Dear Uber, is there any chance of a rethink on global chat?

I can say the same about the AI or GW. But I can accept that the group of people that want it is large enough for Uber to care

Yes, but you don't see SP people saying that anyone who doesn't want AI or GW is like believing 1 + 1 equals 3.

Because people who do not care about having an AI are not telling them that having an AI is bad.
If I were to start constantly telling you that having GW is really bad for the game for some weird reasons that make no sense to you, you'd get annoyed as well

Also not caring for chat, like you do, is different from the "a chat will be full of trolls that will destroy my mind and even seeing it for second before I can turn it off forever is too much to bear with" concept that some people seem to have. That's sort of like saying 1+1=3 to me.

-nobleman mode engage!
AHA!

you got straight to the point young sir!

-piiiiirrate mode engage!
Tis an ex-singlepayer telling you this :

Gloabal Chat is the best possible doorrrr from single player to multiplayer. And in this type of game we are ESPECIALLY in need of an EXCELLENT door, crafted from the finest lumber, with golden linings en encrusted precious stones. What say aye, ...a door?? Nay an archway!

and yes we need the best kind. For this game is bruuutally unforgiving.

-orator mode engage!
Finally we have an AI that does not lie about this fact! And still it falls short of being the ideal sparring and training partner!

The one true helper, in our time of deepest vulnerability, when we take a stand and say : "I too wish to test my strength, I too want to join the arena, nay the coliseum and leave my mark!" has been this archway! In this time we are generally battered by the elements. Alone against the tide. This is why I say it is the time of our "deepest vulnerability".

-troop motivational speech mode engage!
But I know this! That arch is the KEY to your victory! The only way you will succeed! Say it with me now! WE! NEED! GLOBAL! CHAT! WE! NEED! common! GLOBAL CHAT! louder! say it like a man! scream it!

But that's not the issue, the issue would be like me telling you that having GW makes PA better for everyone, when really it only make it better for the people who use it.

And then me going on to say that any argument against it makes no sense because you can choose to close down GW when you start the game up if you don't want to use it.

It really feels like you guys don't just want it in the game, but what to make it appear before the game, whether you want to use it or not, because you can switch it off that kills any reason not to have it there.

Like a TV that you don't choose to switch on, but is switched on unless you switch it off.

Why do you insist that it's on until switched off, even FAF doesn't force a chat in your face, you have to choose to go to it.

It's the most bizarre argument really.

You missunderstand I want it to be part of the multiplayer tab. When you play multiplayer you should join it. Single player players should not come into contact with it. Or at least don't have to as much.

Nice then.

Gah it just.....like you know how much people complain about there not being any more RTS games for the competitive player (other then starcraft)?

Imagine how it is for single player people these days, when you can barely even get a AI that drives in a straight line, that's like the equivalent of having a MP chat that only sends half the messages you type.

Single player feels like such a tack on for most games these days, StarCraft 2's campaign while good is magnified to being a godlike SP experience because nobody else even competes these days.

I really do wanna like and even love PA's AI and GW....but really.......sigh PA's probobly only going to be a MP RTS from now on.

Like I have seen comments about upcoming AI improvements, but that like, yeah so what? A competent AI should be the norm, not some kind of extra cool addition to the game, it should have been the foundation of the game, and I have heard nothing about PA's lore in months, and only a slight hint that GW is remembered.

But yeah....chat.....whoo.......

Well I think I understand what you mean I can't relate.
Sc2 campaign? I played that a bit when the multiplayer server was offline once. A long time ago. Never tried again.
MP is so much better anyway, what do I care for story. When I want story I prefer passive media for it. Or maybe a quick shooter. Those I play only SP usually

Obligatory

Well in comparison, imagine MP in a game like counterstrike, where there is only one game mode, half finished, your enemy's don't actually do much other then barely avoid obstacles when walking and when you score a point or kill an enemy the game ends like you just closed down a web browser.


That is PA's single player experience, a tech demo essentially, with mismatched text boxes for 'lore', and enemy's that are only genuinely threatening if they spawn with your face in the crosshairs, AND have to cheat for resources.


That's GW.

Which is why I always feel stretched to accept the arguments of MP people, because they feel so indifferent to the SP experience, yet expect me to praise the lord when there is 50 threads on ranked play and how it is 'so good, but needs to be improved ASAP!11!!!1!"

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd were done.

Ah the splendor of asking a question directly to uber, on the weekend, when none of them are supposed to be working...

looking through the posts it looks like the advantage of the global chat is largely bassed on their own experiences. No surprises there
the only negative I see is someone might find a troll on it like on every online chat nothing new. Luckly the great devs can make a button to hide/turn it off.

You also need to consider that if a chat is implemented in-game, it becomes official - Uber would therefore be responsible for it's content. That means added costs to ensure that there is constant moderation, which can't rely purely on volunteers.

Also, I'd argue a chat outside the main game (official or not) is better than one inside - people would be more likely to open up a small program just to chat rather than having to leave PA open. The key thing is that there needs to be minimal effort to then launch a game from the same program. Thankfully due to the coherent-based nature of the game, this is not particularly difficult - there are even browser-based lobbies already created (eg., https://palobby.com/). Plans for PA Hub include a similar view that allows setting up & launching the game; plus this would be great if it can be incorporated into the chat itself (notification of games started, with links to join or spectate, and notices when games end, with replay links & PA Stats if applicable).

There is no button to close the in-lobby chat or the in-game chat, or the RSS feed on the right side.

A chat system is trivial to implement.

And I really think it's a top priority. Sure, PA still need a lot of work on many things. But if nobody is left to see them, it's useless to do it.

One of the thing that made the Supcom community stays before FA came out, or stayed after GPG/THQ dropped the ball on update, was the community feeling. Mostly because of the chat.

I went there for weeks before FA came out while I had no desire to play supcom anymore due to the poor balance.

You can be sure that if that "community feeling" is not implemented soon, PA will be forgotten in a few months, no matter how many updates Uber throws in.

The RSS feed is inherently "clean", and the in-game/in-lobby chats are not global.

Well if Uber won't add it there's a really easy way. Just create a an IRC chat room, and have a mod that allows you to join it in-game?

I seriously don't see why they don't add it though, I think it's a fantastic community-building feature that would take very little resources to create.

PA Stats adds an IRC button ingame. But I think for some magical reason coherent likes to crash when showing the webchat at random times. No idea why, it just hangs the whole scene it runs in. :/

I can understand your frustration at SP stuff not being worked on. It's pretty rubbish at the moment and it would certainly be nice if it were better. But I think you're letting your emotions get in the way.

If PA starts to have a proper online community, the word-of-mouth will take off and more people will be interested enough to come and give it a go. If more people come and give it a go, Uber will have more money. If Uber have more money then they can work on more things for longer, including Galactic War etc.

If we imagine a situation where they put all of their resources into improving SP, then yes it's conceivable that the experience could be greatly improved. But what then? What new players will be enticed by that? Seems like a dead-end to focus on that at the moment, when it feels like the game is haemorraging players (note, it may well not be haemorraging players at all, but with the forums much slower than they have been in the past and no other metric to gauge it by, that's what it feels like. How could we solve that feeling? Global chat!).