Discussion: Configuring Your In-Game Web Options
By
After_Shock,
Posted on: 2007-11-20 11:30 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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Also, know that characters who haven't logged in for over 90 days, such as an alt you haven't played in a while, will not be included.
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is that like, ever? Or once we log them in after 90 days they get their stats displayed?
Also what about new alts that we make after this feature goes live? will we be able to have a page for them as well?
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Once a character is logged in, their information would become available, unless their settings prevent it.
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
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To clarify, information could include such things as: statistics found on the in game kiosks, your different costumes, friends lists, powers and what enhancements are slotted into them and badges obtained.
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Seems unusual that your friends lists would be part of the information that gets publically displayed on the web. I'm not actually objecting to it, it just seems a bit wierd.
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I would much rather all of this info to be disabled by default and only turned on when I turn it on for that toon. Otherwise we will all get spammed I dont see why no one is agreeing with me on this. Things are bad enough due to them taking a very slow approach to the whole spamming issue. All in favor of /ignore_spammer sending electric bolts thru the keyboards say Aye!!
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Ummm...the features being discussed are not enabled, and we get spam anyway. What's the big panic about?
If it connects my characters to this site, that would be very cool. It'd make it easier to put names to faces, so to speak.
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I agree that, as long as they're set as disabled by default, meaning that no info is available on the net without a player's consent, there's no problem.
Publishing a list of @global names from the Friends List without consent is intrusive.
qr
Sweet! I've been waiting for an easy way to post my characters 
Hope it includes the bio too, for those of us who like to RP
Count me among those who don't really get why the friends list would be shared. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
One point that should probably be considered is whether a player who has opted out of the whole system should be shown in another player's friends list; I'd say not. And a global pop-up to notify players of these settings is probably a good idea.
Other than those small concerns, this sounds pretty exciting!
uhh why even annouce something like this if its not anytime soon..
why not just tell us whats in issue 12 too
after all..that wont be for a while yet either
last time you told us something "in advance"...i think it was called "skills" it got thrown out the window next to shield powersets
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I would much rather all of this info to be disabled by default and only turned on when I turn it on for that toon. Otherwise we will all get spammed I dont see why no one is agreeing with me on this. Things are bad enough due to them taking a very slow approach to the whole spamming issue. All in favor of /ignore_spammer sending electric bolts thru the keyboards say Aye!!
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Ummm...the features being discussed are not enabled, and we get spam anyway. What's the big panic about?
If it connects my characters to this site, that would be very cool. It'd make it easier to put names to faces, so to speak.
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We may still get spam now but I dont want to make it easier for them by putting all possible character names out there like that on this site. If they did this then it would only take spamming to the next level. I want the option disabled by default because like most people who have been here from the begining that is alot of alts you would have to go in and change their settings, by then it would be way too late because the name would already be recorded. Basically they got 2 options on this, make it set to default to off when the system launches or they need to address the spam issue before this goes live. Honestly I dont see them addressing the spam issue anytime soon.
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Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
I will say that I would also prefer that characters' stats all be set by default to the hidden status... Not necessarily for myself, as I don't mind showing off my build a bit... but because it seems more courteous to those who DO wish to remain hidden.
Being automatically viewable will upset some people... no harm will be done if these options are by default keyed to "off", or "hidden"... that way the only people who will have their characters visible are those who know of the feature.
Easy fix.
@Trystan Laryssa
I was playing WoW when the Armory launched. For those that don't know, it's a site that displays all the character information for active WoW characters. This includes all your gear, your faction reputation, your trade skills, and your complete character build. It was like instantly making every WoW character naked to the world, and there was no way to opt out.
I have to admit I felt a little sensitive about it at first. I remember my husband and I talking about it the day it launched and one of us said "this would never fly in CoH, people would go insane about their privacy." I'm guessing the devs knew this would be the case and came up with an opt out option from the get-go.
For the record, our WoW experience wasn't really any worse off because of the Armory. I didn't get any more spam than I was before. I didn't get criticisms of my build, and I never saw anyone kicked from a team because of their build. I did use it to look up the opposing faction at times, but usually after I'd killed them: "Oh that's why I pwned his butt so easily." I found I actually enjoyed using the Armory to show off my character, and to look up my friends' characters.
