The chat woes could be somewhat lessened if ARR's chatbox didn't ALWAYS scroll all the way down whenever there's a new message. Having a massive ammount of players talking in the same location will always be a problem, though. It's one of the limitations of chat-based communication.
How messy it will be depends on the nature of the event. 'Scenario' type events work better with large crowds: a small number of characters that interact with individuals of a large crowd, creating some sort of turn-based system. For example, imagine an auction: the host would present the item to be sold, then start getting the bids. Or an storytelling/theatre thing where the storyteller/actors are the ones who get most charbox space (so to speak) while the crowd limits itself to passing commetary and reactions.
I do not think there's anything wrong with the player handwaving or making up reasons for having their character in the event. That is their choice, and no matter how much I think it doesn't makes sense for them to be there, they might have perfectly valid in-character reasons for it.
Let's assume there's a character that hates Gridania and the Elementals, so he wouldn't normally go to, say, watch a play in the amphitheatre. But maybe he's going today anyway, pushed by a friend. Or maybe he has a crush for one of the actresses. Or maybe he was just struck with curiosity after reading a pamphlet. Maybe he has to meet a contact there for some shady business. Some of those reasons will be obvious for other players at the event, others won't be so. But the fact that they are not does not mean there is no reason for the character to be there.
In fact, I'd say that having your character in an open event just for the reason of 'I, the player, want to be there' is a perfectly valid reason, too. Even if he hasn't OOCly come with an in-character reason, the other players will probably have no idea that he doesn't. And even if they do know he has no IC reason to be there, what is the problem? It's his choice and his fun. As long as he isn't trolling the event (which is an enterely different matter), let him be wherever he wants to be.
On a personal note, I do try to avoid events with the ability to convene a large ammount of people at the same location at the same time. As you said, the chatbox gets messy, with lots of text being exchanged, making you very likely to miss people trying to talk with you or important details of the event. So basically I avoid them for technical reasons, not because of the event's quality (or lack thereof).
How messy it will be depends on the nature of the event. 'Scenario' type events work better with large crowds: a small number of characters that interact with individuals of a large crowd, creating some sort of turn-based system. For example, imagine an auction: the host would present the item to be sold, then start getting the bids. Or an storytelling/theatre thing where the storyteller/actors are the ones who get most charbox space (so to speak) while the crowd limits itself to passing commetary and reactions.
Quote:Furthermore, I can't help but note that a lot of the participant's characters don't really have much reason to be there in the first place
I do not think there's anything wrong with the player handwaving or making up reasons for having their character in the event. That is their choice, and no matter how much I think it doesn't makes sense for them to be there, they might have perfectly valid in-character reasons for it.
Let's assume there's a character that hates Gridania and the Elementals, so he wouldn't normally go to, say, watch a play in the amphitheatre. But maybe he's going today anyway, pushed by a friend. Or maybe he has a crush for one of the actresses. Or maybe he was just struck with curiosity after reading a pamphlet. Maybe he has to meet a contact there for some shady business. Some of those reasons will be obvious for other players at the event, others won't be so. But the fact that they are not does not mean there is no reason for the character to be there.
In fact, I'd say that having your character in an open event just for the reason of 'I, the player, want to be there' is a perfectly valid reason, too. Even if he hasn't OOCly come with an in-character reason, the other players will probably have no idea that he doesn't. And even if they do know he has no IC reason to be there, what is the problem? It's his choice and his fun. As long as he isn't trolling the event (which is an enterely different matter), let him be wherever he wants to be.
On a personal note, I do try to avoid events with the ability to convene a large ammount of people at the same location at the same time. As you said, the chatbox gets messy, with lots of text being exchanged, making you very likely to miss people trying to talk with you or important details of the event. So basically I avoid them for technical reasons, not because of the event's quality (or lack thereof).
![[Image: DWv3oGi.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/DWv3oGi.jpg)
