[Runner]

^Well, yeah, but even during the schoolyear last year, I would come home and almost always see at least 6-7 people online. Oh, and btw, sometimes, some of the people counted in the number of people on chat aren't even on- they're like gone and they won't talk. Even for an hour. I'm thinking chat should get an automatic "Leaves the room" when somebody X's out the tab or clicks out, since it's annoying for me to be all "YAY THERE'S SOMEONE ON" and then that someone doesn't talk and when you click to see what they're doing, it says they're not online.

At least tonight, there's some people online. Yay! No boredom for me.

[Admin]

During the school year you are right... But the start of school has historically been a slow period.

I can adjust the time it takes to timeout somebody... But the side effect of doing that is it logs people out who leave chat running in the background waiting for other chatters. What would be a good timeout period (in minutes) before it kicks somebody off who isn't chatting and also knocks people off who don't log out correctly?

[nekopan]

I'm only seeing an activity issue occasionally. The number will decrease since school is starting up again. Lately though, I normally see anywhere from 3-8 people in Chat whenever I'm on, which is what it was like anyway even before the approval system was put into effect...

Yup,over here in the UK I usually have nobody on Chat. That's actually pretty normal since I come on in the morning at 10am-ish and the time in the west coast of the USA will be 5am...

Admin: I would say 15 minutes would be a good timeout time.

Edited by nekopan, 25 August 2011 - 07:36 AM.

[Runner]

During the school year you are right... But the start of school has historically been a slow period.

I can adjust the time it takes to timeout somebody... But the side effect of doing that is it logs people out who leave chat running in the background waiting for other chatters. What would be a good timeout period (in minutes) before it kicks somebody off who isn't chatting and also knocks people off who don't log out correctly?

I say 20 minutes.

[Admin]

You all don't think that is too short? Remember this means that if you leave the chat window sitting open on your computer while you do other stuff it will log you out after that amount of time.

[Runner]

Well, if you want to get back on chat after having left it on for 20 minutes, all you have to do is just get back onto chat. Simple.

[dazzilitchigirl]

I think we need to find a chat that actually has more than one room. That way, the people who don't wanna talk to each other can just go to a different room. Simple. Try to find a software that works.

I agree. We should have like Music Chat Room, Food Chat Room, School Chat Room, RP Chat Room, and of course Tama Chat Room. If we can't get that many, we should atleast have 2 chatrooms: Tama Chat and Non Tama Chat.

My mom banned me from Chat for the exact same reason you're considering removing Chat, Admin - there are not 1 or 2 trolls, but FAR TOO MANY coming on FAR TOO OFTEN! I've known someone to be on chat for 24 hours running. What's more, this person was aged under 20. I really do disagree with people living their lives on Chat, especially teenagers who have EXAMS and HOMEWORK and even worse, adults with FAMILIES! No offence, but I really think those people can change and if they're just highly addicted, removing chat would be the best thing. I know most of us here (including me!) are pretty addicted to Tamas but we don't play our Tamas while crossing the road or during a sport do we? No, us Tama addicts have certain No Tama times, but these Chat addicts...DOING 1 THING FOR 24 HOURS RUNNING IS NOT HEALTHY!

[SugaryGoesRAWR]

I agree. We should have like Music Chat Room, Food Chat Room, School Chat Room, RP Chat Room, and of course Tama Chat Room. If we can't get that many, we should atleast have 2 chatrooms: Tama Chat and Non Tama Chat.

My mom banned me from Chat for the exact same reason you're considering removing Chat, Admin - there are not 1 or 2 trolls, but FAR TOO MANY coming on FAR TOO OFTEN! I've known someone to be on chat for 24 hours running. What's more, this person was aged under 20. I really do disagree with people living their lives on Chat, especially teenagers who have EXAMS and HOMEWORK and even worse, adults with FAMILIES! No offence, but I really think those people can change and if they're just highly addicted, removing chat would be the best thing. I know most of us here (including me!) are pretty addicted to Tamas but we don't play our Tamas while crossing the road or during a sport do we? No, us Tama addicts have certain No Tama times, but these Chat addicts...DOING 1 THING FOR 24 HOURS RUNNING IS NOT HEALTHY!

Firstly, most of us are not on all the time. We all have our rules and bedtimes. From what I have seen, people do stay up late but they do go back to bed. Also, they do study for exams and do their homework. They aren't addicted, and the adults do have lives. Some of them have work they attend, music practices, University and more. Also, I don't think you have the right to accuse us of any of this if you're hardly on anymore. Thus, things have changed and you haven't witnessed them, ne?

