This is absolutely an important point.

I agree. More emphasis on good, useful, and for the love of god, VERSATILE chat interfaces.

Star Wars Galaxies holds several records in the mmo-business, not least of which includes screwing your customer base over the most, but also on the most creative and deep game mechanics. And this is yet another point in which it shines.

Star Wars Galaxies had the best chat interface ever. It practically parallelled a good IRC interface! - you had tons of functions.

- Windows could be dragged out and placed where you wanted them, or organized in the usual tabs.
- There were several layers of regional channels.
- And you could even create your very own chat channels!
- And while cross-faction chat might be an issue in some worlds, it wasn't at all in SWG, as the socializing actually transcended factions. You were in fact factionless by default, until you took action.