1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Chat room?

Discussion in 'Empty Closets Help and Feedback' started by Neoteric, May 19, 2013.

  1. Neoteric

    Neoteric Guest

    I never find people in the chat room or there is like two people...
    It has seemed kinda lame :frowning2: Anyone else experience this?
    If not what time do you generally go on?
     
  2. Ethan

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2010
    Messages:
    2,447
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Metro Detroit, Michigan
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Chat normally booms late at night on the weekends, though admittedly I've been in there less often for a while so current patterns mgiht say different.
     
  3. BryanM

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2013
    Messages:
    2,894
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Columbia, Missouri
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I was in the chatroom once after I got full member, and I was the only one in it. XD
     
  4. manoverboard09

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Messages:
    278
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Tennessee
    I've been there a few times.
    Alone.
    It's quite a lonely place.
    I think a lot of people just don't realize it's there lol.
     
  5. BudderMC

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2010
    Messages:
    3,148
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Well, a lot of the people coming by this site specifically for the chatroom are the ones here for the wrong reasons (ex. creeps, people looking to date, etc.), so it's reasonable to guess that a lot of those people don't hang around for Full Membership in the first place.

    On the other hand, the people here for the right reasons (ex. wanting support) are the ones who find value in the site for that reason, so once they become a Full Member joining the chatroom isn't high on their list of priorities.
     
  6. Rosina

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2008
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Gender:
    Female
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    A few people
    It has its quiet times. It booms when America comes online in the evening to early morning, as far as I can tell.
     
  7. RedPowerRanger

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2013
    Messages:
    0
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    England
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Family only
    While i agree that some people who are here just to go in the chatroom are here for the wrong reasons. I think though the chatroom could be a good place to go once you a full member because you be able to chat who you may not of chatted to yet as a regular member. I think also you be able to understand more of their problems by getting to know them better in there.
     
  8. Martin

    Board Member Admin Team Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2007
    Messages:
    15,266
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Merseyside, UK
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    My personal opinion (ie. not speaking on behalf of staff) is that its inactivity is probably fuelled by it being rather crap. The hack is just a buggy mess that has a whole collection of problems that ultimately make it unusable after a certain amount of time logged in. It used to be that I could be logged in for 90 minutes before it would start severely lagging and I would have to log out and log back in. That's before I even touch upon the random automatic closures that it does, as well as the chat commands that only function properly as and when they want to. It's no wonder peeps aren't glued to it. :slight_smile:

    I will hopefully have an opportunity to begin exploring changes to the chat room over the summer. My priority has so far been on developing, implementing and maintaining the support forums, but that's less of an issue at this point. It's a case of seeing how various things play out. :slight_smile:

    Martin.
     
  9. Batman

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2013
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    16
    Location:
    Ontario
    Gender:
    Other
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Well, I go to the chatroom quite frequently (usually i always have a tab open with it) and I can honestly say that I'm the creepiest person I've seen there. However, loads of times the chatroom is empty. I really wish it was "advertised" more, as even i didn't find it until a month or so ago.
     
  10. Rakkaus

    Rakkaus Guest

    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2012
    Messages:
    878
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    New York
    I've been in the chat room maybe once or twice since getting full membership, but I always felt out of place and didn't really chat even when I was in there...it felt like the people in there were all 'regulars' there who knew each other and were used to chatting with each other, so I felt strange interjecting into a conversation as an outsider.
     
  11. Meropspusillus

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2008
    Messages:
    597
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    New Mexico
    This is most definitely a problem that I think builds on what Martin was saying. Some of have more time or more patience for the crappy chatroom, and a sort of chat community forms that feel a little bit cliquey.

    My basic advice is that just about everyone in actually a pretty nice person. It can be hard to break into a group of "regular" chatters. But just start contributing to conversation, or bring up a topic, and people will listen and chat.

    Another piece of advice is that it's worth it to sit around in the chat room if you want to chat even if it's empty. I never really enter the chatroom unless I see people in there. So if you enter, it'll increase the chance of more people coming in.
     
