CyberWoLfman's Wish List for Cyboria
 
 
 

  Note regarding the Cyboria program:  I have not been able to get the Cyboria program to run for a while now, and their Website was also down.  Last time I tried both was on October 20th, 2002, so as far as I know, this program has ceased to exist.  In time, I suppose that if this remains the case for long enough, I will remove my Cyboria pages so visitors will not get confused, or get their hopes up about a program that sounded too good to be true.
 
 

  Note regarding this wish list:  Most of these I've posted in the Cyborian forum, but I can't expect them to keep them there, so I've put them all up here.
 
 
 

  AFK mode:  Assent Outcast  has some good ideas, many of which are used in other chat programs, but nicely detailed by him.  :-)  Lifeforms' idea of an AFK indicator over the av's head is also a good one, but it could be expanded upon.  Either Z's to show that they've been inactive, or a 'Do not disturb' sign.
 
 

  Avatars and how they may be used in Cyboria:
 
 

  Personal avatars:  Avatars that a person can make and use for themselves (or if the files are stored on the Web, can link to one that the owner gives them permission to use, and may have to use a password to do so, to limit the number of people who can use it), and can use in any world (maybe the world owner(s) can select whether or not personalized avatars can be used or not in their worlds if they don't want them to be, or either have that privilege restricted to a list of those who are allowed to).  Restricting this to cits also means that if a cit goes too far, and uses an avatar that's far too... 'risqué', the world owner will know who it was, and either take away the privilege of using a personalized av in their world, or if they think it necessary, report extremely offensive abuses to the galaxy or metaverse owner(s), or, if an agency is set up to deal with such kind of violations of whatever kind of guidelines we'll have, to them.
 
 
 

  Avatar List:  Not sure if it's possbible to use multiple object paths, but it would be cool.  Bigger selection, for one thing.  Maybe they would be listed like bookmarks on your Netscape Web browser, where you have folders for each object path, and the names of the avs are listed in each?  Perhaps avs for the whole Cyborian metaverse to use, then those in the galaxy, the ones for the world, as well as any other object path the world owner(s) select.  Also, if there's a lot of avs, I'm hoping that there'd be a way to make a 'more' button or something so we're not limited to only 100 or so avs per world.  Besides, I hate having to cut out avs that I want to keep but have to because the av list won't fit on even an 800x600 screen.
 
 
 

  Combining both:  Imagine using the above av list, but also having the option to use a personal av that you've either saved like a bookmark, or, by clicking on a button or a selection in a drop-down menu (may as well have it under "Avatars") that says something like "Use an av off the Web", a box pops up and you can just paste in a url to that av's file and then in the box below it, enter a password (if required to use the av) then hit Enter to use it.  May be good to also have a way to save that avatar to a favorites list.

  Okay, that pretty much covers it.
 
 

  Building / Object editing / manipulation:  Dragging and dropping an object where you want it with the mouse, or just right clicking on it with the mouse, and using the keyboard to move it where you want (like with the direction arrows, page up, page down keys and all that), possibly using an 'edit texture' key that then displays a list (made either by you or the world owner showing what (s)he will allow) or thumbnails of textures you can use either on the OP or from the Web, another to display its behavior such as orbiting a point in space which you can select by clicking on it with the mouse, assigning it a gravity field which can interact with other objects that you allow it to (someone may want to make an asteroid belt later for a space scene where they all crunch into each other randomly, or maybe even an entire solar system with worlds to visit and explore.  I'd get a kick out of seeing something really huge like Larry Niven's Ringworld in Cyboria!  Or they may want to have the object follow anyone who ventures into the area or 'cell', which could return to its default location after the person left, but not sure why they would want to, yet, unless it's to simulate floating space mines sensitive to movement or heat or something similar), light, noise, url or e-mail activator, then maybe a way to re-size an object using certain keys.

  Also, an option to use an object property box which may be easier for first time builders who haven't learned all the shortcuts, or someone who wants to look over the object's properties at a glance.
 
 
 

  Conference chat:  'Channels' or group chats either textual, audio, or video, where you can start a 'room' or 'channel' that people have to be invited to get into.

  This way, if someone wishes to collaborate on a world building design with more than one person at a time, they could do so, without clogging up the main chat, and having to repeat what was said in one whispered conversation to one or more other individuals who are involved in the discussion.  If someone is becoming obnoxious, perhaps a majority vote of the other users in the chat can eject them from it.
 
 

  Contact list:  Dion's idea is a good one about the contact list being in categories, but I would like it to also be a selective view so you can choose to either see everyone you have on your contact list, or only those who are on at the moment.

  As for Assent Outcast's '3 columns' idea, it seems fine, but I'd like to be able to put it into 'simple' view where it only shows who's on, and another view where it also shows their names and what their status is, to save screen space.  Maybe a button over the cits / contact / friends list to select views.
 
