ArenaNet:Guild Wars 2 suggestions/Friends List

Import Friendlist and Friends from GW1
This is based on that you can link your GW1 Account to your new GW2 Account. There should be an option to import the Friendlist from one or multiple GW1 accounts, asking for login/pw of the GW1 account, then reading it from the Database, then showing a list of Friends in that List, allowing you to select who you want to import. This could be done at any time, in case the GW1 friendlist was changed after importing it. Also, you should be able to "add friends by GW1 character name", as most likely your GW1 friendlist is full and there might be a few more people you deleted at some point to make space but still want to add to your GW2 friendlist.


 * Why this is a good idea
 * Making the transition from GW1 to GW2 as easy and convenient as possible


 * Why it may not work out

Remember LAST "Player Status" setting (Friends).

 * Why this is a good idea
 * A player can log on without showing up in friends list and guild roster. Sometimes we just want to play quietly without being inundated with PM's etc.
 * There are times when a little privacy is paramount. When you've been around forever, you can't escape being seen, immediately that you login.


 * Why it may not work out
 * No reason at all that I can think of.Rampage 12:41, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Unlimited Friends List/Ignore List

 * Why this is a good idea
 * No more deleting of people you still want to stay in contact with
 * No more keeping track of people you've been forced to delete in a seperate text file


 * Why it may not work out
 * Too much server capacity/traffic would be consumed for all the extra data to be processed?

"Last login" display

 * Why this is a good idea
 * Better overview of your friends' activity
 * Feature is already implemented in Guild List, should be easy to transfer to Friends List


 * Why it may not work out
 * More server traffic?
 * Privacy?

Friends List/Ignore List decay timer (separate for each, or even individually for each entry)

 * Why this is a good idea
 * Allows cleaning of Friends List from long time inactive Players
 * Keeps people in Ignore List only for a certain amount of time, which is usually enough


 * Why it may not work out
 * People who should be kept in the Friends List or Ignore List may get accidentally removed; (Solution: being able to activate/deactivate contact decay for each individual contact)

Tree-Style collapsible categories and subcategories

 * Why this is a good idea
 * Allows to put people in seperate groups, similar to ICQ and MSN
 * Makes it much easier to organize and sort your contacts


 * Why it may not work out

Search function for Friends List
Similar to Firefox's Bookmark/Chronic search.


 * Why this is a good idea
 * If the cap for number of friends allowed in your Friends List is raised a lot or even removed, you may need tools to find specific people easier in that list


 * Why it may not work out

Display of character's professions in Friends List

 * Why this is a good idea
 * You always know which profession your Buddy is playing


 * Why it may not work out
 * Spying on enemies guild members' professions is already possible through different mechanics, this would add another way, which would be quite bad for competitive PvP; (Solution: No more "blind" adding of people to your Friends List, they need to agree.)

Friend list requests
When a player adds another player to their friends list, the player being added should receive a notice about it, and have the choice to confirm or deny a mutual friendship.


 * Why this is a good idea
 * The system seems to work well in ICQ
 * No more spying if people can tell which class you are playing by looking at your name


 * Why it may not work out
 * Maybe the old GW1 way of spying isn't possible anymore due to the seperated PvE/PvP System

Sort Friends List

 * By Group ([yes/no] checkbox)
 * By Online/Offline ([yes/no] checkbox)
 * By other criteria - like Guild Tag - changing the selected criteria by clicking on the column description; switching between ascending/descending


 * Why this is a good idea
 * Makes it easier to sort your Friends List


 * Why it may not work out

Player alias

 * Why this is a good idea
 * The (temporary) name you use to add someone may be insignificant to identify someone on the Friends List at a later time


 * Why it may not work out

=== Showing Location and District of people in Friends List  ===

Privacy solution: Allow players to manually enable/disable others being able to see your location


 * Why this is a good idea
 * Makes it easier locating/meeting friends


 * Why it may not work out

Friend list custom content / Add a short memo field
e.g. "a 100 character comment to each member of your friendlist"

''Players should be able to set a short memo field (32 bytes/entry) to remind players of key facts regarding people on friends or ignore lists. Great for remembering why you are ignoring player XYZ, or who does the Shiverpeaks tour (or GW2 equivalent).''


 * Why this is a good idea
 * Allows you to keep track of who is who on your Friends List
 * Lets you remember *why* you have some people on these lists.


 * Why it may not work out
 * Not an outright problem, but this might duplicate functionality of sub-categories to an extent.

Message/mail system

 * Why this is a good idea
 * Easier to communicate
 * Send messagges to those offline


 * Why it may not work out
 * Needs more Server space; (Solution: max number of recorded offline messages, and a message to someone who is trying to send an offline message to someone who's offline buffer is full)
 * Unnecessary, just use Email. (Not viable if you only know the person's ingame name but not the email address)

=== Map coloring for Guild/Alliance members, friends, and ignored players ===


 * Why this is a good idea
 * Makes it easier to find people visually in outposts


 * Why it may not work out

Friend-only PM
Only receive PM's from people on your Friends List.


 * Why this is a good idea
 * You don't get bothered by strangers anymore


 * Why it may not work out
 * You might miss out someone trying to contact you, but it's your choice to enable/disable the feature
 * Players may forget their PM is turned off.

Player's Guild Tag
Show the Guild Tag of a person in your friend list next to his name, and show the full guild name in the verbose information pop-up when mouse hovering


 * Why this is a good idea
 * Helps to remember who is who
 * You can see when your friends changed guilds


 * Why it may not work out

Friends List Chat
Message everyone on your friends list


 * Why this is a good idea


 * Why it may not work out

See who has you on their friends list
Players should be able to see whose friends lists they are on. One option would be to split the friends list into a "mutual friends" section, a "friends" section and a "friend of" section. Another option would be to drop the "friend of" part.


 * Why this is a good idea
 * It would be convenient to know which players on your friends list have you on theirs.


 * Why it may not work out
 * The "friend of" section could be problematic due to size issues.