Player Associations Archive
Thread: An idea for the MOTD
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atytula
Sun Jun 20, 2004 10:28 pm
#1
I was thinking about problems with the MOTD that may occur and maybe why the devs did not include it in the initial release and I came up with a way that it could be implmented that could work (and hopefully won't be too difficult). In most other MMORPG, all forms of text are smashed into one text screen. I used to play Asherons call and Earth and Beyond. You could filter out unwanted chat sources or give them different colours, but you didn't get the flexiblity that you get in SWG. Also, when you started your game, the chat text would normally be empty. In SWG we can scroll up and see the last day or two worth of chat (if you didn't talk a lot) which increases the difficulty of finding the MOTD when you are in an active guild and the MOTD scrolls off the channel too quickly.
So, normally a MOTD would be implemented by sending a message to the "guildchat" chat source (you can have multiple tabs have this chat source) and it can still be done that way, but I was thinking the perfect place for MOTD to appear is during the loading screen. I have found lately the loading screen is taking longer and longer to load, but SOE has been using it to keep us up to date on the next publish. Why not give PAs a space (maybe on the top) for the MOTD so when people load in the game, they can read the MOTD. I think it can work. Comments.
Jascentia
Mon Jun 21, 2004 9:27 am
#3
MOTD = Message of the day... an automatic message sent out to everyone in the guild when they log in.
My only thought about putting it on the login screen, is that I think all of the login screen info is stored client-side. New login screens are downloaded with patches, they aren't information that is filled in on the fly by the server. So, reconfiguring the login screen info to come from a guild MOTD, if the logged in character is in a guild, might be a challenge the devs don't wish to face at this time.
Ideally a MOTD would be implemented through a Squad Leader type system message on logging in.
atytula
Mon Jun 21, 2004 9:39 am
#4
The problem with having it pop-up on the screen is it comes and goes too fast. I don't even have the messages appear in the center of my screen. They go into a dedicated combat chat box. And those boxes move very fast, sometimes I have a hard time keeping up. Regardless, it should be as you say. I only suggest that they expand it to be theloading screen.
While you are correct, the loading screen is downloaded to the client, it can't be that hard to make draw in an empty space on that image the MOTD pulled from the galaxy server. It is just using DirectDraw to draw text over top of the client side image. It is something we can leave to the devs but I think it would work well if it can be implmented.
Mechasam
Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:20 am
#5
I think having a guild MOTD on the loading screen would be very useful.
If you send out a guild mail saying Guild hunt on friday 9pm or whatever, people log in, read it, delete it, forget about it straight away. Day of the hunt, 4 out of 30 members turn up. Day after, everyone logs in saying, when was our guild hunt gonna be? lol, it's infuriating sometimes.
But if you could set a MOTD from the guild terminal, which appears on all guild members loading screens (not just at log in, but all loading screens, changing planet, etc), you could enter a quick reminder that they will see regularly, and wont be able to delete and forget about 
The only problem I can think of is if you set the MOTD "Guild hunt this friday 8pm on Dant, meet at mining outpost". If the guild leader isn't quick to change it, or they have computer probs and cant remove it after the hunt, everyone could turn up the following week as well, so maybe if you could set a "Show Until" date/time as well, but even without that, I think the guild MOTD on loading screen idea is a superb one, which would be extremely useful and used extensively by the majority of guilds.
atytula
Sat Jun 26, 2004 4:59 pm
#6
A simple solution would be to allow others in the PA set the MOTD, so even if the leader cannot make it back on to change the MOTD, then someone else can do it for them.
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