Get rid of in-flight kill announcements

[trogdor]

I think eliminating in-flight kill messages might reduce some of the ch200 flak. It would also keep kill messages from giving away your precise position to the enemy. (you can always still go look at the 'last killed/killed by' list in the scores if you MUST know)

I'd rather just see the victories count on landing.

What do you think, AH?

[GasTeddy]

They could still be visible for the killer himself, as landing one wheel 1/4 inch out of the runway gives "you ditched" instead of landed kill.

[Shane]

That's how it used to be, only landings: plane type and number >2 kills - not sure when the live tally kill msgs were added.   We also used to be able to squelch ch1 and then ch6 (the landed msgs).

Even if we went back to that, people would still get individual system msgs about who they shot down or shot them down, including proxies and collisions. This suggestion just removes the public announcement(s).

ch200 has always been somewhat rowdy - but it seems more manbaby snowflakes are in a rush to make it weaksauce these days.

And external comms are still a thing for those who utilize them for whatever purpose.

But imho there will be no broad tweaks to what currently works - only adding things that are known to work, skins and new maps. Beyond that, I'm not sure we'll see anything.

There are a few adjustable arena settings that could satisfy some existng requests...  there are also other settings that may not be readily available thru the clipboard - the kill msgs a may be a setting ,or it might have been hard coded when updates and revisions were more frequent.

[hazmatt]

Every since the kill spam was turned on it has been requested to have a way to turn it off, however, the "right" people have not yet made the request so it hasn't happened.

In my opinion much of the 200 "spam" is because there is no way to message someone directly. I can send a private message to a player and tell them "nice fight" or something along those lines. I have no choice but to add to the 200 spam and hope that they are actually tuned to 200.

The only explanation I can come up with is that all this spam is intentional to make it seem that there is a lot going on in the game. Having the ability to turn off the spam personally would still allow the spam for all the others who enjoy it. Maybe find one of those guys who will be listened to and have them request it?

[Lazerr]

Well to be clear, the game started with kill for kill messages being posted.  IIRC it also listed the plane the killer was flying.

I like the messages, it makes the arena look a little more "busy".

I also don't mind the additional attention. If you want to use the buffer to get additional intelligence on my location, you probably need it.

[The Fugitive]

Every since the kill spam was turned on it has been requested to have a way to turn it off, however, the "right" people have not yet made the request so it hasn't happened.

In my opinion much of the 200 "spam" is because there is no way to message someone directly. I can send a private message to a player and tell them "nice fight" or something along those lines. I have no choice but to add to the 200 spam and hope that they are actually tuned to 200.

The only explanation I can come up with is that all this spam is intentional to make it seem that there is a lot going on in the game. Having the ability to turn off the spam personally would still allow the spam for all the others who enjoy it. Maybe find one of those guys who will be listened to and have them request it?

The kill messages were added when HTC decided that it would help new players stay excided about the game. Seeing your name in lights is a big motivator in playing the game. It is usually the first "goal" most shoot for. For the longest time the only way was to get 2 kills AND land them. This makes it a bit easier to get your name in lights as all you need now is a kill.

The cross channel PMs were shut down due to too many players harassing players on other teams. Sure you get the popup window asking if you want to accept the PM but new players were still having issues, so HTC decided to shut it down. Seeing as what we have here on the BBS with some of these overboard posters loose in the game would reek havoc causing all kinds of trouble.

As for "the "right" people have not yet made the request" thats just BS. In the 20+ years I have been here the ideas that get in are well thought out ideas that cant have holes poked into them. Saying "turn off the kill messages" isnt a well thought out idea. WHY turn it off? What are the consequences both good and bad of turning them off? Will the good far outweigh the bad or not? All of these have to be answered and if any push towards the side hurting the game or pushing away players then it isnt going to get added. I very much doubt it has anything to do with who made the suggestion.

[hazmatt]

Saying "turn off the kill messages" isnt a well thought out idea. WHY turn it off? What are the consequences both good and bad of turning them off? Will the good far outweigh the bad or not? All of these have to be answered and if any push towards the side hurting the game or pushing away players then it isnt going to get added. I very much doubt it has anything to do with who made the suggestion.

