How Realistic Communication Could Work in an MMORPG

cantankerousmage

I'm not saying all mmorpgs need to work like this, but I think it would be interesting to experiment and see what happens.  This may have already been attempted in an mmorpg, but I have never personally played one like this.

All you really need are say, shout, whisper, and the ability to send each other mail.  But you can you also enable to characters to know or learn other languages or sign language, or use other forms of non-verbal communication such as, but not limited to, emotes.

Unless you have certain characters with telepathic abilities or spells, no tells.  Everything you say can (and can only) be heard by those within earshot, even if you're using a mic.  There are emotes for non-verbal communication and hand-signals.  Whispering can still be overheard, it is not telepathic.  I'm not sure if there are feasible ways to block third-party voice chat and text programs, but if there were, that would be preferable.  Not as many people have more than one computer or laptop as those that don't.  You can't stop people from using phones or cell phones, but it's a little more difficult to organize a zerg that way (Of course, Skype can be used on cell phones, so that's a little troublesome.  But if players actually want to go that far, you can't prevent it).  And you can't should loud enough for an entire zone to hear you unless the zone is very small or you have some magical, psionic, or technological means of doing so.  Some characters could learn sign language to communicate too, which other characters couldn't read if they didn't know sign language.  Speaking in another tongue could also be a means of not being overheard by characters who don't understand the language.

Zone text only needs to be used at times by the game itself for narration.  Unless an event is worldwide or continent-wide, such as a massive meteor striking the world or a massive, possibly supernatural, earthquake.

Looking-for-group, trade, zone, global/world and guild chat can be done away with.
If a player is looking to form a group, but can't find anyone, or can't find enough people to form the group size desired, he or she can go to a tavern or inn in a town or city.  There can also be roadside taverns/inns where player-characters may gather.  Everquest 2 has plenty of taverns and inns in its cities but makes poor use of them, imho.

 If there aren't enough players there yet, or if they can't find who they're looking for (proper level, class, etc.), they can wait until one shows up.  Their characters should need to eat and drink anyway, and the tavern owner/innkeeper isn't going to let them loiter in their common room without buying something.  It shouldn't really be too much of a problem, because other people looking to form a party/group will likely need to seek out such gathering places as well.  Of course players can simply go to the entrance of the dungeon they're looking to raid and wait at the entrance as well.  Or even inside the dungeon if it is persistent, as in Everquest and Everquest 2.

Players should also be able to leave notices at boards within taverns and inns.  Not the best way to form parties, but it can help for forming guilds and trading/selling.  Players can respond to them in the mail.

Shout shouldn't be able to heard throughout the whole zone.  They can be heard a farther distance than say, but not to god-like, supernatural distances.  Unless a character has a supernatural/magical/technological ability to project their voice further than a normal human voice can carry.  This would also depend on the character's race.  Some races might have more powerful voices than others.  Of course, if the players are playing deities, all that changes dramatically.  Zone chat, global chat, and telepathic, speak-to-anyone-anywhere-anytime private chat would be possible.

But players don't usually play gods.

Whisper can only be used if a player-character is standing right next to another player-character/s.  They must select each character to whom they wish to whisper.  If they try to whisper to one person while another person is standing right next to them, the other person should be notified and be given the option to attempt to listen in.

(Two More Posts to Come...)

Eldurian

The issue I have with this is Teamspeak. I run an out-of-game Teamspeak any time I do a guild in any game just to ease communication.

So while your suggestion would change my in-game interaction with people I don't know, it would not change my communication with my guild at all.

It know I would also start a community discord to fill the functionality of lost global channels such as "LFG."

So there are a lot of meta workarounds to these in-game limitations.

cantankerousmage

Guild chat is not necessary.  That is what guild halls are for (if they don't want to do mail correspondence).  If people want to learn things from other members of the guild, they must go to the guild hall and meet.  Or if they choose, they can meet anywhere, but that means someone else not in their guild might overhear their conversation.  Of course, they can also speak within inn rooms or their homes, but someone else might be able to listen through a door or from the other side of a wall, especially a rogue.*

If you can't find a certain guild member whom you wish to talk to, you can leave a note in the guild hall or send mail to them.  And mail can only be read at the mailbox.  I suppose players can have a magical device that tells them whether they have a new message in their box, but they should probably have to buy it or receive it in-game.  Or we can just assume mailboxes come equipped with such devices.  People who wish to join your guild can leave a note on your guild door, slide a note through a mail panel in the door, or simply send mail to the official guild mailbox or guild leader's mailbox.  The leader's name/address could be seen on the guild door perhaps.  Or they could knock on the door on the guild door.  Perhaps someone in the guild might actually be in the guild hall since there would now be more purpose to one besides decorating, storing trophies, and buying conveniences so that no one has to do anything in town, making the towns empty.  I really don't think guilds should make travel so easy or make it so that no one ever has to do anything in town either.