 

  Fonts:  Cyboria's chat text is much better than AW's allowing you to select which font you want to use and the size!  Now you're able to tell capital i's from lower case L's with no problem with most fonts.  To those who may be curious, I prefer Veranda.  It does the aforementioned job in addition to being easy to read at even small size.  :-)

  As for uses for additional colors, maybe use dark blue for those with citnumbers under 200 or 300?  This won't give away citnumbers to people who don't have a need to know, but it'll let others know that these are people who were among the first (after the green letter crowd) to support Cyboria with their hard-earned cash.  :-)

  If there is a Cyborian police force / helpers / (what have you) organization formed later, maybe what they say can be given the next font size higher or use bold to alert others that they have some authority (which many of us hope won't go to their heads, and they use it only when they have to, being a guiding hand as opposed to acting like Nazi stormtroopers) within the program.
 
 

  Future stuff section.  Looking ahead to the future:
 
 

  Object editing / manipulation via VR goggles:  Like in the book 'Snow Crash' and gloves which you use to reach out to an object, move it to where you want it, open up a texture library with small thumbnails which you can click on to see bigger versions, or hold your finger on a button to keep increasing the view size until you let up, and grab a texture, place it on an object to put on a part of the object, then use a button to completely cover it, or drag the object with your fingers to the exact size you want to cover and be able to rotate, shrink or enlarge the texture to your whim, in addition to the other object manipulation stuff discussed elsewhere.
 
 

  X-ray mode:  Switching viewing mode to see inside objects with just a framework visible so you know where it is, but you can see the interior without having to go in and look around.
 
 

  People Finder / Activity Viewer:  A map of the world which shows each individual in the world so you can see where everyone is gathering.  Maybe limit this to world owners so it won't infringe on anyone's privacy, or perhaps make it so that a person can go into 'stealth mode' and not appear on the map so no one can follow them around.  This way, those who want to be sociable can do so, and those who wish to be alone to build or because they want to contemplate their navel or whatnot may do so in peace. More involved:  Movement showing up as 'vapor trails' like those left behind by jets in the sky.  Selections to make them last longer or shorter duration.  Another map view showing the past movements of people for a 24 hour period in the world by their trails shown in colors which represent how long they stayed in those spots, and also (perhaps restricted to world owners) dots displayed in each area also using colors to show how much object manipulation / building they did, and by clicking on each dot, you get details on what specifically they did in that area at that time.  Those in 'stealth mode' wouldn't have trails, but the dots would show up only to the world owners, which (hopefully) won't intrude on someone if they'd rather be alone without asking first.
 
 

  Games (already used in other 3D chats):  Trivia, paintball, chess, checkers, and scavenger hunts.

  Games (not used elsewhere that I know of):  Race cars (not only those that can bump up against each other like in the more popular commercial video games, but maybe later, a demolition derby, and road warrior type of races, where people have machine guns and rocket launchers on their cars.  Hee hee hee), bumper cars, roller coasters, capture the flag, World War 1 and up aerial dogfights (from biplanes up to helicopters and jet fighters), armor combats with tanks, or perhaps a combination war game where an individual can either be a ground trooper with weapons they pick up along the way either placed there randomly or dropped by earlier users who were either killed (a tombstone or body with a date and time tag as well as how and who did it) or quit at that point (the weapon may slowly re-charge if it's a laser weapon or gains rounds of ammo if it's a projectile weapon, depending upon how long it wasn't in use), or a tank user which may not be able to hide very well, but has far more firepower than a ground trooper and it would take more 'hits' to destroy a tank than any other type of combatant, or an aerial fighter (in one of the aforementioned flying machines), which, while having more mobility and being able to attack all other users (if they're not able to hide), isn't able to take many hits, and they should always be in motion unless they're a helicopter or they have VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) capabilities which would enable them to hover.  Sound in a combat game:  When the system gets more advanced, the aircraft would be heard from a long distance off, and the armor vehicles a few blocks away when moving, but only one when stationary.  Ground troops may or may not make noise when walking, depending upon how good they are.  ;-)

   Combat games could be played based upon certain wars and time periods, and the users may switch from ground trooper to tank user or to pilot at certain times but not whenever they choose or the game would become very chaotic.  Maybe only switch at a base.

  RPGs like White Wolf's 'Werewolf' or 'Vampire' would also be cool.  If bots are used, it would be nice if they kept a record on a sign (or signs) of the score of each cit playing, and high scores for the month and overall best score ever.
 
 
 

  Ignore list:  Can either not let the other cit know that they're on a mute / ignore list, or the cit can select to have it display a generic message when they try to telegram or whisper to them like "I have you on my ignore list, either because I don't wish to be disturbed, or because you have upset me.  You likely know which one, so details aren't needed here.", or an individualized one per each cit they wish to ignore, but this may get a bit involved, so it may not be a good idea.
 
