[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

Then I'm sorry. I'll be sure not to pop in ever again, since it's so offensive.

Bah! Stop by again. I've stopped by and people are connected but they weren't actively talking at the time. Also, if that's happened and you're doing other things on the net, I can see why you popped back out again. Chat rooms shouldn't probably be taken too seriously. Go and have fun it you want.

[john238]

I just don't like chatrooms full stop!

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by john238

I just don't like chatrooms full stop!

Why not?

I admit I'm not big on just random chatrooms where I don't know anyone, but community-specific stuff like this, where I already know everyone likely to be chatting, I think is great.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[john238]

Because this is where alot of the child sex offenders hang out. They pretend that they are also a kid when they are not. This is how some kids get offended by them.

Unless the chat rooms are moderated very stickly I guess it is alright then.

I use to have chatrooms on my site which became rather active, but designed to shut that area down for the safety of children.

I prefer to have this sort of stuff not happening.

[tabacco]

Originally Posted by john238

Because this is where alot of the child sex offenders hang out. They pretend that they are also a kid when they are not. This is how some kids get offended by them.

Unless the chat rooms are moderated very stickly I guess it is alright then.

I use to have chatrooms on my site which became rather active, but designed to shut that area down for the safety of children.

I prefer to have this sort of stuff not happening.

Well, I'm glad you think so highly of our IRC channel

[lumi]

Originally Posted by john238

Because this is where alot of the child sex offenders hang out.

I think you watch too much news.

[Lucien21]

I hate parks because I hear that muggers and rapists hang out there.

obviously that applies to EVERY PARK in the world.

[john238]

I didn't mean you chat rooms. I mean't about chatrooms in general.

I just don't use them because of this and also because I don't get much time. I run a business and in my spare time I like to take part in forums. I wish I had more time to do other things aswell but I don't.

I use to use chatrooms when I was in school and in college, but I haven't used them since.

I prefer to use forums. At least when you say something it says on the forums.

I tooks my chatrooms down a about 3 years ago because of sex offenders not that they were using my chatrooms of course, but I thought that having them my just make some people think that I am helping these sort of things out.

I also took them down because I just thought that the IRC was a cr*p at the time. This is because I had put alot of work into putting the IRC chat rooms up on my site plus doing the design of the page only to find that the chatrooms where not working alot of the time.

If something doesn't work that often of is down about 1 hour every week then I prefer not to have it on my site.

I hope all goes well with your chatrooms though.

I know people are right about going to the park and things. It's just like fraud on the Internet. My parents don't no nothing about the interent and then something comes on the new mentioning about fraud on the internet and before I know it they say are telling me not to use my credit cards online or give your bank details and postal address and things.

I turn around and tell them that is stupid. How am I meant to get my money and letters and things. I also tell them, don't forget a run a full time online business.

Infact I think chatrooms have probably improved now as they are probably more moderated and things so I guess they are alright now just that I have not really seen what they are like since there was alot of talk about them on the new due to me not having much time.

I hope all goes well.

Originally Posted by tabacco

Well, I'm glad you think so highly of our IRC channel

[Huz]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

I agree with Huz... back at another fandom I used to be a part of, we had a chat which was open 24/7, but there was a weekly "scheduled chat" as well. It did indeed work well for gathering people together to chat.

I've been hanging around the chat for a while over the past few days, and nobody else has turned up (apart from the usual suspects, who - no offence guys! - don't provide much variety).

I take it people have become frustrated with finding nothing going on and given up joining. Is anyone interested in having a "scheduled" weekly chat as I suggested? I've certainly enjoyed speaking to some of you in real-time when you've been around, so I personally think it would be a good idea.

If anyone else is interested, please come up with some ideal days/times and we can try to set a time that works well for everyone. Don't forget to mention your time zone!

Cheers all.

[Tanukitsune]

I can only log on from 21:00 to 24:00 +1 GMT...

But nobody seems interested in talking at those hours....

[Glenn Epic]

Lacey made the chatroom good. I've always wanted an Adventure Gamers' chat room but I hate IRC. Now that Lacey has that link in his signature I've been using the chatroom.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by pinkgothic

Well, Trep came in a few days in a row, and since, everyone is waiting for Trep to come in?

Part of the reason why the chat isn't successful is that there's no kind of structure and order to it. It isn't topical, there are very long moments when no one types anything in (because they're distracted by other things going on in the internet), and people constantly change the subject if they're bored with what happens to be discussed, and then the crowd breaks off into 2 or 3 smaller groups in the room and, I suspect, private chats open up.

I suggest a weekly chat time, preferably the weekend, that spans at least 2-4 hours (like a good cocktail party). Mid to late morning for U.S. and Canada time zones, which means late afternoon (just before dinner) for Europe. That way more people can join.

