Channels

So, with string DS, I can make channels. They won't be perfect and there's always a 1-second delay, but hey, they're still channels! For those in the dark, channels allow certain individuals to hear and/or say certain things.

Take my two ideas for example. I'm thinking about having two opt-in channels: an OOC channel that's on by default, and a "new arrivals get emitted to you" that's off by default.

People always forget about shouts, so having an OOC channel that's normally on will make people aware of its presence, so that they actually use it. Then the OOC lines will be very clearly distinguishable from the IC lines. But if you don't want to hear and OOC chatter, you can easily toggle it off.

I've always been really conflicted about the latter idea--I never liked spamming folks with "blah has arrived, blah has left" but it's sometimes nice to know when people are coming in and out. Having it be opt-in is the perfect solution. This would be really easily done with channels, but could potentially take up a lot of PS space if a lot of people want to be on the channel.

What do you all think? Would you use these resources?

You can just have it emit to people in the OOC room. No one will be bothered if OOC chatter is interrupted by people coming in and out and it's probably those people who're waiting for someone to come in. Would save a lot of resources.

The OOC channel seems like a nice idea.

I actually never minded the whole "HAS JOINED THE DREAM" thing. A toggle button would have made me happier though. It keeps you from having to add everyone in the dream to pounce to know when they're around, and you don't have to click F4 every five seconds.

As for the OOC channel, I agree entirely that we need one.