Less Chat Channels?

[TheDearLeader]

I've decided to look into this a bit.

We have "Chat" in DDO. General Chat, Trade, and Advice. Now, just about every area in the game seems to have it's own chat, as well.

This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Harbor
2. Marketplace
3. Necropolis
4. Ataraxia's Haven
5. The One-Eared Bugbear Inn (Tangleroot Gorge)
6. Amrath
7. The Inspired Quarter
8. Isle of Forgotten Dreams
9. Lordsmarch Plaza
10. Gianthold
11. The Foothold (Restless Isles)
12. The Crystal Cove
13. Meridia
14. The Reaver's Refuge
15. The Portable Hole
16. The Twelve
17. The Salty Wench Tavern (Three Barrel Cove)
18. Delera's Graveyard
19. The Eye of Kol Korran (Sorrowdusk Isle)
20. House D,
21. J,
22. K,
23. P,
24. and soon to be C.

Going further with this, each and every ship on every server has its own three chat channels.

A little ridiculous, yes? I think so. Given the number of ships active at any given time, we're easily looking at hundreds of chats going at any given time.

But, lets face it, only 9 are really used - The General, Advice, and Trade of Korthos, Harbor, and Market. House K is getting a *little* bit of use now for people wanting to craft/have someone craft for them/sell junk to crafters, but even then I've been in there for hours w/o a peep.

Suggestion: Lets merge a ton of these chats.

Korthos - Leave it alone.
Harbor - Leave it alone. Incorporate Inspired Quarter, Isle of Forgotten Dreams, and Three-Barrel Cove into Harbor.
Crystal Cove - Leave it alone. It's a special event chat, only up during the event, and during those times it should be exclusive upon itself, since it's content is rather different from the rest of the game.
Marketplace - Leave it alone, and Incorporate every other chat mentioned above into Marketplace, including Ship Chats. Seriously, it's a Guild Airship - we already have Guild Chat for this.

Thoughts?

[Grenada]

My only question is, which means less lag? Pick that choice (between leaving it or merging the chats)

[TheDearLeader]

My only question is, which means less lag? Pick that choice (between leaving it or merging the chats)

I considered this, and it seems on the surface that it would be better for both server, and client, as each time we change chat channels, that's at least 6 transactions we have to trade back and forth. (Leave three channels, join three new ones.) And considering how often we must zone from one area to another, it seems like this would be a good idea.

[Phoenix-daBard]

Chat servers take very little processing power and it is easier to have many channels with little traffic each than a few with a large amount each. All the chat in the game can be handled with a server of moderate power.

The issue here isn't the server it is bandwidth. If you have a few channels then you are pushing more data to everyone instead of just information relative to their instance. It is only a few bytes a post but it adds up when you have thousands of users.

/not signed, I think it would only cause more problems.

[TheDearLeader]

If you have a few channels then you are pushing more data to everyone instead of just information relative to their instance.

Right, because there is so much relative chatter going on in the "Isle of Forgotten Dreams", or Eye of Kol Korran, etc. channels.

The Red Fens is rolled into House K's chat channel - thankfully - and I don't think that's causing any server meltdowns. I just can't see why all the areas above really warrant three channels each, especially the airships.

[LrdSlvrhnd]

I was running around Threnal the other day, solo for the first time so I wasn't in party chat... and I was surprised at the sheer amount of chatter I was seeing.

...'til I realized it was attached to the Marketplace, which surprised me almost as much.