I know more than a few games allow you to /anonymous. For instance in EQ there was /anonymous and /roleplay. Generally, they function like below, albeit I haven't played any other MMO besides P99 in a while.
/anonymous
/roleplay
What does everyone think about having a third option that can be used in conjunction with /anon or /role or acts as a third stand alone option:
Ex: /roleanon /hide /goaway
The main point about this feature is that it hides your floating identification entirely from other people until someone clicks on your PC or is within a few feet of you. Maybe actually put the spell "identify" that periodically pops in in various games. Generally in most mmos there is an option to hide your own name, pet names, all names, etc. It's just a display option. I never understood why I always had to have my name on display in /roleplay, /anon, or even in general to everyone else. It's like I am walking around the woods with a "Hello, my name is..." sticker on my chest.
I know many people rocked Anon/Role for various reasons. Avoiding rez tells, buff tells, heals, group invites, pvp reasons, raiding, rare mob spawn, roleplay, etc. I think this feature could have a wide range of uses both roleplay and practical that just add an additional dimension to the system without making player identification a chore.
What do you all think
Here is a wild and totally bonkers idea............
No tags at all.
Seriously, maybe just your name. I mean you want immersive feel, right? You want to feel like you are in a real world. We basically all insisted on no punctuation over NPCs (like to ? or ! over quest givers, etcetera.)
Well, why is that? Because it looks goofy and dumb to have text telling you what someone is. So, apply the same rule to players. Make people actually interact and talk to each other and get to know each other. I know it will scare people into thinking they are suddenly hamstrung to find group-mates but that's just not true. You could still /shout and /ooc.
The idea of no name tags is cool, but in practice it's just so much easier in actual game play to see players names. It really helps with strategy and coordination. So I say yes to player/npc names, with possibly player titles ( these are dislpayed with honer, to show achievements), but no frashing quest icons above npc heads!
I could go with no nametags except on characters you target or mouseover. I'd like to be able to easily identify a mob or player without having to actually target them. That said, this will be the kind of thing that no one will use if you have the option of showing all because it will put players at a disadvantage.
Dullahan said:I could go with no nametags except on characters you target or mouseover. I'd like to be able to easily identify a mob or player without having to actually target them. That said, this will be the kind of thing that no one will use if you have the option of showing all because it will put players at a disadvantage.
In many games this is toggle-able. Showing names only when selected. Client side control is probably the best with the ability to turn off guild tags, titles, surnames, and even names all together when not selected via target. To each their own.
-Rylas
I have no problem with an option to hide your own/other players' name tags. However I have no idea what this has to do with /anon (or /role).
Slight thread derail: IMO these two commands should not be available at all. For people who want to be left alone there should rather be a /autoreply function or something like that (/autoreply "Just want to do some stuff on my own atm, please dont bother me").
What if everyone started off with no nametags above their heads. But once you meet someone (return hails to each other, or group together) the name of that player is then displayed overhead.
That way the nametag is more a reminder of who you've met and not just a default introduction to everyone walking Terminus. And the fact that Hails need to be exchanged in order to reveal names, can allow for the more secretive players to go about their business in a more anonymous manner.
And maybe merchant players (Tunnel Sellers) could earn a way to have there name dispalyed to everyone to make it easier for buyers to locate them.
Sarim said:I have no problem with an option to hide your own/other players' name tags. However I have no idea what this has to do with /anon (or /role).
Slight thread derail: IMO these two commands should not be available at all. For people who want to be left alone there should rather be a /autoreply function or something like that (/autoreply "Just want to do some stuff on my own atm, please dont bother me").
How did you come to that opinion if I might ask? These commands have always been extremely valueable in open world games in regards to raiding, guild events, and pvp. Being able to shut down your location and disable GPS on your toon is very important.
/Anon and /Role were always used as a means of secrecy and information prevention. Also a nifty side effect required additional conversation on initial meeting between players. I generally see the ability to hide your primary name (as an extension of hiding the guild tag) as an addition of those. Hence the correlation.
Homercles said:What if everyone started off with no nametags above their heads. But once you meet someone (return hails to each other, or group together) the name of that player is then displayed overhead.
That way the nametag is more a reminder of who you've met and not just a default introduction to everyone walking Terminus. And the fact that Hails need to be exchanged in order to reveal names, can allow for the more secretive players to go about their business in a more anonymous manner.
And maybe merchant players (Tunnel Sellers) could earn a way to have there name dispalyed to everyone to make it easier for buyers to locate them.
