Well since the day the arcade arrived, I haven't been able to find a single person in the chat room. Arcade killed chat once and for all by the looks of it. Should we start writing eulogies?? At this rate I dunno if it'll recover EC is a support site not a gaming site and the arcade is just draining the true purpose of the site away. So should we also start writing Eulogies for EC as well?? I hope not, this site brought me back from the brink of Suicide more than anything else and the people who were in chat have helped me get through some of the toughest spots in my life. So I say, Farewell Chat and eventually (though I really hope not) Farewell EC :tears:
I was in the chat earlier with Kevin, Cecile, Daniel, and Filip. People go in chat, but it seems that instead of sitting waiting for people like before, they just tend to do games instead. Which leads to people in chat at specific times (Primetime in the US and Primetime in the UK)
Martin addressed your concerns in the "What are you thinking?" thread. http://emptyclosets.com/forum/showpost.php?p=550279&postcount=4453 I was in chat yesterday and a few days ago, and while it has indeed been slow lately, it isn't dead. One reason I could think of is that people here in the States (and probably other parts of the Northern hemisphere) are starting school again, and don't have as much time to be on EC in general.
which means no time in AU, while I think the arcade is a neat Idea, It's killing off the real purpose of the site
ok read martins reply, I posted a response, read it on the other page if you want, just sick of noone in chat
You are aware you can post wall messages to people at any time right? Just see someone online, and send a PM to see if they wanna chat or something XD
Well, when the arcade was new and shiny it did seem like there was no one in chat, and if there was anyone, the only topic seems to be highscores. But today I've been off and on in chat, and there was always someone there. I'm guessing it's just a slow week. A lot of people are getting back into the school year, adjusting to uni or otherwise just outside enjoying the last of the summer (well, those in the northern hemisphere at least) The only reason I'm not in there myself is because I'm getting ready to go out with friends. But I'm sure it's just a temporary lull. Things will pick up again!
oh yeah and if you didn't realise from my obvious first post, I overeacted and overdramatized everything sorry
I think the reason for Chat's sudden emptiness is more related to outside factors rather than the Arcade and other EC features. The forum as a whole is at it's busiest between June and August due to both UK and USA schools being out, but the latter have now returned with the UK returning within the next week. That itself reduces time for many of the active members who have to keep a pretty tight schedule going. I did see the concerns that were raised when the Arcade was first installed and have kept an eye on them to see whether they do hold any truth, and I have to say that so far the arcade hasn't contributed to the major decline that is appearing in chat. I admit that it isn't helping, but the regulars who you usually see around at that time aren't on EC at all. This time last month the Chat Room would have an average of about 7/8 members, whereas at this moment the people in the arcade are Eccentric, Fiender, musicgirl112233, Soofdope and zzzzzz123. None of those are regulars who would have a consistent schedule in the chat room (and I think one or two are regular members), so chats under-average activity at this moment in time is not a result of the arcade at all. I've checked this numerous times over the last few days (bar yesterday) and that has been the result that I have seen. The chat regulars who I have seen in the arcade have usually gone back to chat and had discussions about it. I think it's fairly obvious that I'm not going to come in here and criticise the arcade, but if I thought that it ruined EC's reputation or features then I would quite happily see it go. I'm not a games fan in the slightest, but my intentions for getting it installed was to encourage interaction between all member ranks. There is no evidence to suggest that it has ruined support because, even at it's highest peak of activity, posting levels on the forum per day have stayed consistent. This idea that it also qualifies EC as a gaming site is also not very realistic due to EC's other features. School filters are able to block games at their own discretion, whereas chat rooms are banned completely and strictly forbidden in all school networks (at least in my academic experience). To use those arguments would result in the chat room getting dropkicked out of EC's door, which I am sure is not popular with anybody here. As Filip said above, the arcade is a new and shiny feature. The consistent activity on the site, which is my priority, shows that the arcade is not having any effects to EC's support. The activity in chat I mostly put down to offline commitments, whether education related or work related. EC is primarily a support forum, but an arcade and chat room don't destroy that morale in any way. If Chat's activity has plummeted as much as people suggest then it sounds to me like the result of offline commitments rather than a few games. I think a few people have just interpreted the summer high as being the usual levels of activity in chat, and now that things are returning back to usual peeps are interpreting that as being a downfall. Once people have settled back into school then things may pick up a bit, but it's unlikely the levels will increase that much again until the next school vacations.
easy . when you get a new gift you will play with it nonstop for some time untill you get bored of it .
