Chat Options Outside of the Site?

Hello members of Magi.

In the recent past, a new member suggested there be a communication option outside the forum so they did not have to deal with the lag of the site chat box while another member thought that it would take away from the site's traffic. Personally, I think it would be nice to be able to connect outside of just the site. There was once a Skype group chat called Magi Madness, but it was very cluttered and hectic in my opinion. Plus, if some of us play similar games (Warframe, Guild Wars 2, TERA, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, or DC Universe Online to name a few) then we can play together as well. Voice chat is also available for those who like to verbally talk with other people.

So, with that in mind, I have a couple of questions for you, the members of the Magi World. Do you think it would be a good idea or not to use an outside communication software? Why or why not? If we were to use one, what software (Skype, Curse, Discord, TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, Mumble, etc) would you prefer if you had a choice?

I think having a Discord server would be best since we can create separate chat / call rooms for when people want to do other things while chat. Such as play games and such without over crowding a main chat.

Downside is that it doesn't really work too well for everyone since it's still sort of in development. Like it absolutely hates my computer / internet connection for some odd reason. But I wouldn't be opposed to it. A skype group would also be neat but it could easily get really hectic when so many people are doing different things, like you said.

I agree with Diana, we should tots do some form of poll to see if people would want an official discord server for the site~

Rima wrote:I agree with Diana, we should tots do some form of poll to see if people would want an official discord server for the site~

The main reason for this is to see how many people are interested in a Discord or other communication software that can be used outside of the forum. To be honest, I have technically already made a server on Discord and Curse out of pure boredom and remembered the conversation about the topic. That brought me to make this thread to get everyone's opinion. If a number of people wish to be part of such a thing, I will gladly share the channel, but I won't be doing so if a majority of the site is opposed to the idea and the channels will sit collecting cyber dust or be erased.

I personally like the way it is as all the other applications and xat and etc. is blocked through my work's servers but I don't particular care. I use skype more then anything else when i'm home and prob wouldn't use much else other then the pm system on site.

Your sigs are cool btw

I'm with solomon, no discord. Discord is not what's best for the site. Unless you are willing to commit to doing away with the sites chatbox forever and limiting yourself to only discord, then we don't need an outer way of communication. Staff uses skype to connect with each other in real time, that's good enough for me or anyone else who wants our skype. Why do I hate outer communication forms? Because, like neo asking me personally in an unrelated conversation, we would be deterring site traffic.

People on discord doesn't necessarily commit to those whose planning on playing for signing up, all you need is the connect link from whatever discord magi link you put on the site, and then if you already have an existing account, there you go. That doesn't mean they are playing or going to be members, doesn't mean they give a crap. They could be deterring our members, they could be advertising, what are the expectations are you expecting to have if being on the site chat box means people are more likely to do things ON THE SITE.

Yes, good way to be a community, but it's two birds in one stone as long as we keep it grounded. Skype is ok, for direct contact in real time with whoever, PMs are ok on site, the chatbox is ok for people to hang out. I'm not one to jump on any idea that someone walks in with, i know discord exists, and my opinion is to not want any part of it because there is a way this can hurt site activity, that we do struggle with every now and again.

How can community mods do their job with the chatbox watch? Kick them off the server? Kick them out the group skype? Atleast here, its more controlled, time out for at least an hour so people can cool their heads off.

I'd also prefer not to have an official external chat platform. Part of what some people use to gauge the activity and community toxicity of a forum is the forum c-box. If our c-box is barren because everyone is using discord or something else, I worry that it will reflect poorly on the site to new members.

That being said, if people want to set up an unofficial off-site chat thing, staff has no right to interfere with that.

If two or more people post in this with a solid "Yes, I want this" and not just "Oh this might be cool but I don't mind either way" response, then I'll start a proper poll.

We honestly can't get rid of the chat box we have right now.
If people want to make group chats outside of the forum because the chat box on the site is laggy, they can do that.

edit: Right as I press the "send" button XD.

I believe the chat we have is ineffective. Duqs concerns are legitimate but our current chat has that issue to a degree because people are auto-dcd and it lags so it seems as if the site is more enpty than it should. It also makes it harder for people to catch each other online, also no audio notification.

I would personally like to have an outside chat system to. That's not to say that I wouldn't use the current chat but having more options, I think, is better.

For those interested, here are two screenshots of what I set up:

Roles


(Open the bottom image in a new tab for a larger version)




In addition to that, it's understandable that there are mixed opinions regarding the idea. I value everyone's input and understand how each individual feels. Thank you for those who took the time to post their responses. :)

Farid Issah wrote:I believe the chat we have is ineffective. Duqs concerns are legitimate but our current chat has that issue to a degree because people are auto-dcd and it lags so it seems as if the site is more enpty than it should. It also makes it harder for people to catch each other online, also no audio notification.

I'm much more open to the idea of changing our chat box into a different kind of chat box. I don't know how to do it, but I'm sure we've got someone here who does.

I mean if anything I could take a look at the forum's CSS to see where the theme maker put it if there isn't anyone else and you trust me with that. I'm pretty confident I can and if we find a new one I can just slap it in there and modify the size to fit the area.

The difficult part is finding a good alternative chatbox. I do agree that we should keep it but the constant timeouts are a little annoying. Even though it's not too active right now anyway, we might as well try to improve the on site feature before officially branching out.

That said I'm not opposed to Discord, Skype, etc. like I said before. But after reading others replies about it I do kind of agree it'll make the chatbox more empty than it already sometimes is. Though I don't think it would hurt site activity since we all still roleplay on here. So there wouldn't be any reason for people to not look around the site still.

Up to you guys, i just ask you keep the current one cuz right when you switch to a new one I will not be able to use it for the 8 hours i'm at work due to the server blocks.