diff --git a/code/modules/vchat/css/ss13styles.css b/code/modules/vchat/css/ss13styles.css
index c0ded02b149..375ebb5d808 100644
--- a/code/modules/vchat/css/ss13styles.css
+++ b/code/modules/vchat/css/ss13styles.css
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@ body.inverted {
 	cursor: pointer;
 }
 
+.inputbox {
+	width: 5em !important;
+	padding: 0.1em !important;
+}
+
 .icon-left-open-outline:hover, .icon-right-open-outline:hover, .icon-cancel-circled-outline:hover {
 	color: red;
 }
@@ -46,25 +51,6 @@ body.inverted {
 	}
 }
 
-/* The chat message display classes */
-#messagebox div 							{ display: none; } /* Hide messages by default */
-#messagebox.vc_showall div 					{ display: block; } /* Unless we have vc_showall */
-
-#messagebox.vc_localchat .vc_localchat 		{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_radio .vc_radio 				{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_warnings .vc_warnings  		{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_info .vc_info 				{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_deadchat .vc_deadchat  		{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_globalooc .vc_globalooc 		{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_looc .vc_looc 				{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_adminpm .vc_adminpm 			{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_adminchat .vc_adminchat 		{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_modchat .vc_modchat 			{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_eventchat .vc_eventchat 		{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_system .vc_system 			{ display: block; }
-#messagebox.vc_nif .vc_nif					{ display: block; } /* VOREStation Add */
-
-
 /* SS13 Styles */
 #messagebox				{font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;}
 
@@ -188,7 +174,7 @@ h1.alert, h2.alert		{color: #000000;}
 img.icon				{vertical-align: middle; max-height: 1em;}
 img.icon.bigicon		{max-height: 32px;}
 
-/* Zoom levels */
+/* Zoom levels - Replaced with arbitrary font sizes
 .zoom_normal {
 	font-size: 0.9em;
 	line-height: 1.35;
@@ -201,6 +187,7 @@ img.icon.bigicon		{max-height: 32px;}
 	font-size: 0.8em;
 	line-height: 1.2;
 }
+*/
 
 /* Debug Logs */
 .debug_error					{color:#FF0000; font-weight:bold}
diff --git a/code/modules/vchat/html/vchat.html b/code/modules/vchat/html/vchat.html
index 29cc115af86..6426defa57e 100644
--- a/code/modules/vchat/html/vchat.html
+++ b/code/modules/vchat/html/vchat.html
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@
 	<p>VChat is still loading. If you see this for a very long time, try the OOC 'Reload VChat' verb, or reconnecting.</p>
 	<p>Sometimes if you're still caching resources, it will take longer than usual.</p>
 </div>
-<div id="app" @mouseup="on_mouseup" style="display: none;">
+<div id="app" @mouseup="on_mouseup" style="display: none;" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
 
 	<!-- Top menu -->
 	<div id="topmenu" class="ui top fixed menu" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
-		<div v-for="(tab,index) in tabs" class="item" :class="{ active: tab.active, inverted: inverted }" @click="switchtab(tab)" @click.ctrl="editmode">
+		<div v-for="(tab,index) in tabs" class="item" :class="{ active: tab.active }" @click="switchtab(tab)" @click.ctrl="editmode">
 			<i v-show="editing && !tab.immutable && index >= 2" class="icon-left-open-outline" @click.stop.prevent="movetab(tab,-1)" title="Move tab left"></i>
 			{{tab.name}}
 			<i v-show="editing && !tab.immutable" class="icon-cancel-circled-outline" @click.stop.prevent="deltab(tab)" title="Delete tab"></i>
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@
 		</div>
 		
