Re: Way to tell when a player is typing

[Hemolymph]

It's far more meta/cheaty to be able to have full blown conversations with someone and have no outward sign of doing so.

Yeah. Obviously people that aren't in whisper range shouldn't get to see the messages, but you should be able to tell that they're having a hushed conversation atleast.

[Noah]

It's far more meta/cheaty to be able to have full blown conversations with someone and have no outward sign of doing so.

The text that appears on your screen, what they are saying, is your outward sign. In my time, people usually emote that they are "whispering in hushed tones". WYSIWYG, sneak on the conversation if you want to know they are talking.

If you want to preemptively let people know that you are about to communicate or emote, great.  Typing text is far more than just conversation, its emotes and descriptors as well. Toggle is the best of both worlds.

I feel a toggle would fall under cheesing. Anyone can tell that you’re having a quiet conversation with someone from quite some distance away, realistically.  This … would fall under WYSIWYG, i think, meaning you see them whispering and talking, but have no clue as to the context.

[MAB77]

As it seems the intent is to beat the dead horse and debating this, I've split it to its own thread as to not highjack the wishlist thread.

[Awry]

+1

The chance to see if someone is typing or not is basically role-playing qol #1. Not only does it allow you not to wait for replies for forever from someone who is potentially afk, it also actively helps with sorting out rp order and emote order. Also helps with not cutting people off.

And let's keep be honest, unless your character has trained their whole life to be a ventriloquist, it's gonna be pretty clear that you're whispering to someone whenever another person looks. Honestly, having a way to toggle it off seems like more of a metagaming thing than otherwise. Not to mention that if you're just standing around next to someone, it's gonna be pretty clear you're whispering anyway.

[HM01]

You absolutely cannot always see peoples lips or know they are talking, so the ventriloquist argument is moot. People wear helmets, hoods, ect. There also might be multiple people in a circle, with some listening, and some talking - you would know who is talking on an OOC level if you could actually see them typing. We are quite literally discussing a meta-component to add to the game here. The context clue of people having a quiet conversation is them being in close proximity, and you not hearing it.

I hard disagree that the toggle is the cheese. It is the other away around, and it should be optional.

Edit; Just to clarify, I absolutely agree that this is quality of life. Turn it on by default for everyone if you want, my argument is simply let us turn it off like other modes since it is meta information.

[Merry Munchkin]

If someone is whispering, out of basic RP etiquette they should occasionally emote that they are having a quiet conversation to let others be aware from a distance, but I certainly would not want to see that kind of thing pop up constantly.  In the outskirts or inn or temple there could be a half-dozen conversations going on at once within range, most of them whispered, and I would not want my chat log scrolling by endlessly with a bunch of empty  "..."   It would be as annoying as seeing dozens of "X puts something in a box", but multiplied by several players worth of simultaneous conversations.  THAT is a QoL negative in my book.

[Awry]

If someone is whispering, out of basic RP etiquette they should occasionally emote that they are having a quiet conversation to let others be aware from a distance, but I certainly would not want to see that kind of thing pop up constantly.  In the outskirts or inn or temple there could be a half-dozen conversations going on at once within range, most of them whispered, and I would not want my chat log scrolling by endlessly with a bunch of empty  "..."   It would be as annoying as seeing dozens of "X puts something in a box", but multiplied by several players worth of simultaneous conversations.  THAT is a QoL negative in my book.

It won't be in your text box. It'll be above their head, completely inobtrusive. EO posted an example image of what it would look like.

[Vantes-]

I would love something like this.
+1

[ExDoctorDubs]

I am pro adding the (…) indicator to show someone is talking/typing.

Not going to argue with any opposing points here, just sharing my opinion. Having an indicator that someone is trying to speak with you, or they want to say something before you leave is helpful. Also for those who are slow at typing it helps me slow down so the other person can get all their words out. I see this benefiting players more than a detriment. Cheers!

[Maiyannah]

It's far more meta/cheaty to be able to have full blown conversations with someone and have no outward sign of doing so.

If you are capable of perceiving the conversation, you will see it.
If you are not, you won't.

Invest in spot and listen.

[Vantes-]

If the typing indicator appears based on the client side text box being open and having input, then that does not mean anyone can perceive anything that character is doing while having the indicator over their heads. There are plenty of OOC commands/actions that require the use of the text box.

[softdrink]

+1

The chance to see if someone is typing or not is basically role-playing qol #1. Not only does it allow you not to wait for replies for forever from someone who is potentially afk, it also actively helps with sorting out rp order and emote order. Also helps with not cutting people off.

