Chat in Server

[Human_001]

I been playing BF2 for long time and about 2 to 3 years for Project reality.

A mystery I can never solve is why many of server hosts make rule say no "chat spamming". This isn't only true in some server alone, but its common among almost any server. Basically they don't like people to chat about random things, or even chat about that game round related chats if chat is constantly scrolling.

This is complete mystery to me. Why 4 Red and Blue lines on small portion of top left corner of screen bothers server hosts as well as some players so much?

Some say I can't contact with my team. But we should be using VOIP and SL-Commander communication relay for those. But I do understand if chat is scrolling constantly and had to type something to entier friendly team, this can be hard.

Chat is simply fun. Just like Mumble. I really don't understand this.
If universal chat system is infact so bad, why don't we remove it or make it into another window like map screen etc? (hard coded?)
If this feature is infact so troublesome why do game makers put it in to begin with?


As I typed above I remembered one other question. I also don't understand "policing" in server.

Now I understand sometime player come online and purposely ruins the FPS game by TKing, destroying friendly asset etc. But why is there this sense of "If you do something I (host) don't like I will ban you for fun". (I don't know if that is correct way to describe. At least from my point of view I have felt this way since I started playing FPS.)
I never hosted server my self. Is it infact so hard and costly to host a game server people tends to become like so? I also read in user agreement for this forum, something vaguely like 'you don't have 1st amendment on this forum. We host this server and we control, so and so'.. So is this more like tradition for online community?


I am making this thread right after I got kicked from H hardcore server for "spamming chat". No I don't have grudge against it or anything. But that actually reminded me to post this age old question I had and forgot to ask.

I know on this forum is tons of server administrators and people who hosts server as well as people who hosts this forum it self. I don't understand why I didn't asked about this up to this point.

Thank you in advance. Expecting alot of answers.

Edit:
I am worried so I'm making this edit. I don't mean to be offensive to anyone. I am asking question for real. But as I read through my post carefully for 5th time with editing, making sure it sound as I intended, I felt this could get mistaken with somemthing wrote in bad intention, such as complaining after getting kicked from server. I do understand I am not best at writing.

[gazzthompson]

1. When reading i couldn't help but think "hes just been kicked for this and is raging". The i saw the end.

2.The chat can be distracting and intrusive , it sits in the center of the screen (wouldn't say top left)and long sentences can pop out real far into the middle (at work, cant screenshot) of the screen. With multiple people chatting it can and is distracting, even if they are talking about the game.

During times of "chat spam" people tend to ignore the chat, thus missing actual important stuff being said. Its a game server, not a discussion board.

"If universal chat system is infact so bad, why don't we remove it or make it"

Rather than remove it... have rules to stop its abuse ? sound familiar?

"If you do something I (host) don't like I will ban you for fun"


Normally the "stuff" is shown in the server rules, how ever stupid they are.. follow them and you should not have problems with admins (though some do kick/ban for the sake of it of course)

[Boris.T.Spider]

One would guess:

<TEAM> Guys dont take that logi up the main drag there is an APC camping from docks!
<ALL> OMG Cobra just got PWND!
<ALL> STFU!
<ALL> I got lagz that how you kill me!
<ALL> Fail Cobra is Fail!!!1!
<ALL> LOL@Cobra!
<ALL> HAHA LOGI GOT PWND!!
<TEAM> Guys I just got killed on the main drag by an APC camping from docks!!

[kaufman_23]

i dont mind trash talk in main chat. for example when you take out an important asset. thats just part of the game. but when you start arguing about something that is not relevant to the game itself, thats just spam, and you shouldnt do it, couse youre disrupting the gameplay

[MikeDude]

ALL CHAT= For really important gameplay or server related issues.
TEAM CHAT= For really important team related issues.
Squad chat= For really important Squad related issues.

Notice me using the word ''Important'' allot.
If you use these chats for any other reason. People will start getting enoyed of it since it ''distracts'' them.
And if you are unlucky, there could be a admin having a bad day. (Which admins on ]H[ Seem to have allot ^^ (No offence))

[Herbiie]

One would guess:

<TEAM> Guys dont take that logi up the main drag there is an APC camping from docks!
<ALL> OMG Cobra just got PWND!
<ALL> STFU!
<ALL> I got lagz that how you kill me!
<ALL> Fail Cobra is Fail!!!1!
<ALL> LOL@Cobra!
<ALL> HAHA LOGI GOT PWND!!
<TEAM> Guys I just got killed on the main drag by an APC camping from docks!!

This is the reason lol,

important stuff happens in Team Chat, though yeah sometimes some banter in all chat is quite fun when everything's pretty quiet it can also lead to arguments, flaming etc. So some server's don't like it. A little bit is alright, but when it gets to the point that you can't see anything except all chat (Btw guys you can press console [`] & see older messages) it's just stupid.

