Communications

[hfm_mods]

Is there a native method for characters to communicate with one another from afar?

Ah, the good old phlebotinum commlink. Yes, HFM has one! In order for characters to communicate with each other efficiently on a citywide network, all newcomers to Freesia City are given a communicator named an eyeglass.

Communicators consist of a white plastic earpiece that fits comfortably over a character's ear or other convenient auditory organ, much like one side of a pair of modern headphones, and a piece of slightly shimmery glass that unfolds over the eye when the earpiece is tapped or the character wills it. This provides a HUD-style overlay of the communications network, to which your character has been graciously granted a premium gold account.

These devices are either magical or just really clever, because a communicator probably won't fall off no matter how hard your character is flung into a lake. They are easily removable, however - a character need only lift it from their face like they would a pair of headphones and it will come off just the same to be held in the hand.

Eyeglasses can be broken or destroyed quite easily with brute force, hacked by tech-savvy characters, and manipulated to an extent by technokinetics. Lost or broken eyeglasses can be replaced by visiting the top of Lux Spire - there will be a spare one lying on a bench. Characters are not required to keep their eyeglass with them at all times, but OOCly we encourage players to try and give their character a reason to keep it (or at least check back occasionally) - just so that everyone can keep up to date with network posts.

Characters also get to set screennames for themselves. How accurate, punny or brooding these are depend on your character's mood and your discretion as a player.

They also have a little sun motif on the side in gold paint. None of the locals seem to possess one, and it's clear they all assumed your character had it before they got here.

What kinds of network posts can it make?

Characters can control their device simply by power of will. They can use their device to make different types of post on the network comm. These posts are as follows:

VIDEO
Video posts are recorded from the front of the eyeglass. That is, if your character is wearing their device at the time, it will record whatever they happen to be looking at. Your character will have to remove their device and hold it out in front of them (a bit like taking a selfie!) if they want to record themselves.

Video posts can be made as if in real-time, meaning responses are assumed to be instantaneous, and this is the default. Characters do also have the option to record a video and have it post on a certain date - be sure to make this clear in the post.

AUDIO
When worn, the device will pick up and record a character's spoken voice and sometimes some minor background noise. When handheld, or left on a surface, they will faintly pick up whatever noise is around them.

Audio posts can be made as if in real-time, meaning responses are assumed to be instantaneous, and this is the default. Characters do also have the option to record a voice message and have it post on a certain date - be sure to make this clear in the post.

TEXT
Text posts are as-they-appear. Action brackets are not needed - unless, of course, you feel like specifying that there is a delayed response or none at all, etc.

How is the system set up?

By default, all posts made are publicly viewable by anyone else with an eyeglass.

Characters can optionally 'lock' posts to be viewed only by certain other characters, though anyone tech-savvy enough (or anyone with technokinesis) may be able to hack into a locked post. If you absolutely don't want to allow other players to do this, simply make a note of it in the post. Players should not hack against the will of another player, but if left unspecified, posts can be assumed to be hackable.

Characters also have an 'inbox' of sorts - it serves as a personal phone line, answering machine, and email inbox. Players are encouraged to copy and paste the following into a post on their character journals.

<center><img src="optional URL to a 'profile picture' that other characters will see ICly - can be an icon or other reasonable image" alt="description of image"> <big><big><font face="courier new"><b>character's screenname (all lowercase)</b></font></big></big> <i>A short message from your character, presumably about leaving a message.</i></center>

Screennames will automatically be all-lowercase, and may contain numbers and underscores, but no special symbols.

The device won't work for my character for whatever reason.

Lux will probably already have found a compromise, and tweaked the device's design accordingly.

If a character is blind, for example, there will be no actual eyeglass, just the earpiece and a spoken-word accessibility mode activated for easy menu navigation. If a character is deaf, another accessibility mode will be activated where audio files are automatically transcribed for them. If a character has no hands, no worries - the device is handsfree anyway. If a character is 50 feet tall, the device is scaled up to match. If your character has no ears, or ears in an unusual place i.e. bunny ears on top of their head, the eyeglass will be redesigned accordingly to fit snugly and/or mysteriously work regardless.

Basically, it's a magical device, and Lux understands accessibility. If you absolutely cannot think of a way the device could work, either contact a mod or just accept your character's fate at being unable to join in network interaction without help. It's not that big of a deal, in the end - just kind of handy. Characters can comfortably make do without.

It looks familiar. What does it say about other characters' power levels?

Absolutely nothing! But yes, it's familiar.