So, I’m taking a comment left by @Ocfos to add a bit to it.
THE GUEST BOOK
It would be a book, visually quite similar to the Guild Control book, with some minor changes to it, such as maybe a quill resting on a page.
Interacting with it as a visitor, you’d get a big window, kinda like the crafting UI.
There, instead of recipes, you’d see all the comments people have left about the build where the book is located in. Contrary to a mail-box, you’d be able to read other visitors comments, see what they think.
You would then have an option to write your own comment, similar to a 256 character-long message (basically like a tweet or an in-game report).
No bold/italic/underline/links/pictures or anything complicated, though. Just colors, like signs.
As the owner of the beacon, interacting with the book wouldn’t give you the ability to write comments.
Instead, you’d have an option to hide & report comments in case they’re trolly, or to like them, to make them stand out for visitors. Think of it like a Youtube Comment section where the video-maker can like a comment to make it go at the top of the comment section.
THE TABLET
No I’m not talking about an I-Pad, but rather a stone tablet with text engraved on it.
It would display text in a window instead of rendering it on a 3D object, and it would allow for far more characters.
A sign module is 128 characters, less than what a tweet used to contain (it was 140 and jumped to 280 a few months ago). Imagine if you could write 4 times as much, 1024 characters in a Tablet?
You could write instructions, riddles, stories, bring some kind of narration to your build, like a “captain’s log”, etc! Basically, an alternative to signs where the message isn’t all up in your face.
As the owner of the beacon, you could interact with it and write a message. Again, just colors like signs, but with far more characters than a regular sign or tweet. 1024 characters seems like a good number.
As a visitor, by interacting with the tablet, you’d simply get a small window where you would be able to read the message. This would not be like the mail-box, since the message could be seen by anyone.
Guest book would be right near the top of my wish list. There are a lot of times I’d like to leave somebody a compliment, but I don’t want to send it as mail, I don’t want them to feel obliged to answer or anything - and something like this would allow such feedback to be kept permanently and separately.
Though, I would vote for allowing owners to write in it too, so they can answer, and also have the ability to remove entries themselves.
I would spend a lot of time going around and looking at everybody’s guest books if we had them, even if it is stuff like “LeetSniper wuz here” it is still an interesting record of the comings and goings and thoughts of the citizens.
On one hand, I’m like “heck yeah!”, but on the other, I’m afraid the owners would feel forced to answer (for good etiquette, you know? like that South Park episode about Facebook “hey, you didn’t poke me back!!” “STAN, POKE YOUR GRANMA BACK!”) all the time, and repeating 100 times “thanks” could be tedious for some people, when there’s nothing more to say.
Maybe the simple way on Youtube video makers can “like” a comment someone left them, and it goes at the top of the comments in the list, that could be neat.
Good point, as yeah, part of why I’d want a guest book IS so people wouldn’t feel obliged to answer. But definitely keep the ability to remove entries, that way we aren’t having to bug devs, haha.
I find the mailbox confusing.
I thought it was only a way to contact someone who’s off-world.
Like, where do you see the messages someone left you? How do you know you have unread messages?
And nobody else can see them either, so it’s not really a Guest Book.
You quoted the answer. XD
It would display text in a window instead of rendering it on a 3D object, and it would allow for far more characters. A sign module is 128 characters, less that what a tweet used to contain (it was 140 and jumped to 280 a few months ago). Imagine if you could write 4 times as much, 1024 characters in a Tablet? You could write instructions, riddles, stories, etc!
The notepad sounds a lot like the mailbox. The mailbox would be great if we got an onscreen mail icon That flashes and beeps when you get mail. Or even better. A “you’ve got mail” in Oortian. Lol.
I’ll say it again, the Tablet idea is NOT supposed to be a mail-sending-system, nor is it supposed to be a Sign module. ^^’
That would be a total mis-understanding of the proposition.
I’ve changed the original post to reflect that. I thought it was clear before, but now, I hope that it is!
like them, to make them stand out for visitors. Think of it like a Youtube Comment section where the video-maker can like a comment to make it go at the top of the comment section.
That flashes and beeps when you get mail. Or even better. A “you’ve got mail” in Oortian. Lol.