Cosmetic application of organic dialogue?

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#1

The Concept

My project is planned to have a special, but simple-on-paper system, which adds certain areas to dialogue, via a player-chosen nickname and their pronouns.

Normally, games simply use the player’s username in NPC dialogue like this:

NPC: “Hello, SolidSnake1987! How are you, my friend?”

Seems a bit clunky and unnatural, so if we have the player add their own preferred details like so…

(Player puts “David” as their ingame name)

NPC: “Hello, David! How are you, my friend?”

Seems a bit more natural!

I’m also thinking of adding pronouns in as well, which the player can choose out of three to mix with their chosen ingame name.

(He/Him)
NPC: “This is David. He’s my friend.”

(She/Her)
NPC: “This is Meryl. She’s my friend.”

(They/Them)
NPC: “This is REX. They’re my friend.”

All this can be changed later if the player wishes to.

The Concern

This system is only intended for cosmetic use; it won’t affect actual gameplay like locking content out depending on your choice. The game will progress and can be completed as if the system wasn’t there at all.

Information entered by the player will only be their chosen ingame name and pronouns, nor will any of it be shared outside of their own personal experience. Other players will only see their avatar and username. The chosen name is also encouraged to be derived from their username in a more organic and natural sense (like [Xenothekid] → [Xeno]) rather than their real name, but it still can be an option.

None of the customised NPC dialogue will dramatically change, only going into effect when specifically referring to the player as a character. While the planned game is generally very friendly in tone, dialogue in antagonistic scenarios will not use the chosen pronouns in a demeaning sense whatsoever, nor will it be paid attention to in said scenarios.

So, that’s my plan. I’m hoping to create a more immersive, personal and friendly experience with the game’s characters with this system. What do you all think? Is this a good idea? I’m not looking to break any rules. I’ve read the ToS as much as I can.

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#2

Personally - I think this is a great idea! It always throws me off when in games I always see “This is Nxybi” or “He [refering to the player] liked that!”, especially as someone who isn’t male.

Maybe also make this automatic? i.e remove any phrase that some player names might include and/or [probably not the best method, and might go against ToS] have a list of English names stored, and if the players username includes a match, make it use that.

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#3

Glad you like the idea!

Considering how finicky the filter is in general with absolutely normal words and that other players won’t be able to see the choices at all, I’ll likely not put the filter on it so players have free reign of what their nickname will be, even though the obvious will happen, but privately in a normal game scenario. We’ll see what happens.

EDIT: Spoilered section was written prior to learning about the rule in the ToS that specifically forbids this.

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#4

I mean - is that within Roblox’s ToS? I’m not entirely sure about the ToS standpoint on filtering

#5

…oh. Just found this in the ToS:

  • Filter all chat and text . Developers must pass all chat and/or game text through Roblox’s filtering system. Roblox scans all chat communication and player inputted text for the safety of our users and legal compliance reasons, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). All chat and content must also be reportable through the Report Abuse system.

Looks like I’m putting the filter on.

#6

I stand corrected after a quick search, looks like its not if its client-only

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#7

Oh. Thanks for finding this!

Can’t wait to get this system working!

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