The Typing Thing

That nod really does have to go!

Yay, I'm forever young!

But seriously, I have to disagree; as demonstrated in this thread, it is a matter of personal preference. Some people like/dislike the sound. Some people like/dislike the head nodding. Some people like/dislike the animation.

I get sensory overload easily, so extra sounds/movements are NOT a plus for me.

I usually try to be clear with my hellos and goodbyes so as not to leave someone stranded, and I hit enter relatively often so that an unexpected giant paragraph doesn't come out of nowhere.

I understand what some people are saying about the typing animation being useful. If someone asked me to turn it on for that reason, I would do so while talking to him or her. (So far, no one has requested it.)

After reading this thread, I will definitely reconsider typing overriders, as it seems many people prefer some kind of typing animation. Suggestions?

And no, please don't suggest THIS as a typing overrider...

That's a point: is there an easy way to switch the typing animation on or off without using the debug menu?

Yes, it's a checkbox in Preferences now.

Oh yes; just found it. That's really useful to know - much better than trying to remember which truth value to alter in Debug. Thank you.

Kelly and Pete ... thanks guys, will give those ideas a try.

I've always had the typing animation on throughout my 3 years in SL. While the idea is quirky, I've got used to it and it looks quite cute.

My typing anim has always been turned on (I do blame Torley for all the "zomg! you look so stupid, don't you know you can turn that off? Here's a notecard that tells you how!" grief ).

I like seeing it on other people although it doesn't necessarily have to be the typing anim (some AO anims will override the hands but not the head so there's still a subtle clue that that person is typing something... though with the popularity of ADD AOs sets that's not always so easy to spot).

Whether or not I'll actually show the anim really depends on the context. In a lot of cases I'll just prepend "/0" or "//" (= chat on last used /X channel) which doesn't show the typing animation which makes for a happy medium between indicating that I'm typing when it's convenient to show I am and not showing it when it doesn't really matter.

If you switch to fading temporary header tags and turn 'bubble' on, anyone typing in local chat gets '...' above their head.

Haven't read the whole thread so sorry if this has been posted before.

If I had to turn bubble on, I'd quit using SL.

If the bubble burst, I'd quit using SL

I began using it again this evening, and it's not so bad.

Oh dear; now that you mention it, I think that was were I picked up the idea it was a no-no. I like his videos - they taught me a lot - but he might be erring a little with the typing animation.

Hmm, I'd like to see someone using that. I suspect I might not notice so immediately as I do the hand movements.

Well I got into a conversation with a stranger this evening. I couldn't find a room where a NCI lesson was to take place, and she came over and helped. She didn't use the typing animation and, much as I enjoyed chatting with her, that made it difficult because of not knowing if she was typing or not.

Later, when we chatted via IM, it was all plain sailing because of the "x is typing" message. So I am going to keep the animation turned on for now in the hope it makes it clearer to others that I am in the process of replying rather than just standing there.

Thanks for your thoughts on this, folks.

This should probably be a thread of its own.

I LOVE bubble chat! Like Spike sez it shows you (...) when the other person is typing. And that's just ONE of it's benefits.

And as one other person said, short sentences are waaay better than long paragraphs. By the time you finish typing that manifesto I've forgotten what the conversation was about.

Sorry; need to revive this thread. The mermaid ao I use overrides the typing animation in hover mode (which is the most likely position for chatting in the sea). It's fine when sitting; just not when hovering.

I have a typing ao which makes it look as if my avatar's mouth is moving whilst chatting. But I'd prefer something more obvious, such as the default typing. Any ideas?

Why do you think they put in the animation in the first place? I've been around over three years and have always used, and still use the typing animation, so it's hardly a sign of a newb. It lets you know when someone's typing, so you can wait for the text. I remember when everyone first found the debug setting to turn it off, they all ran and disabled it right away, but those same people wound up turning it back on. If you don't like the standard typing animation, there are various attachments that give you keyboards or other things, and there are also alternate animations out there as well. The typing animation was put in for a reason, and I hate talking to people who turn there's off. You stand there wondering if they're typing or not, and if they're typing a long sentence, it's oddly quiet. At least when there's an animation happening, it's alot easier to hold a conversation.

I meant to say before, that i haven't used the typing animation for absolutely yonks. To be honest I don't see it used around very much these days, except at the help islands.......those folks I know who don't do the 'typewriter', say its now rather irksome waiting for people to talk back, sort of stilts the chat......so like RL they just prefer to chat and run.....My friends and I generally just use a 'sign off' that we all recognise at the end of our conversations. Though we mostly use IM anyways.

To me, it just falls to personal preference.

I can type very very quickly, almost as quickly as I speak, so no one needs the typing anim to know whether I'm talking.

Also, I don't rely on other people's typing animation to know whether they're talking. I wait. If you're IMing, you can see whether they're typing; there's a little msg. If not, I just wait. A lot of conversations I've had with strangers have started off with me saying hello and MANY minutes later the person responding. You never know why someone is quiet. Maybe their cat just knocked over the coffee or someone's at the door... maybe they are in IMs with other people. If they never respond, I just move on. I never assume they are ignoring me; they are either busy or away.

If you are already in a conversation with someone, you see their response speed. I talk, then three beats and they respond. I say, "Okay, I'm going now," and I WAIT. You have to give people a chance to say "Goodbye" or "Hold on a sec" or whatever.

I had an experience with the typing animation... some guy came up and started talking to me, very seriously. Then he said, "Listen, I want to tell you something important..." and he started typing and typing and typing and typing...

My friend and I were big eyed and giggling in IMs, waiting and waiting...

And he kept on typing and typing...

For a very long time!

And then he crashed.

He came back a few moments later, apologized, and got to work typing again.

His little arms were cranking away, his head bowed, he typed and typed and typed.

And then he crashed again.

When he came back the third time, I was in hysterics. He started away with that typing, and I was screaming with laughter (in RL). FINALLY, he managed to find the ENTER key.

I have to say, without the typing animation, it would have been a very different story.

Aside from that, I've never cared for it.

Is the AO mod? Sometimes we can add on a typing animation. I hate messing with AO's, but I think I can help. Try to edit the AO, go to "Contents" and take a copy of the notecard to your inventory, also the instructions. Last AO I saw, had a line filled in for "Typing" that was blank. I am sure that's where typing replacers go. A cheap place for animations is Oracul. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kuso/221/233/266/ You can purchase single animations for 10L and up. Very cheap, I know they have some other typing styles than the common one.

There is a Scroll and Quill typing replacer, your avatar writes in the scroll instead of playing typing animation. It is somewhere in Grendal's Children, that place isn't closed?

I like the standard one just fine, well apart from the nod at the end. But if you read my post, you will notice that it is my current ao that is overriding typing, not me.

I don't, at this stage anyway, want a keyboard, just the hand-waggling. Can you suggest a location where I might get one?



Yes, that's the problem I experience, and is why I prefer to have mine turned on - that way at least one person in the conversation has an indicator.

I've seen people using it. Maybe I keep running across newbies? But I have also seen very experienced users with the typing animation on.



I can imagine that working with a group of people you know well and are comfortable with. But I do have to wonder if any of you are listening to each other

In the end, was his message worth waiting for three times?