((Whispers, guild chat, and technology))

[Saerya]

(( How do you, when roleplaying or writing a story, explain the ability to "whisper" to another character over long distances? Or even the ability to chat with your guild? Is it some kind of magical or technological device like a telephone? [Enchanted Small Rock]? [Gnomish Wireless Voice Transponder]? ))

[Teelia]

I don't think Blizz has ever come out with an explanation, so in my latest story addition I wrote this....Pretty much my own personal views on it. I give you, the hearthstone:

Teelia looked at the stone and laughed. "It just looked like a rock to me."

Smith sighed. "Be patient and listen, girl. This ain't just a rock. You want to be a survivor, you'll listen to me. Now let me explain its uses."

Teelia listened as the old man told her how to use the stone. She was amazed at the properties of the item, which apparently was somehow created by creatures of nature. The stone could teleport its user once an hour to a location that was set in the stone, which could be done by rubbing it in a certain way.

By rubbing the stone in other ways, along the blue lines, other things could be done with the rock. Teelia would be able to communicate with others who held hearthstones, and once she learned the proper rubbings, she would even be able to talk in separate channels of netherspace. Smith even indicated that the stones could be used to bring visions of the person you talked to, even at a distance, which would seem as real as if your contact were right next to you.

Teelia was amazed at the properties of this small simple rock, and asked Smith why he was giving this to her.

Smith smiled. "Teelia, you have a future. You will do great things...Combat much evil. There are others like you, all of which have trainers such as me. You will often need to contact these people, and this is your tool to do so."


Not sure if I got it right, but this is the way I look at it.[/i]

[Gavril]

Personally, I make it a point to NOT roleplay in /guild chat, channels, or distance-whispers/parties/raids.

Just seems a bit of a stretch, to me.

Of course, the main channels are officially OOC, but I know some guilds keep their /guild chat IC, then have OOC channels, while others have the opposite.

Then again, Gavril doesn't even have a jaw and technically shouldn't be able to speak at all. But that's a tale for another time. =P

[Necrosis]

((My guilds /guild chat is always In Character. Some (if not most) use the hearthstone to explain communication over distance. Personally, my character just treats it as a fact. It is simply the way this game’s (WoW) universe works and the way things are.))

[Sanrin]

After going through both, i think guild chat ic is agitating...Doesnt make any sense! But whispers i just kinda let by, spiritual communication...walkie talkie...cans with a LOT of string...dont much matter to me.

[Kurohane]

But whispers i just kinda let by, spiritual communication...walkie talkie...cans with a LOT of string...dont much matter to me.

Yeah, until you start whisper spamming me. :P <3

[Aquizit]

Regiment dwarves have "gnomeboxes" .. a little walkie-talkie type thing that malfunctions ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME that we clip to our tabard.

It likes to get all fuzzy on us all the time, making words come out sounding wrong (typos) constantly, though the speaker gets a replay for himself, as there's a small delay, just in case... to make sure that he makes it clear what he's saying. They're also rather nifty in that we can switch a little dial on the side for individual discussions, the officers' channel, our allies, and other nifty little tools. ... But... it's gnomish technology... so it has its flaws.


At least there's been no case when it's imploded into a temperal distortion or the like.... at least none recorded or anything, though we've had some strange disappearences..


Edit/addon: WOO! 100 posts! :P

[Danyxandra]

((Guild chat, in-character, via hearthstone. This was mentioned before in another thread...there was someone in the Grim, can't remember who, that used to RP the crackle and static that would come through his hearthstone, and it never ceased to crack me up. The Immortalis has a separate ooc channel so the guild chat can remain IC.))

[Chavie]

((I been mentiovie would blow on her hearthstone aWhen Warouldn't listen in on guildchat. I forgot that long-distance communication doesn't truly rely on having a hearthstone in your invern-style roleplay. For example, often if a lot of Citadelians are in a raid, they will joyously shout the progress in guild chat. "The panther is down!" hugging/chasing each other all over the place.
municate to each otheis a little imagination.))

[Sanrin]

I know in blades the GC was the guildhall, so you could rp entering and exiting it as you felt...thought that was fun every now and then. But unless im mentally spamming Kurohane i try not to rp aside from person to person

[Karkarov]

Chavie wrote this....


The way I see it is that if there is a game mechanic, it can be RPed. All it takes is a little imagination.

I concur.

[Keraph]

Infection chooses not to RP in guild chat. The hearthstone explanation isn't used as per the wishes of our original guild leader, who thought it was silly. For the most part, I don't favor talking to a rock myself. I do like the idea of a gnomish or goblin contraption, but it's not something that fits our guild personality, as most of us wouldn't go near technology of either race. Very fitting for a guild like Pylith's, but not for us. Use of nether crystals would be perfect, and well explained, but we've been OOC in guild chat for so long, I don't think the change would take.

