Chat Archive Whispers

Does the Chat Archive include whispers between the players or players and the DM?

Unfortunately, no, it does not.  

I hope it never does.

Would be nice if the people who were a part of the whisper could see it.  But no, I don't want it to be publically available.

Then your DM would know you were calling them a jerk behind his back :)  (I'm the DM in this situation.)

Whew... 

I lost about 1/3 of my game chat due to the whispers not being archived. I wished there was a checkmark or a toggle switch to allow whispers to be included in the archives.

Metroknight said: I wished there was a checkmark or a toggle switch to allow whispers to be included in the archives. I agree.  I would like the option to include not only Whispers but also GM rolls in the Chat Archive.

You do realize that the chat archive updates in realtime and players could just keep that open and refresh it every so often? So no...

I would like to use the Chat Log as a record of all the events of a game (including whispers and gm dice rolls), so... YES!  :)

It allows cheating.

Simple solution, use a different chat program for whispers. Then you can save them separate from the main chat. That or save ONLY whispers to the DM or from the DM.

I would like to have a master log as a GM that contains all whispers and GM rolls. A lot of action is missing from the game with those elements missing. The regular chat archive for players could have everything but whispers or just that player's whispers both sent and received. 

Keith H. said: I would like to have a master log as a GM that contains all whispers and GM rolls. A lot of action is missing from the game with those elements missing. The regular chat archive for players could have everything but whispers or just that player's whispers both sent and received.  Yeah, that seems like the ideal solution.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to have the gm see my whispers to players. What if I'm blowing off steam about a call I didn't like? No reason to cause issues just because I needed to vent.

Whispers are private messages between me and the recipient. They do NOT need to be included in the chat archives.

Chat archives exist specifically to track messages, rolls, and various other kinds of information. As a GM, I've previously lost important information that I thought was still available because it was sent in whispers (specifically Knowledge Check results). I'd find having an option to store all forms of chat very useful. Like other people have already suggested, make it GM-only and have it "toggle"-on optional. And really, if people desperately need to find a way to bitch about their GM without him reading it by accident later on then they can use one of the numerous other chat systems available for chatting out of character.

Again, whispers are private  messages between one person and myself. They have no place in the chat archive. A better option for storing knowledge check information would be the GM Info on the player character handout.

I can see archiving an individual's whispers in that persons & the recipients chat logs.  But that would probably require a total revamp of the chat log system. At any rate, if they start logging it so that anyone other than the sender & recipient can see it, they need to post it in a BIG way to avoid people misunderstanding.

Keith H. said: I would like to have a master log as a GM that contains all whispers and GM rolls. A lot of action is missing from the game with those elements missing. The regular chat archive for players could have everything but whispers or just that player's whispers both sent and received.  Agreed, or at least as an option.

JonathanTheBlack said: Again, whispers are private  messages between one person and myself. They have no place in the chat archive. A better option for storing knowledge check information would be the GM Info on the player character handout. The knowledge check was merely an example of information that gets lost because whispers aren't archived. I don't really see why you're still protesting that whispers are private when there have been several suggestions in this very thread of how to keep whispers private and still add them to the chat log.

Because private messages have no place in a chat log. Period.

Personally I'd love it if they were, so long as only the people involved (sender/receiver) actually had it in theirs. It's not a function I couldn't do without though.

JonathanTheBlack said: Because private messages have no place in a chat log. Period. Out of curiosity, how do you feel about the logging function in Skype chat, MSN Messenger (when it still existed), Yahoo Messenger, and the like?

I don't use them.

Asaram said: Personally I'd love it if they were, so long as only the people involved (sender/receiver) actually had it in theirs. It's not a function I couldn't do without though. Something like that would solve the problem. It would give those that demand their whispers not be archived while GM's like me that rely on whispers for in game actions to be archive the best of both worlds. This lack of feature is still having me think about moving back to the previous program I used for my games. I need the whispers between my players and me archived for maintaining the logical sequence of the game play. As I said before, I lost around 1/3 of my session due to the whispers not being archived. The player lost almost the entire session because of this lack. I personally don't care if my players whisper behind my back but they don't because I'm lucky to have a group of mature players that are not afraid to openly discuss a rule call in an adult manner but that is a discussion for another thread. The most ideal way that I can think of it all whispers from and to the GM is archived and only that. Another idea but I don't know if it is feasible is for the archives be stored on the person's computer not in the server's memory. Example.: The gm has a toggle, button, whatever, to record the session and it is saved as a text file on his computer in the form of a cookie or such in his temp folder or someplace he could designate as the destination folder but this goes back to JonathanTheBlacks insistence that whispers must not be archived because he he thinks only the sender and receiver should be the only one to see them. I do agree with that aspect of private should remain private. That is why I I think Asaram and others have the right idea of only the sender/receiver be able to archive their whispers which if it that session log could be recorded as a text file for what they seen on their monitor, it would be wonderful. Sorry for the long ramble but this has been bothering me since I starting running my games here and is one of the main reasons for my groups ongoing discussion about staying here or moving back to the other program. If this could be looked at and a possible solution be proposed and/ or worked on then I would have no reservation about subscribing. Until then I will stick with the free account.

I've just always played w/ GM's who ENCOURAGE the players to plan & plot privately, w/o the GM's knowledge.  So suddenly having the GM able to read the private conversations goes against what I've always done & known.  Yes, I know you can do it other ways - Yahoo IM, PM in roll20, etc, etc. But while playing, whisper is the easiest/quickest and shows up where the player is most likely looking. Don't get me wrong, I do like having them logged, but only logged where the people who could originially see them can find them.

My only issue with player to player whispering in a situation like this is it can for certain types of players encourage metagaming, and while in some games or some groups it is okay. For any roleplay heavy group it can really ruin things, even if it is only one player trying to control the flow of things and the others aren't metagaming a showpony will always try and abuse the rules. Also @jonathantheblack: In my personal experience even if someone is unhappy with a call by a GM they should always keep it to themselves until they can POLITELY bring it up at a later time outside of the game, even if the unhappy player feels vindicated and righteous it doesn't always mean that other players need nor want that drama in the game and that irritation/acidity can spill into the rest of the session ruining it for everyone just because one person had to incessantly complain or vent. This isn't only limited to roleplaying games however and applies to pretty much anything. If the GM still doesn't respond in a meaningful way then it is up to the player to talk outside the game to other players and discuss a course of action, whether it is a major deal, within the group or maybe that player just needs to find a different group. I mention this in a serious context because there is no reason to hide a non serious complaint/vent about a GM's decision from them imo, please give me an example if you do think of one though. Well that was a bit off topic by the end and I apologise but I have over a long while now seen many incidents both from a player seat and GM seat (and quite often between two players) which could have been avoided with correct and emotionally moderated communication. :D I think a lot of the whisper issues could be fixed with optional selections that the GM could make, if the players wished for a certain option that the GM had not activated it is something that could be brought up for discussion within the group. Only bad GM's ignore players without any form of constructive discussion and group consensus.

I'd like the option to have all whispers stripped out of the archive then.

That is wonderful news.

That is indeed incredibly good news, thank you for this! :)

I got concerned when I checked my chat archive and saw the whispers the other GM and I had made about things players don't need to know. I'm glad they didn't see it. But for whatever future changes you make to the chat log, please set the default to 'hide from players'.

Thanks.

Does a change in GM status of a given campaign have any effect ?

Update: Looking over my chat archives, it seems it registers whispers sent to me by others, but not whispers sent out by me . I am a GM in the campaign.