 		<div class="right menu">
-			<div class="item" :class="{ inverted: inverted }" @click="newtab" title="New Tab"><i class="icon-folder-add"></i></div>
-			<div class="item" :class="{ inverted: inverted }" @click="pause" title="Pause Autoscroll">
+			<div class="item" @click="newtab" title="New Tab"><i class="icon-folder-add"></i></div>
+			<div class="item" @click="pause" title="Pause Autoscroll">
 				<i class="icon-pause-outline" :class="{ blinkwarn: paused }"></i>
 			</div>
-			<div class="item" :class="{ inverted: inverted }" @click="editmode" title="Edit Mode">
+			<div class="item" @click="editmode" title="Edit Mode">
 				<i class="icon-cog-outline" :class="{ blinkwarn: editing }"></i>
 			</div>
 			<div class="item"><span class="ui circular label" title="VChat Latency (Not exactly network latency)" :class="ping_classes">{{latency}}ms</span></div>
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 	<!-- Editor box -->
 	<div id="contentbox">
 		<div v-show="editing" id="editbox" class="ui segment" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
-			<div class="ui internally celled grid">
+			<div class="ui internally celled grid" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
 				<div class="row">
 					<div class="sixteen wide column">
 						<div class="ui center aligned header" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
@@ -67,9 +67,9 @@
 							<h5>Messages to display:</h5>
 							<div class="ui form">
 								<div class="grouped fields">
-									<div class="field" v-for="type in type_table">
+									<div class="field" v-for="type in type_table" :title="type.tooltip">
 										<div v-show="!type.admin || is_admin" class="ui slider checkbox" :class="{ inverted: inverted, disabled: type.required || active_tab.immutable, checked: type.required || active_tab.immutable }">
-											<input type="checkbox" id="type.becomes" :value="type.becomes" v-model="active_tab.classes" :disabled="type.required || active_tab.immutable" :checked="type.required || active_tab.immutable"><label :for="type.becomes">{{type.pretty}}</label>
+											<input type="checkbox" id="type.becomes" :value="type.becomes" v-model="active_tab.categories" :disabled="type.required || active_tab.immutable" :checked="type.required || active_tab.immutable"><label :for="type.becomes">{{type.pretty}}</label>
 										</div>
 									</div>
 								</div>
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@
 					</div>
 					<div class="eight wide column">
 						<h3>Global Settings</h3>
+						<p>Clicking anywhere in VChat saves your settings.</p>
 						<div class="ui form" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
 							<div class="grouped fields">
 								<div class="field">
@@ -85,11 +86,6 @@
 										<input type="checkbox" id="darkmode" v-model="inverted"><label for="darkmode">Dark Mode</label>
 									</div>
 								</div>
-								<div class="field">
-									<div class="ui slider checkbox" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
-										<input type="checkbox" id="combining" v-model="crushing"><label for="combining">Combine Messages</label>
-									</div>
-								</div>
 								<div class="field">
 									<div class="ui slider checkbox" :class="{ inverted: inverted }">
 										<input type="checkbox" id="combining" v-model="animated"><label for="animated">Animate Messages</label>
@@ -97,57 +93,82 @@
 								</div>
 							</div>
 							<div class="inline fields">
-								<label>Font Size</label>
-								<div class="field">
+								<label>Combine Messages</label>
+								<div class="field" title="Combine no messages together.">
 									<div class="ui radio checkbox">
-										<input type="radio" id="fssmall" name="fontsize" v-model="fontsize" value="zoom_less">
-										<label for="fssmall">Small</label>
+										<input type="radio" id="cnone" name="crushing" v-model.number="crushing" value="0">
+										<label for="cnone">None</label>
 									</div>
 								</div>
-								<div class="field">
+								<div class="field" title="Try to combine the newest and last message.">
 									<div class="ui radio checkbox">
-										<input type="radio" id="fsstd" name="fontsize" v-model="fontsize" value="zoom_normal">
-										<label for="fsstd">Standard</label>
+										<input type="radio" id="cone" name="crushing" v-model.number="crushing" value="1">
+										<label for="cone">One</label>
 									</div>
 								</div>
-								<div class="field">
+								<div class="field" title="Try to combine the newest and last 3 messages.">
 									<div class="ui radio checkbox">
-										<input type="radio" id="fslarge" name="fontsize" v-model="fontsize" value="zoom_more">
-										<label for="fslarge">Large</label>
+										<input type="radio" id="cthree" name="crushing" v-model.number="crushing" value="3">
+										<label for="cthree">Three</label>
 									</div>
 								</div>
 							</div>
 							<div class="inline fields">
-								<div class="field">
-									<label># Shown Messages</label>
-									<input :class="{ inverted: inverted }" type="number" name="showingnum" placeholder="200" title="Will affect performance!" v-model.lazy.number="showingnum" required style="width: 5em; padding: 0.1em;">
+								<div class="field" title="Font size (Min 0.2, Max 5, Default 0.9)">
+									<label>Font Scale</label>
+									<input class="inputbox" type="number" name="fontsize" placeholder="0.9" v-model.lazy.number="fontsize" required>
+								</div>
+							</div>
+							<div class="inline fields">
+								<div class="field" title="Line height % (Min 100, Max 200, Default 130)">
+									<label>Line Height %</label>
+									<input class="inputbox" type="number" name="lineheight" placeholder="130" v-model.lazy.number="lineheight" required>
+								</div>
+							</div>
+							<div class="inline fields">
+								<div class="field" title="Hides messages for performance (Min 50, Max 2000, Default 200)">
+									<label># Stored Messages</label>
+									<input class="inputbox" type="number" name="showingnum" placeholder="200" v-model.lazy.number="showingnum" required>
 								</div>
 							</div>
 						</div>
-						<button class="ui button" :class="{ inverted: inverted }" @click="save_chatlog">Export Chatlog</button>
+						<button class="ui button" @click="save_chatlog">Export Chatlog</button>
 					</div>
 				</div>
 			</div>
 		</div>
 
