Should General Chat be removed?

[tarnwar]

Slightly offtopic and slightly not here.

Koven wrote:
I agree with this concept, and think seeing players chatting at starports, med centers, and cantinas again would bring a sense of life into the galaxy.

As one of the most popular Entertainers on the whole server, moving to static Cities like Theed? Why on earth would I do that When I can be in an Entrainment district and give 3 hour mind buffs to match those of Doctors? Why would I give up a Cantina that I am able to name anything I want or decorate however I please.

Same goes for Doctors and Medical Cities, Some of them pride them selves on being able to be the best. Why hurt our buffs to be in a static city? What could you do to make static cities worth it to be in? Can't make them be Medical Center/Entertainment districts because that would make the Player Cities worthless.

And to those who have a problem with a player there's also this amazing feature called /addignore, it doesn't always have to come down to a CSR doing something sense we all know they aren't always around.

[KirstoAndCo]

Absolutely not, it's an utterly horrendous idea.

I respectfully, but totally, disagree with what Ed says about it making the galaxy too small. It simply does not. The game is set in a universe that features communication across the galaxy, so it is fitting thematically. But, more importantly, it's an important tool to help players. Ed says it makes things too easy, I think he's wrong on this. It does not make the game easier. Chatting in general chat does not make krayts die more quickly and drop better loot, it doesn't give xp bonuses, it doesn't make better resources spawn. That is what 'easier' is about, general chat does not do that. What it does do is make things more convenient. It makes it easier to a guild, to find a group to do things with, to find which crafters have good reputations, to share information about resource spawns and to solve player questions. They are all about convenience, not difficulty.

Inconvenience and difficulty are not the same thing. For instance, if a player can't remember the best place to go to hunt rancors and general chat has been removed they'll have to tab out and search online for that information. That doesn't make killing the rancors more difficult, it just inconveniences the player. Imposing needless inconvenience on players is a very bad thing to do.

It's also important to note that even if we do believe it makes the game smaller and easier then it only does so for some people. Those who are in a guild or know numerous people will not be affected by it. They'll still have guild chat that they can use to talk to people all over the galaxy and they'll still have /tell to do the same, while the new player will be all alone. No-one to ask for help and no-one to talk to. That's not really setting them up to have a good experience, is it? Especially when there are no hugely busy NPC cities in the way that Coronet was in the pre-CU era or Eisley was towards the end of the game. How are new players supposed to find people to interact with when most of us are hiding away in player cities?

Ed, you say you think people are thinking short term. With all due respect, I'm afraid I think you are thinking short term. If players log in and have no general chat, hardly any players in NPC cities and no way easy way to meet people it is highly unlikely they will stick around, when there are other emus they could swap to. I don't think you're properly anticipating the negative impact this would have on new players. And if we run off the new players this sever can not grow.

Also, I would suggest you're perhaps overlooking the negative impact removing general chat would have on your CSRs. At the moment, people can use general chat to get help. Remove that option and chances are they'll start sending in CSR tickets as that would be the only way to get help. That wouldn't be a good thing.

I think that pretty much covers my point of view. No offence Ed, I just disagree with you on this one.

[Meparch]

If someone doesn't like it, they can just not look at it. Problem solved. Why is this even here?

And remember, douchebags gonna be douchebags.

[Koven]

Slightly offtopic and slightly not here.

Koven wrote:
I agree with this concept, and think seeing players chatting at starports, med centers, and cantinas again would bring a sense of life into the galaxy.

As one of the most popular Entertainers on the whole server, moving to static Cities like Theed? Why on earth would I do that When I can be in an Entrainment district and give 3 hour mind buffs to match those of Doctors? Why would I give up a Cantina that I am able to name anything I want or decorate however I please.

Same goes for Doctors and Medical Cities, Some of them pride them selves on being able to be the best. Why hurt our buffs to be in a static city? What could you do to make static cities worth it to be in? Can't make them be Medical Center/Entertainment districts because that would make the Player Cities worthless.

And to those who have a problem with a player there's also this amazing feature called /addignore, it doesn't always have to come down to a CSR doing something sense we all know they aren't always around.

I was not suggesting that anyone abandon player cities. Personally, I spend most of my time running missions out of Diarmid for the simple fact that it IS an entertainment district with a master dancer/musician almost always providing buffs. Most regular players do not need general chat to know where to go... we could get by in spatial, which I do believe would enhance the atmosphere of the game. My vote against the removal of gen chat though is, in part, because people logging into the Awakening server for the first time would have no way of knowing how active that particular city is (among others) if gen chat did not exist.

[Meparch]

The issue with General Chat isnt about trolls and troublemakers (for me). They can be banned... and I want CSRs to step up on muting those individuals.

