Are hidden chat channels bad for the game?

[Knobull]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

[FestusHood]

No.

[BDog77]

Yes. Also guilds.

[FestusHood]

Yes. Also guilds.

What about friends lists? Heck, why even let people communicate verbally in game at all?

[macadope]

let's continue this thread in a hidden forum channel.

[BDog77]

What about friends lists? Heck, why even let people communicate verbally in game at all?

Hey, I like guilds, I am the leader of one. But truthfully, they are more structured than a simple friends list. Also, your friends list does not have a default chat channel like the guild one. Like them or not, though, I think they have had a detrimental effect on the game, helping to fracture and splinter the player base in a way that no friends list could ever do.

[Krelar]

The main thing I use the chat channels for is to save me having to copy paste the same message over and over into tells when I am trying to get a group of friends together to do something.

Removing them might very well increase the number of lfm's, but they would all say "Reserved for people I know" or other exclusionary wording.

[Qhualor]

its like asking, "is socializing and wanting to group with guildies/friends bad for the game"?

there is some that stick to only those channels or would rather solo if they cant get anyone to group with them than to pug and there are some that pug an lfm and go to private channels if they need a slot or more filled.

its only bad for players that aren't in those private channels and resort to their friends list and using a pug lfm. I wouldn't say its THE #1 cause for less pug lfms, but it is a contributor among many other things.

[goodspeed]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

ya those are called guild and static group channels. It's basically what every mmo becomes to an extent. Players just capitalized on it. So basically you want to do something specific you join the like minded and if the people their don't deem the person a tool, or an annoying nub, or just having that girly 8 year old boy shrill voice then they don't get vac'd.

Pretty much the reason why no matter how much merging, advertising, new contenting comes about it will always be as it is now. You weed out the annoyances and the people you can stand join their circles.

Circles are fun. joiiiin them. They all float down there georgy.... and when you join them down there; YOU'LL..FLOAT..TOO!

[Angelic-council]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

If you look at "who" list, you will find a lot of players already in full group running quests... Special Chanel and guild chat.. It all matters.

[PermaBanned]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

Chat channels have positive effects that far out weigh any potentially negative ones. Here's a couple of the main ones for me:

• Some personalities don't play well with others, or only play well with certain types of others - it's a net positive for the community when these people are grouping with like-minded individuals rather than the general public.

• Sometimes I'm in a group with someone who may be new, may be having an off day, or may be something else - but either way they're doing something stupid and/or annoying (to me) so it's better if I can vent about it in private than in party chat.

• Advice sought/questions asked are likely to get much more reliable answers in private, when you can direct them to people you know to be knowledgeable rather than risk the trollish answers of people in General chat or even the Advice channel.

People who form questing groups out side of the LFM panel just simply don't want to group with random players. For those concerned about the impression a new player might get from a sparse LFM panel, which would be worse:

• New player sees a small selection of LFMs in their range?
-or-
• New player sees lots of LFMs but is constantly denied "because I don't know you" if they get any explanation at all?

Personally, I'd prefer a small selection of groups I'm welcome in than a large selection of groups where I'm not.

[JOTMON]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

There are no hidden channels.
There are channels you have not been invited to join.
Channels are a way of running with other players you know that are not in your guild.

Creating a drama thread trying to get them removed is a waste of time because it would make no difference whatsoever.

We also use vent/teamspeak, guilds chat., 3rd party web sites..

besides.. Getting into channels is easy, run with people you like running with, those of a like mind, play times, etc...
create a channel with these people, or be invited to join one ..

got friends that don't get along.. no problem.. you have room for 4 channels. put them in different channels.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

IMO, those who hide on private channels either do not want me or I do not want them.

[Gempoult]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

Yeah, terrible. But too late to have anything done about it by now.

[Gempoult]

Hey, I like guilds, I am the leader of one. But truthfully, they are more structured than a simple friends list. Also, your friends list does not have a default chat channel like the guild one. Like them or not, though, I think they have had a detrimental effect on the game, helping to fracture and splinter the player base in a way that no friends list could ever do.

Also this ^^^

[Erdrique]

I guess I don't see how "private channels" are ruining groups? From my experience, most people will see what is happening in their guild and user chat channels and then join up with them and in many in those instances those groups would still need more players so they would put the group up in the LFM. Without these channels, people would just use third party software to form other channels to do the exact same thing, so I guess I fail to see how this really affects posting for groups.

