Added

I don't like it, for many of the reasons that Meagon and Entendu stated. Seeing an old compatriot come on line is a joy that I don't want to lose.

I would *MUCH* prefer to have it work as, "if I put you on my ignore list , you can't see me." Nonea's list of four options also seems to me to be a much better solution than the above.

The "friends / guild" one was the original one by Reallocdev (FL only friends, GL only guild members) and "friends & guild" would be the one where both groups could see the online status

I like your suggested options better than mine.

And personally I'd probably use the "everyone" option - it IS an online game after all ;-)

Thank you for your feedback. Obviously this is an issue where it is impossible to please everybody :) While I agree that an MMO is a social medium and you're not supposed to lurk on Atys, I also think that concerns about privacy should be taken seriously. We are not living in the same world as 7 years ago.

To that end and looking at our limited available development time, I now propose to add a command, like:

/showOnline <mode>

where <mode> can be one of:
0: everybody (guild, people that have me as a friend, and people on my ignore list) (default)
1: guild and people that have me as a friend
2: guild only

This will affect both online lights and notification messages.

(I have left out the fourth option "nobody" on purpose, because Ryzom is an MMO after all, and you have chosen to be part of your guild. You should not be lurking in your guild.)

Again, feedback is welcome.

it would be nice, to have this feature in ryzom options as well (not only as a command). as you said, we are not living in the same world as 7 years ago :)

This is the simplest idea I have heard and I think this would be the way to go. [Caveat] If you put someone on your Ignore List, would you want to be able to see when they are online?

Really? All this over something that was already available in the first place? If someone is serious about tracking another's time online/offline it could be done in so many other ways that the game would have to be shut down to avoid them all. I just see a large slippery slope here. For example: If someone was serious about keeping tabs on someone and they did not want their main account implicated, they could easily make a F2P account to do so. Would the next step be to have a paying account? But you can have 4 other toons on your one account. Would the next step be if you are ignored on one toon on the account they are all ignored? Yes that might be a nice feature for the trolls but if someone RPs some detestable character on one toon and the ever loved hero on another, they would be out of luck. Not to mention that a person serious to track someone could easly pay for another account. Would multiple accounts from the same ISP be banned? That is just not feasible for Ryzom as much of their money comes from the subbed multiple accounts. So, where would it end?

The practice of safe gaming is up to you. Don't give out your personal information to others online. Keep in mind if someone harrasses you in the game you are only a ticket away to gain CSR intervention.

But, if it is such a huge deal to the player base to have the notifications not flash in another's chat (I personally like this feature as it allows me more space on my desktop as I don't have to keep my friends window open all the time), and give you information already easily available, then just put it back the way it was. The new ideas really make the online notification a moot point.

Nm

The command has the same 2 HUGE problems as the chatlog commands.

1. it uses camelCase - programers might be able to figure it out but normal people WILL have problems with it
2. there is NO list of commands easily accessible where all the allowed commands can be found - so new people won't be able to find them

The second one is of course true for the ceb-access from ingame and joining custom chat channels as well
I know that programmers (that includes me) like commands instead of interfaces but the "normal" players are not really able to cope with them.

I understood that programming manpower is the main issue for the devs. The advantage of a command is that there has to be some kind of command anyway receiving and executing gui-based configuration options. The latter would mean an additional step modifying and testing the configuration gui, in addition. A commandline command has a tested and working interface requiring no modification exept recognizing the result of parsing as valid (today, it already works reacting with "unknown command" when I enter "/hide guild" or similar.

Anybody interested in more privacy may ask for and will receive answers and directions once the new command will be implemented. If somebody could enter a complete command list into ryzom wiki that would be a good idea, anyway. And it would be nice to have a "/help commands" feature simply listing all valid / commands and a "/usage <command>" giving a short usage overview. Yet I fear that would be a lot of work.

I support the last version and or anything similar to Jarnys' and Daomei's proposals: Having at least a command to set to one of several options. The commands setting must be persistently stored in the user's config file. As Daomei mentioned, this is easily regression testable.

Preferably, a gui setting would be good, but it's lower priority.

The proposal to just be invisible to people on ignore is indeed a simple one, but unfortunately just not feasible because of the easy way to create twinks and/or new free2play accounts.

Meagon, Entendu, et al.: I don't think "wiping" the friends list is at stake. And don't worry about not being able to see msgs for your buddys: I'm sure they'll continue to allow you to see their messages. I don't think you will actually notice any change to your gameplay and interaction with your friends. This is about providing those people a safe haven who have been pestered or at least feel that they need this level of privacy. It's all about the option, the freedom to decide for yourself how much you want to "open" up. I expect that only a small percentage of players will care, and an even smaller percentage might flip the switch.

But we are proud to be a friendly community in this game. So let deeds speak for ourselves and make this small adjustment to prove that the game respects everybody's freedom and privacy.

Btw, I don't think a command such as this costs more than a few person-days of development. I'd rather guess it's 1-3 workdays including writing some regression tests. But that strongly depends on the current architecture which I'm not acquainted with. Providing a gui interface is an entirely different matter and that's why it should be on lower priority or even below the cut line.

Oh yeah... my second remark is easily fixed without much programming needed:
in the menu Help -> Help
shows a website with help on different topics

- Introduction
+ tutorial
   - how to move
   ....
+ how to
   - heal yourself
   - heal others
   ....
+ interfaces
   ...
   - main chat
   ....
- game credits

just add another help page for commands here

This is now partially implemented (server side only). For those that want to limit their online visibility to guid and friends, type:

/a showOnline 1

To only show online for guildmates do:

/a showOnline 2

To revert to default behavior, do:

/a showOnline 0

There is no feedback yet. I will try to add a short confirmation message in sysinfo for next patch,

Forgot the flip side.....this is a two way street remember.

If ya wanted to avoid someone, now you don't see that they are on line. Since this was brought in by the chat announcements....a feature I find duplicative and annoying frankly, it could have been justy removed and the friends list left alone.

Also, it's a nice little tool for hiding when one creates F2P alts to camp boss spots 24/7 as is being done in Loria. A behavior which the support page (Help / Support / Camoing / Kill Steal) says is a "no no".

"someone is continually killing monsters and not giving other a chnace to do so"