My issue with General Chat is that it makes the game/world/galaxy smaller. It makes things too easy.

Maybe we should also give everyone the ability to instant port to locations on any planet at anytime from anywhere... oh and give instant Jedi as a starter class.

People are thinking short term, imo

Immersion is short term for these games, community is long term. People stay and hang out to be with their friends not because they had to google a few things in the beginning rather than ask in general chat. The new battlefront looks great, very immersive, and if it has no community building tools, will be a short lived game.

[cognitiveprimate]

I agree that Gen Chat shouldn't be removed. Certainly, I can chat with my guild but when I was first starting out, the kindness and patience of people willing to explain game mechanics that I hadn't thought about in a decade are what made me stay. The game itself is fantastic but the community itself shines in gen chat (usually) and for me, that's half the fun. Often I find myself just chatting in Gen without actually playing the game for periods of time and I'm completely alright with that. If people would rather not use gen chat, that's completely fine and I support them 100 percent but I believe those of us who use it for help, community-building, and just fun should be allowed. = )

[SkeeSilentT]

I voted no. Mostly because I've played MMOs most of my life, and if I had thin skin, I'd be a console gaming plebeian by now.

Honesty, speaking as a member who's new to the community and SWG as a whole, general chat has been an invaluable resource for me. Any questions I had have been answered within seconds of asking there. I went from a total noob to an intermediate PvE-worthy SWG player in less than 5 days, thanks in no small part due to the helpful Awakening community.

If you'd pardon the metaphor, I don't think a rotten egg or two equates to spoiling the whole egg factory. General chat is a useful tool, especially for those who are not well connected. Keep it, but have it strictly moderated. That's the best course of action.

[TKDoc]

New players and ppl that need help should feel free and be encouraged to use General Chat, etc. In my experience someone will respond even if not right away. As much as I hate to see disruptive chat, the advice to ignore it is still a great deterrent, and yes it does require patience and restraint to practice.

[Hazerdous]

I am new to the game and gen chat allows me to contact other players for support. I have read other reviews and agree that people posting obscene comments should be punished but not everybody should be for the insubordination of others

[theoriginalnooch]

I think general chat is a needed resource for players new to the server. Ever server is different in where people tend to allocate and having general is a great way to find out where people are grouping, dancing, buffing etc.

[unclesaltie]

Gen chat is very valuable to both new and old players as a social scene and info mine.
I don't think anyone knows everything about SWG and the sharing and discovery helps the experience.
Gen Chat also helps foster a sense of community among the players and cannot help but be a factor in retaining new players or those that try us out from other emus.
As to the clowns that troll and try people's patience, that's where the Moderators (CSR's) step in and drop a ban.

Great game- great environment, but nothing's a Garden of Eden. Let Gen Chat be what it is.

[Ironbark]

Also voted no.

I understand there has been some drama of late, however that just shows the passion people have about the game, and that's a good thing right?. If people are truly taking it to far, a quick whack with the ban bat will set things right.

Cheers,

IB

[Mlor]

I am puzzled by talk in general chat and here regarding people asking questions in general chat and how they should go look things up on the web or figure them out for themselves. I ask questions when I can't find the info on the web, or I want to verify that the info I found is correct and applies to our server configuration. A lot of the info out there isn't specifically pre-CU. I didn't play on live (husband did, I had a baby at the time he played), so it is hard for me to tell what information on the net is valid and what is post-CU or NGE.

By asking questions, I have formed relationships in the game. If I was only talking to people I see, it would limit the contact I would have with other players.

So, are people truly annoyed by people asking questions in general? What is general for, then? Please don't mistake my questions for baiting -- I am relatively new to this whole thing and I truly don't understand. I would ask in general chat, but then...

EDIT: Also, I have learned a lot by reading the responses to OTHER player's questions. I just don't understand how general chat is hurting the game -- at all.

[Cynar]

I am puzzled by talk in general chat and here regarding people asking questions in general chat and how they should go look things up on the web or figure them out for themselves. I ask questions when I can't find the info on the web, or I want to verify that the info I found is correct and applies to our server configuration. A lot of the info out there isn't specifically pre-CU. I didn't play on live (husband did, I had a baby at the time he played), so it is hard for me to tell what information on the net is valid and what is post-CU or NGE.

By asking questions, I have formed relationships in the game. If I was only talking to people I see, it would limit the contact I would have with other players.

So, are people truly annoyed by people asking questions in general? What is general for, then? Please don't mistake my questions for baiting -- I am relatively new to this whole thing and I truly don't understand. I would ask in general chat, but then...

I don't think people are annoyed. I know a lot of the questions someone might have are answered here on the forums many times over. In most cases it's a search button away. Our most popular being the 2.5 hour reset timer. It's been asked 4 times in the game today. I know this has been discussed countless times here on the forums.