[Ancient]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

I think one of the worst things for the game are people who want to tell everyone else how to play the game.

[FestusHood]

IMO, those who hide on private channels either do not want me or I do not want them.

Maybe you just haven't met them yet.

In the case of the channel i am a part of, it consists of many people who play with their kids. Young kids some about 10 or 11 years old. The channel is family friendly. No cursing, no sleaze, no rudeness. That's the only criterion we have for joining the channel.

We don't care at all how good a player somebody is.

We also have some people with special needs in our channel. Several people with epilepsy for example. One of my best friends is a 17 year old girl who seizures if she sees a dancing ball. We have invited strangers to our shrouds and made them aware of this, only to have them do it ON PURPOSE and send her to the hospital. Yeah, that's not happening any more.

[depositbox]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

I think guilds are bad for the game, m'kay. They're even worse than private channels, m'kay.
There are more guilds taking players away than there are private channels. m'kay.

[Jingwei]

The main advantage I find with channels is that they are server wide. Since things aren't concentrated into the marketplace like they used to be, it's hard to chat with the player pool without a server wide channel. Of course, being on Orien, I'm lucky enough that there are people to talk to.

I think any (theoretical) new people are suffering from region based chat channels as well. You used to have vets hanging around in the harbor and the marketplace to answer questions, but these days, I'm generally only in the marketplace to go from the marketplace teleport to the ship entrance. I'd assume the activity of many other vets is the same. And unless I'm in a new life, I'm not in the harbor at all, except for running from the ship door to the Eveningstar cavern door.

[Algreg]

yes, those channels are a curse. Because forcing players to play with players they apparently don´t want to play with sounds like a recipe for fun on both sides and success for a game.

[Kawai]

yes, those channels are a curse. Because forcing players to play with players they apparently don´t want to play with sounds like a recipe for fun on both sides and success for a game.

they already do.
its called an LFM.

guess they could make it like XBoX live or something.
then you could deal with immature 12yo's yelling expletives 24/7.
(or in this case, immature 40yos, whtvr).

no thx

Join a good guild.
-from there, join good channels.

live life, b happyz, & multiply.

If game, or Turby, won't weed out @trash?
no probz, ur channies will.

that's why they're psswrd protected.

[Highlander]

Removing them might very well increase the number of lfm's, but they would all say "Reserved for people I know" or other exclusionary wording.


OP - this is the answer to your question.
It would not solve the problem you are seeking to address.

You can't force people to socialise.
You need to encourage it. This is a different issue and is not related to private chat channels.

[Eth]

Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

Hidden channels existed when there were more LFMs.
There are less LFMs now because there are less players.

[relenttless]

Apart from their general purpose, chat channels can have excellent hidden benefits.

The funniest piece of entertainment I have ever come across in ddo was watching/reading a massive standup, namecalling, insult trading catfight between 2 experienced female players which went on for about an hour. It was genuinely funny witnessing them both deteriorate into total meltdown.

Also, its entertainment value generally, but its main value I find is that by dipping into chat channels you can establish who is a total ******* and who isn't, and then not grouping with the former.

[Hobgoblin]

nope

[FranOhmsford]

I'm going to repost my reply to another thread where you made these statements OP:


Here's a question: Would the number and quality of LFMs increase to what they used to be before these super-secret hidden chat channels were added to the game if said super-secret hidden chat channels were removed?

Stated more simply: it is my opinion that secret hidden chat channels have been very detrimental to the game and they should be removed.

Chat Channels have been around for a long time - The problem now is that there's vastly fewer people playing!

Now - I agree however that the Secrecy of Chat Channels is an issue BUT it goes both ways:

- For Many Players an advertisement to join a non-secret Chat Channel is taken in the same way as a Blind Guild Invite and Ignored!
- The big non-secret Channels like Titan {Orien}, Cannithtrade {Cannith} and Defense {Sarlona} have between 30 and 60 players online at PEAK HOURS!
- Smaller non-secret Channel like Help {Sarlona}, Social {Cannith} and Trades {Khyber} rarely get above 10!

