Name bubbles

I really dislike this feature and hope for a way to toggle it. In large groups you can't see anyone hehe!

(also why is the top bar red now??!)

Oz Spade writes:

Oz Spade: It means YOURE GOING TO DIE!
Oz Spade:

^ OBVIOUSLY a joke between friends.

Really though, a red menu bar indicates that you are using a Preview release and not a final version, I believe.

Also, yes, Launa, I too hope chat bubbles will be toggle-able and the Lindens know about this. YAY!

They are toggleable (or whatever), in Preferences.

LL admits that the chat bubbles are bugged.

I could deal with them if I could make the background almost invisible. I do like being able to right-click for the av menu.

What I DON'T like is the stacked formatting of names. EG:

Ser
Olmy
Seraph

instead of

Ser
Olmy Seraph

The pre-1.6 way of putting title and 1st name above 2nd was borked, but I'd prefer title over whole name.

I agree. I keep reading group titles like a newb!

So I just hopped into the 1.6 preview....and suddenly I was having flashbacks from There... Chat bubbles, rounded edges on freaking EVERYTHING, gargantuan name bubbles that are either 3 times normal size or completely turned off...

Why can't LL leave the interface as it is (I really like the interface as it is right now) and concentrate on some REAL features and on fixing things that are REALLY broken?? If they really wanna round every edge and play with chat bubbles, put it in the kids' version of SL where it belongs!

I've gotta say that was the unpleasant bit of preview. The chat bubbles can be toggled (thanks for that) but the name bubbles do reduce the immersion. Was it Tufte who said "every pixel is precious"? I cannot see what the name bubbles add.

Otherwise 1.6 looks great, I got a huge vFPS boost (around 2x) and couldn't find a single thing that broke or didn't work better than before. Even local lighting wasn't crashing me. I must have good karma today.

I knew it.... there will always be whining. Always.

I like most of the new features, but I really don't like the name bubbles. That should be a toggle option. Thankfully, chat bubbles ARE an option. Once was enough for me, thanks.

neko

Is that a meta-whine?

I like the chat bubbles. You can toggle them on or off, so if you prefer the old chat interface, you can change it at will.

I did notice that, when a friend switched to a Cyrillic (sp?) characterset, his bubble-chat dialog disappeared, but I could read it in the history window. When he switched back, his bubble-chat text re-appeared.

I despise the name bubbles. Put things back the way they were! I turned off chat-box opaqueness for a reason, give me my old name back! (And why are they stacked differently now? Ugh!)

As for the chat bubbles, make the chat-box displaying chat text toggleable just like chat bubbles. That way we can have one on, both on, or neither on (though maybe you should protect against neither being on to protect newbies).

As most of you probebly know, There.com uses chat bubbles exclusivly as their main, and only form of chat.

As an Ex-Thereian who used There non-stop from Feb 2003 to Feb 2004, and still use the thing every now and then, I have a small usability secret to share with you all: Whenever I talked with anyone over there... I kept the Chat History window open.

As a matter of fact, almost any self respecting There user would agree - if you are talking with more then 3 people at the same time and the Chat History window is closed, you're gonna lose it.

SecondLife has an advantage and a disadvantage when it comes to chat bubbles: The disadvantage is that There's chat system is instant. Every word shows up in the chat balloon the moment the user presses Space or Enter (where backspace causes the word to be erased until Space is resumed). This is not possible in SL at the moment due to the nature of its chat system (whole lines sent at Enter key press), and thus the conversation flow isnt as.. well, flowing as There's.

The -advantage- however, is the ability to display the chat text on the client's 3D area a la IRC style without the need for a chat-history box. Thats a -good- thing.

Moleculor Satyr is absolutly right in his offer: Please make it possible to toggle and leave both chat bubbles and the chat-box turned on at the same time. The two complete each other better then you may realise.

I concur with Mol and CS -- this sounds complementary, logical, and heck, makes sense to me. The choice should be available for those who are comfortable with such textual I/O.

I also vote for making the NAME bubbles an option just like the chat bubbles. I too would like the ability to use either bubbles, current chat, or both. As far as whining, all I have to say is, the Lindens asked for feedback. Get over yourself.

McW

I sorta like 'em

--Jack Lambert

Pfft. Whining -is- feedback - it means "This feature sucks".

I say keep on whining as long as you explain -why- the feature suck and try to recommend a way to un-suck it.

I was going to say something about how this sort of response is pretty typical of Jared anyway. Then I realized I had the wrong Jared _o_el!

I agree with earlier suggestions:
1 - Make name bubbles optional
2 - Allow both chat bubbles and chat-box text to be on at the same time

I would also add

3 - Minimize space by Chat bubbles - the extra header at the top takes up WAY too much space. Rounded corners are not needed if they clutter up the screen.

4 - In chat box as well as chat bubbles, how about making the text or bg behind the text the color of the av's effect? Or making that an option, anyway. It would help to match up text with who's speaking.

5 - Someone said something (in the chat bubble thread, probably) about fading or z-layer to show age of chat bubbles. Both of those suggestions sound really good to me.

6 - If you have bubbles on, and chat-box, you're going to hear things in chat-box that you don't see in bubbles. How about a way to show where chat is coming from? Maybe the dot on the minimap could blink or something. (Blinking in the appropriate effect color would be cool.)

I hafta admit, it was kinda cool to see Chinese characters floating over my av's head. But the overall feature of chat bubbles was too annoying for me to want to use it permanently. And name bubbles are just a waste. All frosting and no cake.

neko

If the name bubbles are made to be able to be turned off will the name text stay where it is when they bubbles are turned on but just no background being displayed?

Yes, that did happen to my chat bubble when I used a Bulgarian typeface; I'm certain it will not be any kind of an issue, since - though the chat bubbles don't really bother me, per se, they were in fact one of the things I disliked most about THERE. The ability to easily switch 'em on and off in preferences gives everyone a format they prefer. So long as we don't get an automatic changing booth! I really like the new friends/calling card setup. It gives us another level of contact with our more casual acquaintances.

I liked chat bubbles at first, but after awhile it got annoying so I toggled it off. And I agree that the name bubbles have either got to go or have a button to make them the way they are now in the regular SL.

- Allow "Old Style" names above heads

- Fix it so that first and last names are on same line, e.g.:
BUG CREATOR
Oz Spade

- Allow us to edit the transparency of the backgrounds (of chat bubbles and bubble names).

- Show text at bottom of the screen (as it does when chat bubbles are off and Chat History is not open), as without this, you can't see if someone says something behind you.

---

I like the idea that the persons color could be used, maybe have it so that the background for their name instead of being orange, is whatever color they pick for their effects. Or perhaps their text in their chat bubble would be this way. There did this as well kinda, and it did help.

.... looking at the preview..

1. Chat bubbles are cute but don't work well in large crowds... Definitely keep it optional.
2. Name bubbles are a waste -- creating an opaque area around a name, is really a de-immersion. Name bubbles should be an option for the visually impaired to up their contrast. There’s just not enough screen to give up to a large silly name bubble.
3. The ability to have the camera not move when entering and exiting Edit mode, is awesomely great.... I'll put up with all the silly Linden UI tweaking (..yes, rounded corners on everything sounds like an outpouring of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), just to have the ability to keep the camera at the same angle between several edits.
4. If the Lindens *really* want to play with the UI, how about lessening or getting rid of the silly whooshing sound when you create a prim. Now *that* is really old, and has outlived its usefulness.
5. Then I was flying a jet in mouselook. My avatar has an average amount of prim hair. I couldn’t see the mouselook, as it was obscured by an inside-out view of my prim hair.

-Jeri