Flipz
Posts: 177
2/20/2014
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As I've recently gotten back into Fallen London after yet another absence, I'm struck by something of an issue: at this point I have absolutely no clue who on my contacts list is still playing Fallen London, let alone who is actually available and willing to partake in social actions. How do the rest of you manage your contacts lists--do you routinely cull them for players who do not respond to social actions, or do you simply have a separate list of "active players" that you use when making these choices? How do you pick which player from your list of contacts to interact with (or does everyone but me just use an alt for that?)? And what do you do with the unaccepted invitations--leave them sitting for weeks, maybe months on end, or do you at a certain point give up hope and clear them from your queue? (And while we're on the subject--does anyone have a guide and/or advice regarding the "calling card" system?)
And most importantly: how can the system be improved? A "last active" indicator on the profile/"choose player" field, perhaps indicated as some kind of special Quality? A way to sort your contacts, both on the tab and in the "choose player" field? Some other solution, or combination of solutions? It's something that's piqued my curiosity, so I'd like to hear your thoughts. 
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Happy to accept all Second Chance, Menace reduction, and Affluent Photographer requests. No boxed cats or SMEN, please.
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Alexis Kennedy
Posts: 1374
2/20/2014
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A B Nile wrote:
A "currently online" button would be useful, as would a "last active" - but I have no idea how easy that would be to implement from a technical point of view.
This has come up before, but we're wary about it because of privacy issues, if players don't want other players (who might include their boss, or an ex) knowing whether they've read an invite or when they last logged in. I'd encourage people to talk about how they feel about that issue, and whether we're being overly sensitive.
We are currently considering: closer journal integration (edit: I mean being able to follow a link to a player journal, and see when they last recorded a journal entry); easier messaging, including ways to reply to invitations without having to go via Write a Letter; and ways for players to manage groups of players.
edited by Alexis on 2/20/2014
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A B Nile
Posts: 414
2/20/2014
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Alexis Kennedy wrote:
This has come up before, but we're wary about it because of privacy issues, if players don't want other players (who might include their boss, or an ex) knowing whether they've read an invite or when they last logged in. I'd encourage people to talk about how they feel about that issue, and whether we're being overly sensitive.
We are currently considering: closer journal integration (edit: I mean being able to follow a link to a player journal, and see when they last recorded a journal entry); easier messaging, including ways to reply to invitations without having to go via Write a Letter; and ways for players to manage groups of players.
A good point. Perhaps addressed by leaving it up to a player's option whether they display their status or not? I might be showing my age here, but MSN messenger had a similar facility (you could choose to appear as "busy" or "away" instead of the default setting of "online").
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My profile: A B Nile
My alt: Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate
(seeking Acquaintances and accepting all social actions)
Item conversion table - finally complete with all rare successes!
Bloody, bold and resolute
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Hiram Cunningham
Posts: 11
2/20/2014
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Honestly, you could probably just get away with a binary designation of activity. You guys could set some measure of activity (Played within the last week/two weeks/month etc) and just show whether or not a player meets that threshold. So, say if you considered a player active if they had played in the last two weeks--you could then allow other players to filter by that criteria.
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Loon
Posts: 379
2/21/2014
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I like the idea of having an "active within the last two weeks" marker. I would opt-in to a "currently online" marker, but don't find it really necessary - in cases of emergency, the forum or the chat are probably more effective. What I really miss is the possibility of sorting people into custom lists, and an "acquaintance" list, because I tend to choose these people for social actions in general.
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My main character Krawald can be found at http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Krawald and welcomes all social actions bar photographers.
My alt Loogan Cuthoat can be found at http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Loogan~Cuthoat and welcomes all social actions bar cats and photographers.
My alt Ally Mooney can be found at http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Ally~Mooney and welcomes all social actions including patronage, though they are a bit confused by cats in boxes.
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Fhoenix
Posts: 602
2/21/2014
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If you've returned to the game recently there is an easy way to check for active players: send calling cards to your whole contact list, see who accepts. But that's a one time thing. An opt-in to show if the player was active (used his actions) withing the last week would be useful, I guess. Though I can make do without it, if you are active, it's not hard to find other active players through forums or IRC.
While we are speaking about contacts. I wish there was some way to make a quick-list and load that quick-list instead of your whole contact list. It would probably decrease the loading time. And make selecting frequent contacts easier.
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My Character
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A B Nile
Posts: 414
2/20/2014
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A "currently online" button would be useful, as would a "last active" - but I have no idea how easy that would be to implement from a technical point of view.
For my part, I've worked out over the last few months which of my contacts respond most quickly (i.e. within 24 hours) and they are generally the ones I will go to for social actions. There are a few who are on more regularly and will generally respond within a couple of hours, which is good when something needs accepting quickly.
To answer your specific question - I will generally clear a queued invitation queue after a week or so, although that's only happened a couple of times (and once the person involved wrote me a most corteous note of apology a few days later!).
Calling cards are very straightforward. Many people now state in their signature lines whether they are accepting them from new contacts, and there is also a thread in the Singing Mandrake where you can find people willing to become Acquaintances.
Hope this helps, and I'm sure others will "Chime" in (Aha! Ahahahahahahahaaaaa! Aha. Ahem. Excuse me) with other info.
edited by A B Nile on 2/20/2014
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My profile: A B Nile
My alt: Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate
(seeking Acquaintances and accepting all social actions)
Item conversion table - finally complete with all rare successes!
Bloody, bold and resolute
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A B Nile
Posts: 414
2/20/2014
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Gillsing wrote:
I also rely on the notification emails sent to me, though I'm going to start copying those to TXT-files as well, to get the timeline right. I wish there was an automatic system that did something like that, or that I could get my own social actions and private messages sent to me as emails
I have my messages emailed to me too - then a search for the relevant contact's name in my Gmail will give me a useful timeline. I also wish that messages I had sent were available in this way - it's a shame they're not, as I'm currently only able to view one side of the conversation...
Gillsing wrote:
Regarding calling cards, I don't quite understand why strangers send them to me without a personal message explaining why they are sending them. But I still accept them, because I'm not even close to the cap for acquaintances.
Agreed on both points - and I'd add that on a few occasions I've been sent a Calling Card with no message, and then never heard from the sender again. Perhaps some people are simply trying to increase Influence as high as they can?
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My profile: A B Nile
My alt: Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate
(seeking Acquaintances and accepting all social actions)
Item conversion table - finally complete with all rare successes!
Bloody, bold and resolute
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Augusta Lenore Coldbridge-Wynne
Posts: 12
2/20/2014
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Alexis Kennedy wrote:
This has come up before, but we're wary about it because of privacy issues, if players don't want other players (who might include their boss, or an ex) knowing whether they've read an invite or when they last logged in. I'd encourage people to talk about how they feel about that issue, and whether we're being overly sensitive.
Would it be possible to have an opt-in feature for this? If one does not opt in, then one's butler informs all visitors that one is indisposed, regardless; if one opts in, then people can see one's active/last active status.
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Augusta Lenore Coldbridge-Wynne, an inescapable, sagacious, irresistible and breathtaking lady. Social actions welcome!
Ebeneezer Crouch, her minion. Social actions accepted with ill grace and a high probability of betrayal.
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