay that had the ability to "hear" communications from within a sector or two, and pass on individual messages as the pilot saw fit.
So... A relay every three sectors to allow chat between disconnected groups?
SOmething like that, ya. Regular pilots would be still be able to relay messages by retyping them, but for the "radio pilot" I envision the multilog with a simple click or keystroke interface to rebroadcast last message, or something. The ship might offer slightly longer radio (and maybe radar) range and could double as a scout ship.
so..
http://www.geocities.com/bite_me_man_87/radarship/
:)
http://www.geocities.com/bite_me_man_87/radarship/
:)
I think relay bots or drones would work well for teams.
Let say Faction #1 has control over 32 sectors. They could place these drones in each sector( carry as cargo) and this would allow their faction to talk to eachother anywhere in the space, only on team/group or pm though.
For an invading Faction #2 they could take out these drones to leave the F #1 people with little communications and basically blind. There could be different levels of these bots that cost different amounts. A cheap one may just send out 5 sectors while an expensive one may go out 25.
I think an IRC type chat would be the best. As well as a mail service that can take a msg from a station to any other station.
We need something so that instead of team chat being Blue team it is actually your clan/guild/faction. I guess that would not be too hard. If your char belonged to the guild then team chat would turn into guild chat. This of course would have limited transmitted capability depending on the expense of the transmitter.
I also think a msg drone could be a good idea for scouting. You could carry it in a cargo spot...and the scout person could incode it with a short msg and send it to sector x. When it gets there it will pm the person the msg is to with something like Send password to recieve msg . The thing is any other people that see this drone can destroy it( but I would suggest it go really fast... like a fury engine) or /msg it the password and get the msg.
Let say Faction #1 has control over 32 sectors. They could place these drones in each sector( carry as cargo) and this would allow their faction to talk to eachother anywhere in the space, only on team/group or pm though.
For an invading Faction #2 they could take out these drones to leave the F #1 people with little communications and basically blind. There could be different levels of these bots that cost different amounts. A cheap one may just send out 5 sectors while an expensive one may go out 25.
I think an IRC type chat would be the best. As well as a mail service that can take a msg from a station to any other station.
We need something so that instead of team chat being Blue team it is actually your clan/guild/faction. I guess that would not be too hard. If your char belonged to the guild then team chat would turn into guild chat. This of course would have limited transmitted capability depending on the expense of the transmitter.
I also think a msg drone could be a good idea for scouting. You could carry it in a cargo spot...and the scout person could incode it with a short msg and send it to sector x. When it gets there it will pm the person the msg is to with something like Send password to recieve msg . The thing is any other people that see this drone can destroy it( but I would suggest it go really fast... like a fury engine) or /msg it the password and get the msg.
How about ship upgrades that let you send/receive communications on a wider range?
games such as SC have "channels" you can create and join... I guess that is a similar idea