I know this is probably a stupid question, but which channels are people most using for RP in game?

I ask, because having played SWG and LOTRO in the past, I'm used to speech bubbles and easily being able to RP with whoever I meet. However, this isn't possible in SWTOR; I found myself today trying to write /emote says '.........' today in an attempt to chat with another player I'd met.

I wondered with any others have come up with ways to circumnavigate the major problem that is RP face to face in game??

I'm confused about what the problem is.

Use "/say xxxxxx".

You can also change the color of /say text so that it's easier to distinguish from General and the other channels.

See, I told you it was a dunce question....I was trying to use /emote....didn't think of the simple /say.. DOH!

I'll change the colour so it's more obvious to me too

Thanks!

[..] easily being able to RP with whoever I meet. However, this isn't possible in SWTOR; I found myself today trying to write /emote says '.........' today in an attempt to chat with another player I'd met.

It's /me whatever *not* /emote

They should put in an alias though since it doesn't actually explain it anyway though, definitely - and there should be a better RP help file and a better introduction to using the chat interface to get people being more social

It's *not just* /me whatever, but *also* /emote whatever, and *also* /e whatever, works too

Fixed that for you.

I use just /e which is the quickest and easiest way. Never understood why so many people insist on adding an unnecessary 'm'.

Thanks everyone, this is awesome. It's good to know that there are a number of shortcuts when it comes to in-game chat.

I agree that there should be some basic guide to this...even a codex entry which can be looked up. Especially for new players who may be trying out a RP server for the first time, having an easy guide to actually chatting I think would help immensely.

If you change the color you may see '/say' in that color but the person your talking to may not.

^^^

I've basically given up trying to talk to people face to face. Whats the point of an avatar, in-game character, when trying to talk face to face is met with blank stares because they don't even realize you are talking to them?

Sure, there are 'hacks' to make YOUR client see chatter better (barely)... but since its not default, the 99.9999% others out there are just going to not see what you are doing =p

^^^

 

I've basically given up trying to talk to people face to face. Whats the point of an avatar, in-game character, when trying to talk face to face is met with blank stares because they don't even realize you are talking to them?

 

Sure, there are 'hacks' to make YOUR client see chatter better (barely)... but since its not default, the 99.9999% others out there are just going to not see what you are doing =p

Send them a whisper asking them to stay a moment and RP?

It's what I do - or ribbing them in guild chat for running away from RP.

Send them a whisper asking them to stay a moment and RP?

 

It's what I do - or ribbing them in guild chat for running away from RP.

Yeah... I try, but then having a conversation in a little chat window, gets old. We end up just wandering off and playing this solo-intended game with built-in irc window for random drivel in /general chat.

Keep in mind that in Sanctuary / cross-faction areas, while the Other Guys will understand /Say messages, any /Emote other than the standard ones will not make sense to them. This I believe is either a design flaw/oversight on Bioware's part (why understand the speech but not the gestures?) or an intentional (if ineffective) means to curb trash-talking in PvP areas.

So a lot of emotes in the Slippery Slope on Lord Adraas has been:

/s *describe your action between asterisks* "This is what I have to say."

It does mean it's hard to pick out emotes from speech, BUT:

1) everyone can understand the emotes

2) /say has less range than /emote - so you can keep people from overhearing stuff if you move far enough away. The difference isn't THAT great though. When I put together my RP wishlist for Bioware, one of the changes will be to reduce the range of /say further.

2) /say has less range than /emote - so you can keep people from overhearing stuff if you move far enough away. The difference isn't THAT great though. When I put together my RP wishlist for Bioware, one of the changes will be to reduce the range of /say further.

Actually when you think about it... emotes should not travel far (not farther then /say). Can you really 'hear' most emotes through bulkheads or down the street? If an emote has an actual audio-sound, then that sound would travel as all sounds currently do in the game. However most audio-emotes have had their sounds ripped from them

Yesterday I was down by the flashpoints in fleet station, and apparently some guy was /sitting over and over up in the VIP lounge. Yeah... great distance control on that haha. Unless he was a really obese character and it was shaking the whole station ... ? Then I would have imagined the emote to read: Station shakes from some fat guy sitting down too hard.

Apparently you cannot ignore a person using emotes either. You can put them on ignore, but their emotes still keep spamming your teeny tiny chat box half a mile away from the center of the screen.

Actually when you think about it... emotes should not travel far (not farther then /say). Can you really 'hear' most emotes through bulkheads or down the street? If an emote has an actual audio-sound, then that sound would travel as all sounds currently do in the game. However most audio-emotes have had their sounds ripped from them

For example:

/emote has a seizure and wiggles around like a worm

While it may not be audible from afar, it would be "visible". That's why emote bubbles are pretty cool and have been working really well in MMORPGs like Star Wars Galaxies, the precursor of TOR.

By the way, feel free to visit the following thread as well:

Chat Bubbles: We need an option to enable them for say, yell and emote chat!

I have found it much easier to simply put my actions and descriptions embedded in * * with the same post as dialog rather than deal with emotes. It's a habit I had from previous games, and it still seems to work better for me than using /e.

Now - if we could get the best of both worlds, with the animated emotes completed and fixed, and my custom text accompanying them - life would be sweet!

/e nods her head enthusiastically

But until then, I prefer

/say *crosses her arms over her chest, studying him critically, clucking her tongue softly, thinking* "Now that you're on my ship, what am I supposed to do with you? If I'm going to run afoul of authorities, I want it to be on my terms, and for a profit."

Everyone in say range can see it, even cross-faction, but it can't be seen across half the planet, which is annoying as hell.