Paragon Chat FAAAQ

[FloatingFatMan]

Tuesday.  Never Monday.

God yes.. NEVER release on Monday... Ever.

[Vr2Lrose]

So there you have it  relax and reschedule for next Tuesday or Wed, 
No need to rush its better to have something like this done well.

[Triplash]

The public server is up, chat.cohtitan.com. The plan was to have the software release tomorrow but some last minute fixes have made that uncertain right now. CW and Coppertop were hard at work this week, I had family issues and did nothing. So feel free to rage at me for the delay.

No rage here. RL comes first. Take care of you and yours, man.

Tuesday.  Never Monday.

Why not? You've got me curious now, what makes Mondays a poor choice for a release date?

Is it so the developers can say things like "For you, the day Paragon Chat was released was the most important day of the year. But for me, it was Tuesday."

[Vr2Lrose]

Or maybe on Monday they are still a bit hung over from sunday.

[Victoria Victrix]

Why not? You've got me curious now, what makes Mondays a poor choice for a release date?

A number of reasons.  Mondays are bad because there are a lot of distractions in IP departments, as crises that had been brewing all weekend come raining down upon the desks.  They are bad because stuff that got shoved through too soon and implemented before the weekend is now generating crashes and irate users.  They are bad because hardware deliveries show up then and need to be signed for, further distracting people from putting out fires.  They are bad because, yes, some people come in hung over from the weekend.  They are bad because computers being rebooted after being turned off for the weekend generally choose to fry, crash, or hang.  They are bad because gremlins always seem to work their mischief in an empty office over the weekend.  They are bad because all those people you told over and over not to click on the link in the email clicked on the link in the email and now they are discovering the viruses and trojans that spent all weekend populating their desktop.  They are bad because you find that guy who was a short-fused overachieving workaholic dead at his desk (yes, this has happened, in my office, not to me).

In short, Monday is generally a day of putting out fires and handling every bad thing that can rain down on you.  Not a good day to push a new application.

[Nyghtshade]

No rage here. RL comes first. Take care of you and yours, man.

Absolutely true, family always trumps.  Take your time, guys.

[FloatingFatMan]

Absolutely true, family always trumps.  Take your time, guys.

Hey now, steady on! I wouldn't go quite THAT far! :P

[Triplash]

In short, Monday is generally a day of putting out fires and handling every bad thing that can rain down on you.  Not a good day to push a new application.

Ahhh, gotcha. Makes sense.

[Timelord Tom]

Can we get a memorial for Timlord Tom? Alas, we hardly knew ye  :'(

Hey, it's better that they miss a deadline and get it done right.

As for having a memorial for me, sure... I'll even hop in my TARDIS and attend my own funeral if that makes you happy. :P

[Azrael]

Somehow, inexplicably, this slipped by me.

Wow.  This seems pretty fantastic.  I can't wait to give this a try.

*Goes back and reads the entire thread...

Azrael.

[Arcana]

A number of reasons.  Mondays are bad because there are a lot of distractions in IP departments, as crises that had been brewing all weekend come raining down upon the desks.  They are bad because stuff that got shoved through too soon and implemented before the weekend is now generating crashes and irate users.  They are bad because hardware deliveries show up then and need to be signed for, further distracting people from putting out fires.  They are bad because, yes, some people come in hung over from the weekend.  They are bad because computers being rebooted after being turned off for the weekend generally choose to fry, crash, or hang.  They are bad because gremlins always seem to work their mischief in an empty office over the weekend.  They are bad because all those people you told over and over not to click on the link in the email clicked on the link in the email and now they are discovering the viruses and trojans that spent all weekend populating their desktop.  They are bad because you find that guy who was a short-fused overachieving workaholic dead at his desk (yes, this has happened, in my office, not to me).

In short, Monday is generally a day of putting out fires and handling every bad thing that can rain down on you.  Not a good day to push a new application.

Yes to all of this, plus one extra bonus that launching on Monday generally involves trying to be ready to go on Friday.  But nobody likes to work late on Friday, so people take more risks cutting out early on Friday, thinking they can push their luck to finish up that one last thing on Monday before release.  If you're staring down the barrel of a major release on a Tuesday, you're more likely to spend all day and then some on Monday to make sure you're ready.  People cut way more corners on Friday.

My rule is no major deployments on Monday morning, none on Friday afternoon, unless unavoidable.  Monday morning is the worst moment to launch something, and Friday afternoon is the best possible moment to screw up if you hate your corworkers and your own life.

[Vr2Lrose]

Soo my plan is not to really expect SoonTM Paragon Chat till the middle of next week or so. If it shows up before then Ill be there but It looks like everyone so far agrees we would rather the devs not rush snything out at the expence of thier own mental/Family/physical health. The city community may be rabid at times but we know when something awsome is on the way.

[[EDIT: Fixed project name. ~Agge]]

[Azrael]

Ok.  I've now read all the Paragon Chat threads.  Impressive undertaking.  This has the potential to be added to in significant ways and contribute to other 'projects.'  Another vital keystone.

Avatars.  Chat window.  Emotes.  Travel ala issue 0.  Sprinting. :P  It will save your position.  You can travel to other zones via the exit tunnels.

AN ACTUAL SERVER!  Seismic shockwave!  What's more...

Bases planned.  Server hosting!  GM hosting(!) on maps (and interior maps?!) and NPC generation planned.  This intrigues in the far flung future should combat ever get..or 'when' (ahem) combat gets back online.  *And other such things in due course.

