What do we want? Letters/Datashards. When do we want them? As soon as possible, please.

Sylt

I'm unsure if a thread has been created for this yet, if there has, I'm sorry. If there hasn't, please read on.

Could we PRETTY please get some form of "letters" datashards that allow us to use the editor to write stuff to each other in a more formatted way?

At the moment, us special snowflake types are sending PASTEBIN LINKS to each other in a message akin to:

"Hi Sylt. I have uploaded a datashard for your review. ((OOC: pastebinlinkhere))."

Any indication that something is planned for this would be great, if there is no plan, could it please be added as one?

I want to send my ASCII invitations. Portfolios. Interviews. Contracts. CORPORATION THINGS.

Thank you.

kxrachhus

I mean as a fellow "Special Snowflake" type, I have had to recently upload a datashard (Pastebin) for roleplay purposes.

I really am not a huge fan of going OOC with something most other games have IC, so I would very very very much be on board to have something like this in game, I have brought it up in the main discord and it seems to be a favourable discussion in the instances we have had, aside from some who have brought up using the MSG system, which for the most part is fine, save for the dreaded formatting.  

PLUS: Some of us are huge fans of the MUDLET editor function for this kind of shiz.

So pretty please @Tecton

Thank you for considering this.

Quell

God yes, please. So much of my character's schtick hinges on him being able to write things. 

Viola

This is essentially sort of what I want:

MINDSIM EMAIL <person> - opens up the editor
MINDSIM EMAIL <person1>, <person2>, <person3>, ..., <personx> - opens up the editor
MINDSIM EMAIL INBOX - list of e-mails by number
MINDSIM EMAIL VIEW # - standard viewing syntax
MINDSIM EMAIL REPLY # - unsure how code works, might be impractical
MINDSIM EMAIL FORWARD # <person> - sends a static copy of the e-mail to someone
MINDSIM EMAIL SAVETO # <datashard> - archival purposes

Feel free to charge us fees for sending e-mails and for keeping them stored in our inbox! Feel free to charge us fees for archival, too! But please please please something like this.

kxrachhus

When do I sign up for multiple free 30 day trials of Ascendancy On-Line, so I can instant message my dreg-buddies.

Shinonome

kxrachhus said:

When do I sign up for multiple free 30 day trials of Ascendancy On-Line, so I can instant message my dreg-buddies.

Only if we can weaponize the free disks that come in the mail.

Squeakums

I'm pretty sure scoundrels can figure out how to make IEDs with those! 

Xiru

This and the equivalent of journals. Longform writing is important. 

Matlkael

Also can we get color text for datashards, like Imperian?

Sylt

I tried posting this but it seem to have gotten eaten, I guess.

Here is an example of why we need something that allows for formatted communication between one another. Now, the creator of this message deserves credit for working with what we have available right now, but it shouldn't be this way, to be honest. This is a need, not a want. Though, I do want this need to be met for the sake of everyone.

Message form:

[ ::: THE CELESTINE CORPCHECK UNION ::: ] Greetings, Citizen Sylt V'el. Kindly fill up the following form and please be aware
that varying business types require separate license applications, except in cases of cultural subsidy. Thank you. ::: 
[BUSINESS LICENSE APPLICATION FORM] 1) Name of Business/Corporation/TT shop :: 2) Registered CEO (Full name, gender, and 
race) :: 3) Joint Owners (Full name, gender, race, citizenship, relation to owner) :: 4) List of notable employees :: 5) Type 
of business/corporation (Refinery/Autofactory/TT Shop) :: 6) Specific type/s of refinery/autofactory/tradeskill (e.g. 
Ultarine, Cuisine, Titanium) :: 7) Complimentary trademark for registry :: 8) Any additional trademarks you'd like to avail 
of. <>X<> Looking Out for You, Your CCCU. <>X<>.

Formatted form:

[ ::: THE CELESTINE CORPCHECK UNION ::: ]

Greetings, Citizen Sylt V'el.

Kindly fill up the following form and please be aware that varying business
types require separate license applications, except in cases of cultural 
subsidy.

The CCCU appreciates your cooperation.

