Complaints Department

[Malic]

People who don't use their real name in a fantasy setting annoy me.

[Chyren]

Wait what.

Did you mean people who USE their real name?

[Malic]

So your name isn't really Chyren? Thats so deceptive!

[Chyren]

I still have no idea if you're being sarcastic or just failing at being serious. :/

[roran]

I still have no idea if you're being sarcastic or just failing at being serious. :/

He is the king of sarcasm. There's your answer.

[malaclypse]

The lack of organization channels.

If a group cannot communicate, in what way are they actually a group? If you join a city and can't chat with the other citizens, how will you feel any group cohesion or sense of belonging? Yah I understand there is the bb and the players are rare enough that you can just TELL everyone, but why settle for this?

Communication builds cohesive groups. Cohesive groups foster relationships, and relationships keep players engaged. Engaged players make storylines happen. This game needs organization channels.

- Malaclypse

[roran]

You should've posted that on ideas in the Q & A section, also, YELL sorta works.

[Dimetrius]

This game needs organization channels.

Actually, I've found that I enjoy Akanbar much more than a handful of other unnamed MUDs purely for the fact that I don't have to shuffle through hoards of channels. I prefer to address people personally, and do so. And it's a lot more suitable that someone should have to muster up the courage to come speak with me in person, rather than directing words at me through a channel. It adds to the setting. I mean, there's no way to give a good explanation to disembodied voices floating around in everyone's head at the same time. It's just not kosher.

And no, Roran. It was a complaint, not a question.

[Pyrok]

I mean, there's no way to give a good explanation to disembodied voices floating around in everyone's head at the same time

Mass multiple personalities, or mass uncontrollable telepathy.

[malaclypse]

And it's a lot more suitable that someone should have to muster up the courage to come speak with me in person, rather than directing words at me through a channel. It adds to the setting. I mean, there's no way to give a good explanation to disembodied voices floating around in everyone's head at the same time. It's just not kosher.

These are all totally valid points. An interesting thing to note is that your reasons against are IC, and my reasons for are OOC. One point of disagreement: there are many ways to explain away group channels, I mean we can easily explain away summoning spirits and casting fireballs etc etc.

I think the addition of group channels would increase the social aspects of the game, which seem to be lacking at the moment. A world where people enter and see conversations happening would just feel more welcoming to new people. My suggestion is geared towards increasing the playerbase, even if that means losing a little bit of the IC integrity of the game.

But its all navel gazing anyway, it doesn't seem like the people who code the game up are still reading these forums.

- Mal

Edit: I just wanted to give some examples of how this could help the game:
- New citizens could hear discussion about current events, and thereby learn and find ways to get involved.
- Citizens can discuss things as a group, allowing group storylines to form naturally, group activities to spontaneously happen.
- Elections can have debates: debates accessible to citizens not "in the know" enough to come to the right place at the right time.
- Other players actions would be better known by the group, allowing feedback and group customs and modes to develop.
- People could have discussions without following each other around: more conversation and less crystal farming suspicions.
- Relationships would form more easily, making the game stickier and keeping players longer, building the game closer to critical mass.

[Ilessa]

- New citizens could hear discussion about current events, and thereby learn and find ways to get involved.
- Citizens can discuss things as a group, allowing group storylines to form naturally, group activities to spontaneously happen.
- Elections can have debates: debates accessible to citizens not "in the know" enough to come to the right place at the right time.
- Other players actions would be better known by the group, allowing feedback and group customs and modes to develop.
- People could have discussions without following each other around: more conversation and less crystal farming suspicions.
- Relationships would form more easily, making the game stickier and keeping players longer, building the game closer to critical mass.

I would like to say two things here. First, I do read these forums when I have some time to. Second, there will not be city/guild/etc channels. Citizens are perfectly capable of organizing themselves without them, if they would make the effort. Channels would further isolate characters that already do not interact 'in person' as it is.

I gave you a yell command, it's perfectly usable while others are in your area. Anything else, as said, is more of an OOC thing than an IC thing, and we already have far less IC interaction than I would like to see. Note that by interaction I mean general roleplay and not specific between two people at regular intervals.

[malaclypse]

Thanks for the response Ilessa! I apologize if I've somehow offended you, my goal here isn't to trash the staff of the game but to just make suggestions based on my personal experience.

I'd like to address some of your points, and also promise to shut up on the subject after this.
- I don't doubt that we are all capable of organizing ourselves, I only point out that it would happen more often and more naturally with group communication.
- In designing a game, leaving an otherwise sound feature out because the player can accomplish the same goals with greater effort elsewhere strikes me as a poor decision. Note that this only applies to things you want the player to do (like communicate in an online game), not to things that should always require great effort (like maxing out in level).
- Its been my experience that lines of communication lessen isolation, not increase it. I guess you mean by isolation that they're not in the same room emoting at each other, but I guess in my view that isn't an important distinction.
- I didn't know you coded the yell command - kudos! The difference is that yell is area based, and the points I was making had more to do with group communication.
- The IC/OOC distinction doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If we can so easily believe dragons roam around, why can't we also believe that citymates can talk to each other? My assumption when talking about this is that group channels would stay IC and OOC would remain in tells.

Again thanks for taking the time to respond to me.

See you all in game.
- Mal

[Joscelin]

People should use the roleplay reward system more often. But meh... If peeps don't use it, maybe there should be a way to encourage using it.

[Silas]

People should use the roleplay reward system more often. But meh... If peeps don't use it, maybe there should be a way to encourage using it.

100% agreed.

[Joscelin]

100% agreed.

Yeah, it would totally get more people involved in roleplayin' and making roleplay stories if there was some kind of incentive. Cause like the Gods have spoken, there's a lot less rp goin' on and more ooc stuff floatin' around.