We do have an IC channel that uses the "Guild Hall" system, but it is very rarely used. Members of Infection RP frequently, but almost always in face-to-face situations, as Gavril pointed out. Many of our members do frequent the RP tavern, however, and I've had some of my best RP there.

Whispering...is different. While I do not use the hearthstone or device approach, I am usually in character when sending tells. I haven't really put much thought into it, which is why it hasn't caused much of a problem, but I should probably try to figure something out.

To actually say something helpful, on another server I was in a guild that RPed in guild chat, through the use of trinkets given to each member upon joining. These were not actual game items, but were simply used to explain the long distance communication, and it worked well. However, there really wasn't a lot of chat at all, and not all members joined the ooc channel, so I really never got to know most of the members. On the other hand, Infection's guild chat is a silly place where we joke all the time, and I cruelly abuse my power to demote to the lowest rank anyone who speaks ill of me! >:D

Hope I helped,
~Kerbear

[Abric]

The Hearthstone is the tricorder of WoW. Nobody knows all the things it can do... but chances are it *can* do it. This seems to be a very accepted method throughout the two servers I've played on - and the four servers I've spoken to people about.

Then again, creativity always takes over.

- Guild Chat is a Tavern Setting (Already stated)
- Joining a Guild gives you Mental powers to contact other Guild Members
- Mental powers in general. YOU may not have it, but the uber powerful priest in your guild does... and he/she/it shares the wealth.
- Walkie Talkies (Already stated)
- Just the way it is - like the Spirit Healer or spawning mobs (Already Stated)

I don't really agree with people who don't take advantage of whispers, channels, and guild chat... because I believe it's just one step in you being like Odon. "I won't RP because" enters my mind as "I am going to make an excuse because I don't feel like." Is that right? Nope, just the opinion of a guy who is on the extreme side of the arpee.

I also personally like the hearthstone/walkie talkie method. It seems more "realistic" to me. It can also add a big depth to people who want to take advantage of it.

[Danyxandra]

...I don't really agree with people who don't take advantage of whispers, channels, and guild chat... because I believe it's just one step in you being like Odon. "I won't RP because" enters my mind as "I am going to make an excuse because I don't feel like." Is that right? Nope, just the opinion of a guy who is on the extreme side of the arpee....

I'm in complete agreement here. Every avenue to RP for me is a good one. Not using it just invites more OOC into my gameplay and takes away from my immersion. Even with our guild's separate ooc channel, some days I'd chat away in it, but most the time I'd have it clicked off.

If other people aren't that way, *shrug*. That's why we have a variety in guilds, to meet the needs of a variety of people with varying playstyles and levels of RP. Me, personally, I'll take more RP and less avenues of OOC please.

[Rosemerta]

See, thats what I don't grasp about the whole idea..

Yes, to you and I, we need an explination, but to our characters?

Its the world they live in, and these things are all the norm to them.

Things line guildchat or whipsers, party talk.. all of it should be nothing but normal aspects of their lives. Its not any different than being able to come back to life after dieing (aka: your time is not yet up, young one! Go back!) and how that option is open for every single being, including big nasty bosses.


As a matter of fact, my druid has hit depression because she can't make any kind of real dent in the scourge or "Them icky bugs in Silithus", because even they have the ability to use the spirit healer. To her, its a way of life, and she's getting tired of fighting.


(Speaking of Maemae, I logged in and remebered how much I liked her.. so I'm gonna play her as well as rose, and she's looking for a guild with the drive to give her the will to fight again. So oocly, if your guild needs/wants a 60 druid w/ epic mc/zg gear, and knowledge of the instances(case you wanna roll up in there rp style) keep an eye out for her :O)

[Gavril]

I don't really agree with people who don't take advantage of whispers, channels, and guild chat... because I believe it's just one step in you being like Odon. "I won't RP because" enters my mind as "I am going to make an excuse because I don't feel like." Is that right? Nope, just the opinion of a guy who is on the extreme side of the arpee.

Just to kind of defend my stance, all the above explanations aren't necessarily "right," either.

Of course, I, personally, find the idea of /guild chat being a tavern setting ridiculous. It's putting your character in two separate environs, and really doesn't make any sense. Of course, my last guild (who shall remain nameless as they are long gone, thank god) chose that particular option. Needless to say, I didn't use /guild chat very often.

However, I do like the idea of using hearthstones, technology, etc etc etc, but again, character-wise, I would rarely use it. Hell, sometimes I wish there was a way to temporarily mute guild chat because INFECTIONITES ARE REALLY FREAKING LOUD AND TALKATIVE (I hope you all read that. Then again, I participate as much as anyone else, but shh). And, again, as mentioned above, I happened to join a guild where the /guild chat is OOC. Yeah, we have an IC channel, but I have never actually seen anyone use it, and I have no idea what sort of communication explanation is behind it, but ah well.