 		<!-- Messages box -->
-		<div v-show="!editing" id="messagebox" class="ui segment" :class="active_classes" @click="click_message">
-			<div v-show="messages.length > showingnum" class="vc_system">
-				<span class='notice'>[ {{messages.length - showingnum}} previous messages hidden due to display settings. ]</span>
-			</div>
+		<div v-show="!editing" id="messagebox" class="ui segment" @click="click_message" :class="{ inverted: inverted }" :style="{fontSize: fontsize+'em', lineHeight: lineheight+'%'}">
 			<transition-group name="msgsanim" tag="span" :css="animated">
-				<div v-for="message in shown_messages" :class="[message.category, fontsize]" :key="message.id">
-					<span v-html="message.content"></span>
-					<span v-show="message.repeats > 1" class="ui grey circular label">x{{message.repeats}}</span>
-				</div>
+				<!-- We're filtering -->
+				<template v-if="current_categories.length">
+					<div v-show="unshown_messages > 0" key="hidewarn1"><span class='notice'>[ {{unshown_messages}} previous messages archived for performance. ]</span></div>
+					<div v-for="message in shown_messages" :key="message.id">
+						<span v-html="message.content"></span>
+						<span v-show="message.repeats > 1" class="ui grey circular label">x{{message.repeats}}</span>
+					</div>
+				</template>
+				<!-- We're not filtering, messages go directly to dom -->
+				<template v-else>
+					<div v-show="archived_messages.length > 0" key="hidewarn2"><span class='notice'>[ {{archived_messages.length}} previous messages archived for performance. ]</span></div>
+					<div v-for="message in messages" :key="message.id">
+						<span v-html="message.content"></span>
+						<span v-show="message.repeats > 1" class="ui grey circular label">x{{message.repeats}}</span>
+					</div>
+				</template>
 			</transition-group>
 		</div>
 
 	</div>
 	<!--
-		Tab: {{active_tab}}<br>
-		Classes: {{active_classes}}<br>
-		Fontsize: {{fontsize}}<br>
+	<div class="ui segment">
+		active_tab: {{active_tab}}<br>
+		current_categories: {{current_categories}}<br>
+		messages.length: {{messages.length}}<br>
+		archived_messages.length: {{archived_messages.length}}<br>
+		shown_messages.length: {{shown_messages.length}}<br>
+	</div>
 	-->
 	
 
diff --git a/code/modules/vchat/js/vchat.js b/code/modules/vchat/js/vchat.js
index 382826e4da3..d73ff532c98 100644
--- a/code/modules/vchat/js/vchat.js
+++ b/code/modules/vchat/js/vchat.js
@@ -24,10 +24,10 @@
 
