[MUD-Dev] On socialization and convenience

[J C Lawrence]

On Thu, 21 Jun 2001 08:10:28 -0700 
Raph Koster <Koster> wrote:

>> -----Original Message----- From: Caliban Tiresias Darklock Sent:
>> Monday, June 18, 2001 8:21 PM To: mud-dev at kanga.nu Subject: Re:
>> [MUD-Dev] On socialization and convenience

>> On Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:33:34 -0700, "Sean Kelly" <sean at ffwd.cx>
>> wrote:
 
>>> One thing that's kind of surprised me is that none of the
>>> MMORPGs I've played had any facility for sending messages to
>>> players who aren't currently online (mail).
 
>> I'm shocked. NONE of them have this? Why not? It's one of the
>> primary wish-list features for my own system. Has been for years.

> The logic against it goes like this:

>   * Yeesh! HOW much storage per player again? That's (takes out *
>   calculator) WAAAY too much money!

>   * Won't they use email anyway? We can't possibly make a nice * 
>   enough email system to match Outlook!

>   * Yikes, think of the complications--email to account or to
>   user?

So make real email the default fallback after attempting the target
character.  First thoughts;

  -- Have each account register an email address (double opt-in plus
  periodic validity checks)

  -- If the recipient is currently online, have them receive the
  message in-game by whatever manner.  If they log off before
  receipt, treat exactly as if they were offline upon sending.

  -- If the recipient is not currently online, have messages be
  translated into email and sent to the registered address.

  -- Have mailed objects and other internal mail spiffiness be
  embedded URLs in the message which effect RPC's to create/do the
  appropriate actions (authentication may be required).

Your storage requirements at that point are just for the extra
feature stuff (mailed objects etc).  With a little care and cipher
work you can embed most if not all of that data safely in the URL
(think MD5 hash of both party's IDs and the object's ID plus a
timeliness string as the auth code in the URL)

--
J C Lawrence                                       claw at kanga.nu
---------(*)                          http://www.kanga.nu/~claw/
The pressure to survive and rhetoric may make strange bedfellows
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