Of course, I've also not really gotten into any serious roleplay since I've joined WoW (which was in January of this year). Yeah, prefering to roleplay face-to-face may have something to do with it, which is a definite downside to my stance. Of course, I don't think most people even realise I'm IC half the time, because about 99% of my roleplay is just through communication in parties and raids. Quite depressing, really.

[Sanrin]

What ends up happening with me is ill start RP'ing with someone in tells...then someone in gc talks to me bout whatever, then i see our RP in the channels we designate go off, then someone will talk to me face to face...id just much rather handle one of those circumstances at a time. And seeing how Sanrin would much more appricate his contact with others in the flesh, i dont much bother with anything else.

[Keraph]

So we can get a bit rowdy, that's no problem, is it Gav? XD

As for the tavern thing, I RP commonly in the tavern, and the multiple locations thing is kind of wierd. I look at it as separate timeframes, and since I'm not on WoW 24 hours a day, that does in a way accomadate for the hours that I'm offline, so there's no real inconsistancy issue.

As for the use of hearthstones/tech/etc, I fear that if we made guild chat IC, there would be a LOT less chat, and even though there would be less OOC in our gameplay, that kind of fun OOC chatter is one of the things that makes the game more enjoyable. My immersion is not ruined by OOC chat, I am simply able to separate the two in my mind so that they cause no conflict at all.

[Gavril]

Of course. I love how the /guild chat is OOC. It's just annoying when I'm in a dungeon and I miss commands because they're rolled off the chat box three seconds after being said.

But, yeah, I do have to agree that the OOC chatter really brings the guild closer, as well. I wouldn't know crap about any of you if it was IC, that's for sure.

[Dhurandal]

I'm of the mind that there's absolutely nothing wrong with IC chatter through long distance tells. Heartstones, Gnome inventions (I did not repair all those Buzzboxes around Auberdine for no good reason!), and however else you can justify it works for me.

The issue I have is when I see people do more than 'chat' in the channel when I can see from my list that they're on different ends of the world. Talking is one thing...but when people are adding physical actions that shouldn't be doable regardless of the technology is beyond me.

[Teelia]

The issue I have is when I see people do more than 'chat' in the channel when I can see from my list that they're on different ends of the world. Talking is one thing...but when people are adding physical actions that shouldn't be doable regardless of the technology is beyond me.

This bothers me too. I hate when I'm in Stormwind, and I get a whisper from someone saying they're smiling at me, or tickling me, and I check their location and they're in Ironforge or something. If you are going to do physical things with me, show up and do it!!!!

One way I found around this is to pretend that one of the hearthstone settings is like a holodeck or something, and the people who set their hearthstones that way can imagine themselves interacting physically because they see it.

Pretty weak, but thats the only thing I can think of.

[Syreena]

Simple things like smiles don't bother me across distance, because even though I wouldn't be able to see it, it might affect the other person's tone of voice. Other physical things though, I usually just don't respond to at all.

I had the same problem of party/raid commands scrolling by too fast to read them, so I made a separate chat window for just raid/party, say, and yell. That has helped a lot! :)

I LOVE that our guild channel is IC. We have a separate OOC channel for chatting and goofing off. I really like to get to know the characters. Without the IC guild channel, I'm not sure I'd know anything about some of the characters that are in different level brackets and questing areas than myself. I just enjoy being IC as much as possible when I'm playing, too.

[Xeran]

Notes on chat (for those that don't know):
- You can mute any channel you want: just deselect it in the chat interface (the same way you can select a new channel to join). It will still be in your channels, but muted so the text won't appear. This works for all channels (/s, /y, general).

- You can create chat windows that display different channels. I have a separate chat window called "party." It contains only party and raid chat channels. When I'm in an instance, I drag that window above the main chat window and lock it. Then I deselect party chat in the main window so ALL the party / raid chat is in the top window. So while the guild, RP channels and tells are blathering away in the bottom window, the party chat is uneffected.

- You can color-code channel text so, at a glance, you can tell what channel it is from.

Now: back to the topic:

I don't RP in channels. Usually I am way too preoccupied with something else to think about typing out an RP event in a chat window. Also, I have noticed in guilds that have an RP channel and an OOC channel, the RP channel is a ghost town while the OOC channel is about as noisy as any guild chat channel. If you're really into RP, to hell with the OOC channel. Make people find a way to RP the stuff.

As for using the hearthstone, I hadn't thought about it too much. I've been playing more on my Tauren Shaman recently and I've been pretending that the channels are actually the elements talking to him. This usually involves some translation on my part, but "The Crossroads is under attack" can become the Earth speaking to me of trouble at XR*. I'm not guilded yet there, so guild chat will have to be something I deal with when I get there.

* I got the idea from reading The Lord of Clans, the Warcraft book about Thrall. Awesome read if you're into the Orcs, Thrall or just like a good story.