And let's keep be honest, unless your character has trained their whole life to be a ventriloquist, it's gonna be pretty clear that you're whispering to someone whenever another person looks. Honestly, having a way to toggle it off seems like more of a metagaming thing than otherwise. Not to mention that if you're just standing around next to someone, it's gonna be pretty clear you're whispering anyway.

You will not be able to see people moving their lips or talking 24/7, if the dots are added it should be purely as an OOC thing to let people know you're typing. It should not be taken in character in the slightest, otherwise you'll have people walking up to conversations being had in stealth/invis. Not to mention lips will not always be visible in the cases of hoods/helmets. Pretty much what Vantes said, since activation of the chatbox is used for emotes and various other commands, it would be very odd

[FinalHeaven]

The objections to this seems kind of like a nothing burger tbh.

Presumably if you are stealthed or invis then no one will see the dots unless they spot you.

If you are standing entirely in the open in a close group whispering then people who want to spy on you are already going to be doing so, seeing some dots isn't relevant.

And lastly purely seeing the dots doesn't mean anything, it's the spoken text that people can act on.  Someone just seeing dots over your head has not learned any of your super dark secrets unless they actually saw what you typed.

I think it is pretty clear that the dots themselves are OOC.  You know, like the Name Plate they're beside.

[Zyemeth]

Listen would be required to overhear the conversation. Spot is irrelevant unless someone is actively stealthing or using sleight of hand. You need none of this to see two people leaned into one another and likely gesticulating. There is zero argument to say I wouldn't notice two people are speaking to one another even if I can't hear what is being said.

[HM01]

The objections to this seems kind of like a nothing burger tbh.

No one here is outright objecting to it, and its not a "nothing burger" to think that people wouldn't want it to be indicated that they are typing something.

I've beaten the horse to death, but having the option to not have your typing broadcast to everyone is the win-win here. Its not like something is being "taken away", it is literally how it is now.

Listen would be required to overhear the conversation. Spot is irrelevant unless someone is actively stealthing or using sleight of hand. You need none of this to see two people leaned into one another and likely gesticulating. There is zero argument to say I wouldn't notice two people are speaking to one another even if I can't hear what is being said.

Are you saying that right now, even without being able to see people type - it is obvious that people are having quiet conversations? Do you need the dots to tell you that?

[Zyemeth]

No I'm saying that it SHOULD be obvious like it is irl. Unfortunately no game to date has made it so that a character might be physically reacting to an RP scenario before the ENTER button has been pressed. Maybe once the computers are finally jacked directly into our brainwaves but until that happens, some dots will do.

[FinalHeaven]

The objections to this seems kind of like a nothing burger tbh.

No one here is outright objecting to it, and its not a "nothing burger" to think that people wouldn't want it to be indicated that they are typing something.

I've beaten the horse to death, but having the option to not have your typing broadcast to everyone is the win-win here. Its not like something is being "taken away", it is literally how it is now.

Sure, if a toggle isn't any more intensive then there's no reason not to include it.

But yeah, an indication that you are typing something for the so far stated reasons does not make a lot of sense to me.  Again, if someone wants to spy on you while you are standing next to someone else they are going to do that regardless of whether or not you have dots over your head.  The dots existing or not existing does not make them any more or less likely to be detected, and so I see it as pretty irrelevant.

[bloodless]

A typing indicator would be an excellent feature and I'd love to see it on the server. +1

[BraveSirRobin]

I'm personally a fan of having an indicator when someone is typing, because people stepping over eachother mid-dialogue is not uncommon, and whispering should be more obvious than it already is, anyways. People using whisper as a defacto discreet way to avoid being detected talking apparently doesn't remember being in school.

[remnar]

i don't think we should add it
i will not give my reason

[TherapyCat]

I'm team typing indicator. it would also help you realize when people are afk versus just typing slow after you go "Hey!" and no bubbles appear after five minutes.

[Destinysdesire]

For those nervous about it, I have seen this thing work on a dozen servers, it is FAR more helpful then harmful, again, you want your super private RP convos...go behind locked doors, this is something that is very helpful for slow typers and makes sure we know they are there.

[Maffa]

I thought it was linked to the proper listening distance as a tool to anyone that could engage in the chat? If I can hear you I can see the dots, if I can't, then I can't. What I wonder is if the script can differentiate between IG talk and // or DMs...

[Nemesis 24]

Indeed, if its like Maffa is describing, with the dots having a view distance the same as the text normally would when emoting, there is quite simply no difference and no further danger for this for those having a private conversation.

[Darmaniac]

Ok so what about a way to see WITHOUT name plates.

The thing is, you would only see it if you press TAB, and not all the time. I like the idea.