New private Message System

[Mr. Lord Rich]

Is there a way to move the “block this player” button further away from the “reply” to message button?
I tend to fat finger and block players. I blocked two players this week haha.

[Danny Derby]

Can we also get the read receipt added back? I hate having no way to know if my message has been received or not, and we always had that before. Honestly without that feature the new message system feels like a downgrade.

[Steve Leavitt]

^^^^

Yeah, that.

[Katie Stepanian]

Agreed, need to know it’s received. It’s very useful!

[The Admin]

I'm not making any promises, but I'd be interested in your answers to these questions to determine how to proceed.

As I mentioned, the "read" indication wasn't truly accurate. That is because about 10% of people in the SIM have their private messages forwarded to email or text message. So they read the message outside of the SIM so the SIM didn't know if the message had been read or not. It wasn't until a person read the message on the SIM, that the "read" indication happened. So, for some people, they never read the message on the SIM so it appeared that the message was never read when it had been.

Now, with multiple recipients, we would either have to wait until all recipient had read the message before marking it "read", or else we'd need a way to track and display the "read" status for each recipient.

Between the fact that it wasn't truly accurate, and cumbersome to display with multiple recipients, and that email applications don't reliably tell you when they've been read, we decided to drop it.

But, some people miss the feature. How many people? Here are some questions:

1. What should trigger a message indicating that it has been 'read'?
   1. Would you prefer that message is "read" when it is emailed or texted to a user? This option has the shortcoming of indicating that a message is read when it hasn't been read yet. (If the recipient doesn't have messages emailed or texted to them, then this option would, for them, revert to option 2 below).
   2. Or, would you prefer that a message is "read" only when it is read on the SIM? This option has the shortcoming that a message may be read outside of the SIM but still indicate unread.
   Another way to say it is, option 1 could show a message is read, when it hasn't been read. Option 2 could show a message unread when it has been read.
2. Since messages can go to multiple people, how should we indicate whether it has been read?
   1. We display a fraction like 1/4 to indicate one recipient read it and 3 haven't?
   2. We display 'unread' until all recipients have read it?
   3. We only display 'read' status on messages sent to one recipient? (that seems to be how group text messages work). Messages to multiple recipients would have no 'read' status.
3. Out of curiosity, how does seeing a 'read' status change what you do in the SIM? Each player's profile page shows when they last visited the SIM so you can know if they are active. And, if the player had a response to your message, they would reply.

Thank you.

[Danny Derby]

My responses in bold.

But, some people miss the feature. How many people? Here are some questions:

1. What should trigger a message indicating that it has been 'read'?
   Someone reading it on the SIM, same criteria as before
   1. Would you prefer that message is "read" when it is emailed or texted to a user? This option has the shortcoming of indicating that a message is read when it hasn't been read yet. (If the recipient doesn't have messages emailed or texted to them, then this option would, for them, revert to option 2 below).
   2. Or, would you prefer that a message is "read" only when it is read on the SIM? This option has the shortcoming that a message may be read outside of the SIM but still indicate unread.
      Only when it's read on the SIM. As you said before, no way to know when someone reads an e-mail or text. I realize there's outlier cases where someone might have read the message on e-mail first, but still the best way. Perhaps add three possible options if it really bothers people? 1. UNREAD 2. DELIVERED VIA EMAIL/TEXT (if applicable) 3. READ. #2 in this scenario would only activate if the automated e-mail or text is sent. I don't think it's necessary however and was happy with the reliability of the notifications before.
   Another way to say it is, option 1 could show a message is read, when it hasn't been read. Option 2 could show a message unread when it has been read.
2. Since messages can go to multiple people, how should we indicate whether it has been read?
   1. We display a fraction like 1/4 to indicate one recipient read it and 3 haven't?
   2. We display 'unread' until all recipients have read it?
   3. We only display 'read' status on messages sent to one recipient? (that seems to be how group text messages work). Messages to multiple recipients would have no 'read' status.
      Best option would be to indicate who has and who has not read it yet. Worst option would be to not display anything until all are read - this could be very confusion. Acceptable option would be to have no read status for group messages at all.
3. Out of curiosity, how does seeing a 'read' status change what you do in the SIM? Each player's profile page shows when they last visited the SIM so you can know if they are active. And, if the player had a response to your message, they would reply.
   There's plenty of times people log in and don't read messages. I want to know if I need to follow up with them or if they haven't seen the message to begin with.

Thank you.

[Mr. Lord Rich]

So my request to move the block button was hijacked by the read receipt request?

[The Admin]

So my request to move the block button was hijacked by the read receipt request?

I spaced Block this Player down a little lower.

[Mr. Lord Rich]

Perfect thank you
My fingers should be thin enough to navigate the extra space

[Danny Derby]

Great to see the read receipts have returned! Thanks!

[Rochelle Bos]

YAY!