It's not something on our immediate plans, but if this is something that a number of folks would find useful, chat capabilities is something that we'd look into.
If there are others that would like to see a chat room here, please chime in!
Mike
Submitted by Anton Federkiewicz on Tuesday October 17th, 2006 10:42 am
It's a suggestion that I thought about making. Here is the top 5 reasons why I didn't make it.
1. Firewalls at work might limit access from an Internet site
2. Oh Great! Another distraction to test my weak self-control upon.
3. Flame Wars
4. Moderator Overhead
5. More Spammed Viagra messages
My Vote (not that it matters) = No
Submitted by Lionel B Dyck on Tuesday October 17th, 2006 11:16 am
I've had good experiences in directed/scheduled chats. Perhaps if there were a set time for a chat with a focused topic it would be useful. The challenge is scheduling the chat so that those in other timezones will be able to participate.
Submitted by G.R. Regas on Tuesday October 17th, 2006 1:54 pm
Unless it is a scheduled chat event I question how much value could be delivered through this medium. The reason I say that is simply based upon traffic. In order to have a lively on-line chat room, I think you need more than 5 people on-line. Most of the time when I come to the message board I find 3 or fewer people logged on.
Submitted by Wendii Lord on Sunday October 22nd, 2006 4:50 am
I often see people on line at the same time as me, and would like to be able to wave and say hello - much as I would in the staff canteen, but I'm not sure how productive that is.
I like the idea of scheduled chats to discuss certain topics though.
Count me in!
Wendii
Submitted by kaspar stevens on Sunday January 14th, 2007 6:37 am
[quote="AManagerTool"]It's a suggestion that I thought about making. Here is the top 5 reasons why I didn't make it.
1. Firewalls at work might limit access from an Internet site
2. Oh Great! Another distraction to test my weak self-control upon.
3. Flame Wars
4. Moderator Overhead
5. More Spammed ***** messages
My Vote (not that it matters) = No[/quote]
My thoughts excactly
6. I like to communicate / read and write in english and not some made up text/im/irc language that I have to get my 12 year old daughter to explain to me.
Submitted by Julia Havener on Sunday January 14th, 2007 10:57 am
[quote]6. I like to communicate / read and write in english and not some made up text/im/irc language that I have to get my 12 year old daughter to explain to me.[/quote]
Luckily, you normally see this in an area where it's acceptable. In other words, if I'm using IRC for a gaming chat for one game, I would have to know the lingo. If I'm in Conquest's gaming chat, with a few notable exceptions, folks write things out (you will still see IIRC, FWIW, BRB, etc.). That's not to say you won't need to know the language of the game/guild, but the 'l33t sp34k' generally isn't there. If I'm using chat at work, standard english is the norm, and those who apparently have no vowels on their keyboards get looked askance at.
In this particular community, and specifically if the chat is tied to these forums, I doubt it will be much of an issue. I think we'll see some other languages entirely at times, and I'm sure we'll have a good deal of back-and-forth learning of languages, lingo, and slang. I think this would be an advantage in some cases, particularly where one member is asking a question that I (with my classic ignorant American background...all Latin and French I learned in school is nearly forgotten) don't understand. Informal chat would make it easier to clarify our communications quickly.
When would I want a chat? I would probably like to see it available at all times. That way when I see Mark online, I might have a chance to say 'good morning, Mark!' I may not, he may be busy with other things, but the opportunity is there. This morning, I saw him online and thought 'it'd be nice to just be able to say good morning.' It just gives another chance to touch other members of this forum.
Do I think it is required? No. But I'm a High I/High D so, for me, it's an attractive option. And yes, I'm one of those people who types 80+ wpm, and uses online chats and instant messages pretty frequently. I realize I'm NOT the norm. I also recognize that scheduled chats would be a further time requirement on M&M (not to mention the technology component).
Submitted by apjaguar on Sunday January 14th, 2007 11:18 am
I feel much the same as Julia that I would at least like the opportunity to chat, those of us that don't want to take part would simply have a tick box to disable the facility
Submitted by Julia Havener on Sunday January 14th, 2007 12:30 pm
Another forum I belong to does have an integrated chat. It's a java chatroom accessed via a link at the top of the forums. Something like this would be effective in this instance. Shouldn't create automated firewall issues and allows those who want to to join the chat without inconveniencing those who don't.
