New Message System

[Tom]

This has been in development for a very, very long time. Today, we reveal the preview of our new message system. Here are the most important changes in a nutshell:

It has a more modern interface with fewer pages and clicks. There are some nice AJAX features and filters update client-side in real time.

It follows a a strict threading approach - all messages belong to persistent channels. This is more than just an ordering system, it also means that, for example, a new ruler can access the ruler channel history after his election, reading messages that rulers exchanged between them before he took office. Characters joining a realm can read the history of the "all members of the realm" channel.
This should allow people to get up to speed much faster, especially players new to the game who will no longer face silence for their first few hours, but can already access the rich history.
It also makes conversations between characters (two or more) into a persistent conversation. One expansion planned is the ability to later invite more people to an existing conversation.

One new thing are a few global channels. The most important one is the global mentoring channel where everyone can read and write. This makes new players less dependent on their realm having good mentors and allows a more widespread exchange of OOC information.


The new and old message system overlap partially. Most messages generated by the game will be posted to both the old and the new system, so when you access the new message system for the first time, there should be plenty of messages already. However, messages you write will not automatically span the division between the two systems. So do not rely on other players reading messages you write them in the new system.


This is a limited preview period. Please post your feedback below. In one or two weeks, we will take the new message system down again to incorporate your feedback and fix any bugs. After that, there will be two more transition steps before it replaces the old system.

[Tom]

One thing you might notice is that the reader does not show you some channels that the writer does. That is not a bug - the reader only shows existing channels, and channels get automatically created when the 1st message is sent into them.

[^ban^]

I believe the "Event" message type is supposed to be GM-only, Tom. :)

[fodder]

you mean... the likes of

Freeman returns
all nobles of Riombara - 9 hours ago
Jishan Yusuf Khan has unpaused the character Jon Salvatore and rejoined the game.

shouldn't have reply to channel?

.... ah i see what you mean... there's an event heading in the writer for everyone.

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minor typo...

no space after (no available channels in this group)
thus you see stuff like...

(no available channels in this group)Duchy

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interestingly.. it seems realm council has different meanings. old = 4 gov position + dukes. new = 4 gov position.
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how do you mix different groups into the same channel?
eg.. you want to message gov positions + all lords + all dukes. and you want to message the position, not the person.

[Tom]

how do you mix different groups into the same channel?
eg.. you want to message gov positions + all lords + all dukes. and you want to message the position, not the person.

There is no way to mix channels. Every message goes into exactly one channel.

[Indirik]

When your character loses a position, such as ruler, and you no longer have access to that channel, do you still have access to the messages you've already seen?

[fodder]

if you can't mix channel, is it possible for rulers to create new channels that's akin to old message groups - the difference being, it based on position as opposed to a specific character.. or the option for both?

what i was asking wasn't sending same message to multiple channel per se. but rather creating a new channel where the recipients are from different channels.

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ah... slight issue for those using big font sizes/zoomed in text.

basically... when "personal" is near the edge of the screen, the drop down menu that appears when you mouseover personal... will have text that runs over the edge of the screen. with details on the next line

ticking the boxes can be tricky when you try to tick the box. because the menu closes when your mouse gets over the box.

the way to do it is to aim to click the text on the same line instead of the box.

[Tom]

When your character loses a position, such as ruler, and you no longer have access to that channel, do you still have access to the messages you've already seen?

No

[Tom]

if you can't mix channel, is it possible for rulers to create new channels that's akin to old message groups - the difference being, it based on position as opposed to a specific character.. or the option for both?

Something like that is planned.

[Lefanis]

It follows a a strict threading approach - all messages belong to persistent channels. This is more than just an ordering system, it also means that, for example, a new ruler can access the ruler channel history after his election, reading messages that rulers exchanged between them before he took office. Characters joining a realm can read the history of the "all members of the realm" channel.
This should allow people to get up to speed much faster, especially players new to the game who will no longer face silence for their first few hours, but can already access the rich history.
It also makes conversations between characters (two or more) into a persistent conversation. One expansion planned is the ability to later invite more people to an existing conversation.

It just hit me- the feature to invite people to the conversation would make forging redundant. To prove that a letter hadn't been forged, people might ask to be added to the conversation so they can read the history for themselves. Don't know if this point was raised earlier.

[Velax]

Will these threads still only last for 30 days?

I don't have any messages in the new system with my Dwilight char aside from a couple of test messages in the Global Mentoring channel. Is this because I'm an Advy?

[fodder]

your old messages will not be seen in the new system.
for that matter.. only new messages sent with new system can be seen there (i think)

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incidentally.. referendum notices (sent before or after the new system went live) are not seen in the new system.

[Anaris]

When your character loses a position, such as ruler, and you no longer have access to that channel, do you still have access to the messages you've already seen?

No

I have problems with this.

To some extent, at least, I am conceptually against taking away messages from people who have had access to them, especially when they were the ones they were originally sent to (ie, they were full members of the channel at the time the messages were sent, as opposed to simply gaining access to the messages after the fact).

I believe we should find some way to avoid this situation. I'm more than willing to help work out something that can fit within the framework of the new message system, but I am strongly against the idea that conceptual purity—in this case, adhering strictly to the notion that a message belongs solely to a channel, and not to a recipient—should take precedence over utility. (Or, for that matter, realism/common sense. What exactly happens when Ruler A steps down and Ruler B takes his place? He's forced at swordpoint to hand over all the ruler channel messages to Ruler B, and his possessions searched for illicit copies??)

[Morningstar]

I have problems with this.

To some extent, at least, I am conceptually against taking away messages from people who have had access to them, especially when they were the ones they were originally sent to (ie, they were full members of the channel at the time the messages were sent, as opposed to simply gaining access to the messages after the fact).

There's also the opportunity to force someone out of office purely so that they can no longer evidentially prove certain things were said. I see this as great for schemers, but overall bad for business.

Can we perhaps have some sort of a "save to Personal" option that essentially copy-pastes messages into a character's private channel?

[Indirik]

Not only what Anaris said, but you could theoretically never see messages that you had every right to see. Such as messages sent between your last login, and the time you lost the rulership election.

Having messages available to you that were sent before you got access to the channel is both good and bad. But losing access to messages you already read, just because you lost an election or something,is not good. Both of those together sounds a slight bit confusing.