Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I like your point regarding alphabetical order on local. It does seem unbalanced.

But i dont think consolidating the local chats into constellations are enough. I think it makes more sense to have regional chats instead. I think people are more attached to their regions anyway, the names are easier to remember since there are fewer. It alo ties in well with how the market browser works, which is also limited to region.

NO!

Why?

Why ask? A system is a system, the lowest degree of separation in the cluster without creating ridiculous fragmentation. Furthermore, each system has people in them who are only in this system and not some other place, which means they can expect a locally limited communications room. It's not that hard to grasp.

Is the OP just lonely and looking for someone to talk to? If so... join a corp. The less sperg I end up seeing the better.

The only idea from you ive liked.

Nuke local, make it regional. No one shows up till they chat. \o/
Speaking of contracts, its like it was meant to be. What's the range of a public contract?

Don't want pilot's names in d-scan though. What i might swap in instead is d-scan getting a similar visual to the system map with ships appearing on the map with a deviation. The deviation gets smaller the shorter the range and more narrow the scan.

There are, actually. In the back-end code Wormhole space still has Constelation and Regions just like regular space. There's even a list of them over here on this wiki page.



Your stated objective here is to allow chatting. This would mean that any region with a remotely populated trade-hub now gets spammed with all the random adverts from that trade hub. What you would effectively create is a vehicle for trade-hub spam to reach the widest possible audience and nothing more.

You wouldn't even be able to use it for the things Local actually gets used for today because of cross-talk from other systems.



Your own suggestion seems to suppose that there is, since you're trying to play up the benefits this would have beyond just "remove local!" To quote your own post:



My point, in case it wasn't clear, is that these channels would be basically unusable in 90% of the game.

Wut? Replacing local with region seems like a fantastic idea. Particularly because the chat comes much more alive. Anyone in the same region will be able to casually chat with each other.

except that people rarely if EVER actually chat in local, and when it does happen its generally because of an interaction that happens in space... locally.
if people are going to leave system and want to keep chatting they will just start up a private convo.
hell most people (myself included) don't even have their local chat visible. all I can see is the list of names for intel purposes and the rest is hidden.

Now since I spend a lot of time in WH's I'm not 100% against the idea of removing or changing the use of local for intel. but if this is going to be a "nerf local" thread, at least be honest enough to admit to it rather than trying to bury the lead. its not fooling anyone (especially with how many times you have mentioned "don't show up until you say something")

More importantly:
a) Effective marketing does not convey information to one room, but rather, like a PA system, entire concourses of clientele.
b) What is the radius of ISK waiting to be exchanged for items? One could argue it is jump freighters of distance, not mere shuttle hops.

If we really want to give Local channel its fair due, time to merge it with respect to systems in the same constellation...
Specifically, Local chat channel should get merged with Constellation while further utilizing Regional passively as a urgent message drop facilitator; "top level" pings from NPC phenomena and CSM / game moderators can simultaneously appear in Constellation when posted in Regional.
The in game mechanics already suggest a broader application toward inter-stargate activity not just any one system, whether reacting to market orders, running courier contracts or in search of PVP.

Regrettably, inbound Local is always last to know what previous stargates saw; and in pilot prioritization, tasking your ship to get off grid if you're not fit for the imminent PVP only delays the pings to Intel; a caterpillar effect that a constellation-scaled thread could otherwise avoid.

If the same revised chat channel becomes a tool for chase, then the argument then extends to have sovereignty dictate who can join the discussion: standings and whether you are entering the market / mayhem to provide suitable firepower. For instance, someone in bad standing with station owners can't dock to fulfill a market purchase. Someone in bad standing with SOV holders of a particular constellation should not be able to see that channel's activity. All they will see will be the auto-generated warning and the flash of gate guns or agro of Constellation friendlies. This implies that Constellation chat is effectively standings based, invite only, and not only replaces Local, but replaces Fleet.

Some other musings: Regional channel for players should be "listen only" with the exception of market-relevant discussion. To be sure, an in-game ISK fee associated with any user generated talk, much like contracts already have a minimum 10,000 ISK fee to publish. That could be the benchmark surcharge for a string of text to appear in Regional. Newly created contracts could have a grace period in Regional where the entity can field questions from players about the contract terms. Again, effective marketing and toss range of ISK.

Lastly, a suggestion: jump into a system and press 'D', it pings on Regional with your ship's position. The ping, however, is picked up by the last gate you jumped through - or the nearest gate in your warp - and posts in Constellation as such: "Player _______ is actively scanning from _____ system gate proximity." Only covert ops fitted ships would avoid this tattle effect.