Chatroom?

[Wazdakka]

Heya chaps,

 

Not sure if this is the right place, but I was wondering if anyone here is interested in having a BZPower chatroom, and (directed at the BZP brass) whether that's a possibility or not.

 

Why a chatroom? Simply put, because it's fun. It's fun to chat in real-time with other people who share the same interests as you, especially if you don't really have nearby friends who care about Bionicle and Lego. In addition, you can look for help on the chat (yesterday in the 40k IRC, some wonderful folks helped me hunt down a particular magazine issue I was looking for), or simply hop on from time to time when you're bored or lonely or whatever. There's currently an IRC chat on r/bioniclelego, but it's dead as [the place where Satan is said to dwell], so having one in the crux of the Bionicle community seems like a better idea. 

 

Thoughts?

 

Note: I'm asking for discussion of the possibility, not that I actually have the know-how or powers to make it happen. 

Edited June 30, 2015 by Wazdakka

[Lyichir]

I can see how that would be cool. I can also see how many ways it could go wrong.

Maintaining BZPower's clear and comprehensive rules in a chatroom 24 hours a day seems like it would present a huge challenge. And those rules play a big role in keeping the site as a whole in Lego's good graces. Of course, BZPower has branched out in recent years, with a presence on less moderated sites like YouTube, so I suppose anything's possible.

[Makuta Luroka]

as I recall there is one on Xat, though unofficial.

[Nescent]

I'd like a chatroom. Maybe you need to have a certain amount of posts before you are able to use it? I imagine that would make it a whole lot easier to moderate.

[Reznas]

I could have sworn there was a tracker ticket for this, but it must have gotten lost some time ago. I would you encourage you to go suggest this idea in the Tracker.

 

-Rez

[Ballom Nom Nom]

I can see this being very hard to properly moderate, as it would basically require a staff member keeping an eye on it pretty much 24/7.

 

Of course, if it could be implemented properly, it would be pretty cool to be able to have a chat going that's more immediate than discussions in forum threads.

 

~B~

[Irrie]

Maybe there's a chat room service that allows for the moderators of the room to block certain words from being posted? 

[Sumiki]

Maybe there's a chat room service that allows for the moderators of the room to block certain words from being posted?

There's no way to block every single permutation of every banned word. Word filter evasion would be your single biggest issue, and it would be a big issue. That, combined with the fact that there's no real use for an official BZP chatroom aside from initial novelty, is why it hasn't yet happened and likely never will.

[fishers64]

If BZP ever had a chatroom, it would be like the chatrooms on every Lego game ever, with their pre-made communications that you have to select from a dropdown. 

 

It would be hilarious. 

[25K Now!]

If BZP ever had a chatroom, it would be like the chatrooms on every Lego game ever, with their pre-made communications that you have to select from a dropdown. 

 

It would be hilarious. 

Having avoided the LEGO game chatrooms, I'm assuming it's similar to Runescape's Quick Chat thing?

 

"My Woodcutting level is 50."

[Lyichir]

I wonder... would it be possible to tie chatroom participation to membership on the main forum? I've been thinking about it, and that might be the best way for moderation to work. Mods might not be able to survey the chatroom 24/7, but if only established users (with some minimal post count to prove they're authentic) could participate in the chatroom, and misbehavior in the chatroom could result in penalties like proto drops and suspensions on the main forum, that might help to keep rule-breaking to a minimum.

[Paleo]

I wonder... would it be possible to tie chatroom participation to membership on the main forum? I've been thinking about it, and that might be the best way for moderation to work. Mods might not be able to survey the chatroom 24/7, but if only established users (with some minimal post count to prove they're authentic) could participate in the chatroom, and misbehavior in the chatroom could result in penalties like proto drops and suspensions on the main forum, that might help to keep rule-breaking to a minimum.

Thing is, this would be retroactive, which wouldn't be too great if a chatroom moves fast and we're trying to keep it PG. Keeping it to members above a certain proto level might help weed out some troublemakers, but even that wouldn't completely address the problem. Honestly I think the next best thing would be weekly BZP skype chats.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Paleo

[Wazdakka]

Thanks for the interest, guys. 

 

I see that the main worry is about "troublemakers" and "banned words" - I totally agree that there should be some kind of requirement as to the users, be it post count, proto points, or something like that. That said, there's a very simple solution to the various fears - have a moderator with banning powers, as some of you have alluded to. Any shenanigans would immediately be meet with a temporary or permanent ban. Retroactive it may be, but anyone foolish enough to trifle with the Banhammer will soon regret polluting the chat. 