These Channels allow SERVER WIDE Chat - I really don't understand why they're not much bigger than they are!
Especially the ones that have obvious names that denote what they're for!

Why type /trade in the Harbour, the marketplace, House K, all of these one after the other when you can type /1 and use Khyber's Trades channel or Cannith's Cannithtrade and get your advertisement out to the ENTIRE SERVER!

Why type /a when you can type /2 and use Sarlona's Help Channel to get the advice you need?

Well the reason is that far too few people even USE those channels - So you have a better chance of getting the advice or item you're after from Harbour or Marketplace advice or trade chat!


Secret Channels are secret.
BUT
There are NON-Secret Channels open to all on most Servers!
Heck even Wayfinder has an eponymous Chat Channel!




Long Story Short - Join your Server's biggest non-secret Trading and Advice Channels people - Advertise them to Newbies - You can stay in your Secret Channels too if you wish...This isn't an Either/Or scenario!

Oh and if anyone tells you Cannithtrade is not for trading - Ignore them {NOT /ignore} - Make it for trading again like it was originally meant to be!

[morkahn82]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

user channels are the only glue that stick communities together beyond guild borders.

[Annex]

Almost every multi-player game suffers from this double edged sword. On the one hand, Guilds and Private Channels allow like minded people to communicate, organize, and enjoy the company of one another without interference from players who would cause disruptions. On the other hand, these very same systems segregate and compartmentalize the game population, making it difficult for new players to sort themselves into the correct places and thus find the companionship they seek. In other words, once you find the right Guild and the right Private Channels, the game becomes much more enjoyable, but until that happens, it often seems like a silent or unfriendly world.

In my opinion, game companies as a whole utilize outmoded systems like Guilds that compound and reinforce the problem. Community building systems should help players find the right groups of people to meet their social needs and minimize the boundaries between those groups, not wall them off. If I were building such a system for this game, I would make the following changes:

1) I would allow a given character to join up to 10 Guilds, with 10 understood as an arbitrary number capping system resources. The chat interface would allow the player to select 'Online' or 'Offline' for each Guild, select the Guild that will receive his or her Renown Trophies, and select Guild Channels for each chat tab. In this way, a player could stay in touch with many different Guilds, see online members for each Guild (minus those wishing some privacy), direct Guild Renown where desired at all times (very likely to the Guild the person is actively playing with), and take advantage of many Guild perks.

Right now, a player must select a single Guild per character, walling the player off from all other Guilds whilst playing a given character. Players must utilize Private Channels to circumvent this artificial wall. It also forces a player to decide between Guilds when multiple Guilds would very likely suit the player much better depending upon mood, time of day, and other factors. Finally, it undermines the social pressure of supporting a single Guild and guild leader, a pressure that only serves to segregate the community for no material advantage.

2) I would give moderation control to the person creating a Private Channel.

Right now, players rightfully take great care who they invite into a Private Channel because once a person enters, no one can force him or her out, even for the most disruptive behavior. This puts a terrible break on community building. With moderation control enabled, players could more freely invite people into their channels, knowing full well they could reverse the decision at will and thus maintain harmony.

3) I would create a Guild Advertisement panel, allowing the Guild Leader to write a public advertisement for his or her Guild. The panel would ask the leader fundamental questions about the nature of the Guild, but also allow him or her to make the Guild private. I would then create a Guild Finder allowing all players to browse existing Guilds and search on the fundamental question fields. In this way, players could sort themselves into correctly focused Guilds using a tool readily available in the game.

Right now, players must find the right Guild through a chaotic process of blind invitations, word of mouth, and trial and error. While a Guild Finder would not completely eliminate the trial and error, it very much would increase the chances of a player finding like minded individuals quickly and easily.

4) I would create a Private Channel Advertisement panel, allowing the creator of a Private Channel to advertise in the exact same manner as described above for Guilds. In this way, players could easily advertise and find the right Private Channels to meet their needs.

Right now, only sheer luck will guide a person to a Private Channel with like minded players.

5) I would add a new tab to the Character Sheet, much like the Biography tab, called Looking For Fellowship Preferences. The panel would ask the player a series of questions about desirable fellowship qualities as well as providing a place to enter additional text. When creating a fellowship, all interested players could view the leader's Looking for Fellowship Preferences and thus get a much better idea of what to expect.

