Linkshell Member online notifications.

[Elexia]

I was playing a few MMOs from 90s-when FFXI was released and I can safely say "chat notifications" for MMOs wasn't standard, at all, especially since the ones that did have them get lost in the flood of chat/battle spam because they were just a simple line of text usually in the system font color that's shared with engaging/disengaging/killing an enemy.

When someone disconnects you can see not only in search but next to their character (unless for whatever reason SE removed the tomato icon from search lists in recent years.) So tell me, what purpose does one need to be hassled the second they get online? What if some people honestly just want to kick back and relax and not be bombarded by tells as they get on?

That is what Camate most likely was referring to, it's a nice feature, but it's also an intrusive feature at the same time. Time is indeed of the essence, but not to the point the very second I log onto FFXI as a leader/officer/important person I get bombarded by 28+ tells and not even time to breathe.

[Arcon]

I was playing a few MMOs from 90s-when FFXI was released and I can safely say "chat notifications" for MMOs wasn't standard, at all, especially since the ones that did have them get lost in the flood of chat/battle spam because they were just a simple line of text usually in the system font color that's shared with engaging/disengaging/killing an enemy.

So, because the games in the very beginning of gaming didn't have it, but absolutely every current game does SE shouldn't do it? Even if it wasn't standard in games (it still was everywhere else), it sure is now, and for a good reason. Because people wanna know these things.

When someone disconnects you can see not only in search but next to their character (unless for whatever reason SE removed the tomato icon from search lists in recent years.)

Our LS has a certain hangout spot in Port Jeuno when we get bored, so yeah, when we're all standing around there we can see people pokeballing. Most other times, however, we can't. I don't always stand next to every person I chat to, do you?

So tell me, what purpose does one need to be hassled the second they get online? What if some people honestly just want to kick back and relax and not be bombarded by tells as they get on?

Then you'd likely have your online status set to invisible anyway. You can't say it's so easy to see people online without this feature too and then in the same sentence say it would somehow spam you with /tells the second you log on. First of all, if people wanna talk to you, they will notice you getting online, unless you're invisible, in which case your notification wouldn't appear either according to our suggestion. And some dedicated people will find you even then, and if you're lucky they'll even ask you on /l, notifying everyone else that you just logged on.

Secondly, what you're describing is a social issue. Why do people want game features to take care of their social problems? Saying these things makes it sounds like you're just trying to justify the lack of this feature and are running out of other things to say.

That is what Camate most likely was referring to, it's a nice feature, but it's also an intrusive feature at the same time.

Come to think of it, you make it sound like you missed the part about Invisible. If you did, look it up, we said that we're totally cool with not seeing the notifications if people don't want them to. This could also be an extra setting, to not be tied to the invisibility system, whatever works.

Time is indeed of the essence, but not to the point the very second I log onto FFXI as a leader/officer/important person I get bombarded by 28+ tells and not even time to breathe.

I'm a leader/officer/important person of an active social linkshell, and every time I log on, I say hi on LS immediately and I rarely ever get bombarded with tells. If you want organisational advice I'll be happy to help you out, because saying that makes it sound like you don't use any other media at all (like a website or /lsmes or other sackholders or a regular schedule) and solely try to organise and support a linkshell of 50 needy noobs.

[Dazusu]

I was playing a few MMOs from 90s-when FFXI was released and I can safely say "chat notifications" for MMOs wasn't standard, at all

Yes, because nothing has changed in the past 15 years.

what purpose does one need to be hassled the second they get online?

If you're in a Linkshell full of noobs, or people that hassle you the second you get online - then perhaps that's your own problem and not one that would arise from the introduction of such a feature.

What if some people honestly just want to kick back and relax and not be bombarded by tells as they get on?

There was an addition to such a feature recommended by several people if you had bothered to read the thread. Such as, being set to invisible would stop any such notification being sent about your presence.

but it's also an intrusive feature at the same time.

See above.

The only reason I can think of for someone wanting this feature is to make it easier to harass members to come do X, like HNM shells would back in the day.

Convenience? Stimulating social interaction? It works well in every current gen MMO. If you're in a Linkshell where you feel harassed or pressured to attend things (that you didn't agree to do) then you've got bigger problems than worrying about the introduction of such a feature.

If you're not in a Linkshell like that, what's the problem?


A lot of people seem to be using the excuse "what if I want to hide" as a reason against such a feature. There's nothing to say an option can't be added into POL to disable it before logging into the game (something that only has to be set once). Hell, it could be disabled by default.

It's the same as the /tell filters that were added to the game for spam. You could have lost legitimate messages. But there was an option to disable/enable it.

[cidbahamut]

Convenience? Stimulating social interaction? It works well in every current gen MMO. If you're in a Linkshell where you feel harassed or pressured to attend things (that you didn't agree to do) then you've got bigger problems than worrying about the introduction of such a feature.

If you're not in a Linkshell like that, what's the problem?


A lot of people seem to be using the excuse "what if I want to hide" as a reason against such a feature. There's nothing to say an option can't be added into POL to disable it before logging into the game (something that only has to be set once). Hell, it could be disabled by default.

It's the same as the /tell filters that were added to the game for spam. You could have lost legitimate messages. But there was an option to disable/enable it.

Convenience would be more compelling if not for the fact that people are expressing concerns about the notification being unwanted and somewhat invasive. I agree it'd be convenient, but as our moogle-faced friend pointed out, you have to weigh that against the desire for some modicum of privacy.

I also agree that options are good. If there are sufficient options then there shouldn't be an issue.