 
 

  Looking Up / Down:  I know at least one thing you can use the ability to look at all kinds of angles (even upside down) on!  Ever see the movie Labyrinth with David Bowie?  Near the end of the movie, they enter an area of the castle that's similar to one of Escher's drawings where there are stairways and platforms with people walking on them seemingly at different angles to the normal direction of up and down.  Wouldn't it be cool to create something like that in Cyboria, and we could have a huge 3D maze like that?  You could be walking up a stairway, look up, and see someone on another stairway looking down at you and looking like they're upside down and you would appear the same to them.  ;-)  Oh yeah, now that would be a cool place to have a paintball war!  Hee hee hee
 
 
 

  Macros:  I like Y2KBuG's idea on 5-9-2002 in the forums (in the closed Macros thread) on right clicking to show a list of FAQ answers.  Very nice indeed.  May be better than programs like Quikword, and it would be nice if you can sort it alphabetically (which you can't in most other programs) and edit each of them to update the information as the program changes.
 
 
 

  Personal profile that others can see:  Perhaps a short form that has things (none required so you can choose your level of privacy by either giving out a lot of info or none at all, and perhaps selecting if everyone can see it, or just certain citnumbers) like a thumbnail of your picture (or one you want to represent you), that someone can click on to see a bigger one, what city, state, province, country you're in, your Web page url, a short list of other sites you like, languages you speak (always a good thing to tell others), personal interests, occupation, favorite expression / quote, what you like to read / favorite authors / books / movies / actresses / actors / songs / musical artists / color, your gender, a small area (3,000 characters or maybe a bit more limit) to put in comments, and in addition, being able to create more fields, perhaps limited to 30 altogether to allow people to be expressive if they want to, but not to overwhelm those who are just looking for a brief intro to who you are since introductions aren't usually done in a chat program.  What you rarely see in a chat program:  "Hey, (insert your name here) I'd like you to meet (insert person you're being introduced to here).  (s)he's been a friend of mine for some time now, and we both have an interest in (whatever), and I thought you might have something in common because like you, they like (I won't elaborate) too!"  ;-)
 
 

  Privacy (giving it its own little section because there's a lot I want to cover on this subject):
 
 

  Perhaps at log on, showing what privacy options are in effect for you so you would know.
 
 

  Also, I like Lara's idea on 5-22-2002 in the Cyboria forum's AFK mode thread, that when logging on, it not have it blurted out to the entire world.  Besides, later on, when there are more users coming and going, this could cause a lot of flooding in the main screen.
 
 

  Already in use by other programs:  Join, whisper, add to contact / friends list request before each can be done.  'Invisible mode' so that you don't show up as being on to anyone that has you on their contact list.
 
 

  Citnumber Visibility:  Citnumber not visible to other users or on objects visible to other users, or even by viewing a contact list file, but can be seen by the world, galaxy and metaverse owners.  Also, the citnumber would be displayed in a telegram if you send one to someone or whispered to them, which would mean that there would be fewer instances of people harassing others through either, knowing their citnumbers were known and could be reported to whoever you'd report harassment to.  For those who harass in a world, the world owner would be able to see the citnumbers of those in their world so they can maintain order if it proves necessary to keep a frequent troublemaker out of their world.
 
 

  Confirming your Identity to your Friends:  Being able to confirm that you are indeed who you say you are, but not to everyone in the metaverse who is curious:  Select who (by right clicking on you, your chat text, or your name in their contacts / friends list) can see your citnumber and anyone else you don't include on your 'allow' list can't.  This way, your friends know who you are, but those who wish to harass you (by finding out your new name if you change it to get away from them) don't for sure.  Also select who can see you on and what world and galaxy you're in.
 
 

  Guest identifying:  In 'the other place' which a lot of us have used, IP addresses are only visible to those with eject rights in a world.  Perhaps if the IP addresses of guests were visible to everyone, it would cut down on verbal attacks which, if they haven't happened yet in the program are sure to happen sooner or later.  However, since this has a potential to be used by those who would like to launch an attack on someone's computer, perhaps only showing their ISP and / or city, state and country where they're connecting from (if this can be done without creating too much of a strain on the server) would be a better idea, and those wishing to know can find out the info by right clicking on their avs or on their text in the chat program.
 
