I know that OOC messages shouldn't be common, but I really think that as they are necessary at some points for corrections or explaining sudden departures, it would be really nice if by typing something like // or ( in front of a message would add a tag to the message [OOC] and change its color in the chat, to make it easier to differentiate at a glance, yah know?
I'd love this, personally. Seen it done on a couple other servers, as well.
You can change the color yourself with the right characters. Some change the hue of their text when performing songs. I prefer the OOC to be unobtrusive so it doesn't disrupt role play for everyone and only indicates for those with whom you role play. That seems considerate; but that's just me.
Making the usual signifiers of ooc // and (( produce a different colored text makes sense to me. It helps separate it at a glance which is not much, but sometimes I'd really rather not skim through prolonged tangents or back and forths to not miss on actual ic text. +1
If it was to be done, what color?
That's a more difficult question. It should be something not taken up by the game's setting by default, and not particularly contrasting like the green of tells is. Readable, but unobtrusive.
Quote from: SpacePope on Aug 04, 2024, 10:42 AMIf it was to be done, what color?
Light Blue, Cyan, Turqoise? Just to name a few ideas. Interestingly, along this same line, I remember a few servers that also did something where you could choose your method of emoting, and it would detect that, making EMOTES a different colour from what was spoken. In fact, I actually feel like that could be an even greater idea than colour changing the OOC talk. Or just both!
Maybe gray so it blends into the background more compared to IC conversation?
Grey is default for whispers so that would likely lead to at least some minor confusion down the line which is better avoided. Cyan I think would stand out too much unless it's quite a faded, pastel shade, which I think is the overall answer here. Personally I envision some light pink color but anything that straddles the line of soft enough to blend in without losing readability would suffice.
I prefer to remain as in-character as possible. This is a role playing server. Such changes in text for OOC conversations would be disruptive. If you want to tell those you are role playing with... occly that you are excusing yourself, send a tell. That shows in green text and easy to see. It is not disruptive to those around you. Also, you could use Discord. I don't even change the text for Quest Chat, even though that is an option.
In my view, the current " // " or " (( " is enough of an indicator.
I very much doubt that making the text a different color will encourage people to speak OOCly any more than they already do. I've played on servers that did have the color change, and if anything it improved my immersion by making it easier to focus on IC chat.
Road signs have various hues to draw your attention. I would prefer the in-character role play to have my attention moreso than colored OOC text, which would be a distraction. If there was a way, like Quest Chat to only change the text YOU see rather than the text everyone sees... that would be a compromise. For now, I prefer the current system.
I am with plat on this i feel that we do not really need color text to denote OOC. I Feel that it will draw away from IC. Especially if it is colorful it will take away cause it will draw your eye to it.
Making it a different color will help you determine what is what at a glance. I use the whisper chat in a crowded environment sometimes for precisely this reason - to see exactly what those around me are saying when things get busy. OOC chat being the same text as regular say and whispers is more of a burden, to me at least, because I have to look at it, especially when it's multiple people talking and it mixes in with IC text, which is not uncommon. Like I said above, it's not much, but it's definitely a quality of life improvement.
In any job I have had, accuracy was paramount in every form of communication. I never needed extra skills or cues to recognize OOC chatter. I suppose AI and improved technology have removed the "human" element, too much. It also tells me that there is far too much out-of-character communication if a special color is needed for it.
Ideally, we'd have a chat system allowing us to define our own personal custom colors for normal IC chat, OOC chat, Quest chat, DM shouts and emotes.
Those who are more comfortable recognising the // or ( ) or whatever shapes would be able to keep everything the same color, those who differenciate better through colors would be able to have their chat looks like a psychedelic rainbow mess, and everyone else could pick what they want to use, however they want to use it.
I just wonder if this wouldn't be more efficient as some "outside mod", rather than risk it being something script dependent that *might* eat up some amount (big or small) of server resources (CPU, brandwidth, whatever)?
I think the idea is great, I would use it and love it, but I also agree with Platinum that it shouldn't be imposed on those who don't want it, so it would need to have a toggle.
As far as which color, I'd say "make it selectable by players", each might have their preference on what text should be neon bright, what color is less intrusive, easier to read. It depends on everyone's eyesight?
but it might then all just make it too complex a thing to be made.
Also, the whole conversation about "is there too much OOC on the server lately" is an entirely different conversation but one that might be interesting to think about.
I still do think this is a great idea, whether it even can be toggled or not. Especially in a case for what some servers do with colour-coding emotes. I know servers like Amia, for instance, that would let you set your method of emoting. Be it asterisks or reversal with quotes. Then through that, it would give a light blue colour to the emote portions while leaving the spoken text normal. Always loved that system. But the same had a different colour (I think it was like... orange?) for when it detected (( or //. Tried and true method to better be able to differentiate things at a glance. It's true that certain colours draw attention to themselves, but that's also kind of the point of it.
This is a change I would very much support.
When implemented correctly, it's not at all immersion breaking. Honestly I've had the complete opposite experience. Seeing a message pop up in chat in a different color that is distinctly for OOC makes finding what I actually need to read significantly easier. It's especially a God-sent in public settings with groups having multiple conversations of their own. "Oh, grey message from John Doe? I can ignore that." And then I do. It's that easy.
I think something like this is nice. It's dull enough that it doesn't really draw attention, but it's distinct enough against white to not be mistaken for a normal message.
(https://i.imgur.com/PE4CNdU.png)
Quote from: lackofimagination on Aug 05, 2024, 08:15 PMI just wonder if this wouldn't be more efficient as some "outside mod", rather than risk it being something script dependent that *might* eat up some amount (big or small) of server resources (CPU, brandwidth, whatever)?
Regarding this, I could be wrong but I don't know of anyway to add an override to change text colors specifically like that. As a script server side, I wouldn't think it would take up any more than the Language system already does.
That said, I do like the idea you and others mentioned to make it a toggle that can be picked player side.
Absent any last-minute error, emotes and OOC text will now be colourized when the next update hits.
There will be a toggle in /settings to disable seeing it, and a choice between two options:
- *emotes like this* Speaks like this
- Emotes like this "speaks like this"
OOC will be ((any text in between double parentheses)) or text following a double slash //
Simple parentheses won't be formatted as there's too much variety in how they're used.