Hey Crows,
Max Lancaster here—your friendly neighborhood producer— delivering an update on our overhaul of Crowfall's chat system.
Chat is a vital part of the MMO experience and we are happy to begin giving it the attention it deserves. We are implementing a more robust, user-friendly chat system with more of the features you may be accustomed to from playing other games. As always, please keep in mind that this is a work-in-progress and that more features (and polish) will be added between now and launch.
NOTE: A more elaborate write-up will be released closer to when these features go live and will explain all of the new functions in greater detail, including specific chat commands, such as /tell, /friend, etc.
(And in case you missed it, our UX Lead Billy Garretsen discussed some of the upcoming aesthetic improvements to Crowfall’s chat and other UI elements in this video. Chat is shown around the 3:20 mark.)
New Look
We want the new chat box to be as user-friendly as possible. It shouldn't impede or obstruct gameplay, but it does need to be easily read by the player. In its new form, the UI will be more transparent when not selected, opaque when selected (to enhance legibility) and will always display usernames prominently. Here are some screenshots to illustrate what I mean (thanks, Billy!):
Inactive Chat
Active Chat
Public and Private Channels
In addition to traditional public channels, players will be able to create private channels of their own and tab between them. Channel creators will have ownership rights and be able to invite and eject other players as they see fit.
Direct Messaging
Players will able to send private messages to (or whisper) other players. These messages can be sent at any time and are not visible to any other players. Eventually, this system will also be cross-world, meaning that you'll be able to send messages from one campaign world to player(s) in another campaign (or in the lobby).
Proximity Chat
Basic world chat will be restricted by players’ proximity to one another. If another player is too far away, any messages they send in the basic public channel will not be visible to you (though whispers and private channel chat will always work regardless of range).
Grouping
Players will be able to invite other players that are already in their faction to a group, which can hold up to five total players (don't get too hung up on these numbers, they are always subject to change). The gameplay implications of who-you-can-group-with and max-players-per-group will likely be determined by the ruleset of any given mini-campaign.
In the near term, our grouping system will support the following functions:
- Invite players to your group.
- Remove players from your group (group leader only).
- Make another player the party leader (group leader only) .
- Remove yourself from a group.
- Disband the group (group leader only).
There is no "auto-follow" ability for grouping (and we do not currently plan to add one).
Friends List and Ignore List
Players will be able to add other players to their friends list. Users will be prompted when friends log in or leave the game. Additionally, players will be able to add other players to their ignore list. Ignored players will be squelched, meaning they will not be able to communicate with the list owner via the chat system at all.
We look forward to delivering these and many more new features in a future update. As always, tell us what you think in the forums.
Thanks for reading!
Max Lancaster
Associate Producer, ArtCraft Entertainment