Let's Chat About Mudmail

[Ol 55]

If it must be IC and the Way, then it must be denied or turned off in some fashion.  Maybe tied to barrier skill.  Otherwise, no.  OOC mail only.

[Barsook]

If it must be IC and the Way, then it must be denied or turned off in some fashion.  Maybe tied to barrier skill.  Otherwise, no.  OOC mail only.

Agreed.

[valeria]

Or just have it be opt-in. Folks who would find it useful could use it, folks who would find it obnoxious could just have it turned off by default.

[Halaster]

The biggest issue I see with being able to offlinesend amos.tall.muscular is that the game then has to start searching player files to find out who that -might- be.  You can only contact people who are in the game, because when you try to contact them the game searches for people connected and online. To use keywords we'd have to figure out a method for searching through playerfiles and limiting it only to people who are alive.  I don't know how to do that, though I'm confident I could figure it out.  But what if there's more than one?  I guess "them's the breaks", you sent to the wrong person.

I'm not saying keywords couldn't happen, just putting it out there the technical challenges that go with that, vs just their name.  Of course, even with just a name you still have the issue of it must be their true name.  If my real name is Amosarian, but I go by Amos, I'll never get offline Ways.  Which, I suppose could just be one of the drawbacks to not using your real name?

[Cabooze]

The biggest issue I see with being able to offlinesend amos.tall.muscular is that the game then has to start searching player files to find out who that -might- be.  You can only contact people who are in the game, because when you try to contact them the game searches for people connected and online. To use keywords we'd have to figure out a method for searching through playerfiles and limiting it only to people who are alive.  I don't know how to do that, though I'm confident I could figure it out.  But what if there's more than one?  I guess "them's the breaks", you sent to the wrong person.

I'm not saying keywords couldn't happen, just putting it out there the technical challenges that go with that, vs just their name.  Of course, even with just a name you still have the issue of it must be their true name.  If my real name is Amosarian, but I go by Amos, I'll never get offline Ways.  Which, I suppose could just be one of the drawbacks to not using your real name?

game could assign to a mudmail number, IE MUDMail#69420, (random number between 1 and 99999) when someone opens the mudmail option after logging in, and you could give it if requested via OOC for people to mudmail you without needing to know any of your actual keywords. Make it so your mudmail number scrambles and changes every time you make a new character.

[valeria]

The biggest issue I see with being able to offlinesend amos.tall.muscular is that the game then has to start searching player files to find out who that -might- be.
and limiting it only to people who are alive.  I don't know how to do that, though I'm confident I could figure it out.  But what if there's more than one?  I guess "them's the breaks", you sent to the wrong person.

Hmmm. You can contact and Way NPCs, is there a way to drop a PC into a limbo when they're logged out, where they could be contacted like NPCs (but their spice/food/etc wouldn't decay)? Waying the wrong person is already a hazard of Ways. That could also solve the alive or dead issue, since dead PCs wouldn't go into limbo.

ETA: Maybe have them actually disappear from limbo and become uncontactable after a certain number of days since the player's last login, so you don't have people who haven't stored but have been out of the game for years clogging up the works.

If it was opt-in, it would also just log out the characters who weren't opted into the system.

[Narf]

The biggest issue I see with being able to offlinesend amos.tall.muscular is that the game then has to start searching player files to find out who that -might- be.  You can only contact people who are in the game, because when you try to contact them the game searches for people connected and online. To use keywords we'd have to figure out a method for searching through playerfiles and limiting it only to people who are alive.  I don't know how to do that, though I'm confident I could figure it out.  But what if there's more than one?  I guess "them's the breaks", you sent to the wrong person.

I'm not saying keywords couldn't happen, just putting it out there the technical challenges that go with that, vs just their name.  Of course, even with just a name you still have the issue of it must be their true name.  If my real name is Amosarian, but I go by Amos, I'll never get offline Ways.  Which, I suppose could just be one of the drawbacks to not using your real name?

Would it be feasible for a character's current description to be stored on their account when they make their character, then overwritten when they make a new character?

[Brytta Léofa]

The biggest issue I see with being able to offlinesend amos.tall.muscular is that the game then has to start searching player files to find out who that -might- be.

Maintain an index of "recent PCs' keywords." Limit it to alive PCS who've logged in within the last 30 days.

Content is: unique PC identifier, list of keywords, is_psi_blocked, last login time.
When a PC logs in, logs out, changes keywords, or dies, add/update/remove their entry in the index.

[Ol 55]

Or just have it be opt-in. Folks who would find it useful could use it, folks who would find it obnoxious could just have it turned off by default.

Turning it on or off is good enough.  Different characters of the same player may choose to use this feature differently.

[Brytta Léofa]

(Added some quasi-sensitive ramblings in a request.)

[najdorf]

The biggest issue I see with being able to offlinesend amos.tall.muscular is that the game then has to start searching player files to find out who that -might- be.

Maintain an index of "recent PCs' keywords." Limit it to alive PCS who've logged in within the last 30 days.

Content is: unique PC identifier, list of keywords, is_psi_blocked, last login time.
When a PC logs in, logs out, changes keywords, or dies, add/update/remove their entry in the index.

