As the title states, I"m proposing the implementation of an “ignore” command. It could be anything, ranging from the ability to “ignore” certain players and what they say to having a method to turn off or filter Global chat and whispers. Why? I"ve discussed this with a few other in-game players and other friends, and all in all, I think it"d be much more beneficial than detrimental to the PMU playerbase. Some other players have already written about the benefits of having multiple channels, so I"ll be building on that and adding the idea of an “ignore” command, as well as the option of turning whispers off.
Firstly, it"ll save some drama - don"t like what people are saying on Global? Is the topic sensitive to you, and mainly you, but others around you don"t seem bothered and you don"t want to cause a fuss? Or even, if it"s something as simple as wanting to concentrate on a dungeon run or the chats in guild, whisper, or local, it would help a lot, just for organisation"s sake. I mean, PMU doesn"t have a Party chat, and sometimes, things get lost in Global. That also works backwards, because when parties are talking on Global or when things start getting busy, some people don"t want to hear it.
The same applies if for a whisper “filter” command. In some other MMOs I"ve played, there"s usually a method to turn certain channels on and off for this very reason. If someone is bothering you via PM and there isn"t staff on to address it or the staff are busy, wouldn"t it save both staff time and player time to just be able to turn off PMs or ignore a player? Passively ignoring is what a lot of people do, but at the same time, let"s face it, it"s not half as effective, since that skill varies from person to person.
If the above isn"t possible or too complicated, a simple /ignoreplayer “name” or /ignore “name” command would suffice. You don"t have to hear those you dislike, and there"s less drama for all. The main downside to this is that people may notice you"ve put them on “ignore”, which may cause some fuss, but for some players, myself included, I don"t “ignore” you because I hate you or anything - I do it because you"re constantly talking and distracting me. Now I know there"s very mature people on the game who are able to just not listen to the people they dislike, but keep in mind this is a game for all ages, and there will be people who are calmer, and people who get angry easily.
Tl;dr?
Any kind of ignore system would really improve parts of the gameplay and community, drama could be avoided, and people could have more concentration on what"s important to them.
Here"s the link to Ari"s post on separating chats, which is much more elaborate than my own: http://www.pmuniverse.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=14113
As always, suggestions and opinions are welcome!