For those unfamiliar, these messages are just composed of templates with specific words that players are allowed to place into slots, kind of like Mad Libs. There's no need to worry about players writing guild advertisements or obscene things, but rather I think this feature would bring the community together in a way. It's always fun finding notes in tricky to reach spots congratulating you, or telling you about a secret nearby.

Erickson9610 wrote: »

There's no need to worry about players writing ... obscene things

Players got creative with the finger thing.

I don't play Dark Souls, Elden Ring, or Mad Libs (is that a game, or a function in a game?) mentioned here, so I don't know what this would look like. If it were, like, a specific spot that a book icon showed up, and that book contained all messages, that'd be okay.

I play No Man's Sky, though, and there's a Comm Ball in that game that you can use to leave messages. And on shared quests and expeditions, they can fill the entire area, to the point you *can't land your ship*, and they pop up on the screen whenever you get within their hit box. They drive me NUTS, to the point I turn off my network before I even start an Expedition.

Would this be anything like that?

Please, no.

That got to be so intrusive on the Soulsborne games. It'd be a flood of noise in a world this populated.

No, this was terrible in Elden Ring. When I first started playing I was finding these messages and thinking they were important from the game, but I quickly realised they were irrelevant nonsense. I don't know why anyone would want this in any game.

It doesn't have the same place in a game where there are 20 other players constantly whirling around you with laser beams and explosions, potentially clearing out an entire delve before you even see the mobs. Allthewhile zone chat is advertising guilds and calling out world bosses, and lorebooks are already scattered around. And most enemies and puzzles do not present any form of genuine obstacle.

What benefit do you see from floor messages?

Can vote No more than once? The poster who mentioned NMS - that, that exactly. Same with Elden Ring, if there is a way for people to be "creative" in publicly viewable messaging, they will find it.

Quickest no I've ever clicked.

Hahaha this was fun thread, fair enough, no it is.

allochthons wrote: »

or Mad Libs (is that a game, or a function in a game?)

Mad Libs is just a word game (typically played with a physical sheet of paper) where you are given a story with blanks that tell you what kind of word is meant to go there. You can complete the story with the correct information, but the real fun of the game comes from being creative with your word choice. Here's an example:



The messages in the Soulslike games work similarly. You are given a number of templates with a few blanks in which you can slot any word from specific categories (such as creature, object, etc) to tell other players about something. You can even add an emote that you've unlocked so that players who read your message see a vision of your character performing that emote to the message, so you could for instance tell others about a secret and point towards it.

Only a few messages can be loaded in at a time. You can rate the messages left by other players, and if I recall correctly you would also get a notification and a short buff if someone upvoted your message.


I think if ZOS were to make its own spin of this system for ESO, the notes would be physical notes dropped on the ground, not unlike the upcoming Rumors system. It would certainly help the world feel alive even when there are no physical players in an area at that time.

Think about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly if this happens. This is not a good idea besides there would probably be a suit filed for copying E.R. because gamers can leave messages on the ground. I really disliked that.