* I suppose by the current results of  friending a person or joining a guild, we are assuming that everyone has or is given a magical means of knowing where that person is or whether or not they are active in the gameworld presently.

One more post to come (I understand the issues, and I will address them after my last post.)

cantankerousmage

I'll just make the last post now.

Trading can be done at the market and auction house (non-universal) in any town.  If a player doesn't want to wait around in the market to trade, they can leave a note with the auctioneer, who will have a board for displaying wares that characters wish to trade (for a small fee of course).  Though they can possibly also leave notes at inns and taverns for free.  Or at least after buying a drink or a meal.

*Instanced inn rooms should perhaps be done away with.  Inn rooms are not permanent dwellings, and shouldn't be sold to players.  If all the rooms are being rented, that just means the player has to find another room to rent in order to sleep or store gear temporarily.  (Inn keepers probably shouldn't make a habit of renting out rooms for months at a time, but I suppose they can if the player-character pays them enough.)  Or characters can go sleep in a tent somewhere if they can't find a room anywhere.  Of course, characters don't usually need to sleep in an MMORPG.  Maybe this shouldn't change.  But it would be interesting if they did need to eat and drink and sleep at intervals.  Not eating and drinking shouldn't carry an automatic death penalty however.  It should gradually lower stats and hp/mp before the character actually dies.

Of course, not drinking water will kill a person faster than not eating.  Especially if they're exerting themselves the way adventurers do.  I doubt most humans could fight many battles without taking a drink of water now and then.  So stats should lower much faster if a character tries to fight w/out food and water.  Same with running.  Can't run for many miles without drinking.  Certainly can't run for days without eating.  But simply walking in town or gathering things in the wilderness won't kill you if you haven't eaten or drank.  Perhaps Everquest 2 just simplified matters by having you die without food and water initially?

The need to sleep could be fulfilled by renting an inn room and entering it, or buying a tent and using it anywhere possible.  Usually guards won't like people doing that in town.  Players-characters can go several days without sleeping, just as humans can, but the longer they go without sleeping, the more their stats lower until they can't function properly.  Having your character fall asleep while exploring a dungeon is probably not a good idea.
It would be really cool if there were day and night cycles in MMORPGs where different things actually happened at night, in town/city.

I don't know if this could work for adventuring zones or not, but it would certainly be interesting for towns.  It was done in at least one Dragon Quest/Warrior game.  Different npcs and events were available to interact with at night than in the day.  Certain buildings were closed that were open the during the day, and vice versa.
I don't think characters should be able to run forever either.  They should have to slow down and walk sometimes to rest.  Most games have mounts now, so this shouldn't be a problem really.

I believe all these things would make playing in an MMORPG world far more interesting.

postlarval

@cantankerousmage You just made a bunch of special snowflakes implode. 

Good job. 

Mendel

I've always thought the best possible way to promote RP is to have only a single channel, a voice channel, and the only controls you have over your own speech is a) language and b) volume.  The volume determines the distance your voice carries in-game (not how loudly you bellow into a microphone), and can be set from whisper (softest) to shout (loudest).  Do away with text representations of vocal communication entirely, with only writing being dependent on the keyboard.

Unpopular, maybe.  Hurtful to gender-bending, possibly.  Promoting role playing, hopefully.

cantankerousmage

Eldurian said:

The issue I have with this is Teamspeak. I run an out-of-game Teamspeak any time I do a guild in any game just to ease communication.

So while your suggestion would change my in-game interaction with people I don't know, it would not change my communication with my guild at all.

It know I would also start a community discord to fill the functionality of lost global channels such as "LFG."

So there are a lot of meta workarounds to these in-game limitations.

I totally understand this issue.  I would prefer if there was a way to block all third-party communication programs and web pages running on the PC while playing the game.  Or detect their operation and let players know they will banned or suspended for using them.  I know there are several workarounds available, but I just it would make the world much more interesting and realistic if people would actually try to use the systems in place.  There would actually be a need for social gathering places in-game.  Right now, things like houses, guild halls, town squares, taverns and inns are mainly just there to add flavor and give people the chance to role-play interior designers.