The basis of the suggestion is to undermine the basis of a shout. By taking away the feature everyone being able to view it, it completely destroys the purpose of a shout. That's why I also added the rules to prove the point.
Because that's not what I'm saying. I'm stating that people online should see what the person is paying for.
@AdmiralD that was too simple of a solution though. That's what started this whole thing and people who want to be able to get around the spam rule and post 5-6 shouts back to back (cause it's legal) started yelling how unfair it is. So other suggestions were made, but now people think it's right to force everyone to see a shout, even if it's by a /ignored user. There is like what... 4-5 of use that would turn the shouts off compaired to the 'minority' in the poll that wants to shout spam... so only a few people won't see it, pretend us few are offline. If we miss something, it's our fault. P.S. I don't shove the things I pay for down your throat. It is not an acceptable thing to do and you wouldn't like it. If people didn't take advantage of it and actually use the shout system as it was intended, we wouldn't be here right now. 1 shout every 3 mins isn't much to ask for. And the shout spam we are talking about are the messages that state nothing done back to back 5-8 times in a row.
I've never personally spammed shouts, but really, how common is it? 3 minutes is extremely excessive, I could understand 1 minute, but 3 is outrageous.
So I understand what you are saying - the basis of the shout is to be able to "legally" spam and troll? The basis of a shout should be to allow a player to pay to have a reasonable message to be posted within the chat rules imho.
You still have not answered my clarification - you do believe that the basis of the shout is to be able to "legally" spam and troll? That is simply what this suggestion states.
It doesn't happen as often during peek times anymore, though yesterday I did see people posting shouts over and over about losing money in lotto. But during hours that mods aren't on, like as an example... say 4am EST... it happens a crazy amount and worse cause chat isn't as active. I wouldn't mind a shout here or there saying a real message, but seeing something like: ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka ssfhkefweofjdfb adfhkefjka safheka That is what we are talking about. People don't even post actual words anymore, they just spam in shout these days. And when mods are on when this happens they don't say anything, when people bring their attention to it mods say, "It's within the limits of the rules". So either the limits of the rules should change to 1 shout per X amount of time or there should be a way to turn off shouts added. Again if people used shouts like it's intended to be used, it wouldn't be so bad. I personally think saying something every once in a while gets the point across the same as saying it over and over back to back. Look at trade ads, people see those just fine and they are even a dull color.
I've spammed shouts before in a good manner as a moderator. So .. You're saying me spamming "Happy birthday" to a friend of mine is considered trolling ? For a friend of mine to see that I'm willing to waste my ECD in a fashion to show him that they're important more than virtual for me makes them happy ya know. If I just said "happy birthday" once in chat it doesn't show that I really care for them. I know some people troll with shouts, but this is not on a daily basis. Heck I've never seen it happen for a while now, might be my time zone , who knows.
I consider your spamming just that - spamming - exactly what this suggestion is trying to slow down. I would consider trolling the nonsense that @Ladyvamptress referred to in her post above. A shout every minute or so would not be nearly as annoying and would still get across the point that you care for them. Simply put, the shout system should not be allowed to bypass the spam rules.
I would be much more inclined to agree to being able to leave shouts, rather that limit them. Because when you get those spams, you're taking $10-$20k out of the economy.
I would prefer having Shouts added to my /ignore list. ie: If I have someone ignored, I don't see their Shouts. However, I'm not sure what is actually possible, programming-wise. *grin* Ya know, we could be discussing something that just isn't possible. Like talking about the safe distance we should be before you take off and fly like Superman
Shouts adhering to the /ignore list should be possible, considering they're both in the same plugin. Shouts adhering to the /ignore list is all I, personally, really want.
Just throwing my two cents in here. First and foremost, if there becomes a feature/way to ignore shouts, I'll be one the first to use it. I, personally, can't stand 'em. With that out of the way, I voted keep it as it is. I don't like them, don't use them, and I am saying that the arguments here have not convinced me to agree to a change. The issues as I see them. I have to lay a foundation here. What is a shout and its purpose? It is so everyone can see the shout no matter which channel players are in (or not in). If we allow /ignore shout, then it just becomes another channel. A channel less people will use because the whole point of the shout was to, well, shout. What's the point of paying a cost to make sure people see the shout, if no one sees it. Next, I read a suggestion that there should be a way to "pay" to avoid the shout spam or make is a rank privilege. This is coming from the same person who is saying that they think the people who pay for shouting is showing rich people favoritism. They suggested to make it so certain people can avoid shouts while others can't. I have to disagree with this suggestion because it relies on the exact thing the suggestion is trying to stop. And finally, there are already limitations in place. I personally remember when Harry won a lottery and wished to spend it all on shouts. He even asked a staff member if it was ok. He knew that if he spam shouted that many times, that he would be warned/kicked. I am not saying that everyone is happy where the line is drawn, but there is a soft line. I think this is where the discussion needs to be. Where is the acceptable line? I am pressed for time and wished to write more, but I'll leave it here and get back to work. I am open to suggestions, but I don't think /ignore is a solution because it undermines the whole meaning of the shout. I think we need to focus on the spam part and not the /ignore part. ... Even if I swear at my screen every time they are used. I really can't stand them.
Frankly, there's quite a big difference between shouting something like "Happy Birthday!" 10 times and shouting the spammy letters 10 times like you said in your post. I'm all for banning those types of shouts, but I don't see any need to completely ban shout spam.
Spam is spam. It's not needed, you can get the same point across saying something once in a while then saying it 10 times in a row. It does nothing but cause suggestions like this. Wanna show a friend you care, give him the $10k instead and say it once in a shout...
-1 sorry my friend but shouts are all I spend my money on. They cause great amounts of economic depreciation and through macroeconomic boundaries I'm sure a solution can be found.
-1. A few reasons to have shouts is so everyone can see your chat, it removed money from the economy, and you can spam them. If limiting spamming of shouts, and having the ability to mute shouts, would lead to much less shouting and less money taken from the economy.
