Reflecting on the Introduction System

[Illysia]

I noticed that the help file mentions it as still being in the system somewhere and I was thinking it would be nice if a non aggravating way of implementing /introduce could be found. I am fully aware though that it would be a tremendously low priority even if it was considered for revival but I do wonder.

I imagine a lot of players playing now missed the introduction system, a little attempt at solving an RP problem with mechanics, but I had had high hopes for the system at the time it was implemented. I really did want it to work, but it just made things hard since you couldn't tell who was talking to you with names all uniformly displayed as "someone".

I don't think new players mistakenly using your character's actual name in in RP is really a large concern anymore, but for me it gets hard to keep track of who my character knows ICly and who I know OOCly.*coughs* Too many OOC tells with lots of characters I guess.*cough* Would the system would have worked better if it was left more in the realm of an OOC feature than trying to blend it into RP? Would it have worked better if instead of displaying someone it displayed gender and race so you could better narrow down who in the room might have been speaking or maybe instead of hiding names it did something like change name color? Was there anything that could have salvaged the system?

[Rigwyn]

/greet *

There we go. I know everybody's name now  \o/

Seriously though, /greet is a personal peeve of mine. Its like having a /roleplay or a /converse_about_stuff_but_nothing_too_personal

*makes an icky face at Illysia*

[Illysia]

Well, greet is supposed to be about the animation more than the text emote. But I've noticed that with some of the emotes the text that comes along with it would be a bit more awkward if you were only using it for an animation. However, people using /greet without a follow up to it isn't so bad. You should see how some players on the SWTOR RP serve try RP using emotes solely... no dialogue whatsoever during the attempt to RP.

[CheatCat]

You mean that every character in the game world and Main chat have their names being "someone" or "male enki"? That would extend to the floaty names, the name you see in the HUD GUI (the one with attack stances, healthbars and so on) and the character desc? Would the character desc be available at all? After using /introduce command or whatever, you would be able the see the name or would all info still be hidden? Sorry for all those questions but I am not entirely sure I understand what you mean.

Oh, and: Would this apply to everyone or would it be an option?

[Eonwind]

IMO the best way to keep track of who you know or you don't is the buddy list, you can even add comments next to each buddy name.
e.g. Illisia (avoid at all costs) 

[Illysia]

Wait you can do that? o.O How do you add comments?

@Cheatcat: Yeah, that was the way it was. All you got was "someone" in chatbox and from the floating name. I can't remember if you could still see the description but I think you could. However, the names were all hidden by default then after using /introduce or the button the name would display. It wasn't an opt in feature though as it was implemented to quiet down RPers who complained about people constantly referring to them their names even though they did not know each other ICly.

[Rigwyn]

Just add the person to your buddy list, then edit the name. I think you right click or something. I forgot.
Anyway, its a two step process.

[Illysia]

Apparently you use the edit button to do that. I thought it just changed the name if you misspelled. Now I can just put OOC or IC next to a name.

[Rigwyn]

This is handy for aliases too.

[Kaerli_Stronwylle]

IMO the best way to keep track of who you know or you don't is the buddy list, you can even add comments next to each buddy name.
e.g. Illisia (avoid at all costs) 

Caveat: last I checked, these aliases were stored client-side.  So, this is not so useful for people who bounce between PCs...

[Illysia]

Oh I didn't know that, but I don't think people PC hop quite as often as you do.

I was talking with another player, Yurak, and he had an idea that something could be done where the introduction system is tied to name color and tie the color to the area in options which lets you adjust color of name labels. You can set it more or less visible as you need for a reminder. Default might set strangers to a dim color so that it is harder to see the names of people you don't know and after introducing it could become the normal color for names or perhaps it could be set bright to act as a reminder that this person has not been introduced.

It would be one way to solve the problem, but I can't remember now, does the introduce system reveal both parties at the same time? If it does then it is probably better to use buddy list comments as it is is easy to not have a nice formal introduction where all parties are introduced to each other at once.

[Eonwind]

It would be one way to solve the problem, but I can't remember now, does the introduce system reveal both parties at the same time? If it does then it is probably better to use buddy list comments as it is is easy to not have a nice formal introduction where all parties are introduced to each other at once.

as far as I remember it works like that, the system was meant as an effective formal two-way "introduction" system more than a system to "discover" other peoples identities, even when grouped. That's why I think the current buddy list features most of the need you presented here (and also lots of the need most RPers may have regarding an help to remember things about others identities; except Kaerli  )

[Volki]

Illysia, like I said, take notes. If you can't keep track of it in your head, write it down.

[Illysia]

Considering how many people I deal with at a time at the Stonehead notes in another program can get messy and writing notes by hand even more due to time. In this case, the buddy list wins over all other options.