Right now, the Looking for Fellowship panel allows fellowship leaders precious little space to advertise for the kind of players they seek. Leaders often use acronyms and terms that baffle other players, generally undermining the goal of recruiting like minded players. This system would help mitigate these problems by standardizing most selection criteria.

While absolutely certain these ideas require refinement, I also believe they would go a long way towards lowering walls between players and helping them find like minded individuals to play with.

[Blackheartox]

Hidden channels existed when there were more LFMs.
There are less LFMs now because there are less players.


Are you saying something has been done wrong in the past few years to force the players to quit the game due to frustration of the structure and fall of the game they put so much time and love into?

Blasphemy, its all fault of hidden channel gnomes who polute the world and make our lifes miserable!

We need captain planet to save us!!

I carry the power of heart!!!!

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Maybe you just haven't met them yet.

In the case of the channel i am a part of, it consists of many people who play with their kids. Young kids some about 10 or 11 years old. The channel is family friendly. No cursing, no sleaze, no rudeness. That's the only criterion we have for joining the channel.

We don't care at all how good a player somebody is.

We also have some people with special needs in our channel. Several people with epilepsy for example. One of my best friends is a 17 year old girl who seizures if she sees a dancing ball. We have invited strangers to our shrouds and made them aware of this, only to have them do it ON PURPOSE and send her to the hospital. Yeah, that's not happening any more.


I stand corrected.

You guys sound like people I would really enjoy grouping with.
(I can't promise never to curse though... I was a sailor most of my life.....though I am not proud of the language habits I developed over the years....)

[Arianrhod]

This thread, and the "invis is the new normal" thread have gotten me thinking about the issues new(er) players can face trying to find compatible groups in DDO. I used to PUG a fair amount, but more or less stopped completely when "BB/BYOH" became the norm. Nowadays if a player wants to socialize but not run on elite they pretty much have to do it in a static group or guild. Seems to me new(er) players are pretty much stuck with the options of pike with a BB group or solo to learn the quest. Kind of lonely, either way. There have been some good suggestions made in this thread for ways to improve the social/grouping experience, but I'd like to add another consideration - it would be nice if [if/when grouping tools ever get overhauled] some option were included for players who are just looking for company, maybe some guidance; let one of the checkboxes or whatever be for nonzergers who just want to learn the quest without having to go it alone, all the time, every time.

[Knobull]

Cool, glad to see lots of replies, I wasn't sure if anyone cared. I see, as usual, that the community is divided on the question. No big surprise there.


There are no hidden channels.

I did not know this! How does one get a listing of all chat channels? I reviewed the /help command output and could not find any way to get a full listing of all chat channels. Maybe I missed it? I would greatly appreciate if you could let me know how to get a full listing of all chat channels on a server (guild and party chat excluded of course).


Secret Channels are secret.

Wait, this does not agree with what JOTMON said. Now I'm even more confused! My original question assumed there are hidden channels, JOTMON says there are no hidden channels and Fran implies there is. :confused:


I think one of the worst things for the game are people who want to tell everyone else how to play the game.

Yeah, me too. Did you think that I was somehow trying to tell you how to play the game? If so, then perhaps I phrased my question poorly? I was asking if people thought that hidden chat channels are bad for the game, that is all.

Though I am most curious about JOTMON's comment, if there are no hidden channels and there is a way to get a listing of all chat channels then that changes everything!

If I could get a listing of channels that included things like:
@flowersniffingpotheads
@elitezergingspeedfreaks
@vetshelpingnoobs
@craftingtutorials
@mtndewanddoritospowered
@kidfriendlypg13
@nearsightedoldfarts
etc...
... and pick one that suited my mood to request to join that would be awesome!

P.S. Thanks for the thoughtful and informative posts Fran and Annex.

[goodspeed]

IMO, those who hide on private channels either do not want me or I do not want them.

But they have puppies and candy over there!!




Cool, glad to see lots of replies, I wasn't sure if anyone cared. I see, as usual, that the community is divided on the question. No big surprise there.



I did not know this! How does one get a listing of all chat channels? I reviewed the /help command output and could not find any way to get a full listing of all chat channels. Maybe I missed it? I would greatly appreciate if you could let me know how to get a full listing of all chat channels on a server (guild and party chat excluded of course).