I'd welcome something like this in CoH: especially if it shows costumes and character bios. I honestly love reading people's bios and admiring a good concept.
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I agree that, as long as they're set as disabled by default, meaning that no info is available on the net without a player's consent, there's no problem.
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That's pretty much my attitude toward this. I'm looking forward to having my characters up on the web for all to see, as long as I have some control over how much of them they see.
Personally, I'm fine with my characters' descriptions, powersets, and badge collection being displayed. I'd draw the line at influence on hand or build specifics like slotting. But overall, I like the idea.
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I'm all for these settings being "enabled" by default. In other words, if you want to show off, you have to take the huge step (heh) of disabling them. Just so people won't freak out about it.
...However, I myself yearn for as much info as possible about my characters to be displayed. One thing I never have been is a private person. Quite the contrary.
Wait, am I reading that all costumes will be displayed too? Yes. HELLS YES. There aren't enough thumbs in the world, and not enough up either, to truly get across my consent.
I just want to say this, I dont want you all to think I am doom and gloom on this topic. I honestly think it is a great idea. Had we not had the issue of spammers I would be all for this kind of thing to show off CoX, but not giving spammers easier access has to be priority.
Bump and Grind Bane/SoA
Kenja No Ishi Earth/Empathy Controller
Legendary Sannin Ninja/Pain Mastermind
Entoxicated Ninja/PSN Mastermind
Ninja Ryukenden Kat/WP Scrapper
Hellish Thoughts Fire/PSI Dominator
Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
Your concern is understandable, and I doubt you'll be the last one voicing it. I'm mildly concerned myself, but ChaseArcanum's post up there somewhere was enough to convince me it won't help spammers much if at all.
Personally, I am glad they are giving us the option to display or not to display. It would be more convenient for the default to set to hidden but I am not going to make a big deal about it. It takes me about 30 minutes to log on 2 servers worth of chars. I like most of the features discussed but I don't like the idea of my friends list being public.
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Just out of curiosity, why did you make the choice to have everything but the Friends list on? I would think that the safer course would be to have everything turned off and have each player decide if they want to have information displayed. Since the commonly held perception is that only a small minority of players post/look on the forums, wouldn't you be safer letting players choose to turn them on rather than having the majority scream and yell about how their privacy was violated and that they had no idea this was going to happen?
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Your concern is understandable, and I doubt you'll be the last one voicing it. I'm mildly concerned myself, but ChaseArcanum's post up there somewhere was enough to convince me it won't help spammers much if at all.
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Lets just say they leave it where everything is on by default and every toon in the game is put online. By just browsing the site by server name they got everyone they could possibly spam on that server on a list now, they just take those and spam email like no tomorrow. That would be a hell of alot more people to spam because even the people who do /hide would be seen as well, not only that they could get everyone who has been online for the past 90 days. You cant tell me that doesnt concern you even the slightest?
Bump and Grind Bane/SoA
Kenja No Ishi Earth/Empathy Controller
Legendary Sannin Ninja/Pain Mastermind
Entoxicated Ninja/PSN Mastermind
Ninja Ryukenden Kat/WP Scrapper
Hellish Thoughts Fire/PSI Dominator
Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
So.. these "features" are finally getting looked at? I remember seeing those options back in.. was it.. i3?
Looking forward to it.
Global: @Pandemonia
We're sorry. Due to the lack of adequate marketing, user patience has died 90+ days ago. Please try again sans "Soon."
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Personally, I am glad they are giving us the option to display or not to display. It would be more convenient for the default to set to hidden but I am not going to make a big deal about it. It takes me about 30 minutes to log on 2 servers worth of chars. I like most of the features discussed but I don't like the idea of my friends list being public.
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I agree.
The fact that it IS being used makes me think this could be something of a "herospace" account, with the friends listing as a 'social networking' mechanic, like those sites. You could, for example, look at your friends' friends lists as a kind of positive referral page to meet new people that might share common interests with you.
The problem is that the "friends" list is also useful for other things in-game that don't directly reflect a positive relationship like a mySpace friend would. Heck, I often put spammers/trolls on "friends" just so I can see them pop offline when their /report gets processed...
