I've been looking through the guidelines for Grouping on the DDA, and I'm confused about 3 things. Yes, I do understand that "these documents are statements of intent." and not finalized rules, but maybe I've missed something obvious 
1) Are "Sessions" different to "Gaming Sessions"?
From the Ignore List rules: "If a player follows another player’s hyperspace trail, the ignore rules cannot be applied to them. The players will join their next session as a group" This seems to refer to instances as covered by the grouping guidelines.
however,
From the Friends List rules: "A refusing player will remain off the other player’s list and the option to ignore future requests from that player during the current gaming session is presented" The use here would seem to be definitely in relation to gaming sessions, not instances
So is it safe to assume that "session" can be read as "instance" throughout the document, as opposed to "gaming session" which means the period of time between a player's logging in and out of the game?
2) Requesting Friendship
Under the Friendship Rules it says this:
"Requesting a friendship can be done inside and outside of the game client"
How can it be done outside the game client? Has there been any word on this or is it a hypothetical feature at the moment.
3) Are Alliances Persistent?
This is really confusing - there seems to be no definitive statement and the guidelines could be interpreted either way. It states:
"In addition to the groups presented above a player can be a part of an Alliance with other players. This is a separate entity that operates within the boundaries of whatever group the players are in"
and
"Creating an alliance is handled exactly the same way as creating a private group with the caveat that anyone in the group can invite other players (including non-friend players) into the alliance and no one is the leader."
Private Groups are dissolved when the last player logs off each gaming session but also have a sort of persistence because "Players can save private group settings including players to invite to allow quick selection and set up of groups".
In the absence of any clear mention about persistence, and the fact that alliance creation is equated with group creation (and groups are not permanent entities as such), I can only conclude that alliances must also be temporary.
Alliances are not the property of any one player and have no designated leader. The guidelines do not specifically state that members of the alliance can save an "Alliance Members List" like an individual can save a "Private Group List", so does that mean alliances don't even have a way of being quickly reformed in subsequent game sessions and would have to be reestablished manually every time?
or is the statement "Creating an alliance is handled exactly the same way as creating a private group" meant to imply that there actually is some sort of shared "Alliance Membership List" to enable fast setup and give alliances virtual persistence?
Thanks.
1) Are "Sessions" different to "Gaming Sessions"?
From the Ignore List rules: "If a player follows another player’s hyperspace trail, the ignore rules cannot be applied to them. The players will join their next session as a group" This seems to refer to instances as covered by the grouping guidelines.
however,
From the Friends List rules: "A refusing player will remain off the other player’s list and the option to ignore future requests from that player during the current gaming session is presented" The use here would seem to be definitely in relation to gaming sessions, not instances
So is it safe to assume that "session" can be read as "instance" throughout the document, as opposed to "gaming session" which means the period of time between a player's logging in and out of the game?
2) Requesting Friendship
Under the Friendship Rules it says this:
"Requesting a friendship can be done inside and outside of the game client"
How can it be done outside the game client? Has there been any word on this or is it a hypothetical feature at the moment.
3) Are Alliances Persistent?
This is really confusing - there seems to be no definitive statement and the guidelines could be interpreted either way. It states:
"In addition to the groups presented above a player can be a part of an Alliance with other players. This is a separate entity that operates within the boundaries of whatever group the players are in"
and
"Creating an alliance is handled exactly the same way as creating a private group with the caveat that anyone in the group can invite other players (including non-friend players) into the alliance and no one is the leader."
Private Groups are dissolved when the last player logs off each gaming session but also have a sort of persistence because "Players can save private group settings including players to invite to allow quick selection and set up of groups".
In the absence of any clear mention about persistence, and the fact that alliance creation is equated with group creation (and groups are not permanent entities as such), I can only conclude that alliances must also be temporary.
Alliances are not the property of any one player and have no designated leader. The guidelines do not specifically state that members of the alliance can save an "Alliance Members List" like an individual can save a "Private Group List", so does that mean alliances don't even have a way of being quickly reformed in subsequent game sessions and would have to be reestablished manually every time?
or is the statement "Creating an alliance is handled exactly the same way as creating a private group" meant to imply that there actually is some sort of shared "Alliance Membership List" to enable fast setup and give alliances virtual persistence?
Thanks.
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