Say Chat (Text Bubble)

[Axidrain]

memory limitations? in 2014?

[Milmoko_Gemoko]

memory limitations? in 2014?

When you have 256mb of RAM and another 256mb graphics card (PS3, 2006 era tech btw) then yeah memory limitations

[astrobearthe2nd]

When you have 256mb of RAM and another 256mb graphics card (PS3, 2006 era tech btw) then yeah memory limitations

nope totally wrong

this game was on the PS2

http://www.gamestop.com/ps2/games/ph...universe/38519

and the onlineplay not only had text bubble ,but action emote pop ups. text bubbles is totally doable.

[Milmoko_Gemoko]

nope totally wrong

this game was on the PS2

http://www.gamestop.com/ps2/games/ph...universe/38519

and the onlineplay not only had text bubble ,but action emote pop ups. text bubbles is totally doable.

And as we know PS3 games use exactly the same ammount of memory/graphic resources as PS2 games, whats why they have the same hardware specs and get the same results...oh wait no they dont.
Not gonna get into a long argument about tech or about Phantasy Star as I havent played the PS2 game, but I'm pretty sure FFXIVs engine (and other elements) use more resources then what Phantasy Star did, I mean havent you noticed how the PS3 lags/frame rate drops when runnin past those Ents (tree monsters) even with a SSD drive in there. Can you imagine frame rate drop with hundreds of speech bubbles been generated?

Personally I can live with the chat box, and would rather new content (dungeons of all levels, new quests, new skills, new arms/armour) be created.

[Tupsi]

memory limitations? in 2014?

It's not the memory limitations, it's just not a priority feature to add - It works for NPCs because they're static entities, but thousands of people with text bubbles everywhere is just unnecessary strain in the long run.

The PS3 can handle it actually, it's just they want to allocate as much resources to important features as possible, even the PS4 version won't have it and it's not because of memory limitations (they say it as an "easy" way to understand.)

[Ildur]

It's not the memory limitations, it's just not a priority feature to add - It works for NPCs because they're static entities, but thousands of people with text bubbles everywhere is just unnecessary strain in the long run.

Please, I have been in Mor Dhona, where there's dozens and dozens of people at any time and yet people barely speak in /say, which is the only time when 'thousands' of chat bubbles could appear in my screen. /say and /party should have chat bubbles. And also add a toggle in the options so people can choose to not have them.
Unless Squee is using very stupid programming (wouldn't be surprised) or is target of an ancient vodoo curse that will make their eyeballs melt, I don't see why they couldn't implement it. Every MMO I have played had chat bubbles and they were never a reason for 'unnecessary strain in the long or short run'.

[Errors]

-snip-

Your server's Mor Dhona must be differently populated than the my server, or at least less chatty. There are shouts, says, yells constantly on Exac. I personally don't want my screen being filled with chat bubbles period. I don't want the scenery to be blocked out, the sky, characters, people's names, NPC's, building, plainly anything being blocked out by speech bubbles.Speech bubbles in parties makes no sense, how often is your full party all in the same spot outside of instanced content? In instanced content how often are all your party members in line of sight? And are you really going to read that chat bubble as someone runs by? It just seems like a silly feature request that bring no added value in my opinion.

The small NPC chat bubble is fine because I'm talking to the NPC directly which is a direct action by my character. But folks just cluttering my screen because they will use it as a free visual advertising platform since it's so visible...is not my cup of tea, and breaks that immersion feel for me. If a feature implemented that is mostly going to be turned off...it shouldn't be implemented in the first place. I'd rather SE continue with other features in the game that don't feel intrusive.

/shrug

[Tupsi]

Please, I have been in Mor Dhona

Huh, wasn't aware the server only takes into consideration 1 zone at a time and every other zone is unloaded when you're not there.

[Bixby]

Huh, wasn't aware the server only takes into consideration 1 zone at a time and every other zone is unloaded when you're not there.

What's the server got to do with it? Showing chat bubbles is purely a client side function. You're not sending or receiving any new data, it's just being displayed differently.

[Ildur]

Huh, wasn't aware the server only takes into consideration 1 zone at a time and every other zone is unloaded when you're not there.

Of course it only takes into consideration the zone you are in. You know why? Because chat bubbles are an UI element. Or even if you design it to be some kind of special effect, it's still the player's computer who handles it, not the servers. You can go check this simply by going into options and checking that you can deactivate FXs on your machine without it affecting everyone else in the world. It would incredibly stupid for Squee to have every player's computer handle every single FX in the whole world when they are not there. And not stupid in a light way, but so stupid they'd need to have put their window cleaners to program their game instead of a certified or at least experienced programmer.

Or to put it clearer for the silly people out there: visual elements are not loaded by the servers. Chat bubbles are a visual element. So they aren't loaded by the servers.