Yep, spammers aren't that big a deal to me. I suppose if I were the type to get lots of tells it would be more of concern, but I don't. It's just text floating through the box.
Now, if suddenly I get slammed with tells constantly, I'll change my tune. But a few extra a day, if that? Heh.
Mind you, as I've said, I'm behind having all player info hidden by default. Some people don't read the boards or check the site or...well, some just don't notice stuff.
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To clarify, information could include such things as: statistics found on the in game kiosks, your different costumes, friends lists, powers and what enhancements are slotted into them and badges obtained.
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Seems unusual that your friends lists would be part of the information that gets publically displayed on the web. I'm not actually objecting to it, it just seems a bit wierd.
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At first glance it does seem weird to me also, but then I thought about it a little deeper. Wouldn't it make life a little bit easier to see the server and character your friends are playing with before you log into the game? Therefore I could log into an alt that would allow me to team immediately.
Right now everyone has to log in, then look at their global list to see if they happened to log into the correct server, level range or COV/COH as their friends. If things don't match then off to you back to the login screen to move over to meet up. I see this as a nice QoL thing to make the community experience even better.
I'm gonna go against the grain here and say I'd prefer this information to be made available by default. If the default is set to "hide," those who have themselves unhidden will be the exception, rather than the rule, as anyone who doesn't know about or just doesn't care enough to take the time to enable it (but wouldn't especially mind other people seeing their info out of game) would be excluded. In other words, the new feature would likely become very little-used.
I feel that the only ones to be excluded from the system should be those who explicitly decide to be excluded, and I suspect that will be a relatively small segment of the population. I don't see it as an invasion of privacy, even with PvP in the equation, to display a character's bio, power choices, or statistics.
The only reservations I'd have would be local friends lists and global chat handles. Both of these are currently private in the sense that such information is not readily available to most other players (though I know there are ways to figure out someone's global handle without their consent).
I can just see the drama that could unfold from accusations like, "Why aren't I on your friends list? Aren't I your friend?!", or "Why AM I on your friends list? Are you spying on me?!", or, "Why are you friends with this person? He kicked my puppy!"
So, I would prefer either that friends lists and global handles not be published, or that it be possible to hide them while still publishing actual character information. I wouldn't particularly care which setting it defaulted to. I'm a big boy; I can turn it off myself if I need to.
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I'm gonna go against the grain here and say I'd prefer this information to be made available by default. If the default is set to "hide," those who have themselves unhidden will be the exception, rather than the rule, as anyone who doesn't know about or just doesn't care enough to take the time to enable it (but wouldn't especially mind other people seeing their info out of game) would be excluded. In other words, the new feature would likely become very little-used.
I feel that the only ones to be excluded from the system should be those who explicitly decide to be excluded, and I suspect that will be a relatively small segment of the population. I don't see it as an invasion of privacy, even with PvP in the equation, to display a character's bio, power choices, or statistics.
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You make a sound argument. I'm forced to agree with you. If hidden stats was the default, the system would get little use.
*runs to enable hide on the options*
What? I'm shy! I may start unhiding characters later, after I see how the system works.
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I'm gonna go against the grain here and say I'd prefer this information to be made available by default. If the default is set to "hide," those who have themselves unhidden will be the exception, rather than the rule, as anyone who doesn't know about or just doesn't care enough to take the time to enable it (but wouldn't especially mind other people seeing their info out of game) would be excluded. In other words, the new feature would likely become very little-used.
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Which is exactly why its very unlikely they're going to have this set to "Hide" by default.
However, I will say this. If they're going to create a web interface where we can see each others characters (something which I seem to recall being discussed back when City of Heroes launched), they ought to be able to put into that interface an option for "Hide all characters from web page" so that people don't have to log in every single character they want to hide and fool with the option.
So whats this thing going to be called I wonder. I think Cerebro is taken. 
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Awesome! These options have been appearing and disappearing in the options menu for years, its nice to see they're going to be used.
Heroes
Dysmal
Lumynous
Sam Steele
Pluck
Wile
Slagheap
Pressure Wave
Rhiannon Bel
Verified
Stellaric
Syd Mallorn
Villains
Jotunheim Skald
Saer Maen
Jen Corbae
Illuminance
Venator Arawn
Taiga Dryad
Tarranos