[Boris.T.Spider]

Yeah, I agree banter is fun, but you cannot see what is going on on the other teams team chat. So if they tell you to cut chat spam, cut it, no arguments.

[Spec]

Boris nailed it. If someone writes a mine warning or sth, that should stay on the screen for as long as possible, not get pushed away by people chatting about the weather or whatever.

[Human_001]

Appreciate you all for the replies.

I read all the replies carefully. So what I'm understanding is

1. Because it is "Distracting" (Distracting I really don't get this one. How can those be so distracting? I mean, With little sense of humor I can say, If that is enough to distract you from playing, suppression effect should work as intended. Is this "distracting" visual or psychological? Like if there is chat, I must read it all?)
2. Because it makes team chat harder to see.

It's not quite answering my question guys.

I thank all the help you guys gave me so far. But I have to wait and see what others can tell me.

I mean, those can't be the center of all this. Most of server hosts tell clients 'do not chat random' like as if every random chat costs them nickel and dime.

[gazzthompson]

It's not quite answering my question guys.

You have been giving your answer, its distracting and annoys people. thats why servers dont like it... its a game server, not a discussion board.

Is this "distracting" visual or psychological? Like if there is chat, I must read it all?)

Visual, people don't like unnecessary shit on their screen when they are trying to play. and should you read it all? no you start to ignore it, then miss important stuff being said .... back to the "distracting and annoying" bit.

[Celestial1]

2. Because it makes team chat harder to see.

This. An abundance of dull chatter pushes important chat out of the way.

Xfire is what you should be using to communicate directly with friends. In regards to the in-game chat, keep your mouth shut unless it's important.

[Smiddey723]

People who use all chat really frustrate me when its useless ****, honestly, it disracts me so much. I find i am often looking at chat for intel and then see a load of useless **** there.

It especially frustrates me when im in a vehicle such as an APC or tank as i am looking for my teams intel on enemy hot spots and where to avoid and i end up reading a load of trash from some people acting like 12 yr olds

"AHAHA CBRA IS FAIL LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL"
"STFU we killed over 9000 of you"

...

[Zi8]

Administrate a server for thousands of hours and you will see why examples from above raise server owners temperature.

Idiotic taunting, griefing, lolling, whining about next map etc dont belong to the all chat. Important & urgent server related issues belong there.

The chat is not distracting for me, it's annoying most of the time.

[Nakata]

At our Brazilian server [Click 21] exist chat rules...
ALL Chat only for game problems, sometimes "FAIL"...

[Acemantura]

Well, if you think this is a problem, come on down to the CIA server,

We allow you to say anything to any of our members, and you can say anything to other players, within reason.

Our server is where you DO have 1st amendment rights, but you cannot destroy PR gameplay for others.

If your aim is spam and not conversation, or something simply unsportsmanlike, then you can expect a boot from our server.

I expect this admin behavior from every American server I use, so I was sure to make this intertwined with our number one rule: DO NOT DISRUPT GAMEPLAY.

If you find it does disrupt it, let us, that admins, know and we'll do our best to take care of it.

Gameplay and Freedom Above All Else on our servers

[ComradeHX]

It goes like this:

My screen, 1 second ago:

Teammate #1: Enemy LAV E3kp5 near the fence(iirc...).

My screen, 1 second later:

IdiotTeammate #1: OMG, LAG!!!
IdiotOtherteamguy #1: ROFL, you rolled over the BRDM...
IdiotOtherteamguy #2: you guys fail.
IdiotTeammate #1: It was LAG, not my fault.
Me(teamchat): Where was the enemy LAV again?

Damn those spammers.

[=Romagnolo=]

What bothers me is the lines lenght + the place where they are.

Sometimes I have 3 lines crossing my screen, I'd like to see them moved to the bottom...

[Oskar]

Taunting, discussing anything not directly relevant to the game in team or all chat is unnecessary and stupid in some cases, at least on a somewhat filled up/full server.

I don't like it. As far as I'm concerned, it shouldn't even be visible per default.

[CallousDisregard]

I try, and often fail, to follow a simple rule.
Friends don't let friends type and fight.

[doop-de-doo]

Occasional greetings and quips are perfectly fine by me. It's the constant barrage of messages erasing all the important info that isn't good. I've had to type the same message several times until it stuck on the screen where people could see it.

This can stretch into regular VoIP traffic. Many people, including myself, have asked the rest of the squad to clear the comm channels just because there was no way to hear what was going on in the area. I don't have any problems with VoIP chatter -- except when the enemy kills me because I couldn't hear them having a wild party on the other side of the wall. Sometimes I have to leave the squad so I can hear what the enemy is doing.