    #11 Meropspusillus, May 25, 2013
    Last edited: May 25, 2013
  12. Batman

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2013
    Messages:
    847
    Likes Received:
    16
    Location:
    Ontario
    Gender:
    Other
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Indeed. I know it's scary how you enter the chatroom and everyone can be in a heated debate or intense conversation, but trust me when I say we love to hear other's input. Or just try to strike up a conversation with other lurkers. That's how I started to know people around the chat.
     
  13. Rexmond

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2013
    Messages:
    687
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    England
    Yay, not alone for the first time!

    I'll be joining more often, hopefully more of you will too.
     
  14. Spurned

    Spurned Guest

    I know I probably have no say on this, but I realised the Chat Room as soon as I joined these forums, reading the tabs at the top. I just have quite a while to go until I can become a full member, but if I become full member, I'll certainly be in it quite a bit. :icon_bigg
     
  15. Chip

    Board Member Admin Team Advisor Full Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2008
    Messages:
    16,551
    Likes Received:
    4,750
    Location:
    northern CA
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Gee, Martin. Tell us how you *really* feel :wink:
     
  16. What are you talking about?

    The chat room Booms at night/evening with most people talking to each other and having fun and on a couple occasions people have logged into it for help while I was there.
     
  17. Bobbybobby99

    Bobbybobby99 Guest

    Still waiting for full membership so i can use the chat room :slight_smile: I really enjoy being able to talk to people, almost, and it is a very major reason why I play WOW. Undoubtably the quality of conversation will be better on here :slight_smile:
     
  18. Martin

    Board Member Admin Team Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2007
    Messages:
    15,266
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Merseyside, UK
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    He wasn't referring to the people who use chat regularly, but guests who browse the site with a specific interest in using the chat room as their primary activity of membership. However, as that isn't possible, that particular group of guests don't stick around because of the hoops they have to jump through beforehand, which was Budder's argument about why that area of the site is at a disadvantage in terms of people accessing it.

    As somebody who is emailed and PM'ed every incoming and outgoing member on here, there's actually some truth in what he says. That isn't to say anybody who uses the chat room is automatically creepy and is here for the wrong intentions, but the restrictions currently in place do a fantastic job of cutting out the guests who are only interested in using the chat room for ulterior purposes. It's not uncommon to get emails or deletion requests from people of all ages throwing their toys out of the pram because they can't instantly access the chat room. I've got no reason to believe some of them wouldn't be granted full membership if they stuck around, but there have also been some characters who I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw them, so their inability not to access the chat room is a blessing. It's a sad reality that the Internet doesn't lack people who use it for undesirable purposes, but the restrictions in place are there so that those people aren't given an easy pathway to getting access to certain features on the site. After all, there's millions of chat rooms you can instantly access, so why stay here and have to jump through the gazillion security hoops?

    Again, nobody on the staff is inferring chat room regulars are creepy, but instead acknowledging that the chat room would be a place of primary interest for people not interested in using EC for support. As a result, it puts the area at a disadvantage simply because our membership base (and target group) consists of people who didn't join because we had a chat room and aren't here purely because of it. Sure, it's a luxury that is there, but it hasn't necessarily been the deciding factor between them joining or going elsewhere. Due to this, it's not surprising that the activity in there doesn't reflect the amount of full members EC has.

    Martin.
     
  19. Martin

    Board Member Admin Team Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2007
    Messages:
    15,266
    Likes Received:
    63
    Location:
    Merseyside, UK
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    The chat room has annoyed me since January 2008. I've got a fairly long-term vendetta against it. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
     
  20. Lakota

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 25, 2013
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Philipsburg MT
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I like this idea of people having to jump through hoops to access the chat room here. has to help keep the riff raff out. I know the value of a good chat room, this process has got to make it better then most. Maybe someday I will have access.

    I have made the best friends in my life though a travel chat room I used to belong to, they have since closed it. The regulars to that room, still travel to see each other, and stay with each other. This group of friends were the 1st I came out to. I love them like family. I have met 60 of them face to face.

    Chats can be a major pain for admins to run, but every now and then someone seeking help comes in and they find that help there.

    my 2 cents.

    Lakota