This looks like the most elegant way with least headache.

[Kestria]

We tend to have the GDB for OOC communication on timings for things.  Though if you are not clanned with someone, or, want to tell someone your GDB then, yes, this would be a good idea on an OOC perspective.

I personally think the usage of having a 'courier' style thing when you can leave VERY brief messages for people for IG, like up to 80 characters long, would be very helpful. 

Examples being :

Kadian Merchant - Been waiting around for Amos to show up for ages so that you can ask them to make a pair of earrings that need to be in for next week, however, you /really/ need to log out, and no one is around to let them know. 

'Leave message for Amos' - I need you to make this pair of earrings for next week, leave them on the table when you have done them, please.

Amos logs in 2 hours later, gets the message, makes the earrings, puts them on the table.

OR

Aide to a noble has an urgent message to deliver that they will get killed via templar by the beginning of the following IRL day, if they do not get 5000 coins to them from their noble for an offense they caused, but, uh oh, their noble hasn't been on all day, and, they really need to log off. 

'Leave message for noble' - Templar longnose is saying I caused offense, and wants 5 large by next week from us or I am dead next week.

Noble logs in 2 hours later, gets message, instantly finds templar longnose's mind, sorts the issue out, following day, no dead aide..

[creeper386]

Are characters still flat files and not part of the MUD database? Seems like you'd want to do that.


Of course you don't  need to figure out if a character is alive or dead and maybe even on/offline(Which this perhaps fixes some issues with the way), with any sort of method, so no clear indicator as to why a character wasn't found.

Currently it seems like it has some sort of whichever comes first method that seems to default to PCs. That of course means you'd be much more likely to way someone accidently if the option is all living PCs. But also way less way sniffing options then too.

Maybe you get a connect regardless, and can shoot a message out into the ether and maybe it's the right person, maybe not.

[wizturbo]

I would love a system like this, and have dreamed of it many times in the past.

I never thought of it as a mudmail system though, I actually thought of it as an IC service that solves more than one asynchronous gameplay issue.

My musing on it in the past had a designed centered around an organization like House Nenyuk which provides a message delivery and item delivery service.  Many clans may also setup various NPC's as "agents" that tap into this system in service of their House or Tribe.

Basic design:

• You can visit a coded agent for this system somewhere in-game to setup a unique Keyword that can be shared with players in-game.  This acts as a "mailbox" of sorts.
• You can have multiple mailboxes if you wish, but they'll cost you coins to setup.
• Players can visit an agent and leave a message, or in some locations even an object for <Unique Keyword>
• When a player visits an NPC that qualifies as an "agent", they can also retrieve any messages or potentially items that were left for them.  Messages are shared regardless of the location you're in, as the agents across the Known all talk to each other via the Way.  Items have to be retrieved at the location they were left however.
• These messages are verbally spoken out loud for the recipient, maybe in whispers, maybe in private rooms, it varies by NPC.  (Many existing NPC's in the game should be able to be setup as agents, so staff don't need to create a bunch of new ones for this.)
• Once a message is delivered, the agent forgets about it as they're busy people. 

Essentially this could act as both a messaging service when you're offline (or even online I suppose), and as a way for merchants to deliver stuff without having to find a person in-game, if you trust them enough to pay in advance or extend a line of credit.  It's all in-game, and thus accessible to staff and spies, and even has a fairly reasonable immersive wrapper around it.

[Delirium]

Keep it simple. Keep it fully OOC. It would be the most straightforward to implement, and with the ability to set mudmail "keywords" (similar to alternate GDB accounts) player anonymity could be retained. It would keep the "in game", in game, while allowing players with limited or barely overlapping playtimes to better schedule their roleplay sessions. There is no reason that this system can't be used to later provide the foundation for an in-game messaging system, but the issue mudmail is meant to address is to assist players in connecting and in smoothing out the awkward OOC/IC gaps that result in a lack of ability to coordinate playtimes. This does NOT mean coordinating IC actions.

Which is why mudmail, which is within the game and able to be logged, is far better than using GDB private messages.

The more complicated you make an idea the less likely it is to be implemented. Start simple with OOC-only mudmail and build from there.

[Sugarpuff]

I'd much rather it was an IC concept. "You find an urchin in the street and throwing them a couple of sid, ask them to carry a message"  or a "delayed way" message, whatever, as long as its IG.

An OOC message doesn't counter the problems I have of not being able to speak IC to someone, because they and my times are -impossible- to meet within the game.

If you want to be able to include a {ooc: I mean 7pm EST] like people already do on ways, then sure, but for me the issue is IC paths crossing and sometimes, no amount of OOC will messaging will fix that.

[Bogre]

I would rather this be an OOC thing for coordination of playing times or requests for meetings etc.

As much utility as an IC messaging system offers, it also seems like it would be TOO good and TOO easy to communicate entirely like that. It obviates the need to use an intermediary messenger for things. Nobles could send each other virtual letters rather than having to do it in game.

The way already skirts a lot of stuff that characters would otherwise have to do through actual interaction. But at leasts its limited somewhat by time and focus.