Wait, this does not agree with what JOTMON said. Now I'm even more confused! My original question assumed there are hidden channels, JOTMON says there are no hidden channels and Fran implies there is. :confused:

Probably somewhere. Though on the flipside their be locks with the pass code as well.

[PermaBanned]

I did not know this! How does one get a listing of all chat channels? I reviewed the /help command output and could not find any way to get a full listing of all chat channels. Maybe I missed it? I would greatly appreciate if you could let me know how to get a full listing of all chat channels on a server (guild and party chat excluded of course). Fhe list would do you little to no good, because in order to join a channel you need both it's name and the password.

Also, I'm a horrible typist. Since TRing resets your channel memberships, you have to rejoin then every life. I have accidentally created several (I honestly don't know how many) channels by making typos. Maybe I'm the only one who's done that, maybe not; either way I know there's a number of created but unused channels on that list ;)

[Talon_Moonshadow]

But they have puppies and candy over there!!





Probably somewhere. Though on the flipside their be locks with the pass code as well.



Pretty sure they kick the puppies and stole the candy from noobs. ;)

[FestusHood]

I stand corrected.

You guys sound like people I would really enjoy grouping with.
(I can't promise never to curse though... I was a sailor most of my life.....though I am not proud of the language habits I developed over the years....)

Oh there is sometimes cursing within the groups that form. Just no cursing in the actual channel chat itself. You never know who might see it.

Some people don't seem to be able to turn it off.

[Vooduspyce]

I'll tell you what's bad for the game... not being able to pickpocket other players' toons!

[Scrapco]

I stand corrected.

You guys sound like people I would really enjoy grouping with.
(I can't promise never to curse though... I was a sailor most of my life.....though I am not proud of the language habits I developed over the years....)

You're welcome in our channels, then. Sort of the *opposite* of family friendly. :-D Sometimes it's nice to be able to type whatever you want in a group of people who are ok with it (and prescreened/prewarned).


I think for us, the biggest thing is being able to remain in a chat when people are all sorts of levels. Most of the people I talk with are constant TRers, and since the broken code always gives you a "some members of your party are underlevel" blah blah error, we can keep chatting without having to boot and reinvite people all the time. It's IRC, basically, without the useful commands, but still somewhat handy.

[Knobull]

Fhe list would do you little to no good, because in order to join a channel you need both it's name and the password.

But at least then I would know it existed. Right now there could be @theperfectchannelforknobull and I would never know. If I knew it was there I could maybe send a request to join, or ask about it in general...

So now that I have confirmation there are indeed hidden chat channels, I have to assume there are channels such as @duperscentral, @exploiterplantswhoworkforblizzard, @grieferswhodrivenoobsawayfromthegame, @subversivesfromthatotherforum etc... hidden = potentially subversive.

Also, some official documentation would probably be beneficial. How is a new player to know that the server is not really dead, but everyone is hidden away in invisible enclaves and cliques? The existence of hidden chat channels should be clearly announced and documented in several prominent locations (on the website, in the launcher, and in the korthos grotto tutorial).

I have been playing the game for over five years, and only now am I getting the full story on these hidden chat channels that were introduced relatively recently, and getting such information is like pulling teeth and such an inquiry is partially met with smart-alec childish remarks, which is telling.

[FranOhmsford]

I have been playing the game for over five years, and only now am I getting the full story on these hidden chat channels that were introduced relatively recently, and getting such information is like pulling teeth and such an inquiry is partially met with smart-alec childish remarks, which is telling.

I've been playing the game for over 4 years and as far as I know Channels have ALWAYS been around!

Nothing recent about them!

Because of the lack of players generally however there's more talk now about how many vets stick to Channels {And Guilds} but just because you've only recently heard about them doesn't make them new!

[Kawai]

this is quite good entertainment, actually.

[Knobull]

I've been playing the game for over 4 years and as far as I know Channels have ALWAYS been around!

Nothing recent about them!

Because of the lack of players generally however there's more talk now about how many vets stick to Channels {And Guilds} but just because you've only recently heard about them doesn't make them new!

