If you want a separate window, you may as well be using an IM client. If you want something more embedded to talk to a single user, you may as well be using the private messaging system. I don't understand what you would say in a chat box. There's plenty of room in the off topic forum to talk about anything. I really think that it will turn into a track spam-fest. Think about how hard it would be to keep eyes on it at all time from a moderator stand point. I still think that it's superfluous and will be more work than it's worth.

You talk like you've never been in a chat room.
Chat and forum are just 2 different things.
Then you could also say it's the same as voice messaging or even why don't you just go out and meet physically if you wanna talk.
Of course - tecnically - you can talk about the same things everywhere, but in fact you cannot. Conversations will turn out completly different on forums and chats.

And I explained my point about Messengers.

I don't say we must have a chat. I'm not the one to decide that anyway. I just think it would be cool and useful.
But I also think it would be hard to make a chat that is safe and has all the filters that make us able to moderate it easily.
Because of course you're right, it would be hard to moderate.

But not impossible. It'd need the community to help, and they would help.
They could make screenshots and report people who act inappropriate.
And I'm quite sure that some of our moderators would also pretty actively watch (and probably use) the chat, just naturally, because they're interested.

However, I don't think it's ever gonna come. With only one coder there'll always be more important things to do on this website. And the bigger this site grows the more of his time it will eat up.
So it's just play of thought.

I've been on less frequently used sites before that had a front page shout box that eventually got removed because on inactivity. Then again, this was a site for a clan that rented a ventrilo server.

In terms of moderation, I don't foresee problems with inappropriate-ness as much as I do with track spam. The easiest way I see to moderate that is to keep a log and have someone go through the log every day. This way we wouldn't have to rely on other users to make screenshots.

I also agree that this will most likely never see the light of day.

Ajax chat!

https://blueimp.net/ajax/

Im a member of a swedish forum that uses it, works good, opens in a new window and so on.
We do have it so you see the latest threads on all pages, and have a specific thread to write in when you want people to join the chat. So as soon as you post in that topic some people will usually join. It helps a lot with activity on the chat.


Moderating is not so critical, most people can behave themselves and I'd say that the other forum is much more "chaotic" and the chat is still no problem at all.

Shoutboxes always are kinda pointless IMO.

IRC is still one of the most solid chat networks around, you just have to get used to idling a bit. /join #maniaplanet.

EDIT: There are also web clients for IRC (Some flash client, Mibbit etc.), so everyone is able to use it.

I've created #MX on QuakeNet. I'm always there anyway. We can see how it works out.

I still need to register it though, in order to get services. So if someone could join and idle there. I need 3 other unique logins on the channel for like 3 hours in order to register the channel.

You can join via your favorite IRC client or via http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=#MX

That's not gonna work, sadly I know from experience.
As you said already, there's been a tmx channel on quakenet before and I've been idling there for a while, too.
I was using irc every day for almost 10 years. Back in UT and Quake times irc was obligatory for every clan- or community-player.
But nowadays the majority of players don't even seem to know it anymore.
Kids nowadays don't take the time anymore to get into a system/program before they get started. If the program is not self-installing, self-connecting.. doing everything for you.. then they just don't bother using it.

Might be true SkunkY.

At any rate, for those that do join... we can have some nice chat.

We already have 13 people on the channel.

I'm not saying it'll be a success, or that it'll be used mainstream among a lot of people here, but since I'm already active there... why not give it a chance. You're right on the fact that forum chat and chatroom chat is much different. For one thing its much more immediate, so it's easier to have an actual conversation. It's also easier to share random things and strike up a conversation about them at a moment's notice.

I've opped TheM and RKO90 on #MX ... in case I'm not around and some moderating needs to be done.

TheM is owner of #maniaplanet and a moderator on the maniaplanet forums.

RKO 90 is well... RKO 90.

--

Also, having an IRC channel doesn't preclude the possibility of their being some sort of in-site chat at some point. But the IRC channel is something that could be set up very quickly and a lot of people already use it. So it'll be something we can use until then (if that is ever to happen).

Eyebo seems to talk 67.15% more then I do. That's rare .
Too less people around. We need more :3.