 //Options for vchat
 var vchat_opts = {
-	crush_messages: 3, //How many messages back should we try to combine if crushing is on
 	pingThisOften: 10000, //ms
 	pingDropsAllowed: 2,
-	cookiePrefix: "vst-" //If you're another server, you can change this if you want.
+	cookiePrefix: "vst-", //If you're another server, you can change this if you want.
+	alwaysShow: ["vc_looc", "vc_system"] //Categories to always display on every tab
 };
 
 var DARKMODE_COLORS = {
@@ -115,10 +115,12 @@ function start_vue() {
 		el: '#app',
 		data: {
 			messages: [], //List o messages from byond
+			shown_messages: [], //Used on filtered tabs, but not "Main" because it has 0len categories list, which bypasses filtering for speed
+			unshown_messages: 0, //How many messages in archive would be shown but aren't
+			archived_messages: [], //Too old to show
 			tabs: [ //Our tabs
-				{name: "Main", classes: ["vc_showall"], immutable: true, active: true}
+				{name: "Main", categories: [], immutable: true, active: true}
 			],
-			always_show: ["vc_looc", "vc_system"], //Classes to always display on every tab
 			unread_messages: {}, //Message categories that haven't been looked at since we got one of them
 			editing: false, //If we're in settings edit mode
 			paused: false, //Autoscrolling
@@ -128,17 +130,19 @@ function start_vue() {
 
 			//Settings
 			inverted: false, //Dark mode
-			crushing: true, //Combine similar messages
+			crushing: 3, //Combine similar messages
+			animated: false, //Small CSS animations for new messages
+			fontsize: 0.9, //Font size nudging
+			lineheight: 130,
 			showingnum: 200, //How many messages to show
-			animated: true, //Small CSS animations for new messages
-			fontsize: "zoom_normal", //Font size nudging
 
-			//The table to map game css classes to our vchat classes
+			//The table to map game css classes to our vchat categories
 			type_table: [
 				{
 					matches: ".say, .emote",
 					becomes: "vc_localchat",
 					pretty: "Local Chat",
+					tooltip: "In-character local messages (say, emote, etc)",
 					required: false,
 					admin: false
 				},
@@ -146,6 +150,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".alert, .syndradio, .centradio, .airadio, .entradio, .comradio, .secradio, .engradio, .medradio, .sciradio, .supradio, .srvradio, .expradio, .radio, .deptradio, .newscaster",
 					becomes: "vc_radio",
 					pretty: "Radio Comms",
+					tooltip: "All departments of radio messages",
 					required: false,
 					admin: false
 				},
@@ -153,6 +158,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".notice, .adminnotice, .info, .sinister, .cult",
 					becomes: "vc_info",
 					pretty: "Notices",
+					tooltip: "Non-urgent messages from the game and items",
 					required: false,
 					admin: false
 				},
@@ -160,6 +166,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".critical, .danger, .userdanger, .warning, .italics",
 					becomes: "vc_warnings",
 					pretty: "Warnings",
+					tooltip: "Urgent messages from the game and items",
 					required: false,
 					admin: false
 				},
@@ -167,6 +174,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".deadsay",
 					becomes: "vc_deadchat",
 					pretty: "Deadchat",
+					tooltip: "All of deadchat",
 					required: false,
 					admin: false
 				},
@@ -174,6 +182,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".ooc:not(.looc)",
 					becomes: "vc_globalooc",
 					pretty: "Global OOC",
+					tooltip: "The bluewall of global OOC messages",
 					required: false,
 					admin: false
 				},
@@ -190,6 +199,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".pm",
 					becomes: "vc_adminpm",
 					pretty: "Admin PMs",
+					tooltip: "Messages to/from admins ('adminhelps')",
 					required: false,
 					admin: false
 				},
@@ -197,6 +207,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".admin_channel",
 					becomes: "vc_adminchat",
 					pretty: "Admin Chat",
+					tooltip: "ASAY messages",
 					required: false,
 					admin: true
 				},
@@ -204,6 +215,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".mod_channel",
 					becomes: "vc_modchat",
 					pretty: "Mod Chat",
+					tooltip: "MSAY messages",
 					required: false,
 					admin: true
 				},
@@ -211,6 +223,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".event_channel",
 					becomes: "vc_eventchat",
 					pretty: "Event Chat",
+					tooltip: "ESAY messages",
 					required: false,
 					admin: true
 				},
@@ -218,38 +231,18 @@ function start_vue() {
 					matches: ".ooc.looc, .ooc .looc", //Dumb game
 					becomes: "vc_looc",
 					pretty: "Local OOC",
+					tooltip: "Local OOC messages, always enabled",
 					required: true
 				},
 				{
 					matches: ".boldannounce",
 					becomes: "vc_system",
 					pretty: "System Messages",
+					tooltip: "Messages from your client, always enabled",
 					required: true
 				}
 			],
 		},
-		created: function() {
-			/*Dog mode
-			setTimeout(function(){
-				document.body.className += " woof";
-			},5000);
-			*/
-			/* Stress test
-			var varthis = this;
-			setInterval( function() {
-				if(varthis.messages.length > 10000) {
-					return;
-				}
-				var stringymessages = JSON.stringify(varthis.messages);
-				var unstringy = JSON.parse(stringymessages);
-				unstringy.forEach( function(message) {
-					message.id = ++vchat_state.lastId;
-					varthis.messages.push(message);	
-				});
-				varthis.internal_message("Now have " + varthis.messages.length + " messages in array.");
-			}, 10000);
-			*/
-		},
 		mounted: function() {
 			//Load our settings
 			this.load_settings();
@@ -284,22 +277,50 @@ function start_vue() {
 			animated: function (newSetting) {
 				set_storage("animated",newSetting);
 			},
-			fontsize: function (newSetting) {
+			fontsize: function (newSetting, oldSetting) {
+				if(isNaN(newSetting)) { //Numbers only
+					this.fontsize = oldSetting;
+					return;
+				}
+				if(newSetting < 0.2) {
+					this.fontsize = 0.2;
+				} else if(newSetting > 5) {
+					this.fontsize = 5;
+				}
 				set_storage("fontsize",newSetting);
 			},
+			lineheight: function (newSetting, oldSetting) {
+				if(!isFinite(newSetting)) { //Integers only
+					this.lineheight = oldSetting;
+					return;
+				}
+				if(newSetting < 100) {
+					this.lineheight = 100;
+				} else if(newSetting > 200) {
+					this.lineheight = 200;
+				}
+				set_storage("lineheight",newSetting);
+			},
 			showingnum: function (newSetting, oldSetting) {
-				if(!isFinite(newSetting)) {
+				if(!isFinite(newSetting)) { //Integers only
 					this.showingnum = oldSetting;
 					return;
 				}
 				