[Grungemeister]

The only site I know that has a chatroom connected to the main site is the SCP site19. There's just a link on the homepage and you have to do some nickname registration stuff and you're in. Granted, they have no language filter, but their modding system works pretty well. All of the site's actual mods are connected 24/7, but they take shifts moderating. There is a head chat admin, but they basically just have an overall watch over the chatroom.

 

ALSO, if we get a chatroom, we should have a bot. site19's bot (Alexandria) can find any page on the website via number or keywords, etc. It would help to have something similar for BS01. That way, if there is ever any doubt about anything, you can ask the bot to find the info. Whether it would be a good idea to allow the bot to find anything on the internet would be up for debate.

[Sumiki]

I see that the main worry is about "troublemakers" and "banned words" - I totally agree that there should be some kind of requirement as to the users, be it post count, proto points, or something like that. That said, there's a very simple solution to the various fears - have a moderator with banning powers, as some of you have alluded to. Any shenanigans would immediately be meet with a temporary or permanent ban. Retroactive it may be, but anyone foolish enough to trifle with the Banhammer will soon regret polluting the chat.

 

The punishment being retroactive is the issue. While it's true that, given the nature of forums, all punishments are retroactive, the forums are slower-paced and not everyone's going to see the damage of rule-breaking activity because of the structure of the various sub-forums.

 

Essentially, the threat of punishment isn't enough to totally deter that kind of activity in the forums proper, and 24/7 moderation of a highly visible chat room would not be feasible.

[Wazdakka]

Well, I would argue that damage done in the chatroom would only be done to the handful of individuals in the chat at that time, as opposed to bared open to the entirety of the forum community, like a normal offensive forum post. 24/7 moderation of a visible chatroom is rather possible. I'd be more than willing to moderate a 12-hour shift (my daytime) - anyone could, really. Just have it open in a tab on a computer somewhere, check back on the hour to say hello and administer retribution to the evildoer. I'm getting ahead of myself though! 

Edited June 30, 2015 by Wazdakka

[Adventurer]

I'm guessing there's already unofficial chatrooms that pop-up occasionally - probably easier to use them than deal with the issues involved with running an official site one.

[Eyru]

BZP prides itself on being a family-friendly site, so any official chat would have to meet the same high standards as the rest of the forums, and that's simply not feasible. You can't moderate a chat room the same way you moderate a forum, and 24/7 moderation is simply not possible. So I'm going to go out a limb here and say that an official BZP chat is not going to happen. 
 
However, there's nothing stopping you from grabbing a few friends and starting up a Skype chat or an AIM chat. Lots of people have their Skype/AIM screennames listed on their profiles, so just PM a couple people you want to chat with and start your own thing. Just because it's not "official" doesn't mean it's not worthwhile.

[Mesonak]

There used to be an unofficial BZP chatroom that had a pretty active member-base and moderating team; it wasn't perfect, but it lasted for several years and followed (most) of BZP's rules. As others have pointed out, however, it was very difficult to moderate. It required an incredibly large staff team who constantly had to have at least some kind of presence on the chat to take care of rule breakers. With all that being said, I think the odds of an official one being created are slim to none.

 

-Mesonak

Edited July 6, 2015 by Mesonak

[Ta-metru_defender]

Honestly, I don't think BZP is quite active enough at the moment to really warrant a chat room. Moderation aside, I don't really see what all it would add that the forums don't already have.

[Rahkshi Lalonde]

Studies have shown that exposure to chatrooms leads to faster response times, more back-and-forth talk styles, and an irresistable urge to write Donkey Kong memes one line at a time.

[Lyichir]

Studies have shown that exposure to chatrooms leads to faster response times, more back-and-forth talk styles, and an irresistable urge to write Donkey Kong memes one line at a time.

If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is.

[Noxryn]

It's easier to have a IRC channel on a website that's either small, so every member in there is known and relatively easy to drive the consequences home to for bad behavior (like on various RP sites I was on since forever ago), or for a large website that has a more lax ruleset and atmosphere since people will stray into inappropriate topics for discussion, or use it to bad mouth people, or use it to stir up unnecessary drama and the like (And BZP with the drama history this site has, doesn't handle it well).

 

There's likely unofficial chatrooms floating around for users, but I have no idea if they're of any quality or if it's just incessant whining like they were a few years back.

[Voltex]

A chat room is a nice idea, but not one that I think really needs to be implemented directly onto BZPower. There are unofficial chats out there if you can find them.