I do no reason an individual should not have the option to turn off their kill messages. I never said turn them off for everybody. If you like the spam, you should be able to enjoy it. Having to scroll through a bunch of kill messages that I could care less about to see who it was that I got a kill on 10 minutes ago because I'm finally in a safe enough space to be able to send a salute is not my idea of useful or helpful. It's obvious that you're going to defend whatever happens. If HT decides to them off you will be the one defending them being turned off. Some of us have opinions of our own on things

[Banshee7]

I think there needs to be a way for players to turn them off individually. They do sometimes get in the way.

[Dadtallica]

I think there needs to be a way for players to turn them off individually. They do sometimes get in the way.

I thought you could turn off system messages already?

[CptTrips]

I thought you could turn off system messages already?

They want to keep the existing system messages and block just the kill messages.

While I agree with the original idea behind this, I think newbs will take a while before figuring out how to turn them off.  By the time they do, the newb has probably already decided to subscribe.

Long time players don't need to be sold.  If they chose to, and were experienced enough to know how to turn it off, and care, then why not let them turn it off. 

Best of both worlds.  Conveys activity to the newb, gets out of the way of the veteran.

[The Fugitive]

I thought you could turn off system messages already?

Yes you can turn off system messages. Unfortunately it turns off ALL messages, base captures, warnings and the like.

You can also split all system messages off to a second text window. You can keep the second window scaled down to a single line and just like the text does now flip it open with a tap of a switch.

I do no reason an individual should not have the option to turn off their kill messages. I never said turn them off for everybody. If you like the spam, you should be able to enjoy it. Having to scroll through a bunch of kill messages that I could care less about to see who it was that I got a kill on 10 minutes ago because I'm finally in a safe enough space to be able to send a salute is not my idea of useful or helpful. It's obvious that you're going to defend whatever happens. If HT decides to them off you will be the one defending them being turned off. Some of us have opinions of our own on things

Personally I dont care if we have them or not (like we didnt have them years ago) I just adapt and play the game. Im just trying to give you the information. Maybe you should just stick with DCS. Obviously that game is much better than this one.

[hazmatt]

Maybe you should just stick with DCS. Obviously that game is much better than this one.

This is priceless... I have never played DCS....

[JimmyD3]

Every since the kill spam was turned on it has been requested to have a way to turn it off, however, the "right" people have not yet made the request so it hasn't happened.

In my opinion much of the 200 "spam" is because there is no way to message someone directly. I can send a private message to a player and tell them "nice fight" or something along those lines. I have no choice but to add to the 200 spam and hope that they are actually tuned to 200.

The only explanation I can come up with is that all this spam is intentional to make it seem that there is a lot going on in the game. Having the ability to turn off the spam personally would still allow the spam for all the others who enjoy it. Maybe find one of those guys who will be listened to and have them request it?

What is it with you and this issue, I have no idea what you are referring to. I am not aware of any one with special privileges. Who might they be, pray tell. 

[CptTrips]

This is priceless... I have never played DCS....

LoL.  Fugi is another one of those that thinks they have been left in charge around here.  You dared to have an opinion without getting his permission first.


A player level option to filter out the kill messages out of the system messages would be a perfectly reasonable compromise that couldn't possibly be overly difficult to implement.  Another checkmark in the user settings.

There is a similar precedent in the chan 200.  To maximize the appeal to new players, hide the ugliness of chan 200 until the player learns enough to figure out how to tune to it.  By then, if they are going to subscribe, the sale has already been made.  Meanwhile, vets are free to tune to it if they are in to that sort of thing.

In this case, by default the kill messages would be enabled to give the maximum impression of activity to a potential customer.  However, once they have learned enough to figure out how to turn it off, they are probably at the level they don't need further convincing and the setting will allow the vet to tune out the noise if they prefer.

Both use cases can be satisfied with a minimal feature.

You of course won't get it, but not because it isn't a reasonable compromise or it being too difficult to implement.

[hazmatt]

What is it with you and this issue, I have no idea what you are referring to. I am not aware of any one with special privileges. Who might they be, pray tell. 

In my opinion, based on my experience, there could be an issue that many want changed and nothing happens over a long period of time.

Someone (I don't recall any specific names) will say. "I'll call Dale about it" and bam! The next day the thing that has been asked for for the last 6 months suddenly changes. Coincidence? Maybe. Seems to have happened to often for me to think so.