Global Chat System? [poll]

I can name a few reasons why its better.

• I'm not sure if you are answering your own question. If we can fix the flaws in beta... profit? Fundamental or not, we can work on improving it to match better chats that exist out there.

• This is a Beta community filled with eager testers, new people, veterans, developers etc. If you are new (in retail time) to the game and it starts perfectly, how can you get engaged to the community unless you start on the forums. Chat channels is just another avenue to connect the game to the forum, without leaving the game. Whats wrong with more avenues? For those single player folk that don't like touching the internet. They can at least maybe get updates if they ever connect online.

• So why limit them to forums and other software to meet up when you can do it in game with a clan chat channel. It seems like a step backward to open up a web browser or third party chat to figure out if your clan is playing or not. Sure, clans might have their own Vents/chats etcs. but do they have to keep their people from chatting in game?

• Why can't we just have the IRC chat inside the game and connected to the web browser? You state it like its not possible in this day in age.. (I would like a Dev to weigh in on this or someone knowledgeable to answer)

I would understand if working on all this is Dev time that can get eaten up, but a nice chat that is right in multi-player screen would make the game that much better in connecting people in the current community.

I'm all about ways to improve communications.

There is still no real reason why a web browsing window in game connected to the IRC chat is not exactly what people want.

It solves all of the 'problems' that people have with the current system, and does exactly what they want. You don't need to 'improve communications' when the people who would want it already use it and would find it anyway.

Most people who do actually want to get involved, will, and the people who won't don't care anyway.

SO why the extra effort for what is essentially a in lobby web browsing window?

Ingame IRC? Oh YES please. But I am not sure we are thinking of the same thing. The important part in the "global" chat is that everyone is put into it by default. That's the whole point: Get people to participate who are too lazy to try the forums.

I'm pretty sure Roflness is not being serious - he never is

I like global chat but I feel the need to point out that this poll is biased. It is biased because the most community oriented people are likely to be the most active people on the forums. These people will want global chat but that may not be representative of the hidden playerbase which never interacts with anyone else.

That said, I don't see how global chat hurts anyone.

Lol googlefrog reading my mind. right at the same time i wrote a big, long, less eloquent and succinct barrage of words on the same topic in another thread.

That's true.

But I don't think there are 23 distinct users supporting the idea in a post. So lurkers can still see the poll, sign in and vote.

Personally I want a global chat because often I am looking for a pvp, but there's no one online and in game in a lobby in Australia. So I give up and play the AI instead.

I guess I am disproportionately active on the forums. But for me, I do not want the global chat for social aspects, I just want to play the game in a non-team armies setting

Global chat can mean several things.. Some examples:

• Everyone sees what everyone writes. That's all
• You have one global area, and smaller optional areas
• You have one area everyone joins by default, which they can leave, and other optional areas
• You have a per-region default area
• You get a list of top areas by users, and can select which to join

The funny thing is.. All of these needs the same basic logic. And all of them are solved. With decades of refinement. It is, as other have mentioned, completely covered by the IRC protocol. Put up an irc server, connect auth to uberent DB, make an IRC client in the game and via web, and Bob's your uncle. A mature, refined, strong and flexible solution, with lots of out-of-game clients to choose from.

Personally I'd like the "one default, optional channel" approach, and let players and clans make their own channels for whatever they like

OK Ign i honestly don't understand the problem here.

I absolutely believe we should have a global chat and it must be an opt-out function. If you don't want to be a part of a global chat then just have a simple tickbox you click once and then never have to integrate with the community again. Do bear in mind that RTS gamers are usually a far more mature and cordial group than other genres.

Regarding FAF there are many times I don't particularly want to play the game but I do feel inclined to log in and look at chat, seeing whether anything interesting is going on, maybe jumping in and just observing when I see two top players are playing a 1v1 or I notice people are organising some interesting special-type FFA/Team game.

I'm vote "Yes" for in-game IRC-based chat. I do think IRC is good idea because there is tons of IRC clients and it's can be used from anywhere.

Those who don't like it should always have options to disable it by default.

Ooh, I should probably cross-post this in here.

There's a few posts below further clarifying.

It's to make room for the unknown. It urks me when I see a poll here on the forums and the correct answer or my answer isn't on the poll. It's on there to account for the realm of the unknown. Who knows, maybe someone has a great idea that would be better described as "other."

The poll isn't biased. The poll is taken from a group of people who are likely to vote a certain way, since we don't have access to non community members.

Saying this poll is biased is like going to California and asking if people would vote for Obama or Romney. It isn't biased, it's just asking a group of people that would overwhelmingly vote for Obama, when if the entirety of the United States were to be polled, the results would be different.

shush

Boring semantic debate. You know what I mean. The outcome of the poll is probably biased when compared to the entire population who would be interested in the poll.

Why not have a global chat like the one in SMNC. So people aren't barraged by a moving wall of text. If a player wishes to chat they can and if they don't they won't.

Exhibits 1 & 2

that's the idea. throw in a couple mods and some guidelines and you're sure everyone has a good time.

The Global Chat in SMNC was very lackluster and was only viewable in-game. You couldn't get the chat outside of the game.

We know that Uber already has a chat system but is it IRC and how much work would it take to make it viewable outside the game.