Greater PA / IRC integration

[Squishy]

Not sure if this has been suggested before i did have a quick look but im on a shitty connection so it takes ages to view stuff so i gave up after a couple of mins.

What i would like to see is a greater interaction of PA and IRC some ideas ive been bouncing around the last few days

These arnt really in any order and probebly dont make much sense im just trying to get them down someware before i forget.

When people sign up to PA it would be good if they signed up to netgamers at the same time getting the Pnick the same as their username. This has to be different from their ruler name so it will help protect new people who dont know that they can be tracked by using some tools like Sandmans

Support - What would be nice is if you clicked on the support link it linked you too a Java IRC cliant giving you access to #support.
IRC is the best way to communicate with people and its much easier to hold a conversation this way than by using the current support ticket system
Most people who use IRC any way will join support rather than posting tickets

Multihunting - Pretty much the same as above giving access to #multihunters again its vital that we speak to people to sort out appeals ect.

Galaxys - Giving the GCs the option to set up a gal channel via PA linking with netgamers (dont know if this is possible or not) Allowing GCs then to specify their gal mates Pnicks channels would be set up automatically. Secret, invite only ect. When people then click the IRC link ingame cause peoples Pnicks are already supplyed a simple script to automatically auth with P would not be a huge problem i woudnt imagine.

Alliances - Giving HCs the opertunaty to set up alliance channels. Not sure about how many but that would be down to alliances to specify mabey a maximum of 3 with differing levels of access. When setting members status you could state what channels they have access to and what level they have it at. eg HCs 450, BCs 300 ect ect

IRC Options - Allow people to customise their P accounts via planetarion with simple tick boxes
Invite Gal Chan - YES :: NO
Invite Alliance Chan - YES :: NO
More options to follow

Im sure theirs lots of stuff that im still thinking about that i have missed out but as i say im just trying to get something down and discussions on wether its actually possible or worth the effort.

The reasoning behind this is pretty simple it will mean new inexperianced players can access IRC very simply and easily without having to remember all the pesky P commands and sign up at a seperate site and generally just stop a lot of messing around. It will encourage people to get on and communicvate with their galaxys as lot more and will give up and coming alliances a bit more of a fighting chance.

Im not sure how the IRC should be accessed from in game as im not really sure whats possible and whats not but an idea would be for people to have IRC running all the time and access it by clicking on a link eg

Messages
IRC
Mining

They click on IRC and it opens the IRC page with a java applet running or something similer then they click something else and that pops up. (you cant IRC and surf similtaniously anyway so it would just mean having 1 browser open and being able to access both) (i dont know how or if this can be implemented but thats the way i would do it)

Please Discuss and elaborate any points u feel lacking or just a bit of a pipe dream

[Phil^]

you have to realise that PA and Netgamers are completely seperate entities.
as for the java irc applet, not everyone has java installed or can use it from where they play pa from (ie work), so replacing the web interface for an irc applet would be a bad idea imo
Planetarion has no access to Netgamer's pnick database and i cannot see them granting permission to access it either, so signing up a pnick with a pa account is out of the question also
furthermore, customising a P account from within planetarion would require the login details for the account itself, or direct access to the netgamers db.

i can see why you want irc to become more integrated into the game, but im afraid due to the logistics of it, it simply wont work

[Kal]

aspects of this are possible - unfortunatly I don't have time to reply properly until either later tonight or tomorrow.

Phil^ is alrlgy right about what is not possible, though for the support and MH stuff we could link to a specially set up java client and say use this to talk directly to the team in real time and have this in addition to the current systems but not as a replacement.

With regards to the alliances channels we are allreayd working with netgamers to improve the way an organisation registers channels so hopefully in the future it will be possible for an alliance to own multiple channels rather than the HCs eahc having to own a few etc.

[Brug]

I'm a coding noob, so I won't comment on what's possible or not, I'll comment as a IRC user, PA player and alliance HC.

Intergration between PA and IRC is a good idea, and it will make things easier or more userfriendly, something nice too have.

My experience is that regular IRC users and most PA players find their way to netgamers.org and have no problems setting up Gal or Ally channels.

The biggest problem are the total new players, who have no clue what IRC is (yes, they exist, and I was one of them not so long ago).

IRC is a must if you want to play PA. Gals exile non-IRC actives, alliances worth being one won't allow you without IRC activity.

A further integration of PA and IRC can encourge those new players to use IRC and get more out of the game. It can also have the opposite effect, they won't even bother to start playing.

As part of a new player friendly alliance, I meet a lot of players who don't have a clue how to use IRC. We try to help as much we can, but believe me, they can be VERY annoying (maybe thats because i'm a coffee/sigaret junk). And I don't consider 'RTFM' as an answer.

So IRC/PA intergration is good, but mind the IRC n00bs, and there are lots of them out there.

I know there is a IRC helppage somewhere on the forums, but imo there should be a page ingame, or an message on sign-up explaining the basics and directing newbies to #support or a newbie friendly channel (we all know #planetarion is not always the best place to go to with 'stupid' questions).

In extent, that newbie friendly friendly channel could be a place for new players to get advise and guidance from honest and dedicated players wanting to really help out.

Just some thoughts

[Monroe]

I suggested some similar ideas recently, though squishy has taken it farther then I did. I think greater direct IRC interaction would be a great help to new players. I like Brug when I first joined PA 5 years ago (was it really that long ago?!?!) had no clue as to what IRC was, and I didn't really get into PA until I did. I am for all of the suggestions squishy made that are technically fessible. I disagree with phil on one point of the java issue, the vast majority of computer users have java, even at work, and if they don't, getting it is easy enough. So saying some people don't have java is not a valid arguement against greating IRC integration imo.

