Localized Communication suggestion.

[droznig 20]

I think it would be a cool idea to remove global communication from the game and only have direct or local communication, but to increase the range of that communication to say 200M or 300M .

Long winded reasons below.

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I think it would be cool to isolate people in that way until they are within range of someone else. This makes coordinating with people in your immediate area much easier also as they will be able to see roughly what you can see.

This also means you could talk to people in your area without giving away your position to the whole server, but on the flip side any bandits that can see or hear you talk will know you are close so communicating now becomes a mechanic similar to using a flare at night where you give away your position for better or worse.

This would also mean people cant send out server wide cries for help, or broadcast target locations server wide.

Radios could also be introduced for global communication so it doesn't have to be removed all together, or even a squad system for people who want to group up, not sure how that would work with the existing squad system in arma though.

I think if done properly it could increase the social interactions in the game, as it is now you could be talking to someone who is just over the next hill or in the next building and not even know it unless one of you tells the whole server where they are.

Just a thought.

Good luck.

[lev 39]

I fully support this idea, though I believe the implementation will be hard to achieve. The primary issues comes with somehow disabling ARMA's default communication channel system which I believe can be done with a bit of tweaking. One of the other meta-issues with this is the existence of third party VoIP programs. Players who come to the game working together can still use this to bypass the existing system. One possibility is to use a standardized program like TS3 with the ACRE plugin so that players are offered some sort of advantage to using the promoted system as opposed to another VoIP program. Though even this can be circumvented as you could have TS3 and another VoIP program up with different ptt keys.

[Tyshalle 0]

Even if people use VoIP programs, it would significantly diminish people's ability to send out server-wide information unless everyone in a given server is using the same VoIP, which seems both unlikely and also highly annoying for anyone who would accept such a thing.

The problem IMO is not that friends are able to talk to each other when they're on opposite sides of the map. The problem is that there is a constant stream of people you don't know talking who are miles away, not affecting you, but still bugging you. It's also less realistic. It's one thing to have less realism because you choose to (i.e. using a VoIP), but it's another to have a lack of realism be the default.

[droznig 20]

I read recently in another post that rocket said that once Direct communication is implemented properly global will be removed. (was an old post, and second hand info)

Not sure if it's true but would make sense, but only if direct communication is more viable than it is now.

I was also thinking that rather than having the global channels as they are now, everyone could start off with a radio and switch between long range and short range or different channels. Or perhaps start only with short range, it's just an idea.

Radios are already part of Arma 2 but I'm not really familiar with how they work, though I believe there is a short range radio, so the mechanics are already there for this to be implemented with voice chat at least.

Also would be cool to switch between channels and maybe eves drop on other players, I know using out of game chat would eliminate this, but thats not something that can be addressed in game, but it's my thinking that if in game communication is up to par people will be more likely to use it in game, enhancing the experience for everyone.