Well lazy me, I never even checked the wiki on it, and have now bothered my arse to do so:
http://ddowiki.com/page/DDO_Chat_Channels#Private_chat_channels
Maybe they have been there from the beginning? (no mention of an introduction date on the wiki)

******
edit: not quite, but they were there pretty early on: Module 7, 2008-06-03 (just before I started playing) So your assessment is correct Fran.


Players can now create their own chat channels! Read more about how to make use of them here (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=147235).https://www.ddo.com/en/game/release-notes/module-7-official
But the forum post explaining it is gone. :( This is why you don't prune forums.
******



this is quite good entertainment, actually.

Glad I could help! :D Am I supposed to be offended that you are entertained? I am not. :p



I guess as others have expressed, cliques will be cliques. Based on this thread, I guess we're not missing much. :)

[RTFM]

Just wondering if anybody else thinks these were a bad idea. Everyone complains there are hardly any LFMs anymore. I think these two things are related.

Is the phone bad?
Are conference calls bad?
Is a private conversation between two or more individuals bad?
Is anything private bad?

Pretty sure that privacy is liberty that everyone should have. Unfortunately, nothing is really private these days ;)

[FrancisP.Fancypants]

So now that I have confirmation there are indeed hidden chat channels, I have to assume there are channels such as @duperscentral, @exploiterplantswhoworkforblizzard, @grieferswhodrivenoobsawayfromthegame, @subversivesfromthatotherforum etc... hidden = potentially subversive.


I can't imagine why you haven't been invited to a channel yet.

[RapkintheRanger]

There are no hidden channels.
There are channels you have not been invited to join.
Channels are a way of running with other players you know that are not in your guild.

Creating a drama thread trying to get them removed is a waste of time because it would make no difference whatsoever.

We also use vent/teamspeak, guilds chat., 3rd party web sites..

besides.. Getting into channels is easy, run with people you like running with, those of a like mind, play times, etc...
create a channel with these people, or be invited to join one ..

got friends that don't get along.. no problem.. you have room for 4 channels. put them in different channels.


Just have to ask: what the hell is a channel and how does one create one? :) sorry, i just log in to play in a guild of 6, and solo a lot. I have joined a lot of raids through the social panel (deathwyrm, fire peaks, CITW, shroud, Von 56 and GH.... What does a channel do for you anyway?


EDIT

Sorry, jsut read the post above /listchannels etc.... all good.

[BigErkyKid]

Channels are a less annoying way to achieve the same as external you would with external software. Nothing strange.

Obviously, people in MMOs like the social component. In DDO you may solo a lot, but then you also like to chat with like minded players.

Why would this be bad for the game, you can do that in every game of the world and if turbine removed them people would use other means...

[Enoach]

While there is no channel listing in DDO channels can be advertised in Forums, on Guild web sites or through being passed on by people who are members/know of the channels.

This in my opinion is a nice feature as it can and has been used in many ways

1. Cross Guild communication - Ally Guilds
2. TR channels
3. Raid channels - Sometimes a "Raid is forming" message works much better than an LFM

Turbine allows these channels to have a password or not, it is up to the creator. These tools are not a bad thing, can they be misused - Absolutely but that does not make their existence a bad thing. These channels are not only a way for likeminded to find each other, but also a way for them to avoid personalities they don't get along with. I think personally it is a good thing.

One of the other things about a channel is that there is no needing to commit to it like a Guild to access the Guild Chat.

If you want to get a channel active put a post on your server tell people about it and what it is intended for, and if people are interested they will join. Who knows you may met a whole bunch of people you have never run with before.

[vengfarga]

Sure, channels affect LFMs. But some channels are dying too. The problem is ,,, how do you advertise your channel to like minded players? Only a relatively small % of players look at the wiki, let alone these forums. To illustrate this point I asked some channels to give advice.
The faqir channel said : " "
The saxon themed Knute channel said: " "
And the ever popular Japanese mushroom channel said " "

But unless you are already a faqir, knute or shiitake, you can't find out what the faqirs're going on about. Or what some Knutes on your server - just like you - think or wanna play.

Adding a channel tab to the social panel - however it's managed - would work wonders. I live as far away from the US East coast as you can get, so a channel for folks near my time-zone would be awesome ... if only I could find out who they are.

[Knobull]

Found some documentation! https://www.ddo.com/en/custom-chat-channels :)


I can't imagine why you haven't been invited to a channel yet.

