' Wrote:True, we lose some of those "This is ship xyz requesting landing" kind of atmosphere creating messages, but I think it's a fair trade considering loosing most of the needless system wide chatter.
We'd also lose the RPing in system chat that populated places do get on good days.
Believe it or not, System does get used for RP. In my experience, way more than Local - but how would I know how often Local is used? I can't see it unless I'm in the range. People can have a great time RPing in Local near Malta, and if I'm over by Ibiza for whatever reason I won't see any of it. With it in System, even if I'm not involved, I can enjoy reading it.
You say realism, I say screw realism. If I wanted realism, I'd go deal with the idiots in the real world. I play Freelancer for fun, and seeing other people RPing is a hell of a lot more fun than flying through Omicron Alpha and only "hearing" what people say for a few minutes at a time.
Even with all its stupidity, I prefer a talkative New York over a silent one. Especially when I'm flying a trader.
I wouldn't have an issue with localon/localoff as long as it defaults to off, though.