I have a question re: travelling to other zones.  I didn't notice this...but can you TRAVEL via the TRAINS to each zone? :))

Also.  Leandro intrigued and teased about the future.  The spawning and 'line paths' of NPCs is tricky.  But he didn't say impossible.  The implication I took away from that is we may...ehh...even get PVP (would that be easier to implement that street sweeping?) before street sweeping.

I'd just settle for Power Emotes aka from the costume creator for now... ;)

Very excited by this new Iconic development.  Paragon Chat is a massive achievement. 

Kudos to the Codewalker, Leandro, Tony and the rest of the Titan team. 

This is a pivotal moment in CoH's rebirth.

Azrael.

PS.  I noted with the chat window protocol being used you can send more than 'mere chat'.  That got me a wondering about scripting.  For example.  I know we can, via single commands generate NPCs, emotes, travel zones...  Can scripts be sent through the chat window protocol?  How long before a script can display a power?  Or move an NPC along a line path?  i.e..linking the commands together?

I'm not technical, clearly.  But I'm very curious.

[Kyriani]

Ok.  I've now read all the Paragon Chat threads.  Impressive undertaking.  This has the potential to be added to in significant ways and contribute to other 'projects.'  Another vital keystone.

Avatars.  Chat window.  Emotes.  Travel ala issue 0.  Sprinting. :P  It will save your position.  You can travel to other zones via the exit tunnels.

AN ACTUAL SERVER!  Seismic shockwave!  What's more...

Bases planned.  Server hosting!  GM hosting(!) on maps (and interior maps?!) and NPC generation planned.  This intrigues in the far flung future should combat ever get..or 'when' (ahem) combat gets back online.  *And other such things in due course.

I have a question re: travelling to other zones.  I didn't notice this...but can you TRAVEL via the TRAINS to each zone? :))

Also.  Leandro intrigued and teased about the future.  The spawning and 'line paths' of NPCs is tricky.  But he didn't say impossible.  The implication I took away from that is we may...ehh...even get PVP (would that be easier to implement that street sweeping?) before street sweeping.

I'd just settle for Power Emotes aka from the costume creator for now... ;)

Very excited by this new Iconic development.  Paragon Chat is a massive achievement. 

Kudos to the Codewalker, Leandro, Tony and the rest of the Titan team. 

This is a pivotal moment in CoH's rebirth.

Azrael.

PS.  I noted with the chat window protocol being used you can send more than 'mere chat'.  That got me a wondering about scripting.  For example.  I know we can, via single commands generate NPCs, emotes, travel zones...  Can scripts be sent through the chat window protocol?  How long before a script can display a power?  Or move an NPC along a line path?  i.e..linking the commands together?

I'm not technical, clearly.  But I'm very curious.

Trains (and any other multi destination transit) wont work at launch but you CAN travel via tunnels and other transits that only go to one place. Other transits should be forthcoming in future patches.

[Lycantropus]

I'm off this weekend, was hoping to get the chance to spend time running around the City with other folks; but we've waited this long, a few more days for you wonderful folks to have it ready for us is not much to ask. :)

Lyc~

[Arcana]

PS.  I noted with the chat window protocol being used you can send more than 'mere chat'.  That got me a wondering about scripting.  For example.  I know we can, via single commands generate NPCs, emotes, travel zones...  Can scripts be sent through the chat window protocol?  How long before a script can display a power?  Or move an NPC along a line path?  i.e..linking the commands together?

Literally on the day Codewalker hinted what PC was with the Chat-signal, I began thinking about bots.  The short answer is that at the moment, the only commands you're likely going to be able to send through the Paragon Chat system (besides actual chat)  are "I look like this," "I am here," "I am moving that way at this speed," "I am facing that way," and "I am currently playing this sequence entry (i.e. this emote or animation)."  From those building blocks, a script would have to build everything else.  A bot running on someone's computer could log into PC, and using nothing but those commands pretend to be another player, move around, play animations, and chat with other people or no one in particular.  Moving an NPC along a path would not be difficult: you'd compute the path, figure out where the NPC would be every moment in time, and periodically update their position.  Everyone would see that as moving.  You'd probably also want to compute reasonable velocity to prevent the client prediction system from having a break down (although that's something I would need to test to be able to say how it would react).

Suppose I want to make a script/bot that fired Power Bolt at a target.  Here's what I would need to do, and what is likely possible and not possible in Paragon Chat on day one.

First, I would face the target.  Possible.  Next I begin the animation sequence for Power Bolt.  Possible.  Then I spawn the VFX projectiles that will fly to the target and the appropriate sound effects.  Not currently possible.  Then I would play the impact VFX on the target.  Probably not currently possible.  Then, if desired, I would trigger the physics engine to toss the target, and execute a rag doll on the target.  Both not currently possible.

Of the things not currently possible, all of them are conceivably possible to add to PC, with some limitations.  But it may take some time before Codewalker can untangle all of it in the way he wants to, that would make that stuff most useable.

[Nyghtshade]

If this hasn't been asked before, for those of us who are RP'ers, will there be an option for 'chat-logging' our RP text sessions?

[Sekoia]

Yes, you will be able to log chat. Just enable chat logging in the game's options, like you would have on the live servers.

Note though that when you log in, the option is initially turned off. Also, options currently don't persist between sessions (not sure if that will change before release). So currently, you'd have to turn the option on each time you log in to a character. EDIT: CW implemented persistence.

[Nyghtshade]

Thanks, good to know about resetting the option as needed.

[Codewalker]

Note though that when you log in, the option is initially turned off. Also, options currently don't persist between sessions (not sure if that will change before release). So currently, you'd have to turn the option on each time you log in to a character.

I added persistence for UI options the day before yesterday. I *think* chat log settings are included in that.