Server-Wide DM Shouts

[JustAnotherGuy]

Tonight, a party of us were on Ulgoth's Beach. A vampire bat flew by, and we decided to check it out. (Not sure if it was DM or not). We lost sight of the bat, but then decided to check out the pirate caves. We went a little ways in, and then someone suggested that maybe it was a diversion. We decided to head back to Ulgoth's Beard to check the town. Just as we walked into town, there was a server wide shout from a DM, "An unnatural, red fog slowly rolls into the town".

I sent the DM a /t asking if it was where we were. The DM was apparently busy, and never responded. We OOCly decided that meant we couldn't see it. ICly, we decided to head to Baldur's Gate. We were OOCly unsure of what was going on, when suddenly there was another server-wide shout, "A shrill scream echoes out into the darkness, and is abruptly silenced".

We essentially stood still, not sure if we should react or not. We eventually got a reply that it was NOT Ulgoth's. Finally, another server-wide shout, "The screams echo from northward, the red fog follows... not from Ulgoth Not from Baldurs Gate, the night moves swiftly, and death is in the air".

We had already ICly discussed headed north, so we headed that way. Eventually, it seems we found something.

Now, this is not a complaint about the DM. I've loved their stories so far. And loved their event this evening once we got on the right track. What I'm complaining about is the server-wide shouts. Besides causing confusion, they also cause meta-gaming, where people suddenly show up who should have no idea what's going on. Is there any way we can implement a way for DMs to locally shout over a map, rather than server-wide? That would alleviate a lot of issues, in my opinion.

[Hoihe]

Tonight, a party of us were on Ulgoth's Beach. A vampire bat flew by, and we decided to check it out. (Not sure if it was DM or not). We lost sight of the bat, but then decided to check out the pirate caves. We went a little ways in, and then someone suggested that maybe it was a diversion. We decided to head back to Ulgoth's Beard to check the town. Just as we walked into town, there was a server wide shout from a DM, "An unnatural, red fog slowly rolls into the town".

I sent the DM a /t asking if it was where we were. The DM was apparently busy, and never responded. We OOCly decided that meant we couldn't see it. ICly, we decided to head to Baldur's Gate. We were OOCly unsure of what was going on, when suddenly there was another server-wide shout, "A shrill scream echoes out into the darkness, and is abruptly silenced".

We essentially stood still, not sure if we should react or not. We eventually got a reply that it was NOT Ulgoth's. Finally, another server-wide shout, "The screams echo from northward, the red fog follows... not from Ulgoth Not from Baldurs Gate, the night moves swiftly, and death is in the air".

We had already ICly discussed headed north, so we headed that way. Eventually, it seems we found something.

Now, this is not a complaint about the DM. I've loved their stories so far. And loved their event this evening once we got on the right track. What I'm complaining about is the server-wide shouts. Besides causing confusion, they also cause meta-gaming, where people suddenly show up who should have no idea what's going on. Is there any way we can implement a way for DMs to locally shout over a map, rather than server-wide? That would alleviate a lot of issues, in my opinion.

They already have the tools for it.


DMs can select a party member and cause a pop-up to appear on the screen ONLY for the party. It's been years so idk what it's called anymore, but it should exist.

It's also possible to do it server-wide by accident.

[DM Boo]

There's another way to limit Shouts to the local area, as well as the method Hoihe has described, but it falls under the "advanced" DM tricks bag and not every DM may be aware of it or know how to use it at the moment.

... We'll see about changing that.

[DM SummerBreeze]

This was me, and I indeed didn't mean to make it a server wide shout as Hoihe pointed out. But it was too late, so I just rolled with it. The server population at the time was pretty low (maybe 20 people online ish at the time.) but I was trying to make people work for it a bit instead of just going "Go to X place", and made a bit of a trail in the north to follow. Mistakes happen. I normally don't even use the shout channel unless there are simply not many people online which happens sometimes in my play-times. I didn't respond to the T because I had about 4 people ask me the same question at once, I may have missed yours, apologies, it happens when you're juggling a lot of things at once. The original "shout" was supposed to be for the group in Soubar at the time, not the entire server, I was sitting in /s by accident for that one from an unrelated reason.

That being said, as the HDM points out as well, I was actually unaware of a "local" version of shout, and that would be super handy to know about. Accidental shout or not.

[DM Foresight]

One simple command you can use dm Summer is this.

!announce area the horde of chattering zombie rabbits grows closer to the eastern farmlands, there eyes on a carrot field... The sqeeking moans are haunting to all whom hear it...


It will shout this message in only the map your currently in and only players in the zone will hear it.

[DM SummerBreeze]

One simple command you can use dm Summer is this.

!announce area the horde of chattering zombie rabbits grows closer to the eastern farmlands, there eyes on a carrot field... The sqeeking moans are haunting to all whom hear it...


It will shout this message in only the map your currently in and only players in the zone will hear it.

<3 you guys are the best.