 				newSetting = Math.floor(newSetting);
-				if(newSetting <= 50) {
+				if(newSetting < 50) {
 					this.showingnum = 50;
 				} else if(newSetting > 2000) {
 					this.showingnum = 2000;
 				}
+
 				set_storage("showingnum",this.showingnum);
+				this.attempt_archive();
+			},
+			current_categories: function(newSetting, oldSetting) {
+				if(newSetting.length) {
+					this.apply_filter(newSetting);
+				}
 			}
 		},
 		computed: {
@@ -311,14 +332,6 @@ function start_vue() {
 				});
 				return tab;
 			},
-			//Which classes does the active tab need?
-			active_classes: function() {
-				let classarray = this.active_tab.classes;
-				let classtext = classarray.toString(); //Convert to a string
-				let classproper = classtext.replace(/,/g," ");
-				if(this.inverted) classproper += " inverted";
-				return classproper; //Swap commas for spaces
-			},
 			//What color does the latency pip get?
 			ping_classes: function() {
 				if(this.latency === 0) { return "grey"; }
@@ -327,11 +340,11 @@ function start_vue() {
 				else if(this.latency <= 400) { return "yellow"; }
 				else { return "red"; }
 			},
-			shown_messages: function() {
-				if(this.messages.length <= this.showingnum) {
-					return this.messages;
+			current_categories: function() {
+				if(this.active_tab == this.tabs[0]) {
+					return []; //Everything, no filtering, special case for speed.
 				} else {
-					return this.messages.slice(-1*this.showingnum);
+					return this.active_tab.categories.concat(vchat_opts.alwaysShow);
 				}
 			}
 		},
@@ -339,10 +352,14 @@ function start_vue() {
 			//Load the chat settings
 			load_settings: function() {
 				this.inverted = get_storage("darkmode", false);
-				this.crushing = get_storage("crushing", true);
+				this.crushing = get_storage("crushing", 3);
+				this.animated = get_storage("animated", false);
+				this.fontsize = get_storage("fontsize", 0.9);
+				this.lineheight = get_storage("lineheight", 130);
 				this.showingnum = get_storage("showingnum", 200);
-				this.animated = get_storage("animated", true);
-				this.fontsize = get_storage("fontsize", 'zoom_normal');
+
+				if(isNaN(this.crushing)){this.crushing = 3;} //This used to be a bool (03-02-2020)
+				if(isNaN(this.fontsize)){this.fontsize = 0.9;} //This used to be a string (03-02-2020)
 			},
 			//Change to another tab
 			switchtab: function(tab) {
@@ -350,9 +367,11 @@ function start_vue() {
 				this.active_tab.active = false;
 				tab.active = true;
 
