Chat Needs UX Overhaul

[shadrad]

Chat functionality is long overdue for an update-- I could deal with it before, but with the likelihood of a lot of people coming back to Warframe for Empyrean, coordination is going to be important. Right now, the chat is causing problems because it's difficult for people to see that different chats have updated, or that clan members have come online and/or said something when you've got your party chat tab up. Yes, there are indicators, but they're extremely subtle and easy to miss, especially during a mission. This is causing needlessly hurt feelings and lead to people coordinating off-game, when not all clan members are even using the same places/discords to communicate with each other.

Things I'd like to see:

1) Small indicator in corner of UI when new messages have appeared in tabbed chat windows-- ideally, custom color-coded to group, DM, clan, Alliance, Region. Should be visible when chat window is minimized.

2) Better indicator of which tab is open when you're typing-- getting PMs in your other windows is okay, but trying to reply to them usually ends up in the wrong window because it can become unclear which window you're trying to reply in when you're typing quickly/in mission

3) Optional toggle for chat notification when friends/clanmates come online. 

4) Active/busy/invisible modes for indicators/notifications-- Understandably, even with upcoming 1000 friend limit, it's easy to get overwhelmed if you have a lot of friends or ppl DMing you/inviting you whenever you log in. Sometimes folks just wanna log in and play solo/pub it and not have to be social, and turning down/ignoring invites and messages FeelsBad(tm). Having these modes allows you to choose how intrusive notifications are, and also indicates to others how likely they are to see/pay attention to your messages/invites. 

5) Optional toggle for sound indicators for previous notifications/indicators

 

UX is not my specialty, but a lot of these are things I've seen (and, TBH, come to expect) in other games and applications, and with the current online era of scattered social coordination applications, the impending Empyrean update, and the general feeling of 'herding cats' trying to coordinate your online friends, there's a growing need for in-game coordination to be much, much more reliable than its current form.

Thank you for your consideration!

 

[Karzakeno]

I was just thinking the same today.

In 2004 in bloody vanila WoW I could for example separate windows for "say"+"party" chat (each delivered in chosen color) - lets say down-left corner

and guild(clan) chat in down-right corner

and I would be comfortably able to commucate with my guild when running a dungeon, seeing comms for both clearly.

 

2019 in Warframe, you dont even see that people are posting in clan chat, when you are running instance. This game is full of incredible paradoxes. Some magnificent ideas, mixed with some older-then-black-coal mechanics.

 

Comms are absolutely crucial to build in-game communities, bad comms lead to lonewolfing, this kills some game potential incredibly.