[Ultimate Newbie]

Originally Posted by Squishy

When people sign up to PA it would be good if they signed up to netgamers at the same time getting the Pnick the same as their username. This has to be different from their ruler name so it will help protect new people who dont know that they can be tracked by using some tools like Sandmans

An obvious solution could be to match the Alliance Nickname (which has to be unique) to the IRC nickname, and or link both to the new PAN GMS (Game Management System) which is the Passport replacement. Indeed, this GMS may also include the pirate Forum identity (though resolving situations like me where i have a different IRC and Forum name has yet to been resolved).

I like

Support - What would be nice is if you clicked on the support link it linked you too a Java IRC cliant giving you access to #support.

I like the idea, however it shouldnt replace the ticket system, as Java applets do not always work for everyone; however if you can log into PA (and even if you cant! ) you can still get the tickets working. It might be a nice idea to do both on the same page; there is plenty of room .

Edit: Phil^'s and Kals replies follow a similar theme :\

Galaxys - Giving the GCs the option to set up a gal channel via PA linking with netgamers (dont know if this is possible or not) Allowing GCs then to specify their gal mates Pnicks channels would be set up automatically. Secret, invite only ect. When people then click the IRC link ingame cause peoples Pnicks are already supplyed a simple script to automatically auth with P would not be a huge problem i woudnt imagine.

Actually, this used to happen with the old Comm Unit; the automatic channel you would join was #x:y of whatever your galaxy was - the problem being if players wanted to make their gal name different, ie #WTFPWN or some variety thereof; New players would test the comm unit, and see no-one on IRC so stop. If this channel could be set by the GC, that would be ideal. As for auto logins with P, i am no so sure, however making it easy to do (fill in correct username and password boxes) and having auto invite to your gal's channel would be ideal.

Alliances - Giving HCs the opertunaty to set up alliance channels. Not sure about how many but that would be down to alliances to specify mabey a maximum of 3 with differing levels of access. When setting members status you could state what channels they have access to and what level they have it at. eg HCs 450, BCs 300 ect ect

This will be covered by another collaboration effort that is already quite a way through the organisation. I dont know when exactly it will be implemented, but this is already happening!

IRC Options - Allow people to customise their P accounts via planetarion with simple tick boxes
Invite Gal Chan - YES :: NO
Invite Alliance Chan - YES :: NO
More options to follow

That might be nice, but might not be necessary. Depends on how complicated you want the system to be (as there are a *huge* number of P commands that would quickly loose someone new to the game etc).

Im not sure how the IRC should be accessed from in game as im not really sure whats possible and whats not but an idea would be for people to have IRC running all the time and access it by clicking on a link eg

I think having a seperate page that automatically opens a new window, but having it seperate (or linked from) the 'IRC' page, which should be used for setting up the configuration and explaining what IRC is, how it is used, and why it is useful and important should go on the 'IRC' page. Then have a "connect to irc" button on that page which opens a new window to permit people from still being 'in their planet'.

[Squishy]

I never intented to replace the current support ticket system this was something to run along side it

[Heartless]

Personally I disagree on a tightening between IRC and the game itself. Simply because making IRC a requirement does limit your target audience in a rather heavy way.

However, I'd like to see a different approach on the "contact other people" issue: What about implementing an interface to several communications plattforms? Not everyone might be logged into Planetarion and as such you might want to message your defenders through IRC, ICQ, MSN, AIM and so on. That would also be a feature a lot of people would for sure want to pay for. Also it might be enough to have this as a one-way communication, i.e. from Planetarion to the communication service.

Having written down this initial idea now, I will try to find the time to outline it further.

[Appocomaster]

Heartless, if/when we get a passport system people could probably add their information in there. Then, if you have the ability to show your information to everyone / listed friends, they could use that to contact you.

[Cannon_Fodder]

I'm for the integration, but not in a way that forces you to use IRC, just something to make it easier.

[Squishy]

My idea was just their as an option people could still use all the features that are currently their but now they would have a bit of a more user friendly interface to use IRC if they so chose

[Kal]

to add to my previous reply - it would be fairly straight forward for us to modify the way the comunit works so you can specifiy a galaxy channel for it to auto join - BUT the problem then is we can;t do logins to p for people so the only secuirty you could have on a gal channel would be a key - and i'm assuming thats not good enough.

[Squishy]

Have people use their Pnick as their user name then its simple enough to only prompt people for a password when they loginto the comm unit and the rest of the /msg P@cservice ect can be done automatically

[Ramihyn]

Actually after doing the pa-client proof of concept thing, i thought about how it could be used to make planetarion better for the players. The thing which immediately came to my mind was attaching a galaxy irc window to the bottom of the client like this:

http://www.reconstructor.com/paclient/pairc.jpg

New players would automatically be in the auto-created galaxy irc channel - additional optional channels would be #support (only joined when the button is pressed due to their "no idling" rule) and a alliance channel. The GC could assign a password to the galaxy channel and the alliance HC assigns a password for the alliance channel, the client automatically fetches them so it wouldnt be necessary for the players to know/remember the passwords even. Players should be able to disable the internal PA irc client because experienced players likely prefer their own more powerful client and using both may give connection trouble with netgamers.

Additional enhancements i considered was auto-pasting a standard short message into a alliance channel in case of incoming so external tools used from BCs could simply be fed with the info through copy&paste.

I dropped any of this because the EULA forbids any of these type of tools. A rule which btw. makes a public tool like this impossible while it allows closed groups to use them because there is no freakin way to detect a client like this :O