-				tab.classes.forEach( function(cls) {
+				tab.categories.forEach( function(cls) {
 					this.unread_messages[cls] = 0;
 				}, this);
+
+				this.apply_filter(this.current_categories);
 			},
 			//Toggle edit mode
 			editmode: function() {
@@ -366,7 +385,7 @@ function start_vue() {
 			newtab: function() {
 				this.tabs.push({
 					name: "New Tab",
-					classes: this.always_show.slice(),
+					categories: [],
 					immutable: false,
 					active: false
 				});
@@ -406,17 +425,17 @@ function start_vue() {
 			tab_unread_count: function(tab) {
 				var unreads = 0;
 				var thisum = this.unread_messages;
-				tab.classes.find( function(cls){
+				tab.categories.find( function(cls){
 					if(thisum[cls]) {
 						unreads += thisum[cls];
 					}
 				});
 				return unreads;
 			},
-			tab_unread_classes: function(tab) {
+			tab_unread_categories: function(tab) {
 				var unreads = false;
 				var thisum = this.unread_messages;
-				tab.classes.find( function(cls){
+				tab.categories.find( function(cls){
 					if(thisum[cls]) {
 						unreads = true;
 						return true;
@@ -425,6 +444,39 @@ function start_vue() {
 
 				return { red: unreads, grey: !unreads};
 			},
+			attempt_archive: function() {
+				var wiggle = 20; //Wiggle room to prevent hysterisis effects. Slice off 20 at a time.
+				//Pushing out old messages
+				if(this.messages.length > this.showingnum) {//Time to slice off old messages
+					var too_old = this.messages.splice(0,wiggle); //We do a few at a time to avoid doing it too often
+					Array.prototype.push.apply(this.archived_messages, too_old); //ES6 adds spread operator. I'd use it if I could.
+				}/*
+				//Pulling back old messages
+				} else if(this.messages.length < (this.showingnum - wiggle)) { //Sigh, repopulate old messages
+					var too_new = this.archived_messages.splice(this.messages.length - (this.showingnum - wiggle));
+					Array.prototype.shift.apply(this.messages, too_new);
+				}
+				*/
+			},
+			apply_filter: function(cat_array) {
+				//Clean up the array
+				this.shown_messages.splice(0);
+				this.unshown_messages = 0;
+
+				//For each message, try to find it's category in the categories we're showing
+				this.messages.forEach( function(msg){
+					if(cat_array.indexOf(msg.category) > -1) { //Returns the position in the array, and -1 for not found
+						this.shown_messages.push(msg);
+					}
+				}, this);
+
+				//For each message, try to find it's category in the categories we're showing
+				this.archived_messages.forEach( function(msg){
+					if(cat_array.indexOf(msg.category) > -1) { //Returns the position in the array, and -1 for not found
+						this.unshown_messages++;
+					}
+				}, this);
+			},
 			//Push a new message into our array
 			add_message: function(message) {
 				//IE doesn't support the 'class' syntactic sugar so we're left making our own object.
@@ -434,18 +486,13 @@ function start_vue() {
 					content: message.message,
 					repeats: 1
 				};
+
 				//Get a category
 				newmessage.category = this.get_category(newmessage.content);
-				if(!this.active_tab.classes.some(function(cls) { return (cls == newmessage.category || cls == "vc_showall"); })) {
-					if (isNaN(this.unread_messages[newmessage.category])) {
-						this.unread_messages[newmessage.category] = 0;
-					}
-					this.unread_messages[newmessage.category] += 1;
-				}
 
 				//Try to crush it with one of the last few
 				if(this.crushing) {
-					let crushwith = this.messages.slice(-(vchat_opts.crush_messages));
+					let crushwith = this.messages.slice(-(this.crushing));
 					for (let i = crushwith.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
 						let oldmessage = crushwith[i];
 						if(oldmessage.content == newmessage.content) {
@@ -455,8 +502,19 @@ function start_vue() {
 					}
 				}
 
