Suggestion: Server-Wide Chat Channel

[Alhanelem]

any global chat would become a spam fest. No thanks.

[Naturebeckles]

I actually think that global chat is an excellent idea. No, I won't enjoy the sometimes stupid conversations going on in Port Jeuno right now, but the idea of actually PLAYING the game getting exp or working on weapons trials and catching an event in global chat that I'll want to go to would be a really awesome thing to happen in this game. I think the development team should highly consider it.

[Gwynplaine]

Server chat would be interesting but wouldn't solve PJ (or anyplace) over-crowding either. I feel people would still congregate in one central spot as that is how people are.

The main thrust of my suggestion isn't to solve congestion. It's to make completing goals and interacting with players easier. No matter what there will always be that one zone that is at least just a little more important and populated than others. That's just how reality works. But actually this can help me illustrate why it's needed.

Let's pretend that the upcoming changes to lessen congestion work great. Abyssea NPC's in the 3 nations, AH merging, and worthwhile Campaign make players spread out again. So now what? Now your chances of successfully forming a pickup group for that one troublesome mission you got stuck on are even worse than ever. FFXI has more zones than ever, and the players are more spread out than ever. Grouping wasn't so bad when Lower Jeuno or Whitegate were THE place. But there's no real single zone to go for grouping now, and it's gonna be less so with the upcoming (welcomed) changes.

[Zumi]

They should just make the Shout channel while in cities the same in every major city, Jeuno, Sandoria, Bastok, Windurst, Whitegate. Then you could easily make groups no matter what city players are currently in, and it be a lot easier to form groups to do stuff if more people can see it.

If you don't want to see it you can always turn shout off in the filters.

Problem solved.

[GlobalVariable]

They should just make the Shout channel while in cities the same in every major city, Jeuno, Sandoria, Bastok, Windurst, Whitegate. Then you could easily make groups no matter what city players are currently in, and it be a lot easier to form groups to do stuff if more people can see it.

This. I really don't need to see {zone boss} {do you need it?} in the middle of say, Korroloka Tunnel. Which is what would happen. All those shouts would move to world chat.

[Raiyoh]

I think that would be a great idea! And players who don't care to have the extra spam wouldn't even have to pick it up, or equip it.

[Gwynplaine]

This. I really don't need to see {zone boss} {do you need it?} in the middle of say, Korroloka Tunnel. Which is what would happen. All those shouts would move to world chat.

Why should you have to go to towns to lookout for groups you're interested in? If I'm sitting in town there's not much I can do while I wait. You can talk to people, you can synth, you can stare toward the AH vapidly. I'd rather be out doing other things and still be free to look out for pickup groups than be confined to a city.

[GlobalVariable]

Why should you have to go to towns to lookout for groups you're interested in?

Why should I have to toggle a filter on and off when I zone to remove your log spam? I'm either a)going to get burried in spam because it will be abused far worse than normal shouts or a combined city shout would be or b)forget to turn the filter for it back off when I zone into town and miss something important.

If I'm outside at least I'm already doing something worthwhile unless I'm doing something horribly mundane (which isn't that different from being bored in town) because there was nothing worthwhile to do. And I certainly hope you don't intend to just up and ditch something you joined just because something shinier got shouted.

For what its worth if they say they can't program shout that way, I'd except the inevitable spam deluge that world chat would bring over no changes at all.

tl;dr
Both situations have inconveniences, we have differing opinions on which one we prefer. I don't see anything to more to discuss/debate/questions to ask about it. /shrug

[Burmecia]

I came across a similar suggestion for this in another thread, and I liked their idea of having a 3 minute cooldown to prevent spamming in the channel. There are many times where I wish I could find people for a specific event, but couldn't, and this could be a good possible solution for that just as long as the channel is filterable and can be turned off/on.

That being said, I wish the seacom system was more widely used and made much more efficient as well. If that was fixed I don't see as much of a need for this, though I still wouldn't really mind it.

[Gwynplaine]

There's good reasons no one uses seacoms. Usually I only see them for things like magian, and indicating lotting. Or leaving moronic messages like "Kitty meow meow time now!". Hardly any NA ever use them and heres why.

-They're passive. Once you set one it remains and it could be old, you send someone a tell and they say like "oh yeah I was looking but now Im in an ls event" etc.
-You can only set one purpose with limited description. But there can be any number of things you might be interested in doing.
-They reset after you logout or D/C. It's Annoying to have to restate your seacom every time you reenter thee game.
-Most people particularly NA don't ever use them anyways.