We need constant structure and a selection of topics for the duration, and at least a couple of mods to actively enforce it. They can tell deviants to start their own private chat window if those guys decide to discuss things other than the main topics. It doesn't have to be the usual mods like tabs or Robsie, any participant can be one, maybe the person who comes up with a topic.

How are topics decided on? Simple. We agree on it beforehand here in Chit Chat or Forum Feedback with a sticky thread titled "This Week's Topic On iRC". Once the topics are decided we jump into discussion in iRC and we do not steer away from it. If you get bored start another topic in another private chat window. Otherwise if you keep disrupting the discussion (i.e. going OT) you get kicked out by a mod, simple as that.

I propose we call it:

The AdventureGamers Cocktail Hour ™

You prepare for it by mixing up your favourite drink (I fancy either an ice cold gin Gimlet or an almond Italian soda on the rocks), putting on some good music (I prefer Brubeck or Serge Gainsbourg's album Couleur Café), and changing into something swanky (suggestions - flirty little black or pastel coloured dresses and kitten heels for the girls, sharkskin suits for the boys, and furry animal costumes for whoever gets off wearing them).

[Jeysie]

For me the major problem is that there's 6 or 7 people who hang out in the chat room all the time even though they're not actually there. So when I'm in the mood to chat, I log in and peek around and I can't tell if that 7 people in the room is "actual people" or "chatroom furniture". I really don't understand the point of being in the chatroom when you're not actually there to chat.

The net result is that yes, I think a weekly chat would rock, because then you'd know that everyone who's in the room at that time is going to actually be chatting.

I don't think mid-morning is a good idea, though, Trep. I spend most of my weekend mornings either sleeping or running around doing the errands I didn't get to do during the weekdays.

I think we prolly should set up two different times, for each "half of the world", as it were, because I would think most people would only be available during their evening time. I'm personally good for every night except Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 6PM-12AM or so EST.

I don't think keeping structured would work, either. Maybe I'm just a freak, but having a chatroom full of people to talk to and being forced to stick to one topic or open up yet another multi-user channel doesn't sound like much fun to me. After all, if I just wanted to talk to you guys about one specific focused topic, well... that's what the threads on this forum are for, right?

I think it would be better if we kept the chat free-form, but still have a "topic list" handy to pull from whenever things get too slow. Best of both worlds.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Huz]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

We need constant structure and a selection of topics for the duration, and at least a couple of mods to actively enforce it.

Sounds a little extreme to me. Enforced topics of conversation? Kicking people out? If we can manage to have topics drift wildly off-topic in Chit-Chat and keep them interesting, I'm sure we can manage it in something as fluid as a realtime chat!

The idea of having a list of potential topics is not a bad one, though. However, I think these topics would tend to present themselves - whatever's popular on chit-chat for that particular week, some interesting gaming news, gossip about Trep coming out as a furry or whatever.

Is there anyone who wouldn't be interested in the chat room even if it did have such a scheduled chat (regulated or not)?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Huz

Sounds a little extreme to me. Enforced topics of conversation? Kicking people out? If we can manage to have topics drift wildly off-topic in Chit-Chat and keep them interesting, I'm sure we can manage it in something as fluid as a realtime chat!

But we couldn't manage it in real time. That's my point. What's missing, eh? What is it about a message board where various topics can go on for pages and pages? But in a real time chat room it could fizzle out in a matter of seconds?

The idea of having a list of potential topics is not a bad one, though. However, I think these topics would tend to present themselves - whatever's popular on chit-chat for that particular week, some interesting gaming news, gossip about Trep coming out as a furry or whatever.

Why continue a good topical chat in this message board in iRC, though? If it's interesting enough to keep going on here in Chit Chat surely it's natural for people to simply keep it here and not even think about trying to export it to another medium. That's the thing - real time chat tends to be too spontaneous for any conversation, no matter how fascinating, to be sustained for any length of time. It depends, really, on who happens to be participating. It's volatile and unpredictable.

This is why I suggest some kind of moderation where a topic is tactfully, gently explored for a while before the next one is introduced. What I've noticed is that there would be a really cool topic discussed at length and then someone would suddenly come in out of nowhere and say something, immediately 'dumping' the current topic, and then some people would say something like 'hey, how you doing?', etc. etc., and then everything would get all silent and no one types anything and half the room leaves.

Is there anyone who wouldn't be interested in the chat room even if it did have such a scheduled chat (regulated or not)?

Frankly I got bored with it after a while. Nobody was saying anything for long periods of time, people would pop in and out to see if something was happening (including me), and if nothing was going on they'd think "what's the point?", and leave.

[Stoofa]

I just called all y'all butts and no one said anything. Not even childish name calling can evoke a response in our pathetic chat room.

[SakSquash]

Yeah, it's dead as a doornail.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

What, your butt? Maybe it's just asleep.

[SakSquash]

After sitting on your face all day, I don't blame it!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Wishful thinking. Your butt's not my type.