Addon Comm Throttling " This writeup concerns managing total throughput of very large shared channels . It does not touch upon the maximum output rate for a single client . See ChatThrottleLib for more information on that subject . " Message throttling is a complicated subject , because you have to limit both incoming and outgoing traffic while only having control of outgoing . The number one goal to keep in mind is that background communications should not affect foreground game play . The maximum incoming rate for chat is as such : Where p is the amount of players communicating , r is the maximum rate , and T is the total incoming bytes per second . Thus , looking at the extreme case of 40 raid members : and consequently , So in picking an arbitrary T that is sufficient to bear the load but not cause a great impact , T is 4000 , and r is 100 . Despite it seeming low , a rate of 100 Bytes / second is not all that far - fetched . If you are transferring critical information , it should be sent in as small packets as possible , possibly with some compression mechanism . Also , for raids , raid leaders have the privilege of 200 Bytes / second , and raid assistants 150 Bytes / second . Instead of having guild , global , and raid on the same throttle , it is better to split them up into different throttles , to prevent a large global message from preventing a needed real time raid message . Guild throttling . Unlike the raid channel , both Guild and Global channels should not be sending real time data back and forth , thus the need for such a high rate is not needed . Thus , the formula I ' ll use to calculate the Guild and Global rates is this formula : which translates to Where Rp is the likely maximum members in a raid ( 40 ) , Rr is the rate at which the average raid message is traveling ( 100 B / s ) , Gp is the likely maximum members in a guild , Gr is the rate at which the average guild message is traveling , C is a constant to determine the need of real time messages . Guilds have a varying number of members , with the average being around 61 members per guild . Some guilds have a much larger number , though , upwards of 300 . The number I will use is Dunbar ' s number , which is roughly 150 . Any guilds with an amount of members over this is unlikely to exist ( and unlikely to persist ) . The need for real time messages is very important in a raid , so I shall choose the arbitrary and simple number 2 to represent C , which means that real time messages are twice as important as normal messages ) . So the numbers we have are : So translates to so So you can send about 13 bytes / second through the guild . Note : you could send one giant 250 - byte message to the global channel , you merely have to wait 20 seconds before you send your next message . In turn , if you send a 10 - byte message , you only have to wait 1 second to send your next message . If you are the guild leader , you should have the privilege of double that rate , at 26 . 66666 bytes / second . Global throttling . Global messages are even more complicated and should be used with greatest care , since there are many players , who all want to get their voice heard . I will use the same formula as above to determine the rate . which translates to Where Rp is the likely maximum members in a raid ( 40 ) , Rr is the rate at which the average raid message is traveling ( 100 B / s ) , Tp is the likely maximum members in the global channel , Tr is the rate at which the average global message is traveling , C is a constant to determine the need of real time messages . ( 2 ) In a populated realm , the amount of members online on a single faction can reach 4000 ( and possibly go beyond ) , so that shall be the value for Tp So the numbers we have are : So translates to so So you can send 0 . 5 chars per second through the global channel . This may seem extremely small , but it is necessary . Note : you could send one giant 250 - char message to the global channel , you merely have to wait 500 seconds before you send your next message . In turn , if you send a 10 - char message , you only have to wait 20 seconds to send your next message .