Very few people know this, but AO is very open to external scripts such as in PHP. The help lines, news flashes etc are all essentially PHP pages. Because of this, there's been a few orgbots (organisation bots) built. The best-development & most widely-used (and the one I finally managed to find) is the IGNbot.
IGN, once set up, can do quite a few things more than the standard org system. These include:
- Enhanced chat - AFK/BRB, ability to create a guest channel for raids & can be controlled on it, general habits on said channel including kicks
- Player Information - Lookup anyone on AO's database, see who in the guild's online ATM and even narrow it down to levels, professions or name
- Calculations - Over-equipping limits, info for your level including mission, team & PVP limits
- Guild note management - Write lists & define how they're displayed, write secret notes
- Raffles & Rolling - Enough said really, but also logs results to ensure no rigging occurs
- Guild news info - Useful for when everyone needs to know of events (AO Dance Video shoots, etc )
- Leadership Board - For leaders to put short comments onto (e.g. for new members)
- Private Messaging System - Same as private tells, but this'll hold for you when you're offline
- Voting System - Lets leaders start polls, allows members to vote. Again, enough said.
- Story/RP Logs - Probably useful is RPing but if I'm right can also be used for holding info on quests
- Personal Inventory - Allows you to store links to your items in the database, allows others to see what's in your personal inventory.
- Forum System - Not really needed as we have this but there if needs be for quick notes in-game
- Automated Setups/Responses - Timers for raids, personal login messages
- Link IGNbots together - Not useful ATM but if we go into PvP (especially if we take a city) and end up in an alliance this would allow us to take with one another as if one org
- Raid Management - Put down routines, manage raid item auctions, quick commands in the heat of battle
This is a decent thing to have, but there are a few buts:
- Obviously to be worth anything, the account the bot is on has to be logged in constantly. Luckily the client doesn't need to be used, but it will require a net connection up & online 24/7.
- A dummy character has to be created on that account for the bot. Luckily it doesn't need much, just has to be invited into the org (which means getting it to lvl2 and getting onto the mainland) and you can still play on another char while it's logged in
- Someone has to maintain it. Luckily the superadmin/admin do not need to be the same person who has the bot on their computer, but updating the bot with new stuff might be tricky.
So, just a few points
- What do you guys think about getting the orgbot in?
- Who's gonna volunteer to run the bot?