quote:

---

Originally posted by Pixie:
Wow Cocles, why don't you tell us how you really feel?

Has anyone else had any problems launching the chat while using Windows XP Professional? I was able to access it fine at work on Windows 98, but at home with XP Prof. it either locked up my IE or crashed my entire system everytime.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cocles:
So I checked out the new chat system.

Pro's
-The Cache is limitless.... this is nice. If you step away for awhile you can come back and see what you missed, and it cuts down on people having to ask for summaries of what happened while they were gone.

-The "seen" command is nice. It lets us know if someone's been around.

Con's
-The chat is in its own separate window. I seem to remember several of us requesting that the chat remain quietly on the left or right column of the page. A lot of us talk from work and enjoy the fact that the chat doesn't look like a chat. Thus there is less of a chance of us getting in trouble with the people upstairs.

-When you log on you can't see a cache of what was posted before you got there. This always made it easier to jump into the coversation. It also cut down on the amount of "so what are we talking about" questions.

-You can't see who's logged on without logging in. Sure this eliminates lurking, which could be a good thing, but in other ways it's bad. Most of the people I've found who chat on the board, do so because one day they were lurking when a subject came up they were interested in. They logged on to chat about it and the rest is history. Personally, I log on when someone's there who I want to talk to. I don't want to be required to jump into the chat and risk being sucked into the conversation when I just want to see who's logged on.

What happened to keep it simple? This seemed to be one of the most supported requests when we were asked for our opinions. Look at what this new board is capable of....

** Available commands :
** BAN HELP
** IGNORE KICK
** QUIT MSG
** OP SEEN
** SETLEVEL STATS
** UNBAN UNIGNORE
** USERSINFO

-MSG.... Private message? I thought we ALL agreed that we didn't want private messaging. This will ruin the board. It will end up like an IRC channel where the main board is silent because everyone is whispering to each other. Not being able to message made the board a nicer place because everything had to be said out in the open. Everything included everyone. No little whisper groups. If someone needed to say something in confidence to another they could always use the private message feature in the forum. We've already discussed this, so why has MSG been added?

-Ban? Kick? Op? Yes I see the humor in me being the one complaining about it, but lets face it. The SST chat is great because everyone is equal. There is no hierarchy. There are no OPS. We like the board because it is NOT IRC. So why are you making it so? Go read the updates on the main page. It's pretty plain to see that the majority of those who donate are people who speak on the board. Are you going to kick/ban someone who's giving there credit card and writing checks for this site?

-Ignore? Good god, this is for spammers, and we've rarely if ever had a problem with that. When you ignore a person it only riles them up even more, knowing you can't hear them. For jerks, ignore is not seen as a stopping block. All it is is a challenge to see just how much further you can go before the person unignores you to see what awful things you're saying abou them. (Combining this with the Moderator swooping in and kicking the guy, and this is how online wars start. This is how script kiddies are born, this is how the stream ends up under attack again.)

-Usersinfo... so what is this? What does this tell you? Just our IP? I love how people with only "level 8" clearance can use it. At least in IRC everyone has access to this. Like I said, the great thing about the old board is that everyone is equal. The new board has this 1984 "Big Brother Is Watching You" feel to it.

On the Fence...
-What we type on the chat, appears instantly with no ~30 second delay. This is good as it makes the chat much more efficient. Conversations can get underway and move along. One aspect I don't know about is whether this set up will lead to LAG on the chatboard. Plus, personally, I like the 30 second delay. It slows things down a little. It gives you time to go back and get to work. With messages coming every few seconds, it might not be as easy to work and chat at the same time.

Summary

From what I've seen, this new board is almost exactly what people didn't want. If you didn't want our opinions then why did you ask for them?

Giving the power to Kick, Ban, Op to others adds something to the board none of us want: POLITICS. Now we have OPs watching over us, so better watch what you say. Now we have people acting twice as bad because someone ignored them. Now we have others left out as two go off to whisper on their own.

Personally I don't mind if Jeric has ops, or can kick/ban/whatever. Jeric is anything but power hungry, and more importantly, IT'S HIS BOARD. He can do whatever he wants, and the only time I've ever seen Jeric raise his online voice is when someone was abusing the queue. Jeric has also ALWAYS had this power, and that is fine.

The new board however seems to be a quiet way of giving the OTHER moderators a little more power, and frankly I don't know if they should be given it. They donate their time. We donate our money. Should this designate some sort of RANK? I liked it better when we were equal. Jeric has always been a perfect gentleman moderator, but I have to be honest, the others have not. I myself was recently threatened by a moderator in a real life manner. The issue has since been resolved, but I still don't like the idea of the current moderators (as well as any new ones) being able to govern over us with the same might Jeric has.

All this new chatboard has done is take away what we liked about the old board, and added features that don't make it as nice a place. Fix it, or get rid of it.

---

My dear Mr. Cocles. Don't you realize that those other commands would be for Jeric and the other admins? We need some way to be able to control those individuals who can and tend to be disruptive. It's not like we would be handing out that status to everyone and thier cousin.

As to the private's, that is included so that if there are any problems in the chat, it can be handled without causing a disruption to the main chat. This way, everyone else can still have a good time, and be at peace

And in regards to to the layout and size, please remember, this is only a testdrive. The final product will be embedded into the website, and will be pleasing to everyone (or so I hope).
_________________
“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols