Each time I play a MMO I seem to spend a large amount of time getting my chat windows organized. I am guessing a lot of people have done the same and I would also guess everyone has their own system they like. I would love to see a game have one or more options that would try to come up with a good layout. So in the hopes that they might do just that maybe people can list of how they setup there chat windows to see if we can agree.
So my setup changes some depending on the game but I normally have 2 windows with a few tabs each. Here are some common themes I usually use.
Personal Chat
Personal chat normally contains all communication that is likely important to me personally. Some examples are: Tell, Group, and Raid
Guild
If I am in a small guild or group of people I combine this window with personal chat. Some examples are: Guild, and Privet channels
General
This is a window I normally always have showing and has a mix. Some examples are: Say, Emote, NPC say, Command results, Error, Broadcast, loot, etc.
Global Chat
I do not much enjoy fast moving channels with lots of people in them so this channel is almost more like a junk channel for me but there are times I use it. Some examples are: Zone Chat, Auction, Shout, etc.
Combat
I normally only look at this channel after I die trying to figure out why but it has its uses for many reasons and it is nice having it. Some examples are: Damage taken, Damage done, Pet damage taken, Pet damage done, spell damage etc.
Experience
Some examples are: Experience and Faction
Everything
I do not always add this window but in some games I find it useful to have one window that has everything in it. Mostly because I never finished setting up my chat windows and I fear I might be missing something.
No comment on how chat should be organized but "Each time I play a MMO" caught my attention.
Setting things up once for a MMO isn't an issue even if it takes hours to get it just right.
But there should be a way to save the settings both for that same character in case something goes wrong or you change things around and regret it, and for other characters.
Something like LOTRO has with /ui layout save and /ui layout load (other games have similar mechanisms of course) but ideally covering more. Such as a ui save, a chat configuration save, and maybe a few more.
Every time i had to install a new copy of a game on a new computer i had to fix settings. It gets old doing it. Thank heavens for when EQ1 put in ui settings now its as simple as copy layout of character x. If Pantheon can have something similar and simple that would be great.
dorotea said:No comment on how chat should be organized but "Each time I play a MMO" caught my attention.
Setting things up once for a MMO isn't an issue even if it takes hours to get it just right.
But there should be a way to save the settings both for that same character in case something goes wrong or you change things around and regret it, and for other characters.
Something like LOTRO has with /ui layout save and /ui layout load (other games have similar mechanisms of course) but ideally covering more. Such as a ui save, a chat configuration save, and maybe a few more.
I am hopeful for a save UI function as well. I would spend beta time getting it right the first time. Since you are just saving the layout and formats etc it should be usable after the character wipes when the game goes live.
Edit: I am refering to more than just the Chat, but Chat is part of it.