I'm keen on offline messages. No reason it can't work and most the code is present and used in the forums.





Yep that should be how it works, accept from all / accept from friends / disable. Never accept from ignored players. And a limit to the number you can send per day!

how is abuse to be handled?

surely certain players are going to be targeted!?

and since there are hardly enough moderators at present, the amount of moderators then required to read these excessive amounts of offline messaging is almost unforeseeable.

one suggestion to this problem could be creating a pick list of comments to send to a chosen user.

i just feel this offline system is prone to exploitation.

It would be similar to in game PM's as mentioned by spinner. If people make serious abusive comments then they could face being banned, similar to PM's. Also there would be a daily limit in place.

The initial settings could be to only receive messages from friends.

More moderating time would be needed, true, that's the downside.

i really want offline messages



pleaseeee

Edited at 17:26 Fri 29/12/06 (GMT)

Its a good idea!

going back to spinner's suggestion, i think it would be better if only friends on your list could leave a message to prevent spam from other users.

Either that or ignore particular users if they pose a problem, and not to allow newbies to use this feature.

Also you could hold only a certain amount of messages at a time and/or a quick expire date.

I don't see much problem on the moderator side. Judging by what i'v seen so far, theres always at least one moderator or admin browsing and filtering offline messages would only be a quick task.

I think that would take away many of the potential benefits of this feature. Your aloud 20 friends? Let's say your running a league, 32 players? There are many potential disadvantages to limiting messanging like that. I do whole heartedly agree that people on your ignore list can't message you.

i'm kinda split between the only friends thing, it would kind of stink to only message the people on your friends list, especially because of what magic said, but then again i can see my inbox filling up with a crap load of asl's and 'want cam?' messages, not good. whatever you guys decide on, make it in a hurry

But now they have the ip bans this can be moderated very easiliy and the ip ban is a big deterent! But i would like an off-line message type thingy!!

GRRRR! I wrote a big long response and then lost it on a bad connection!

So in short:
The 'asl' and 'cam' types will have no motivation to use and abuse this system. I gaurantee they will keep using the in game cht for instant responses. I have used other forums, never any random mails.

You could make the system available only to people who have played 100 games, just like applying to post on the forums. When you get a message it would be from somebody who has actually played the game for some time, not a casual internet surfer signing up to find love.

At the same time something like this might not be needed. Nick said in a previous post that we can deal with members who choose to abuse others, so would it be fair to rule out the message system being used from sign up just for the sake of a few unbalanced individuals?

omg!! offline line messaging pleeeeeeeeeez!!! big fat pleaaaase!! lol

Couldn't agree more!

Yep that pretty much nails it!

Simply put, the offline messaging would be an extension of the forum rather than the game itself, so could be treated the same way (at least a certain amount of games and have to apply for posting permission)

I'd also like to see it extended to "no newbie" status too...

yayyyyyy do it do it do it

What about having a friends list just dedicated to your messaging system then? It wouldn't even have to be limited!

I mean why allow people to 'email' you if you don't even know them?

Theres no motivation for anybody to e-mail you if they don't know you. I think having to delete a message a year (if even) is a sacrifice I'd be willing to make for the improvements in communication!

But what if you had some kind of personal dislike between another user, then possibly being immature about it, he or she desides to leave you a nice little message for you. Yes moderators could filter it but would it be easier for them if it was to be took into consideration?

Then you get the odd mod haters that will spam your 'inbox' with crap, or possibly leave a whole load of mess for staff to deal with if used on other users!

I personally can't see a problem with it. Thats unless is is impossible to code into the game, but you have to look at both sides, see from different points of view. Yes the messaging system is a good idea but you have to take measures to help make it as effective and safe as you can.

Edited at 21:46 Sat 30/12/06 (GMT)

Its easier to have a "block user" function than an "only these people allowed" function.

As has been said before, the thicko's who like to do such things are unlikely to venture beyond PM's and chat, and if they do one quick forward to the admin team should see them banned anyway!

when everyone keeps saying have mods filter the emails, does that mean they'll be reading all the emails like word for word, cuz i'm not gonna lie that kinda creeps me out...

Of course not, if you recieve an abusive mail you hit a button which forwards it to admin who can then act on the rules infringed..