As an alternative to IRC, players should be allowed to add their IM details on their preference page. Major services should as AOL, MSN and Google Talk should be supported.
Some kind of button should be displayed next to the planet's listing on the galaxy page (or on some kind of new page listing contact details). These buttons should be 'Add me to MSN'-type buttons, the kind that the PA forums support. Google Talk even supports a web-based client using a script downloadable from google.com (
http://www.google.com/talk/start.html item #3). These links should be available to Trusted galaxy members only. Details should also be available to alliance members, and the availability of details should be configurable (alliance-only, alliance and galaxy, everyone).
This is actually quite a quick and easy thing to do, just an extra Preferences option or three, and some easy-to-add links.
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“They were totally confused,” said the
birdman, whose flying suit gives him a passing resemblance to Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. “The authorities said that I was an unregistered aircraft and to fly, you need a licence. I told them, ‘No. To fly, you need wings’.”
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