 

  Sleeping when inactive for too long:  Lifeforms' idea of someone going into 'sleeping' mode like they have in other chat programs if you don't do anything for a certain amount of time is a good one, but I'd like to recommend that like the proposed AFK mode, it gives an automatic response to a person that either telegrams or whispers to them saying that you're in 'sleep' mode because you were inactive and maybe even tells how long you were so far.  I'd also like to suggest that the automatic sleeper through inactivity thing can't be turned off, so that people won't be trying to talk to them in person expecting a reply not knowing that they're asleep.  Just for kicks, a 'sleeping' av would also be nice, like someone laying down on the ground with Z's in the air above them.  ;-)  ZzZzZzZz

  Beats what I usually do in AW: Putting a little sign over my head saying "AFK = Away From Keyboard, sleeping, visiting REMville, catching some Z's"
 
 
 

  TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch  Think Robert A. Heinlein originally said it, but I'm not sure):  In regards to the debate about whether or not people should be allowed to continue to use the program as guests, or the program should only be used by those who have paid for the use, I would prefer that guests would always be allowed in, not only because many won't buy a program unless they use it first to see what it's like, but also because there are many who simply can't afford a citizenship.  But, there should be some things that a guest can't do that a citizen can to encourage those who can afford a cit to become one, but not to make the guests feel like they are severely limited in what they can do which may likely cause them to hate using the program and give up on it in frustration, but just a bit limited in what they can do.
 
 
 

  Telegrams with e-mail integration:  Not only regular ones, so you can send a brief message to another citizen who's off-line, but also ones that not only leave you a message in your 'user's mailbox' but also sends it to the e-mail address you gave to Cyboria, or if you prefer, a second one where you receive e-mails from other users.

  The reason for wanting e-mail integration:  Even though someone may not log into Cyboria very often (possibly because they can only do it at home), many people can check their e-mail at work or at a library that has Web access.  If possible, it would be nice if the e-mail address of the recipient wasn't given to the sender, and people can choose to add certain cits to their ignore list.
 
 
 

  Teleport list:  First off, credit goes to Dion with his idea to make them 'nice and tidy' (in the AFK Mode thread).  I would also recommend being able to create separate lists with expandable folders (you know the type, marked with a + symbol until you click on them to open them up), and while Lifeforms suggested that teleports be named so that the world name is first so they can be sorted by world name followed by the description, I'll grant that it's a good one, and okay for a general or overall teleport list, but I'd also like to be able to sort each teleport list alphabetically, by when they were added or modified, or alphabetically by world name (unless I get so many in my general list for a single world, I cut them out of it, and make up a new list for that world).
 
 
 

  Time zone to use in Cyboria:  We should have a 'Cyborian time' clock.  Maybe set to the eastern time zone, or perhaps central time zone if most of us are in the US and we want to use a 'middle ground' so some don't feel totally alienated if we find we're more than 2 hours off from everyone else in the program, like those on pacific time who would be forced to use eastern.

  But even if we use something that's out in the middle of the ocean like in that other 3D chat program, deciding on a time to have an event would be easier if everyone could look at a clock and determine the time difference between 'Cyborian time' from their local time at a glance.

  While we're on the subject, how about a clocktower for our next world object that is set to 'Cyborian time'?  :-)
 
 
 

  Whispers in separate chat boxes:  Should have both telegrams and whisper.  The telegrams being like short e-mails, but as for whispers, it'd be good if they were in a separate box that's floating around separate from the main Cyboria browser so you can contain your chat to it with your friend(s), and it may also cut down on the accidents where you think you're typing into a 'whisper to' box like in AW and you hit Enter before realizing that you're not whispering, but had typed it in the main chat box.
 
 

  World list options:  Maybe a cool looking teleport layout map like they have in the Worlds program (yes, I've tried many 3D chat programs), then maybe you can have a galaxy map for selecting another world in that galaxy (large worlds could be displayed as gas giants like Jupiter), then a metaverse map for selecting a different galaxy or to click in the middle for the main world of the Metaverse.  These could be accessed by a menu where you select things like "Transport: To another world in this galaxy" "Transport: To the metaverse", or to keep it simple, "Galaxy map" and "Metaverse map".
 
 
 

  World info:  A pop-up info window that the world / galaxy owner writes up for info on each so that when people click on it, it displays a brief description, fields that contain world rating, size of the world, whether or not public building, guests, whispers, personalized avs, and bots are allowed, a link to further information, who to contact about the world, and all that stuff.  Not sure if the world owners would want to display current populations in the worlds, or if they'd have them display colors showing their population size or some other method.
 
 
 

  Sortable world lists:  This may be another option, where you have a textual world list, but you can sort it by ratings (or only show those with a rating below R if you're going to have children using it), to show only those that allow public building, occupided worlds, or maybe only your favorites.
 
 
 

  World running:  Suggestion for world options:  Select whether or not you want to allow guests in or not.  Also a list that's kept in the server host to either not allow certain citnumbers or to allow only certain ones in.  In addition, not allowing those with a certain IP address or within a defined range where you can select the first set or two of numbers, then put in *'s in the rest of them.  Think AW is going to try to implement this, but I hope that Cyboria does a better job of it, like they've been doing with the chat text.  :-)
 
 
 
 

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