IRC -> Chat in Custom Channels: HELP/TRADE/OOC

[Cursed Shadow]

This is probably way more work than it sounds.
It would be really cool if we could authenticate our users through IRC somehow and be able to chat from IRC in Custom chat channels in-game.

Would be good to be able to respond from IRC to people's questions in Help chat, without physically being in the game.

Any thoughts/challenges/general opinion, please discuss.

[Agent L]

yeah, definetly cool feature to have. First question is should it be more like "log into your account with client different than NC" approach or more like transport between ingame channels and IRC channels, where everyone from the outside world could connect and spam TRADE-NC : )

Some challenges of the first approach are obvious:
- authentication
- character selection
- where actually the "not logged but talking" char should be located in the game world (or more importantly should it be in the world at all)

The second one is not without own issues either:
- should the access be limited to active accounts only and how?

And both have to implement some extra functionality:
- how to tell real players from talking ghosts
- new ingame functionality to mute all "ghosts"

OFC devs could just make a chat-api and have Brammers worry about the rest : )

[Cursed Shadow]

And both have to implement some extra functionality:
- how to tell real players from talking ghosts
- new ingame functionality to mute all "ghosts"

Yeah, I was thinking their name should be prefixed in the chat output like:

IRC-Martian: Hello World

[Cursed Shadow]

After talking to a voice of reason. Although this would be a super awesome implementation.

It does little towards the current issues:

End Game Content
Balancing of PvP
General game improvements to entice new players
Fixing of what's broken

As such this post can pretty much be ignored.

[Agent L]

I disagree. As the nickname "mirc3d" suggest, chatting with other players have always been the endgame content in NC.
And who can support n00bs better than vet explaining?
Biggest issue today is the low pop. Irc gate would make the pop would *appear* larger, and would enable people to be semi-aviable; that is log in when interesting events happen, like customer waiting or a fight going on.