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[Superman777]

I had an idea a while back for something that would make this game a whole lot better.   

Why not add a contact list for all the people you know.  Something like what you would get on any typical instant messenger client. 

The way i envision this working is as follows....

 - First, you keep the partner search feature, but disable or remove the invite function, making the search function SOLELY for finding and meeting new people, not for sending them cold invite after cold invite.  This would encourage people to actually talk to one another and would eliminate all this cold invite crap.

 - The invite function would only be activated for that particular couple/threesome once a relation (friend, lover, spouse)  is established between the two/three parties. Again, this encourages that people talk to one another and greatly reduces cold invites.

 - The contact list would always be on your screen, and could be un-docked /docked from your Achat window.  This could allow for somebody in a room to be aware if any other friends/lovers  that  he/she knows are on. One thing i don't like is that when i'm in a room with a girl,  i don't know if i am missing out with someone else.

 - The list would be divided into appropriate sub-goups, friends lovers, and spouse.

 - Inviting someone could only be done through the contact list. For instance you could click on any particular person on your list and a drop down menu would appear with options..
                                                        - the options i envision are:
                                                                                           - Chat with this person
                                                                                           - Invite this person to a room
                                                                                           - Invite this person to a group room
                                                                                           - Start/Change/End Relation with this person
                                                                                           - View this person's friends/lovers/spouse in search
                                                                                           - block (ignore) this person
                                                                                           - appear offline to this  person

 - The status message and Condition (away, room, online)  of every player on a persons list could be easily read and viewed simultaneously in a list, telling the player who is online, what they are up to, and  if they are away, in a room, or on your blocked list

 - The current chat box would only be used for chatting with people who do not have any relation with you.  For chatting with people you DO have a relation with, clicking on the "chat with this person" option would open a small window where you can chat with just that person exclusively, and not have many conversations going on in the same chat box.   This would also reduce the errors of sending a message to the wrong person accidentally.

 - Double clicking on any persons name in your contact list would open up a chat window by default.

 - The messages feature could be scrapped and replaced with sending offline instant messages, where, upon logging in, chat windows pop up from people who sent you messages while you are offline. this makes reading them simpler.

 -A built in  translator feature (similar to google translate) for the chat window  might be nice for our international friends....



I realize this is probably a lot to ask for, but i think many people who use this game would REALLY love this game a whole lot more if something like this were to be added to the game.  Perhaps it could be an integral part of an Achat Version 2.0.....   

I'd like to hear what everybody thinks about this. Please feel free to comment.

Thanks
                                                                                           

[Janine Dee]

The appearing offline option is high on our collective wish list here on the Forum.

As far as only being able to invite friends...

#1. Not everyone wants in depth relationships. There is a large percentage on the AChat servers who WANT casual sex. They have as much right to get what they want as we do.

#2. I've went  into room with girls I come to find out I don't want to find me later. (When pre-screening failed.)

#3. They would have to create a "Refresh" button because right now as it stands we have to log out and log back in to see friend requests, and having to do that when you might be VERY eager to get into a room could drive people to leave entirely.

I'm sorry Superman, but besides the technical aspects the clashing with the fairly casual sexual attitude here on AChat says,more then a few of your ideas have little chance of occurring.

[Lover]

Getting flooded with messages from people you don't know isn't nice, especially when you're chatting to someone. Also cold invites are annoying to me. But many take this and accept this (or even wish it) and it's ok for them.
So this  principle at least seems to be a big part of the AChat idea.
I also can't see a reason why you just should be able to room with someone on your list. But thats just different tastes.

One thing I totally disagree is the idea of being in a room and simultaneously knowing about the world outside!

I support the invisible mod and basical improvements to the chat-system.

[TightFit74]

At least you thought about it and put in a lot of effort, Superman. I appreciate others that think about the game and want to make it better and come up with issues that are valid to talk about.
 I agree with the changes in the chat mode, yet not all of them. I too, would not want to know what is happening inside because I think my partner would be treated impolitely. I'd like to focus my attention fully on her or them.
Appearing offline would be w wonderful addition. Whe in character editor, it would be nice not to be available for chat. So you have time to think about and make the changes you want. Being able to appear to others would be nice as well.
I don't see it happening that only people connected through a list, are able to invite eachother. As Janine and Lover pointed out, too many people want a loose connection with the ones the room with. For others, like me, developing a relationship first is prior. But for those, your suggestions offer enough tools to select (prospected) partners with.
The translation app seems ambitious but I am sure a lot of people would love it. It would mean copy+paste to be returned with all options since you now can only paste.. (correct me if I am wrong).
Keep those good ideas coming!

[Superman777]

Perhaps instead of requiring that you have some relation to another person in order to be able to invite... maybe the better thing to do is to have some sort of "allow invites from this person" feature that is an option you can enable/disable through the chat window.

That way you can still protect yourself from cold invites without the commitment of having a relation to that person.  I do also like the occasional sex with no strings, but most of the time if i'm talking to a girl for a while before, chances are she wouldn't be opposed to being friends anyways. I like the idea of having a  FWB over just some random fuck.  just my opinion.

As for having to refresh to see new invites, most modern instant messengers, (windows live, for example) will just have a pop up window with the request while you are online. so i'm sure it can be done without having to refresh anything.

I'm not sure how much manpower the AChat developers have, but somehow i doubt that it would be enough to consider all of these ideas. but it is at least good to put them out there so they can read them if they haven't thought of them already. And who knows how close they are to a new version of a game (2.0)  i kinda doubt its on the top of their priority list.

Thanks for the feedback so far. 

[Janine Dee]

Oh yeah, we've wanted a way for it to keep itself up to date for awhile, BUT I'm thinking it has to do with the fact we've got the store since we also have to do the log out/in when buying something. So it's not a huge leap to connect the two.

I don't know. Are there other programs that have a similar function that are still able to update those sort of things automatically?