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To chat bubble or to not chat bubble ?

Local communication is a small yet vital part in mmo's. It conveys immediate information and messages from other players standing near you and allows you to react most of the time without looking into a chatbox letting you be immersed in the game while interacting with other players. In different MMO's and MMORPG's one can notice different ways in which local communication is portrayed:
In World Of Warcraft a dark, semi-transparent bubble with bright text does the job and is mostly easy to read in a crowd.
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In oldschool Runescape variously coloured text appears above players potentially making it less coherent but does not cover a lot of the screen with bubble background.
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In Maplestory white bubble background with dark text may cause to completely cover up a screen but you probably won't miss a message.
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In Neverwinter Nights white text with slightly dark outline appears above characters for a brief moment, making it more immersive and does not obscure screen with background.
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What type is your favourite ? Which one would you like to see in AoC ? Are there any that you think would work better ?

Comments

  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    edited March 2021
    In my opinion, chat bubble duration, distance, background shape, color and transparency, border color, transparency and thickness, as well as text font, color and size should all be user determined - and there should be options to set each of these based on where the text is coming from (local chat, group/raid chat etc).

    I mean, why not?
  • Noaani wrote: »
    In my opinion, chat bubble duration, distance, background shape, color and transparency, border color, transparency and thickness, as well as text font, color and size should all be user determined.

    I mean, why not?

    Potentially giving player this much freedom leaves this system up for abuse. People making their backgrounds non-transparent, lasting forever in neon-bright colours just to advertise their RTM practices for example is not very immersive I would imagine.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Gubiak wrote: »
    Noaani wrote: »
    In my opinion, chat bubble duration, distance, background shape, color and transparency, border color, transparency and thickness, as well as text font, color and size should all be user determined.

    I mean, why not?

    Potentially giving player this much freedom leaves this system up for abuse. People making their backgrounds non-transparent, lasting forever in neon-bright colours just to advertise their RTM practices for example is not very immersive I would imagine.

    You don't determine these things for me, I do.
  • Noaani wrote: »
    Gubiak wrote: »
    Noaani wrote: »
    In my opinion, chat bubble duration, distance, background shape, color and transparency, border color, transparency and thickness, as well as text font, color and size should all be user determined.

    I mean, why not?

    Potentially giving player this much freedom leaves this system up for abuse. People making their backgrounds non-transparent, lasting forever in neon-bright colours just to advertise their RTM practices for example is not very immersive I would imagine.

    You don't determine these things for me, I do.

    Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you meant that people will have option to choose display type for other people. In that way I suppose you are right, this could work.
  • VhaeyneVhaeyne Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    To not...

    Or at least have it toggleable.

    I sure don't want that crap on my screen.
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    This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
  • McShaveMcShave Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Noaani wrote: »
    In my opinion, chat bubble duration, distance, background shape, color and transparency, border color, transparency and thickness, as well as text font, color and size should all be user determined - and there should be options to set each of these based on where the text is coming from (local chat, group/raid chat etc).

    I mean, why not?

    this
  • 100% yes, and WoW style bubble is the way to go.
  • TyranthraxusTyranthraxus Member, Alpha Two
    We've got it confirmed in 1 of the 2 last Q&A's that there will be chat bubbles - I want to say the earlier one.

    Areas just feel *DEAD* when all there is are chat-log boxes, like in SWTOR. At least with chat bubbles, you get the feeling of activity and life in an area - even if it does result in bots.



  • If you can activate/deactivate it, sure.
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    Aren't we all sinners?
  • IzilIzil Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    White bubble with black text, or WoW style clean and simple yes plz
    Izil.png
  • George_BlackGeorge_Black Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Yes but small. Not the whole text the player typed.
    Not white. Some type of opacity setting.
  • If you cant customize and toggle, then yes a bubble. But preferably, toggleable.
  • ChocometeorChocometeor Member, Alpha Two
    I hope they add chat bubbles, it always felt more immersive for me if someone has a bubble with his text over his head instead of just looking to the chat box in a corner.
    i mean for people who are annoyed by it, it should be possible to just.. turn off the chatbubbles? thats not hard to do.
    uwu
  • HedgemonHedgemon Member, Alpha Two
    Has there been any talk of local voice chat?
    Trample the dead and hurdle the fallen. Run, and you will only die tired.
  • Hedgemon wrote: »
    Has there been any talk of local voice chat?

    that's a hot topic....some people like it, some people hate it with burning passion. The official response is something in the lines of, we might have local voice chat in certain areas like taverns, but nothing is set in stone yet
  • Personally I think it should be an option. If you want to see chat bubbles simply check a box in your settings and you see them. I dont really think there should be a plethora of options except from maybe resizing the bubbles and perhaps the opacity.

    As for me Id have them shut off. Ive always had an aversion to cluttered screens and UI's because I think it really detracts from the beauty of the environment. Games in general these days are absolutely stunning visually, so its not something Id want to clutter up. Everyone has a preference and I would assume this should be simple enough to satisfy almost everyone.
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