Feedback:User/Lone Guardian 802/Save chat log to text file feature.
Save chat log to text file feature. | |
|---|---|
| User | Lone Guardian 802 |
| Categories | Mechanics Player interaction |
=== Propose Suggestion. ===
I propose a feature to allow players to automatically save the chat history (chat log) to file, such as a text file.
=== Technical Detail. ===
When a player reads their chat history, the chat history is already sent to the client and is in the client memory. In another word, the player is seeing what is already on his/her client memory. The server is no longer involve.
It would be a simple matter of dumping the chat history data, that is already in the client memory, to a file on the player's hard drive. The features would be turn on and off in the setting menu. There would be an option to specified a path for where the files would be saved.
The advantage of text file over screen shot of chat history is space. Screen shots saved data to a picture files. Picture files such as jpeg files takes up a lot more space than a text file. For example, an hour of chat history saved using screen shots may average around 3 megabytes of hard drive space. An hour of chat history saved using a text file may average around 100 kilobytes.
Automatically saving chat history also makes it more convenient than having to manually save screen shots of chat history.
=== Method of Implementing. ===
There are several method to implement this feature.
==== Simple Method. ====
The simple method would be to dump everything in chat history into a single text file. A game called Endless Online provide a good example of this.
Below is an example.
All Chat History .txt
The file in this file would contain everything the player see in the chat history.
==== Complex Method. ====
A more complex method would be to save "local chat", "guild chat", "alliance chat", "trade", etc, in each own text file. Also, there would be a separate text file for each friends the player whisper (pm) with, using their character name. To make it even more organize, all of the files could be in a folder under the PC (Player Character) name. A good example of how this method work can be found in the game Second Life.
Below is an examples.
Lets say a player has a PC (Player Character) name "Great Warrior". And this player has 3 friends, "Apple Pie The Role Player", "Lord Pizza In Character", "Medieval Ranger Wally Mart". The folders and files for Great Warrior chat logs might look something like this.
- Great Warrior (A Folder.)
- local chat .txt (Text file containing all local chat while playing Great Warrior.)
- guild chat .txt (Text file containing all guild chat while playing Great Warrior.)
- alliance chat .txt (Text file containing all alliance chat while playing Great Warrior.)
- trade .txt (Text file containing all trade chat while playing Great Warrior.)
- Apple Pie The Role Player .txt (Text file containing private whisper with Apple Pie The Role Player while playing Great Warrior.)
- Lord Pizza In Character .txt (Text file containing private whisper with Lord Pizza In Character while playing Great Warrior.)
- Medieval Ranger Wally Mart .txt (Text file containing private whisper with Medieval Ranger Wally Mart while playing Great Warrior.)
=== Reason for Implementing. ===
Saving chat history locally is useful for many reasons.
- Saving the minutes of guild and alliance meetings.
- Solving disputes between guild members.
- Sometime players have memorable conversation that we wish we have saved.
- Role playing sessions.
--Lone_Guardian_802 07:02, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
