Lesson II (B) How to communicate

Started by Minutias, April 21, 2014, 09:07:01 PM

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Minutias



Chapter II: RPG-X Etiquette
Lesson B: How to communicate

Written by Talus Roben
Edited by Academy Faculty

Check out these related video tutorials:
Video 14 - IC and OOC Chat




In RPG-X there are three main ways to communicate with the other players. These are 'General Chat', 'Local Chat' and 'Private Message'.

'General Chat' is text which will be seen by everyone on the server and will show up on screen as white text. Most of the time you will generally be using 'General Chat' to talk to other players. To send a message via 'General Chat' simply press the T key, type in your message and press enter to send.

'Local Chat' is text which will only be seen by players in the area near your character on the server and will show up on screen as green text. 'Local Chat' is usually used by players to convey non critical plot information to one another. For example two doctors may be treating a (non plot critical) case of Andorian Flu and need to talk to one another without disrupting the plot as a whole which is about a diplomatic negotiation. In some cases the plot CO may also request that all chat be conducted via 'Local Chat'. Usually this is because there are a large number of people on the server and everyone using 'General Chat' could become confusing or because the nature of their plots requires everyone not knowing what the other players are up to. To send a message via 'Local Chat' simply press the Y key, type in your message and press enter to send or type your message directly into the console and press enter.

'Private Message' is text that will only be seen by one specific player and will show up on screen as purple text. 'Private Message' is used when you want to talk to another player on the server without everyone else on the server seeing the message. Usually it is used by the plot CO to dispense private plot information to various players but it also frequently used by players to message one another without disrupting the roleplay as well. To send a message via 'Private Message' look at the player you wish to message and press U. Alternatively, or if the player's character isn't in the same area as yours, simply open the console using ` and type /tell [player's id number] (The players ID number may be found by holding down TAB and checking the player list) and then your message.

When communicating with other players on the server there are generally 3 different ways in which you will communicate; 'In Character' (IC), 'Out of Character' (OOC) and 'Commbadge'.

'In Character' communication as the name suggests is everything that your character, rather you the player, says during the course of the plot. It has no special identifier and as such all text on the server is presumed to be IC unless otherwise stated.

'Out of Character' Communication is when you speak as yourself the player rather than as your character. On the server OOC text is denoted by having the text surrounded by brackets in 'General Chat' or 'Local Chat' for example (Hello everyone, how are we all today?). By convention nearly all messages sent by 'Private Message' are OOC and so aren't generally prefixed by brackets. A number of players choose to hold OOC conversations by 'Private Message' so as not to disrupt the plot for everyone else on the server.

'Commbadge' communication is used by characters who are talking to one another remotely – most commonly by using their commbadge hence the name. Communication of this form is generally prefixed by =/\= , a symbolic representation of the commbadge, for example =/\= Engineering to the Bridge. Bridge please respond. In some cases, usually when a player is playing a non Starfleet  character, they may use (C) or another appropriate symbol to indicate that they are talking remotely.