Submitted by Jim Weishorn on Tuesday January 16th, 2007 12:46 am
In my opinion, the higher the probability anyone will be on the website at any given time, the faster the response will be for any forum or chat question. Having people around in a chat, even if they’re discussing the weather, increases the odds someone will be monitoring the forums and available to respond to posts and questions.
When folks post, I think they want immediate acknowledgement. “Yes, you’re right.” “No, you’re wrong.” “I’ve never been in that situation, but here’s what I think…” They took the time to put their thoughts into words, and they want to know someone read it.
Of course, a good, slow response is better than a fast, bad one, but I don’t see a lot of that here. Actually, I see a lot of quoting like “M&M said...”
I think a chat would keep members on the site longer, increase forum response time and increase forum activity.
-Cantus
Submitted by Alex Yurek on Tuesday January 16th, 2007 12:57 am
One of the problems I see with chat being used as a form of communication is that there is no history or archiving that is easily accessible. With both java chat and IRC based chat, I cannot think of any way that you can easily view the history.
What makes the forums so useful is that I can look into the archives into all the advise and wisdom is shared. With chat, the advantage of instant communication conflicts with what makes these forums so great: history and archives.
Edit: After reading some of the previous posts, I do think that scheduled chats as a group would be great for the community especially if the points covered during these chats were published. My hesitation only lies with the random chat, for lack of a better phrase, I believe that those conversations are better suited to the forum.
Any thoughts?
Submitted by Adam Bob on Tuesday January 16th, 2007 12:42 pm
[quote="alyurek"] My hesitation only lies with the random chat, for lack of a better phrase, I believe that those conversations are better suited to the forum.[/quote]
Agreed, there will always be that element of risk that a point everyone could learn from is lost.
I did however take part in a number of online chats when I beta tested software for a large company, it helped us all 'get to know each other' by chatting about related and non-related topics with like mined people.
Submitted by Julia Havener on Tuesday January 16th, 2007 7:51 pm
[quote="Gareth"]it helped us all 'get to know each other' by chatting about related and non-related topics with like mined people.[/quote]
This is really what my thought is on chat. Not so much that we would be challenging each other with the items normally in the forums, but rather that we would have an opportunity for that informal, get-to-know-each-other chat that just feels off-topic on the forums.
Chat Rooms
It's not something on our immediate plans, but if this is something that a number of folks would find useful, chat capabilities is something that we'd look into.
If there are others that would like to see a chat room here, please chime in!
Mike
Chat Rooms
It's a suggestion that I thought about making. Here is the top 5 reasons why I didn't make it.
1. Firewalls at work might limit access from an Internet site
2. Oh Great! Another distraction to test my weak self-control upon.
3. Flame Wars
4. Moderator Overhead
5. More Spammed Viagra messages
My Vote (not that it matters) = No
Chat
I've had good experiences in directed/scheduled chats. Perhaps if there were a set time for a chat with a focused topic it would be useful. The challenge is scheduling the chat so that those in other timezones will be able to participate.
Chat Rooms
Unless it is a scheduled chat event I question how much value could be delivered through this medium. The reason I say that is simply based upon traffic. In order to have a lively on-line chat room, I think you need more than 5 people on-line. Most of the time when I come to the message board I find 3 or fewer people logged on.
Chat Rooms
I often see people on line at the same time as me, and would like to be able to wave and say hello - much as I would in the staff canteen, but I'm not sure how productive that is.
I like the idea of scheduled chats to discuss certain topics though.
Count me in!
Wendii
Chat Rooms
Scheduled chats are worth the try.
Concerning the time-zone…
I’ll program my alarmclock!
Kaspar, from The Netherlands
Chat Rooms
[quote="AManagerTool"]It's a suggestion that I thought about making. Here is the top 5 reasons why I didn't make it.
1. Firewalls at work might limit access from an Internet site
2. Oh Great! Another distraction to test my weak self-control upon.
3. Flame Wars
4. Moderator Overhead
5. More Spammed ***** messages
My Vote (not that it matters) = No[/quote]
My thoughts excactly
6. I like to communicate / read and write in english and not some made up text/im/irc language that I have to get my 12 year old daughter to explain to me.