It's a lot easier to direct you here for the complete answer to that questions rather than try to give a abbreviated understanding with limited characters in general chat. In some cases, more precisley with rule breaking people sign up accounts, don't read the rules and get hostile when an account has been locked. If every new user spent 10-20 minutes previewing the forums before jumping into the proverbial deep-end it could save them some time.

Frankly it doesn't bother me all that much. It bothers me more when people speculate or jump to conclusions about the server from 1 days worth or in-game observation rather than spend a little bit of time looking here on the boards in conjuncture with several days of gameplay.

[Grombr]

I voted no.

I think general chat is very entertaining at times.
If someone is not happy with what is happening there, they can always use the ignore function... Quite simple i think.

[Celt]

So, are people truly annoyed by people asking questions in general? What is general for, then? Please don't mistake my questions for baiting -- I am relatively new to this whole thing and I truly don't understand. I would ask in general chat, but then...

I have to second this. Ignoring general chat is easy. That's why we have the modifiable tab system. You can customize your chat tabs and even remove entire tabs (like general) as needed. During live, we didn't really have anything like this, except for the faction tabs that popped up after a while. With the advent of other MMOs, other features like a general chat and a general trade channel were utilized. We have grown as MMO'ers.

[lepsylentil]

I voted no.

In the interests of honesty, I am one of the people who has found stuff in there offensive. For the most part I ignore the General Chat of most MMOs for precisely the reason that I can expect to see homophobia, racism, transphobia, ableism etc, and I'm not okay with any of those things, so I don't read it. General Chat here has generally (lol) been a massive step above that. People are friendly and helpful. There is good-natured teasing and people actually get to know each other (and the social aspect is what makes MMOs for me).

I'll ignore individuals, but sometimes the whole conversation gets steered a certain way. I have to say the mods have been great the two times I've seen this happen (and it is only two times since I've been here, which speaks for itself I think). It's just a bit of a slap in the face to hear the people you've been chatting with amicably suddenly start treating you or people who you're close to as punchlines.

I also think it's a bit unfair to say that people who don't like being subjected to that kind of stuff should just tab out or ignore it - why should we lose out because people are being offensive? For the record, I have a damn thick skin - I don't kick up because I'm upset about it, I do it because I think that kind of stuff isn't okay (and god knows you get bombarded with it enough everywhere else).

BUT. Despite these things, I think that General adds something to the game that wouldn't be easy to replace. When I was brand new and had NO IDEA what I was doing, or when I was staving off the boredom when I'm killing my 1000th meatlump (sorry Meatlump), General chat is part of what makes the server feel like a community and keeps it fun.

[bobaphat]

General chat is part of what makes the server feel like a community and keeps it fun.

This.

I voted no basically because of the above quote. Yes I have a guild and yes I talk to a whole bunch of people outside of that guild but gen chat offers something I won't get from either of those connections. I'm not really sure how to describe it, gen chat is like a background noise to the server. Awakening wouldn't be the same without it.

I also don't think gen chat makes the game easier overall. It makes getting your bearings easier when you first start because people are quick to help out but at the end of the day, outside of server specifics, I can find damn near anything I need online. This is a 10+ year old game, with multiple active communities - documentation exists everywhere.

[Icedcoffee]

When I first found out about this game, I assumed that the population was going to be very small. While that discouraged me I decided to go ahead and try it out, with it being a StarWars sandboxed mmo and all. Awakening was the first server I clicked on from the top 100 list(I liked the name lol) I logged and didn't see a single player for the first few hours in this universe. Anyways, if it wasn't for General Chat I would've assumed it was a dead server and looked elsewhere. While I didn't type/participate in General, I did enjoy reading it as I slowly grasp the game. It was filled with helpful, mature chats(learned a lot just from reading the questions people asked and the answers they recieved) and of course all the /licks haha. As far as I knew, from the first couple of mins reading the Gen chat, was that this community was patient, mature, helpful, and what looked like a great bunch of people to be playing games with as opposed to the community of other mmo's filled with trolls, the n-word, and other toxic current pop culture trends. Though a couple days into the game some bad eggs had popped up and apparently this was new to server as most vets here had told me(and I believe it), but that's still only one or two of em. Most of the time it feels like a close knitted guild chat, which is amazing to me and I couldn't comprehend it at first haha.

All in all, if it wasn't for General Chat and the way the community presented itself on there(well from my perspective) I would've thought the game was dead and not filled with these wonderful people I've been playing with!

Just some personal experience from a noob.

[Capefear]

I like to watch and reply to general chat. It's the best way to reach people. The only problem I have is seeing spammed sales pitches.