Chat vanished

[Night Pony]

Also want to add:
The people in a chat are 'faceless'. As in they are just a line of text and some short message while a forum you can see how they've developed their profile and it makes them more memorable.

[PrincessButton]

I enjoyed reading all of your comments and opinions on the chatbox.

We appreciate that even those of you who are very fond of the chatbox are trying to look at the good and the bad with the chatbox, and that most of you are considering all aspects, not just your personal enjoyment or un-enjoyment of the chat.

[wingedpineapple]

I have always believed roleplay keeps people attention more than chatbox or at least its roleplay that going to keep the attention in the forums until the game is up, too bad that I'm not in rp :v

[Unstoppable]

The chatbox on the website will be replaced with the chatbox in the game (when the game comes out). Until then that area will simply be left alone.

[blackhawk]

The chatbox on the website will be replaced with the chatbox in the game (when the game comes out). Until then that area will simply be left alone.

I can already notice less user activity here.

[Howitzer]

I do have to say that while the forum will still be online for everyone along with all the same features, the chatbox really connected us together. It really did start a lot of new friendships and strengthen a lot of old ones too.

[Greyscaleisme]

Pros:

Helps new players find info or make friends. (I have a very hard time PMing someone I don't really know) and it can also help people with social issues come out of their shell a bit.

Lets those who just want to talk with others send short or funny messages to fellow players.

Creates friendship and (with the exception of a few) helps to make harmonious communication between members.

Cons:

Requires lots of moderators.

Is sometimes buggy.

Can make it easier for spammers.

Basically, it is just about even, and from a personal standpoint, I wouldn't have made any friends and probably would have left the site soon if there was no chat page.

[MrEmu]

Reasons to keep the chatpod, eh?

I know it takes a lot of mod time, but it's built so many friendships...and that is kinda what the whole brony fandom stands up for...right? Losing the chatpod would stop many friendships from ever even coming, and many from continuing.

Also it stopped people form starting their "How to play Legend of Equestia? " or "Can not play game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " posts, instead they merely spammed in the chatpod, not the forums.

And no, PMs and stuff won't replace it because the chatpod forces people to interact with others they might not have noticed before. Simple posts don't do this half as well.

For the most part, there's a lot of good friendships there that will be put to an end, especially with your "No trading Skype and other personal info" rule, the single and only rule I will willingly break, I'm sorry but that rule is against all that bronies stand up for because it forces friendships to squeeze their big hearts through a tiny forum, and posts lack a lot of heart to them...



All in all, I know you mods have lives of your own, but if you don't want to mod it...don't...
There's still plenty of mods that enjoy watching the chatpod. (Or so they've said...)

Taking the chatpod down for the Christmas season would suck, but I'd understand it, but forever???
I just see it has turning many peoples home into a simple forum...

[Prismatic]

Oy, reading these responses I really shouldn't have to make the connection to Neopets...But alas I just did.

My take is that from all the forums I've lurked on in the fandom is that the chatbox is essentially a "General Chat thread" in disguise.  I personally liked the chatbox in the sense the forums do not presently have a 7,500+ page 'General Chat' thread that both MLPForums and its derivatives have.  There are also many things that users may post that are well within the rules but don't necessarily want it in stone so the chatbox has its uses.

Either way resources are going to be spent in an equal manner for a similar amount of activity whether it be forums or a chatbox.

[blackhawk]

Oy, reading these responses I really shouldn't have to make the connection to Neopets...But alas I just did.

My take is that from all the forums I've lurked on in the fandom is that the chatbox is essentially a "General Chat thread" in disguise.  I personally liked the chatbox in the sense the forums do not presently have a 7,500+ page 'General Chat' thread that both MLPForums and its derivatives have.  There are also many things that users may post that are well within the rules but don't necessarily want it in stone so the chatbox has its uses.

Either way resources are going to be spent in an equal manner for a similar amount of activity whether it be forums or a chatbox.

And for this equaling matter many users will leave cause chatbox was the only thing that was holding most of users here active.

[Prismatic]

And for this equaling matter many users will leave cause chatbox was the only thing that was holding most of users here active.

Most people treat these forums similar to how I treat my MMO/RPGs.  The forums are a nice place to find information if I need something to find otherwise I've got other communities (like social media) that are easier to get into than forums.

