I've played games that would utilize communication in EXACTLY the same way as Netrek. I've used it with up to 40 players. There are no problems as long as there is recognized leadership. In clue games this is no issue. In pickup games people can turn off chat or mute idiots should there be problems. In practice (from pickup raids and Call of Duty 4 on the Xbox) there aren't many problems. Remember, humans are social animals and we self-organize. In-game communications is not so novel a concept that somehow we all need new rules in order to communicate. The _technology_ is new, _communicating in large groups_ is not. Jeffrey. On Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 9:50 AM, Niclas Fredriksson <niclas at acc.umu.se> wrote: > > I'm also regularly on conference calls with a lot of people but there is > no similarity to that type of communication and netrek communication. When > you are on a conference call, there is only one (or possibly a few) things > happening at the same time. You decide that you will first talk about item > 1 on the agenda, then move on to item 2, etc. In netrek there are a lot of > plays happening all over, and every player has their own view on what the > team needs to know or do *right* *now*. This is especially true on pickup > where a lot of newbie players are playing that haven't yet quite grasped > how to prioritize correctly in netrek. > > Having a communication channel consisting of eight random pickup players > would be total chaos. It might be fun, but it would hinder the team's > performance, rather than boosting it. -- "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." -- Thomas Paine