Chat panel feature request - USE CASE

[kat2cute]

Since the other thread on future feature requests for the chat panel has turned into a rant on not properly using thread-space, I'll start this over correctly as a USE CASE thread. Try to keep your ideas concise.

To Quote Jfraizierjr:

Ok, I would like start a thread on use cases. Please note, a use case should NOT contain any specific implementation details. If you wish to or need to provide some examples to help clarify a possible way that it may work, please do so in a separate section/paragraph. Also note that there is no guarantee that a particular use case will be added to the Maptools implementation or not, or even in the form/syntax you are requesting, this is just a place to brain storm ideas. Of course, easer to code are generally more likely to be added than those that take a lot of coding time.

<b>Use Case 1:</b>

Revamp the chat panel to include multiple chat windows that can be assigned at will to either single players or a partial group of players.

<b>Use Case 2:</b>

Allow the multiple chat windows assigned from Use Case 1 to be mappable in Macros.

For example: You create a macro and wish to output the results only to chat window 2 and 4 (players 2 and 4). We just got the ability to map token.image and token.name, so something similar might work.

<b>Use Case 3:</b>

Create a word search function to be able to search through a particular chat window or all of them. Possibly also allow to sort search by who said it (in case you remember who said something but not what they said).

Please submit your chat window revamp requests and Use Cases!

[UntoldGlory]

I would like to see all three of the examples above, but most especially Case 1 and 2.

Not sure about how specific/unspecific things are supposed to be in use case threads, but here's my addition:

Require's Kat's Case 1

Have "standard" chat windows with input window shortcuts allowing you to output to a particular window without giving it focus.

Example: "General" accessed with /g <message>, "Rolls" accessed with /r, and "Role Play" accessed with /rp. Note that the exact semantics are unimportant, only the existance of the feature.


Require's Kat's Case 1

Notification of new message for minimized windows, similar to current implementation with single chat window. (The word bubble you can click on)

[Naryt]

Separate windows for whispers.

Separate windows for group whispers.

Automatically configuring a whisper group; e.g. The party is splitting, one group is assaulting the drawbridge and the other group is sneaking in through the sewers. GM makes a group called assault and a group called sneaking and adds the appropriate players to both groups. The GM now has two whisper groups with unique chat panels for each (see above) AND all the members of each group automatically get a new window for whispering to their respective groups.

[Full Bleed]

--Activity lights that indicate when someone is typing.

--Be able to cut and paste hotlinks into chat window (that are actually hot.)

--Not just have multiple chat windows, but have them Tabbed (I don't need more windows on the screen.)

--Have tabs light-up when they have new/unread activity in them.

--Put a Speech macro tab in the Chat Panel.

[Mrugnak]

I'll go one further:

The ability to create separate "Channels" and arbitrarily create new chat windows, and direct the channels to various windows - including directing a single channel to multiple windows.

These windows should be able to be "stacked" into tabs, like how the macro tabs work now, but they should also be separated to sit side by side, as per the macro tabs.

Creating a channel, as opposed to a whisper group a la Open RPG, is different. A whisper group is defined entirely by the sender, wheras a channel is something that people assign themselves to. A channel may be moderated, allowing only the moderator or only "voiced" channel participants to type.

[Naryt]

I'll go one further:

The ability to create separate "Channels" and arbitrarily create new chat windows, and direct the channels to various windows - including directing a single channel to multiple windows.

These windows should be able to be "stacked" into tabs, like how the macro tabs work now, but they should also be separated to sit side by side, as per the macro tabs.

Creating a channel, as opposed to a whisper group a la Open RPG, is different. A whisper group is defined entirely by the sender, wheras a channel is something that people assign themselves to. A channel may be moderated, allowing only the moderator or only "voiced" channel participants to type.

I would be happy with channels or whisper groups, just so long as they function better than OpenRPG's where everyone has to create the group from scratch to use it. (I always had to make nodes—think macros for those that haven't used ORPG—that did the work for my players and we'd still have issues.

[Mrugnak]

I would be happy with channels or whisper groups, just so long as they function better than OpenRPG's where everyone has to create the group from scratch to use it.

That's the nice thing about using a channel metaphor - the end users have a LOT less overhead.

In WOW, if you /join Fubar and Fubar doesn't exist yet, you create Fubar. Otherwise, you join Fubar, and when you chat to Fubar (using whatever interface) everyone who also typed /join Fubar get your message.

Instead, with a Whisper Group, I'd have to create Fubar, which is an entity that exists only on my computer. Then I add Adam and Berti and Chuck to Fubar. Then I chat to Fubar. But Adam can't chat to Fubar, it doesn't exist anywhere but in my interface. So he has to independantly create a group to chat to, and so does Berti, and so does Chuck.

And then OpenRPG does something insane with tabs, and it still doesn't work. (I don't use separate tabs, because I never notice the messages popping up - this apparently means I can't use the whisper groups things ever.)

[Naryt]

I would be happy with channels or whisper groups, just so long as they function better than OpenRPG's where everyone has to create the group from scratch to use it.

That's the nice thing about using a channel metaphor - the end users have a LOT less overhead.

In WOW, if you /join Fubar and Fubar doesn't exist yet, you create Fubar. Otherwise, you join Fubar, and when you chat to Fubar (using whatever interface) everyone who also typed /join Fubar get your message.

Instead, with a Whisper Group, I'd have to create Fubar, which is an entity that exists only on my computer. Then I add Adam and Berti and Chuck to Fubar. Then I chat to Fubar. But Adam can't chat to Fubar, it doesn't exist anywhere but in my interface. So he has to independantly create a group to chat to, and so does Berti, and so does Chuck.

That's what I wanted changed with whispers groups (and DJ was planning to add to ORPG before he had to back off on development) was that creating a group on my machine and adding you would automatically create that same group on your machine...ie a channel.

[Brigand]

I'd be happy if we could mimic the scripting and channel capabilities of IRC software like mIRC.