Like any good role-playing game, social interaction is an integral part of Dark Age of Camelot. A large part of this social interaction is the ability to chat with other players. The text window is divided into two sections. The Chat Window on the bottom displays all incoming text, such as messages from other players (whether public or private), broadcast messages, certain dialogue from NPCs, etc. The top part of the window, called the System Window, displays messages related to the game environment, combat and spellcasting.
At the top of the chat window you'll find five tabs: Main, Broad, Guild, Group and Chat. Each of these tabs can be customized to allow you to receive or disable any of the thirteen chat/message channels as well as set the color for each, and a default message channel. Changing the default message channel will rename the tab to that selection.
Chat Channels
Say[]
There are several ways to speak to people nearby. This is the most basic communication and you can initiate it by typing /s or /say. Say will send a message to everyone in your immediate vicinity.
Private Send[]
To send a message privately to another person of your realm, use the /send command. For example, if you want to say Hello to Grond, you would type /send Grond Hello! If someone has sent a message to you, you can respond to them either with /send, or by pressing R or typing /reply.
Group Chat[]
To speak to everyong in your party of adventurers, regardless of their location, use the group send command /g. For example, if you wanted to meet up at the guard tower with other members of your group, you would type /g You guys run up ahead, and I'll meet up with you at the guard tower. Note that you can make Group Chat the default by selecting the Group tab.
Guild Chat[]
Use Guild Chat to send messages privately to members of your guild, if any. To send a message to all guild members currently online, type /gu and enter the text of your message. For instance, to call a guild meeting, you would type /gu Guild meeeting at Howth in 15 minutes. If you select the Guild tab, then your default messages (pressing enter) will be to your guild members only.
Broadcast Chat[]
Broadcast chat is used to speak with everyone in a zone or local area. It is restricted to specific areas such as Prydwen Keep, Mularn, Howth, and so on. It can also be used in the New Frontiers zones within the keep or tower you occupy. If the area you're in is not a Broadcast area, you will receive a message telling you so. To use the broadcast channel you can use /broadcast.
Emote Messages[]
Emote messages will allow you to display an action, using the /em command. For example, if you wanted to emote that you sharpen your sword, you can type /em sharpens his sword. It will appear as . Assuming, of course, that your name is Grond.
Help Messages[]
When you press the Help button (the default is F1), it will display the in-game help system. Messages from that system appear in this tab area in the assigned color.
Advice Messages[]
Advice messages are sent using the /advice command.
You can search for an advisor in-game by using the /advice command. This will display a window with all of the active advisors in your realm and server. For example, if you type /advice, you'll be presented with the list.
If on that list you see Grond, you can type /advice Grond Can you tell me what a good spec for a warrior is? Grond will receive your message, and be able to reply to you. To activate your advisor flag (so that you appear on the advisor list), type /advisor. Note that Advisors have no association with Mythic Entertainment - they are simply other players, like you, who are interested in helping.
They may not always be available, or have useful (or correct) information on your specific topic. For class-specific questions, you should try locating an Advisor of the appropriate class, if possible.
Officer Messages []
Officer messages allow you to speak with other members of your guild that also have Officer chat privileges. You can use officer chat by typing /o (thats the letter O, not a zero) followed by the message. Players without these privileges will not be able to see officer chat, so it gives officers a place to discuss things without everyone in the guild seeing them.
Alliance Messages[]
Often a number of guilds will join together to form an Alliance. Alliance chat allows member of those guilds to communicate with each other easily. You can speak in Alliance chat by using the /as command. However, Alliance chat privileges are assigned by your guild leader or leaders - they can assign you the ability to see Alliance chat, speak in it, or both.
Battlegroup Messages[]
Battlegroups are similar to Chat groups, with a bit more functionality. You can join a Battlegroup with the /bg join Name command, and speak in it using the /bc command. The most important difference between a Chat group and a Battlegroup, is that some encounters will share completion credit between all members of a Battlegroup. Additionally, there is a lot more information available to a Battlegroup. A full list of Battlegroup commands can be found at Slash Commands under the Battlegroups heading.
Battlegroup Leader Messages[]
This selection allows you to modify the color of the Battlegroup leader's messages in the Battlegroup. This makes it easier to pick out the leader's commands from other people talking in the Battlegroup.
Chat[]
Sometimes when you're playing, you may want to chat with a group of people who are not in the same guild, group or alliance as you.
To do so, you can form a chat group with up to 200 other players. Chat groups function very much like regular groups, except that they are only for chat. No experience or loot is shared. The leader of the chat group can use the /cg invite command to invite people into the group.
You can use the /chat command to speak in this group. If the chat group leader leaves the chat group, the next player on the list becomes the leader. More information on Chat group commands can be found at Slash Commands under the Chat Groups heading.
Friends List
The Friends list allows you to store the names of your friends, and track when they log on or off.
You can add a player to your Friends List by typing /friend Name. To add Grond to your Friends List, for example, you would type /friend Grond. To remove someone from your friends list, simply repeat the command. If Grond is on your Friends List, and you no longer want him to be, type /friend Grond again.
Note that the Friends List will not alert you when a Friend logs on or off if that player is /anon. You can select the Friends option from the character sheet to display a window listing all of your Friends that are currently online.
Customizing Chat and Event Messages
You may adjust the length and width of your chat and system windows. You may also adjust the proportions of display between the two windows by adjusting the horizontal border between the two. You can modify the transparency of the text and background separately by right clicking on the Chat window and adjusting the Alpha Chooser.
To customize the colors of your different chat options, right click on a tab, and select the specific message type you want to change. Then, adjust it by using the Change Color option. You can disable any specific message type in any tab by right clicking on that tab and deselecting the bullet next to the message type. Click Accept once you're satisfied with the changes, or Cancel if you don't want to keep them. Clicking Cancel will leave everything the way it was when you first opened the window.