WowAce

This add-on provides cross-realm communication with other players through chat channels.

Channels are inherently local to each server and thus messages are not broadcast to other servers. On the other hand, Battle.net conversations are in fact cross-realm, but are restricted to players who share Battle.net IDs with each other. In addition, Battle.net conversations do not persist upon logout so players must re-join the conversation if they log on to a different character, which requires an invitation from other players.

FZ Cross-realm Communicator (FZXC) attempts to remedy this problem by providing cross-realm channel broadcasts:

• The add-on monitors messages within designated channel(s) and silently broadcasts them to receiving player(s) on different realm(s).
• If subscribed to the channel, the receiving player(s) will then mirror the message to the channel on their current realm.
• This process can be mutual, so that messages within a certain channel on one realm is synchronized with messages within the same channel on another realm, possibly with a different alias.
• These players act as servers and allow messages to be transferred across realms. These players must be mutual Real ID / BattleTags friends and have the add-on installed.

Configuration

The add-on does nothing by default so it must be configured correctly to properly broadcast messages.

To set up a cross-realm channel, each server player must insert a special hashtag in the note of all the other server players. This tag establishes a one-way link between the source channel and the destination channel. The syntax of the tag is the following:

• #source:dest

where source is the name of the source channel and dest is the name of the destination channel. The :dest portion is optional: if omitted, the destination channel will be of the same name as the source channel. The channel name may not contain any spaces and are not case-sensitive.

To edit the note, right-click the player in the friends list and choose Set Note. Multiple hashtags may be used in one note and any other miscellaneous text in the note (anything that does not look like a hashtag) will be silently ignored.

Once the hashtags are set up properly, type /fzxc info and it should correctly display the subscribed channels and players responsible for broadcasting the messages.

In versions 1.0.7 and above, a channel subscription feature has been implemented. This allows receiving players to selectively choose which messages to receive. Therefore, to receive messages, the receiving player must subscribe to a channel by having a corresponding tag (but reversed in direction). For example, in order to receive messages in a (local) channel "foo", the player must have a "#foo" tag somewhere on the friends list. If the player is not subscribed to the channel (i.e. does not have the tag), messages directed to the that channel will be silently dropped. This is done for privacy reasons.

Additional commands are available by typing /fzxc.

Example A: shared channel

As a simple example, consider 3 players, Alice, Bob, and Charlie, who would like to communicate through a common channel called "foo". Whether these players are on same or different realms (or factions) is irrelevant; the configuration is identical. The 3 players are required to be mutual Battle.net friends (Real ID or BattleTag). For this setup,

• On Alice's friends list, "#foo" must be included in the note of both Bob and Charlie.
• On Bob's friends list, "#foo" must be included in the note of both Charlie and Alice.
• On Charlie's friends list, "#foo" must be included in the note of both Alice and Bob.

After the notes are set correctly, each player must then /join foo in order to post and receive messages from the channel. Any messages that appear in the channel "foo" on one realm will then be copied to the same channel on the other realm(s) that the 3 players are on.

Example B: one-way link

Consider two players, Alice and Bob, who are on different servers. Alice is in a channel named "foo" and regularly posts messages in it. Bob would like to receive those messages in a channel named "bar" on his own realm, but does not wish to reply to any of those messages. Alice can broadcast the messages to Bob's channel "bar" by inserting "#foo:bar" into Bob's note on her friends list.

However, in order for Bob to receive the messages, he must insert "#bar:noreply" into Alice's note on his friends list. The tag is necessary in order to subscribe to Alice's broadcasts, while the "noreply" is a dummy channel (which presumably doesn't exist on Alice's realm), so that any replied messages are automatically dropped on Alice's end.

Known issue(s):

• If the configuration is incorrect, multiple players may broadcast copies of the same message. Workaround: Ensure that every server player has all the other server players marked correctly using the hashtag.

Feature wish list.