You confirm my expectation. ;) So I guess @subversivesfromthatotherforum is far more likely to exist than @vetshelpingnoobs, the latter of which would be infinitely more preferable to me.

I think I shall just carry on as if they did not exist at all. Not missing much, I'll just stick to guild chat and teamspeak. Those who fit in our group will find us eventually.

[Knobull]

Is the phone bad?

Yes. I am a proud non-phone owner. No land-line, no cell. :D Phones are eeeeviiiilll!


Are conference calls bad?

O gawd. even worse!


Is a private conversation between two or more individuals bad?

No.


Is anything private bad?

No, not necessarily.


Pretty sure that privacy is liberty that everyone should have. Unfortunately, nothing is really private these days ;)

Well, I do have this theory, that GCHQ/CSIS/NSA snooping is the cause of unpredictable game lag. ;)

[Vint]

I agree that the two are correlated, but I do not see it as a bad thing.

Many nights I went to bed upset when I would post an “elitist” LFM and would get the not good players joining and I ended up carrying stones. I imagine many players grew sick of this and are happy to have their channels and private places where they can play with likeminded people.

You can put your hashtag Flabby is lazy or could care less about puggers, but this is the truth. No matter what your play style is, if you put up an LFM and you continually get people that do not fit with what you want, are likely going to quit pugging.

[DakFrost]

I think one of the worst things for the game are people who want to tell everyone else how to play the game.

Indeed.

There seems to be a vocal few that want to dictate to the rest of us how we should be playing.

[FranOhmsford]

Found some documentation! https://www.ddo.com/en/custom-chat-channels :)

So I guess @subversivesfromthatotherforum is far more likely to exist than @vetshelpingnoobs, the latter of which would be infinitely more preferable to me.


If you're on Sarlona you want the "Help" Channel
Type /joinchannel Help {the capitalization is not required btw}.

If you're on Orien then "Titan" is pretty helpful to newbies
Type /joinchannel Titan

If you're on Wayfinder type /joinchannel Wayfinder AND advertise said channel regularly and often to get people to realise it exists {currently it has maybe 3 people in it at peak times!


"Social" Channels are available on multiple servers
Type /joinchannel Social AND advertise said channel regularly and often to get people to realise it exists!


Cannithtrade was originally envisioned as a server wide trading hub and can still be used for such
As was Khyber's "Trades" channel {though this has less than 10 people in it most of the day}.

Defense {Sarlona} was advertised as a Raid Training channel but has become simply a general chat channel

[the_one_dwarfforged]

But at least then I would know it existed. Right now there could be @theperfectchannelforknobull and I would never know. If I knew it was there I could maybe send a request to join, or ask about it in general...

new thread idea:

is this thread about a guy feeling left out and whining about it?

this quote and the title of this thread seem related.

you need some cheese?

[Knobull]

There seems to be a vocal few that want to dictate to the rest of us how we should be playing.

You're the second one to suggest this. My question in no way is telling you how to play the game. It is a question! I can only assume your post is referring to someone else, if so then why not address that person specifically? One of us is certainly misunderstanding someone, and it is unlikely that either of us have malign intentions. Right?


new thread idea:

is this thread about a guy feeling left out and whining about it?

this quote and the title of this thread seem related.

you need some cheese?

Speaking of malign intentions... You assume too much, that is always dangerous. Um, no. I solo exclusively. I ask this question partially in response to those who complain about the lack of LFMs or use their number as an argument for server merges, or a measure of population health. Some answers have been illuminating, others, like yours, are, well, typical forum cruft.

I don't drink, but I like cheese! (but too much makes you constipated!) ;)

So, can we keep the thread non-personal? Is this an effort to get it locked so that it is no longer on the front page? This topic should not upset you, it is a simple discussion of a question about the game population.

I suppose I should have made the post you quoted in third person voice to avoid this confusion, my apologies.

Some people seem awfully defensive about this question being asked. Which tells me something is up. My original question is answered, and I now tend to agree, the hidden chat channels have no effect on the game, yet some want to drag the subject out and make it personal for some reason. The motivation for such behaviour is highly questionable.

edit: though on further consideration, I can see how heavy hidden chat channel users might be threatened by such a question and respond accordingly. I just wanted to ask what people thought, and in the process I learned a few things about these hidden chat channels. I still think being able to get a listing of them would be a good thing though.

