New Chat Bubbles = R.I.P. HAGS?

[Marqsaynt]

I remember the old HAGS (Hide and Go Seek) games that The Explorer's guild and others used to host. i.e. ---> http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=23429.msg259634#msg259634 And it occurred to me the other day that with chat, /tells, etc. all now pointing to your character's location like a giant neon sign that these old HAGS games have probably gone the way of the dodo.

Sure it's been, as far as I know, around a year since any of these games have been hosted but it still feels like the end of an era to me and one I'll remember fondly. 

Oh well, that's enough of the reminiscing... time to look forward to the next update. Bring on the new era! (and non-lethal duels, and banks, and...) 

[Earl_Listbard]

Yeah... I was thinking about doing a game of hags today.... then... I realized this... >.<

it would be nice if there just were no chat bubbles, and that you ALWAYS had to have your cursor over someone to see their name, or at least click on them...

makes stealth missions, and sneaking up on people easier... Don't get me started on the target commands, or the fact you can edit your camera to see through walls...


Or heres an idea, you can only see their name and tag if they're 100% in plain view.... without any obstructions.


Would make HAGS and stealth missions better.... most important is that you could actually... you know... ambush? :s

[Siteri Kidachi]

Is there an option to turn the chat bubbles off? You could require that everyone turn them off... the same way that you can't zoom out in order to find someone.

[Noriin]

You can remove bubbles by renaming the \PlaneShift Crystal Blue\data\options\chatbubbles.xml file, though an option for doing so would be nicer, jsut as you can activate or deactivate the labels.
I normally don't like them much but at certain points I wouldn't mind having them. But just can't be arsed to relog to rename the file.

However, there is no way to check nobody is using them concerning the HAGS matter.

[Earl_Listbard]

for certain PVP role plays where a team is required to sneak... well chat bubbles are a bit unrealistic, and unfair. Like Noriin said, theres no way of knowing if someone is using bubbles or not...

*cough*

None the less like marqsaynt said I cannot wait for the next release, and quite frankly the little issue with hags is not a huge one concerning me, just don't talk unless through tell to someone else xD

[Marqsaynt]

@Siteri: I thought about that too and I guess it could maybe work but, it just seems like with it being so easy to cheat now that someone would be bound to take advantage of the system... One of the cool things about the old HAGS games was that you could pretty much invite any person that felt like playing and just get a massive group together and have a few hours of fun... Now to make sure that some cheater didn't ruin people's experience I'd probably be less inclined to invite a person I didn't know. So, there may be a workaround (in life there usually is ) but still wouldn't quite be the same.

Edit: Noriin makes a good point too, with there being no way to actually prove a person is cheating, I can see that leading to some less then fun situations and arguments.

[Earl_Listbard]

You know I thought about this, and on second thought you should consider that your character would hear if someone says something... during HAGS or a stealth mission.... and thus know which direction it came from... silence would be needed in RL... im not surprised it would be needed in PS too.... So maybe chat bubbles are a good thing to add realism?

[Marqsaynt]

You're definitely right, the game always seemed IC to me but, the conversations definitely were not.

But for me the craziness that went on in the group chat was half the fun, I mean who wants to hide behind a barrel for 20 minutes and not say anything?

Plus, pretty sure IC our characters aren't necessarily supposed to hear our /tells.

[Earl_Listbard]

Well since guild and group are most often ooc anyways... why not set it up so chat bubbles only appear from main?


Keeps the realisim of sound yets allow ooc to happen in group, tell, or guild without giving off a bubble?

[Zan]

To be honest, I found chat bubbles always to have been a replacement for sound. The bubbles would be a visual equivalent of hearing from which direction a sound came. But just like normal chat only works when you're near them, so should the bubbles only been shown in that case. In the case of /tells and /group, bubbles shouldn't appear at all in my eyes because those tabs are mostly OOC. Maybe /tells can be used to whisper so bubbles can appear but only at a very close distance, let's say 5m (about the distance you need to be from an NPC to attack it) but the /group chat shouldn't create bubbles at all.

Also it'd be great if the bubbles were to filter out any text that is placed between round or square brackets automatically but I don't know if that's possible.

[Marqsaynt]

Zan and Earl, I think you guys have come up with a really great idea. Keep the IC chat channel with the chat bubbles (so you can keep the IC directional "hearing" aspect) but, lose the chat bubbles when an OOC channel is used (so people can't use overly OOC means to spot your character during a stealthy RP or just a good old game of HAGS ).


Besides, it always seemed a bit strange to me when a person would say something like "/group brb, dudes! pizza's here lol" and I'd actually see a chat bubble from their character seemingly actually saying it.

[Bereror]

To be honest, I found chat bubbles always to have been a replacement for sound. The bubbles would be a visual equivalent of hearing from which direction a sound came.

I like the idea of chat bubbles being equal to the sound. Then it also makes sense that you see them through the walls

[Socius Rockus]

To be honest, I found chat bubbles always to have been a replacement for sound. The bubbles would be a visual equivalent of hearing from which direction a sound came.

I like the idea of chat bubbles being equal to the sound. Then it also makes sense that you see them through the walls

Only that need to be tweaked then is the viewing distance i don't shout when i talk

[Farren Kutter]

I use the chat bubbles to RP my main character. As he is blind, I turn off labels, but since with his senses he can determine certain things, he can tell where a person is if they make noise. But he can only tell -who- a person is if they speak. So I have labels off and chat bubbles on. When I see a chat bubble above someone's head, and I see it is someone who I know who said it, then I now know they are there and where they are. BTW, this is why I might walk right past someone IG without stopping unless they speak :/

[miadon]

OR if you are hideing just dont talk :\