+				//Unread indicator and insertion into current tab shown messages if sensible
+				if(this.current_categories.length && (this.current_categories.indexOf(newmessage.category) < 0)) { //Not in the current categories
+					if (isNaN(this.unread_messages[newmessage.category])) {
+						this.unread_messages[newmessage.category] = 0;
+					}
+					this.unread_messages[newmessage.category] += 1;
+				} else if(this.current_categories.length) { //Is in the current categories
+					this.shown_messages.push(newmessage);
+				}
+
 				//Append to vue's messages
 				newmessage.id = ++vchat_state.lastId;
+				this.attempt_archive();
 				this.messages.push(newmessage);
 			},
 			//Push an internally generated message into our array
@@ -518,7 +576,10 @@ function start_vue() {
 			},
 			save_chatlog: function() {
 				var textToSave = "<html><head><style>"+this.ext_styles+"</style></head><body>";
-				this.messages.forEach( function(message) {
+				
+				var messagesToSave = this.archived_messages.concat(this.messages);
+
+				messagesToSave.forEach( function(message) {
 					textToSave += message.content;
 					if(message.repeats > 1) {
 						textToSave += "(x"+message.repeats+")";
@@ -676,10 +737,14 @@ function get_localstorage(key, deffo) {
 	//localstorage only stores strings.
 	if(value === "null" || value === null) {
 		value = deffo;
+	//Coerce bools back into their native forms
 	} else if(value === "true") {
 		value = true;
 	} else if(value === "false") {
 		value = false;
+	//Coerce numbers back into numerical form
+	} else if(!isNaN(value)) {
+		value = +value;
 	}
 	return value;
 }
@@ -708,6 +773,8 @@ function get_cookie(key, deffo) {
 			right = true;
 		} else if(right === "false") {
 			right = false;
+		} else if(!isNaN(right)) {
+			right = +right;
 		}
 		cookie_object[left] = right; //Stick into object
 	});
diff --git a/code/modules/vchat/vchat_client.dm b/code/modules/vchat/vchat_client.dm
index 20dc7661ab8..ec32c08118d 100644
--- a/code/modules/vchat/vchat_client.dm
+++ b/code/modules/vchat/vchat_client.dm
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-#define BACKLOG_LENGTH 20 MINUTES
-
 //The 'V' is for 'VORE' but you can pretend it's for Vue.js if you really want.
 
 //These are sent to the client via browse_rsc() in advance so the HTML can access them.
@@ -124,10 +122,14 @@ GLOBAL_DATUM_INIT(iconCache, /savefile, new("data/iconCache.sav")) //Cache of ic
 //Perform DB shenanigans
 /datum/chatOutput/proc/load_database()
 	set waitfor = FALSE
-	var/list/results = vchat_get_messages(owner.ckey, world.time - BACKLOG_LENGTH)
+	var/list/results = vchat_get_messages(owner.ckey) //If there's bad performance on reconnects, look no further
 	for(var/list/message in results)
+		var/count = 10
 		to_chat_immediate(owner, message["time"], message["message"])
-		CHECK_TICK
+		count++
+		if(count >= 10)
+			count = 0
+			CHECK_TICK
 
 //It din work
 /datum/chatOutput/proc/become_broken()
@@ -325,5 +327,3 @@ var/to_chat_src
 
 		var/list/tojson = list("time" = time, "message" = message);
 		target << output(jsEncode(tojson), "htmloutput:putmessage")
-
-#undef BACKLOG_LENGTH
diff --git a/code/modules/vchat/vchat_db.dm b/code/modules/vchat/vchat_db.dm
index e80ac5e3d68..8f9ba13e92c 100644
--- a/code/modules/vchat/vchat_db.dm
+++ b/code/modules/vchat/vchat_db.dm
@@ -83,8 +83,6 @@ GLOBAL_DATUM(vchatdb, /database)
 	//Byond is so great half the time it doesn't delete the file
 	var/cleanup = "DROP TABLE IF EXISTS messages"
 	vchat_exec_update(cleanup)
-	cleanup = "VACUUM"
-	vchat_exec_update(cleanup)
 
 	//Messages table
 	var/tabledef = "CREATE TABLE messages(\