No, I do not want to take your toys away. No, I do not want to tell you how to play the game (nor you me). So *internet hugs* all around! It was a simple question, though somewhat loaded, I will concede, so lets keep the discussion academic from here on, thanks! :)

My question is answered. I am done with this thread, if you feel compelled to insult me, you'll have to send it in a PM so I will see it. :)

[Powskier]

anyone else have trouble Hearing players that use teamspeak? A few my buddies use it and every one comes in way low ,compared to players I know do not use it. It prob works great if all players are on it,but I cant hear teamspeakers for squat,unless they are all mumblers ?

[nolifer1]

not haveing user channels make game worse to both sides, the ones is who on the channel and ones who is not, go figure :D
if u feel frustradted that u not any of the channels, hare is few tips for u, run lot of raids with major guilds, play nice, be nice to people, imperss people with your game play and u wil get invited to private channels
removing hidden channel makes no sence, it would not change anything but makes more frustration and drama to both sides

[FrancisP.Fancypants]

Some people seem awfully defensive about this question being asked. Which tells me something is up. My original question is answered, and I now tend to agree, the hidden chat channels have no effect on the game, yet some want to drag the subject out and make it personal for some reason. The motivation for such behaviour is highly questionable.

[B]edit: though on further consideration, I can see how heavy hidden chat channel users might be threatened by such a question and respond accordingly. I just wanted to ask what people thought, and in the process I learned a few things about these hidden chat channels. I still think being able to get a listing of them would be a good thing though.


It's not as though they're some huge secret meant to marginalize people. You've come off the entire thread sounding like channels are some big Us v. Them club, but at least as far as the channels I use it's just a way to connect with people who run in other guilds, or don't pug, or have regular raid days and like to play with familiar people. Most of those came from groups on FB, or just running into the same players for a while. Hell, Argo has an 'old raids' channel that gets posted in LFMs.

Most of them are private to keep drama to a minimum, not to hide things from the tinfoil hat crowd.

[Tscheuss]

It would be nice to have a UI that listed the active channels on a server, whether a password was needed, and the number of users logged in to each of them. For example:

Cannithtrade, no, 43

[PermaBanned]

I solo exclusively.This would be why you aren't finding out about/getting invited into channels. If you're playing in an anti-social way, it shouldn't come as a surprise when you're unaware of or excluded from social mechanisms.

So given that illuminating bit of info, I'm going to guess you're only wanting a channel invite for socialization purposes - is that correct? If so, then it's this easy: type /joinchannel "Knobullchat" You've now created a chat channel, and all you have to do is get the word out about it. Post on your server subforum, occasionally toss out mentions in general chat as you're playing.

[General_Gronker]

I think
That's nice. You're still wrong though.

[kmoustakas]

Finding such a channel was the best thing that ever happened to me on Sarlona. Had I not, I would have quit the game long ago.

[RoguemcStabby]

anyone else have trouble Hearing players that use teamspeak? A few my buddies use it and every one comes in way low ,compared to players I know do not use it. It prob works great if all players are on it,but I cant hear teamspeakers for squat,unless they are all mumblers ?


Are you talking about the in-game chat system vs. teamspeak?

My experience is that Teamspeak has superb quality whereas DDO's voice client isn't so hot.. generally sound muffled. I am aware that there are many variables in this situation. At least in Teamspeak you have sophisticated volume controls, etc.

[Algreg]

Found some documentation! https://www.ddo.com/en/custom-chat-channels :)



You confirm my expectation. ;) So I guess @subversivesfromthatotherforum is far more likely to exist than @vetshelpingnoobs, the latter of which would be infinitely more preferable to me.

I think I shall just carry on as if they did not exist at all. Not missing much, I'll just stick to guild chat and teamspeak. Those who fit in our group will find us eventually.

That´s the attitude that will get you into groups and any social circles! Will work wonders in real life too!

1. Complain there are social circles one has no access to.
2. Berate people who have and display passive-aggressiveness instead of presenting yourself as an individual one would like having around.
3. Try to persuade yourself how you are above those people and how it is better to be alone.