Tasks / RRC: Realspace Relay Chat

Conversations online are often referred to as asynchronous communication. While this also has a deeper technical meaning, in this case it means that conversations can be stretched out over time (as in one-on-one instant messaging), or with multiple conversers participating in time-shifted, parallel streams, with a delay in awareness of what else is being said accompanied by a sort of subsequent rewinding to catch up, with the added risk of losing parts of the conversation (as in multiple-user IRC channels).

RRC, or Realspace Relay Chat, would therefore be a way to replicate this sort of multi-participant, asynchronous communication outside of virtual reality. As part of the goals of the EquivalenZ project, you and several other players must devise and execute an RRC system. It is not acceptable to merely gather to have a conversation; in systems of verbal communication, you have already been conditioned to take turns while speaking, not interrupt others, and to pay attention to what is being said as it is being said; this is linear, synchronous conversation and is nothing new. When building and executing your system, please adhere to the following specifications:

1. Your system must allow engagement: all conversers will be able to jump in at any time, regardless of the activity of any other converser.
2. Your system must perform equilaterally, if not efficiently: All participants will receive all portions of the conversation. Eventually.
3. Your system must allow for recall: There must be a way for conversers to "scroll back" and review the most recent portions of the conversation.
4. Your system must not immediately break down under its own limitations: It must be able to facilitate dozens of conversers for as long as possible.
5. Your system must not be too slow: If it takes too long for the conversation to disseminate, conversers will become more tempted to cheat the system. Do not tempt them.

Additionally, your system may or may not allow the following, as per the whim of the participating players:

6. One or more conversers may have "ops," which would grant them the ability to "kick" other users from the conversation, or "mute" them so that they can listen to but not participate in the conversation.
7. Your system could have a topic, being a short message that greets new participants to the conversation that may or may not give them a frame of reference as to what's being discussed. It could alternately not make any sense whatsoever.

As proof of task completion, describe your system fully, as well as what happened when execution was attempted. Try to include an audio or video recording of your system in action, or document the execution heavily with photographs and descriptions.

4 to 40 players
75 points
Level 4
In the zone of: EquivalenZ
Created by Jason 7au

this task is retired