Chat Rooms
[quote]6. I like to communicate / read and write in english and not some made up text/im/irc language that I have to get my 12 year old daughter to explain to me.[/quote]
Luckily, you normally see this in an area where it's acceptable. In other words, if I'm using IRC for a gaming chat for one game, I would have to know the lingo. If I'm in Conquest's gaming chat, with a few notable exceptions, folks write things out (you will still see IIRC, FWIW, BRB, etc.). That's not to say you won't need to know the language of the game/guild, but the 'l33t sp34k' generally isn't there. If I'm using chat at work, standard english is the norm, and those who apparently have no vowels on their keyboards get looked askance at.
In this particular community, and specifically if the chat is tied to these forums, I doubt it will be much of an issue. I think we'll see some other languages entirely at times, and I'm sure we'll have a good deal of back-and-forth learning of languages, lingo, and slang. I think this would be an advantage in some cases, particularly where one member is asking a question that I (with my classic ignorant American background...all Latin and French I learned in school is nearly forgotten) don't understand. Informal chat would make it easier to clarify our communications quickly.
When would I want a chat? I would probably like to see it available at all times. That way when I see Mark online, I might have a chance to say 'good morning, Mark!' I may not, he may be busy with other things, but the opportunity is there. This morning, I saw him online and thought 'it'd be nice to just be able to say good morning.' It just gives another chance to touch other members of this forum.
Do I think it is required? No. But I'm a High I/High D so, for me, it's an attractive option. And yes, I'm one of those people who types 80+ wpm, and uses online chats and instant messages pretty frequently. I realize I'm NOT the norm. I also recognize that scheduled chats would be a further time requirement on M&M (not to mention the technology component).
Chat Rooms
I feel much the same as Julia that I would at least like the opportunity to chat, those of us that don't want to take part would simply have a tick box to disable the facility
Chat Rooms
Another forum I belong to does have an integrated chat. It's a java chatroom accessed via a link at the top of the forums. Something like this would be effective in this instance. Shouldn't create automated firewall issues and allows those who want to to join the chat without inconveniencing those who don't.
Chat Rooms
In my opinion, the higher the probability anyone will be on the website at any given time, the faster the response will be for any forum or chat question. Having people around in a chat, even if they’re discussing the weather, increases the odds someone will be monitoring the forums and available to respond to posts and questions.
When folks post, I think they want immediate acknowledgement. “Yes, you’re right.” “No, you’re wrong.” “I’ve never been in that situation, but here’s what I think…” They took the time to put their thoughts into words, and they want to know someone read it.
Of course, a good, slow response is better than a fast, bad one, but I don’t see a lot of that here. Actually, I see a lot of quoting like “M&M said...”
I think a chat would keep members on the site longer, increase forum response time and increase forum activity.
-Cantus
Chat Rooms
One of the problems I see with chat being used as a form of communication is that there is no history or archiving that is easily accessible. With both java chat and IRC based chat, I cannot think of any way that you can easily view the history.
What makes the forums so useful is that I can look into the archives into all the advise and wisdom is shared. With chat, the advantage of instant communication conflicts with what makes these forums so great: history and archives.
Edit: After reading some of the previous posts, I do think that scheduled chats as a group would be great for the community especially if the points covered during these chats were published. My hesitation only lies with the random chat, for lack of a better phrase, I believe that those conversations are better suited to the forum.
Any thoughts?
Chat Rooms
[quote="alyurek"] My hesitation only lies with the random chat, for lack of a better phrase, I believe that those conversations are better suited to the forum.[/quote]
Agreed, there will always be that element of risk that a point everyone could learn from is lost.
I did however take part in a number of online chats when I beta tested software for a large company, it helped us all 'get to know each other' by chatting about related and non-related topics with like mined people.
Chat Rooms
[quote="Gareth"]it helped us all 'get to know each other' by chatting about related and non-related topics with like mined people.[/quote]
This is really what my thought is on chat. Not so much that we would be challenging each other with the items normally in the forums, but rather that we would have an opportunity for that informal, get-to-know-each-other chat that just feels off-topic on the forums.