[BUSINESS LICENSE APPLICATION FORM]

1) Name of Business/Corporation/TT shop 

2) Registered CEO and or Board of Directors

   Full Name:
   Gender:
   Race:

3) Joint Owners

   Full Name:
   Gender:
   Race:
   Citizenship:
   Relation to Owner:

4) List of notable employees

5) Type of business/corporation 
   (Refinery/Autofactory/TT Shop)

6) Specific type/s of refinery/autofactory/tradeskill
   (e.g. Ultarine, Cuisine, Titanium) 

7) Complimentary trademark for registry 

8) Any additional trademarks you'd like to avail of.
   NOTE: A fee of 500 marks is charged per trademark after the first.


<>X<> Looking Out for You, Your CCCU. <>X<>

Casimar

Xiru said:

This and the equivalent of journals. Longform writing is important. 

Longform writing? Don't tell the citizens of Scatterhome that, you'll probably get a knife in the chest or bullet in your temple.

Elcorintio

They've already said what needed to be said but am just gonna add another voice as one of the people who tries to make do with the message command just to keep stuff IG. I have started using Pastebins instead because having everything squished into a message is just confusing and hard on the eyes.

Tl dr Pls 2 have datashards wit editor for pretty formatting

Xiru

Casimar said:

Xiru said:

This and the equivalent of journals. Longform writing is important. 

Longform writing? Don't tell the citizens of Scatterhome that, you'll probably get a knife in the chest or bullet in your temple.

Hey, I'm not posting to the news!

... yet.

Flipilaria

D a t a s h a r d s
P l e a s e

Rkansas

Another reason to have the is I have found some designers, like those that make food/drinks like to use descriptions of animals and such to create their own food/drinks descriptions and will pay well for animal descriptions. It would be a nice way for hunters to keep data on the creatures we hunt, either to sell or just as a fun thing to collect. Like I wouldn't mind having a collection of them and being able to share them with others as part of a nice talk piece and to show off the different creatures I have hunted.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Flipilaria

D a t a s h a r d s
p l e a s e 

We need this more than combat.

Flipilaria

We need this more than LIFE ITSELF.

Flipilaria

If I just keep posting about it, surely Tecton-kun will see! Notice me senpai!!!

Jerax

Well I don't think spam-posting the thread until you get what you want is the best way to get things, @Flipilaria

That said, I have my own idea I want to contribute this. Attachments! I want to be able to attach a datashard to a channel message that would let people download it for reading. 

e.g.

(Celestine): Jerrax says, "Citizens, what are your thoughts on this proposal?" [[Attachment: Datashard #235]]

With a fancy MXP link you can click to download, or you could do DATASHARD DOWNLOAD 235.

Syntax on my end would be something like:

DATASHARD 235 UPLOAD TO CELESTINE Citizens, what are your thoughts on this proposal?

Sylt

I noticed we seemed to have gotten bumped off the recents. Tragedy! Let me fix that by adding another super neat (in my opinion!) idea for the free-form writing thing.

Customisable Domains!

Dynasty e-mail domains. So, if the email option is implemented e-mails would display sort of like an IRL email when you review them and it would be cool if you could set your domain using the CUSTOMIZE command tree.

Example: CUSTOMIZE DOMAIN CELESTINE, CUSTOMIZE DOMAIN OMNI (omni being like a gmail equivalent - something everyone can use even if they don't have access to a faction or dynasty domain)

But dynasty's could unlock their own domain at certain amount of members. Overall, the emails would be something like this:

To: sylt@synodic<br>From: flipilaria@songdominion<br><br>Song is best and here is a free donation to prove it.<br><br>Lots of love,<br><br>Flip<br><br>You notice a remittance for a direct transfer has been attached: 20000 marks

@flipilaria

tysandr

As a hack-around while we wait for datashards, there is a possibility that those (probably more readily on Nexus) could be able to generate custom CSS/HTML messages to share using external Github's Gists. You could potentially be extremely fanciful & extremely personal with your custom messages.

A proof-of-concept could be doable. My concern would be verifying that the content you receive is actually a CSS/HTML only Gist.

Initial concept (not end-to-end proof-of-concept):

This is the actual Gist on my Github used to pull->generate the above image.