I think this is an awesome idea. Like they tried to do with maps - you have to run through an area to see the map after experiencing it. I think its brilliant - after you know someone you recognize them.
fazool said:Homercles said:What if everyone started off with no nametags above their heads. But once you meet someone (return hails to each other, or group together) the name of that player is then displayed overhead.
That way the nametag is more a reminder of who you've met and not just a default introduction to everyone walking Terminus. And the fact that Hails need to be exchanged in order to reveal names, can allow for the more secretive players to go about their business in a more anonymous manner.
And maybe merchant players (Tunnel Sellers) could earn a way to have there name dispalyed to everyone to make it easier for buyers to locate them.
I think this is an awesome idea. Like they tried to do with maps - you have to run through an area to see the map after experiencing it. I think its brilliant - after you know someone you recognize them.
Though I agree with ALOT of what has been said here, ^^ this would be very cool!
I always turn off name tags and would definitly perfer them to appear on mouseover. But if nothing else..pls make it so we can hide them at least from our own view.
Best to you
Homercles said:What if everyone started off with no nametags above their heads. But once you meet someone (return hails to each other, or group together) the name of that player is then displayed overhead.
That way the nametag is more a reminder of who you've met and not just a default introduction to everyone walking Terminus. And the fact that Hails need to be exchanged in order to reveal names, can allow for the more secretive players to go about their business in a more anonymous manner.
And maybe merchant players (Tunnel Sellers) could earn a way to have there name dispalyed to everyone to make it easier for buyers to locate them.
Very good idea!
Anistosoles said:Homercles said:What if everyone started off with no nametags above their heads. But once you meet someone (return hails to each other, or group together) the name of that player is then displayed overhead.
That way the nametag is more a reminder of who you've met and not just a default introduction to everyone walking Terminus. And the fact that Hails need to be exchanged in order to reveal names, can allow for the more secretive players to go about their business in a more anonymous manner.
And maybe merchant players (Tunnel Sellers) could earn a way to have there name dispalyed to everyone to make it easier for buyers to locate them.
This is a very cool idea. Love it.
Very good idea!
A flag for the user to turn it off on his own screen. I played EQ in beta and when it first came out and upon release there were no names above heads. You had to click to get their name. Also there was no /reply in the chat window and you had to type the name of the person you were talking to. It was extremely difficult to play. Soon after launch things like names above heads and /reply were added to the chat window.
When there are 100 toons running around in the same area that all look the same (upon launch) it makes it extremely difficult to play if any sort of interaction needs to be done with other players.
Like everything else related to "the display: make it a choice for what the actual player can see but don't make it a selection for others.
My take on the matter based on experience of what it was like when it was like that.
Homercles said:What if everyone started off with no nametags above their heads. But once you meet someone (return hails to each other, or group together) the name of that player is then displayed overhead.
That way the nametag is more a reminder of who you've met and not just a default introduction to everyone walking Terminus. And the fact that Hails need to be exchanged in order to reveal names, can allow for the more secretive players to go about their business in a more anonymous manner.
And maybe merchant players (Tunnel Sellers) could earn a way to have there name dispalyed to everyone to make it easier for buyers to locate them.
Great idea +1
For me, I would prefer to just have the name tags displayed above player characters. After playing Elder Scrolls Online and experiencing a MMO where you could not tell the difference between players or NPCs because there were no names displayed unless you hover your cursor over their character's body (which was inconvinient at best) the method just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Other players in the world felt lifeless simply because I could not connect a name to a character. Even though I ran across multiple other people leveling/questing in the world, actually trying to interact with them was a hassle because of a simple nameplate missing from above their character. They might as well have not existed at all. Being able to just see a nameplate/guild tag/whatever above a player character makes a big difference in approachability as well as a general sense of the game world feeling more alive.
If there are no name tags above players when out in the game world then it will feel no different than going out to the mall in real life. Sure, there are other people around but since you have no initial connection with them (in game this would be seeing their guild/name/titles) then they are forgettable and unrelatable. You will not remember these people and will interact with them even less. The small act of having a nameplate attached to an avatar in the game allows for players to feel more approachable, which increases social interaction as well as creating talking points (such as guild names/funny character names/titles/ etc.)
Allow players the option to turn off name tags if they desire to not see them; however, I feel that disabling a seemingly small feature (just seeing peoples' names without having to jump through extra hoops) would cause more harm to the overall state of the game community than the benefits of the immersion provided.
