Upcoming: Chat changes

A Sneak Peek is supposed to provide you with a brief first impression about one of upcoming game versions/features.
Please keep in mind that it may not reflect the final version of the content, but the test version status.


Dear fans of friendly chit chat!

In 2016, several new chat features will be introduced. Here is a quick overview of the current feature plans.
You can test a first version on the public test server in early December.
Please check tsotesting.com for more details.

PLANS FOR 2016
  1. Channel icons replace tab texts
  2. Dedicated channels for your multiplayer adventures
  3. Level 5 requirement for writing in chats
  4. Reduction of Global chat channels





CHAT CHANNEL ICONS

Right now there is text on the channel tabs. The texts will be replaced with icons which indicate the corresponding chat channel.

Permanent channel tabs

The global channel(s)
The help channel
The trade channel
The whisper channel(s) for personal (1:1) chat messages
The news channel (game log)



Optional or temporary channel tabs

If you are member of a guild, you see the dedicated channel for all guild members.
The guild officer channel is shown if you are a guild officer.
A channel for all participants of multi-player adventures you've started
A channel for all participants of multi-player adventures you've joined via invitation




DEDICATED MULTIPLAYER ADVENTURE CHANNELS

When you start or join a multi-player adventure, the game creates a dedicated chat channel for all of the participants.
These channels are temporary. They are gone after the corresponding multi-player adventure ended.
The compass icon indicates multi-player adventures that you started (you are the "host").
The second symbol is for multi-player adventures you've been invited to.




LEVEL 5 = REQUIREMENT TO WRITE IN CHATS

In the future, the ability to write in chats will be connected to a level requirement.
Everybody is able to read chats, but level 5 will be needed to participate in discussions.

There are pros and cons, but level 5 can be achieved fast if you invest the time.
It will help us deal with game accounts that have been created and immediately used to disturb other players in the chat channels.





PLANNED: REDUCTION OF GLOBAL CHAT CHANNELS

There are around 30 chat channels in the game and many of them are hardly used.
With the introduction of the dedicated multiplayer adventure channels, the need to provide such a high amount of channels is even lower and therefore it is planned to reduce the number of global channels in 2016 (most likely down to 10 channels).

As a positive side effect, the team of Game Masters and moderators will be able to improve supporting the Community in chats as they can spend more time per channel in the future. - You will be informed about the clean-up details next year.



If you want to provide general feedback about this Sneak Peek,
feel free to comment in this thread


Happy (multiplayer) chatting!
BB_Lyedra