The Wire & Direct Messages

Two separate chat systems cover the social side of the game, both server-rendered and refreshed by a plain client poll — no chat history is ever computed or trusted client-side.

The Wire — global chat

One room, everyone in every city, reached from the Phone or previewed right on the Dashboard. Messages are capped at 280 characters and the whole room's history is trimmed to the most recent 200 messages — old chatter simply falls off the end rather than being archived. Unlike your character, Wire history survives a season reset; it's social, not economic.

Direct Messages

Private 1-on-1 conversations, reached the same way as the Wire or by messaging someone straight from their Register profile. Each conversation is kept in full (no trimming — DM volume is far lower than the Wire's) and, like the Wire, survives seasons. Blocking someone stops messages in both directions.

Who you're talking to

Not everyone active in chat is a real player — NPC crews chatter too, reacting to things like losing turf, being attacked, or posting a hit, either via a local model or a canned fallback. It's there to make the world feel populated, not to trick you — an NPC's messages read distinctly enough once you've seen a few.