Chat

Introduction
Ref.:

In strict, fully immersive roleplay, players will not be able to identify which player is connected to which character in the game. This requires strict separation of account and character identifiers for each type of in-game chat channel. In CoE this is a starting point for the design of the chat system.

In-Character communication is done by the character identity and is limited to proximity (or family). Out-Of-Character chat will be by account and does not reveal your character(s). This way, you can have friends in real life that are your enemies in-game, if desired. OOC channels will not be tied to the game world.

Whisper, Say, and Shout
When not in a party/raid: whisper only works close range, and only to a single person. Say and Shout will be readable by all those around you and will have increasing range. When in a normal party: whisper will be readable by all those in close proximity who are also in your party. Say and shout continue to be heard by all around you in increasing range. When in an organized raid group: whisper will be heard by your party only, say will be heard by your party and those in command (at all levels), and shout will be heard by the entire raid.

Tell
Tell only works with people on your friends list and in your family, allowing you to send and receive direct messages.

Family Chat
Family chat is a form of in-character communication between those that the system identifies as being family.

Out-Of-Character (OOC) Chat
Note: Channels meant for OOC communication are referred to as 'chat channels' in general, not otherwise specified.

Chat Channels
There will be chat channels with the added capability to register/reserve and moderate channels. These chat channels will work identically to the way IRC channels work. Additionally, you can choose whether you want each of your channels to show up as separate tabs in the same chat window, or as separate, minimize-able chat windows on the bottom of your screen. If you choose separate, the dialog titles will flash whenever you receive a new message so you'll know to restore them to read the message.

Unlike in most games, organizations do not automatically get a private chat channel. If you want to get the player aliases of your team members and invite them to a private channel you may do so, however it's not automatic. Consequently, it is up to the players in a town, council, guild, real life family or whatever relation they have with each other, to organize their own (OOC) chat channels in order to support/coordinate their in-character actions.

The chat channel system is designed for out-of-character or meta-game conversation. See the section below for more on this.

Newbie Channel
The "Newbie Channel" is a pre-registered and moderated chat channels for new players. In these channels, players with deep knowledge of the game can help the new players with any question they have. When you type, your messages will only be visible to the GMs or volunteers approved for responding. Someone will then reply to you with an answer. When that happens, both your request, and their answer will be visible to all in the channel.

Separation of IC and OOC chat
Ref.:

In any chat channel, including the newbie channel, you will always be identified by (and only by) your player alias - not your character name.

Unless players choose to do so themselves, other players will not be able to connect an "out-of-character" (OOC) player/user/account name to an in-game character, and his or her "in-character" (IC) chat behaviour. If you keep your identity as a player separate from your identity as a character, it's possible to have a conversation in the chat channel while also having a separate conversation in-game with the same person - and never know you're talking to them.

To support this, all chat channels, except the aforementioned newbie channel, are optional. Players can create, join, and leave channels as they please. When speaking in any OOC chat channel it uses your player/user/account alias, not your character name. There's no way to connect your user name to your character. And players are in no way required to join OOC chat channels, other than the moderated newbie channel.

Organizations may of course try and force people for various reasons. But with the strict identifier separation you can never be certain if the person that just joined the chat channel is the same character that's standing next to yours in-game. It's possible for a well-coordinated team of players to mislead people by being active in both OOC and IC chat at the same time.

Emotes
Emotes are physical actions your character takes. Anyone can see them, but they may not understand the intent.

''Note: While it's possible for some Elyrians to be plagued with inferred meanings from their dream-like existence on the fabled "Earth", different people may not share those meanings and you may find that something you meant in kind is taken as an affront. SBS is not responsible for making its players learn a new set of social gestures, but players can create their own traditions based off of the tribal lore SBS provides. ''

No General/Trade Channel
There will be no trade, global, general or similar channels because most people either tend to ignore them or abuse them. Additionally, each of those channels are attempts at solving separate problems to which there are better solutions that are already covered by the system presented above.

Knowledge System In Chat
When communicating in chat, the knowledge system is a great aid. If you say something, even as simple as "Hello, my name is ___" but do not use the knowledge system to convey that, then no character (PC or NPC) receives the data. The player might understand it, but their knowledge base will not have a record of it.

Using knowledge during chat will involve dragging or tagging information you have in your knowledge base into the chat you are typing.