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Indie+Flower|Thasadith');
#main {
  width        : 410px;
  height       : 370px;
}
#content {
  position     :absolute;
  background   : rgba(155,133,133,1);
  border-radius: 4px;
  height       : 100%;
  width        : 100%;
  padding      : 0.4em;
}
#header {
  font-family  : 'Thasadith', Lucida;
  font-size    : 42pt;
  color        : rgba( 255, 255, 255, 1 );
  text-align   : center;
  line-height  : 51px;
}
#text {
  font-family  : 'Indie Flower', cursive, sans serif;
  font-size    : 12pt;
  color        : rgba( 222, 222, 222, 1 );
}
#signature {
  font-family  : 'Indie Flower', cursive, sans serif;
  font-size    : 12pt;
  color        : rgba( 222, 222, 222, 1 );
  text-align   : right;
}

##fin-css-rules##

<div id="content">
  <div id="header">Welcome to<br>the Gedex Network!</div>
  
  <div id="text">
   <br>
   <br>
   The Gedex Network is a next generation method of handling mindsim-messages between members.<br><br>
   It allows you to generate personalised & artful greetings and/or notices for recipients.<br><br>
   To learn more, connect through to here.
  </div>
  <br>
  <div id="signature">-W</div>
</div>

##fin-content##

https://gist.github.com/willxyu/182a65df1d2cb8bc71031570eb977c30<br>

As an outline of how this could work for the enterprising coders: 

1. author writes their message in HTML/CSS in Notepad/text editor
2. author generates a Gist externally
3. author generates an in-game "message" with embedded link & sends to recipient
4. recipient-side client intercepts clearly OOC link & "wraps" it in IC text, i.e. Tysandr pings your Mindsim with a message. Click here to read it!
5. recipient opens client-side link
6. recipient's client *verifies that sender/author is a trusted user
7. recipient's client retrieves Gist from Github
8. recipient's client verifies that received Gist is only CSS/HTML & namespaces it to avoid overriding other CSS rules & HTML elements
9. message is displayed

In terms of potential, this could potentially be vastly superior to an IG method for datasharding.

One could embed images using image urls like your faction's insignia or Dynasty's emblem, use custom fonts like the example above and even include a customised/templated signature. If you're really crazy, you could even potentially add in custom pure CSS animations inside your message.

To keep the message long-term, you would not copy/pasta the information, just clone the Gist from Github & you have your own copy then.

Just a thought.

Arsentar

That sounds sexy as fuck. So much want.

Viola

You have my attention as well...

tysandr

Here's a little more proof-of-concept, though security concerns are still unsolved.

(very big pictures)

Party time!

The markup for the party invitation.

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Indie+Flower|Libre+Franklin|Shadows+Into+Light|Tangerine');<br>#main {<br>  width        : 470px;<br>  height       : 330px;<br>}<br>#content {<br>  position     : absolute;<br>  background   : rgba( 163,  26, 133, 0.67);<br>  border-radius: 4px;<br>  height       : 100%;<br>  width        : 100%;<br>  padding      : 0.4em;<br>  background-image: url('https://cdn.pbrd.co/images/HY2x1SI.png');<br>}<br>#header {<br>  font-family  : 'Libre Franklin', Lucida;<br>  font-size    : 24pt;<br>  color        : rgba( 188, 188, 188, 1 );<br>  text-align   : left;<br>  line-height  : 34px;<br>  text-shadow  : 1px 1px rgba( 1, 1, 1, 1 );<br>}<br>#text {<br>  font-family  : 'Neucha','Indie Flower', cursive, sans serif;<br>  font-size    : 12pt;<br>  color        : rgba( 211, 211, 211, 1 );<br>}<br>#signature {<br>  font-family  : 'Shadows Into Light','Indie Flower', cursive, sans serif;<br>  font-size    : 11pt;<br>  color        : rgba( 111, 111, 111, 1 );<br>  text-align   : right;<br>}<br>#emblem {<br>  position     : absolute;<br>  right        : 6px;<br>  top          : 13px;<br>  width        : 140px;<br>  height       : 63px;<br>  background-image: url('https://wiki.fed-space.com/images/4/40/Romulan_Star_Empire_logo.png');<br>  background-size : cover;<br>}<br>
##fin-css-rules##<br>
<div id="content"><br>  <br><br>  <div id="emblem"></div><br>  <div id="header">You are invited!</div><br>    <div id="text"><br>   <br><br>   <br><br>   The Song Dominion is celebrating it's centenary on 8th of Yotta.<br><br><br>   If you have not incurred the wrath of the Dominion in the last 3 years, you and yours are welcome to attend.<br><br><br>   There will be food & laughter aplenty!<br>  </div><br>  <br><br><br>  <div id="signature">- Iniar, Servant of the Dominion</div><br></div><br>
##fin-content##