[Perry The Pony]

I want to address some things people have been bringing up:

1. "A community run chat that is not run and moderated by the LoE team."
The big issue with this is that if we are promoting it, we can become liable for any personal or legal issues that can come of it.  If we promote it and we put our name behind it that means we are attached to it.

2. "Just hire more mods."
This is easier said then done.  The LoE moderation team has strict standards to ensure the quality of moderation, along with covering the legality of moderation.  While LoE is a volunteer project we all do in our spare time, we still have to follow some rules set forth by various agencies, governments, and other legal bodies that help protect ourselves and you as the forum community.

3. "The chatbox is not a drain of resources or should be fixed so these issues do not happen."
The code we use for the chatbox is provided as a feature by the forum system we use.  We use their code and their tools to fix issues so thus we are limited by what they offer.

4. "That's what programmers are for."
The programming team is currently working on the game itself.  All teams are constantly busy with other projects to help create the game you are all waiting to patiently to play.

5. "No chatbox will mean the death of the site and community as a whole."
The chatbox is a form of instant communication between members of the site.  You can also communicate with people using the other functions of the forum such as creating a thread, or using the PM system.  We offered the three means of communication to provide different options for you the forum community.

6. "The no sharing of Skype names or other personal information on the forums rule is too strict and is not what the brony community or this community is about."
This rule was put in place to protect members of the forum and community.  Some people do not want their person information put on the forum or in a public place, while it is their choice to put it there some don't want it at all.  This rule was put in place to protect members of the community from harassment, bullying, and threats.  This was also put in place to help protect members of the project from the same thing.  There was a case recently about a member of the community harassing and attacking members of the development team.  The issue has been handled and resolved but that possibility remains.  Thus to prevent these issues from becoming more and more constant and more damaging to the project or personal life of one of the team members or forum community we will continue to enforce this rule to the fullest extent of the capabilities of the moderation team.

7. "It makes it easier for spammers and other people to attack the site."
This is a true fact, while the moderation team does its best to provide coverage to all functions offered by the LoE team it is hard to catch everything.  If the situation every was bad enough we would remove the chatbox to prevent further abuse of the feature.

Please bear in mind we made this decision through a cost/benefit break down of the current systems we have in place.  This was done to better manage our resources so we are able to deliver a game to the fans and the community.  Your continued support, questions, comments, and concerns are all being taken into consideration for the final decision.

[Prismatic]

Then why even have forums?

[Unstoppable]

I've taken the time to go and count up all of the "votes" so far. Up to this post, 19 individuals have expressed an interest in the chatbox and having it come back. Of the 23 people that had expressed an opinion, 4 of them expressed that they didn't care for the chatbox. Staff members had not been counted in this study. No posts after this post have been counted in this study. Roughly 82.6% of individuals in this study have expressed an interest in the forums. While in a normal study this sample size would not be large enough to be an accurate depiction, due to the size of this community, this sample size is large enough to give an accurate prediction.

[Perry The Pony]

Not every person has voiced their opinion on the matter.
I ask you not to speculate or guess the out come of the investigation being done by myself.

[wingedpineapple]

Not every person has voiced their opinion on the matter.
I ask you not to speculate or guess the out come of the investigation being done by myself.

Maybe a poll about it would help? :v

[Perry The Pony]

There is no need for a poll.  A poll does not properly convey the opinions of others.  I want to hear just and informed opinions of the community before a final decision is made.

[wingedpineapple]

There is no need for a poll.  A poll does not properly convey the opinions of others.  I want to hear just and informed opinions of the community before a final decision is made.

Ok then, I guess I can just wait for the decision :v

[Stalephreak]

I'll try to put this politely, but even at my job, it's not something that we water down.

In regards to staffing, when understaffed, the answer is to staff.  It's a volunteer group.  Unpaid!  Okay. That tells me ( I've been in management for a LONG time now) that you don't have to worry about overhead in terms of your personnel budget.  You theoretically have an infinite supply of personnel at your potential disposal according to the math.

The player base here is small, but the brony community is HUGE.  Surely there's somebody, at least a few, who are capable mods.  Many of us here WANT to help, and we want this game to happen in a bad way.  Has there been consideration towards moving to a more open source to try and get things completed quickly?  Are there plans to monetize the game that make open source impossible?

[Kelvin]

eat popcorn and lurk