[Runner]

My mom banned me from Chat for the exact same reason you're considering removing Chat, Admin - there are not 1 or 2 trolls, but FAR TOO MANY coming on FAR TOO OFTEN! I've known someone to be on chat for 24 hours running. What's more, this person was aged under 20. I really do disagree with people living their lives on Chat, especially teenagers who have EXAMS and HOMEWORK and even worse, adults with FAMILIES!

You're sorta exaggerating a certain few people who look to be on chat for 24 hours running. Actually, some people just leave their computers on chat, or just shut their laptop and forget to shut it down, so it looks like they're on longer than they actually are. Not to mention, I know exactly who you're talking about, and rest assured, I can tell you that he is only on for about 12 hours since I never saw him around in the early/mid morning (Pacific Standard Time) at all, only once, so it clearly means he isn't on for 24 hour hours running.

[Swan_Song]

My mom banned me from Chat for the exact same reason you're considering removing Chat, Admin - there are not 1 or 2 trolls, but FAR TOO MANY coming on FAR TOO OFTEN! I've known someone to be on chat for 24 hours running. What's more, this person was aged under 20. I really do disagree with people living their lives on Chat, especially teenagers who have EXAMS and HOMEWORK and even worse, adults with FAMILIES! No offence, but I really think those people can change and if they're just highly addicted, removing chat would be the best thing. I know most of us here (including me!) are pretty addicted to Tamas but we don't play our Tamas while crossing the road or during a sport do we? No, us Tama addicts have certain No Tama times, but these Chat addicts...DOING 1 THING FOR 24 HOURS RUNNING IS NOT HEALTHY!

As Darth Vader would say, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

-First of all, it is someone's choice if they stay on Tamachat all the time. If you don't like it, there's really not much you can do about it... :/
-Secondly, making broad generalizations about people is kind of rude, and definitely not respectful to fellow members. You do not know the lives of every individual on here, and many people have different schedules.
-Sometimes, as Runner said, the chat isn't properly closed out which makes the appearance that someone is actually on. Therefore, they're not really on there 24 hours.
-About the trolls-- yes, there are trolls, and they can definitely be rude, unkind, and plain annoying. However, there is also a better way to react than blowing it out of proportion and making the situation worse. Report the member, then leave the chatroom until the proper action is taken. You don't have to stay in a place where people harass you. And sometimes it's better if you don't reply to what they say, and simply ignore them-- all they want is for their victims to react.

[SailorRosette]

GAH... UM. Calm-ith please.

Many users know when to leave and do the stuff they need to. Some like to chat a bit while doing it... Everyone is different... Keep that in mind when you make generalizations about certain people or groups.

As mentioned... Many people do leave chat open, I see it nearly everyday. Not always with the same users either. It could be just when you look it is the same users/people.

For the time-out thing... I think an 30 minute block would be good... maybe 45 minutes because you never know what directly they are doing. They could be eating, homework or just plain something they didn't want to mention.

Edited by SailorRosette, 27 August 2011 - 04:53 PM.

[Fer Sure]

I agree with what Runner said, about how things are dying. School may have started up for the US, but in other places it was already on, and people still find the time to come on chat. It's just school afterall, and not just the US use the site.
It's been dead all day today practically, and the only members who come on are in-active.
I think the chat approval system drives new members particularly away from chat.
I'm hoping this is just a trial run.

[SailorRosette]

So um... Reveiws... Is it working well or not? I'm not sure but I've been curious.......

[Admin]

I would love to hear some reviews as well. I will offer my impressions but would also appreciate some honest answers from everyone.

For me, the approval system enables us to lock people out if we need to (we haven't had to yet) which is a good thing since it addresses a major problem i had with the no approvals required systeml we had before. I think we have done a pretty decent job of approving people quickly as well. I don'mt
Think anyone has waited more than 24 hours (in most cases it is well under 4 hours).

[graficks]

Thanks for all of your hard work Admin (and other TT moderators and guides). I think this approval method is a practical and sensible way to help keep TamaTalk fun and safe. I think most can say that the approval system has been flawless and the wait time has been next to unnoticeable. Given that Admin is able to review a users information before approving them to enter Chat, it helps keep unwanted and unnecessary people from causing disruption in what is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable experience.

While I'm not an avid Chat-goer, I still enjoy popping in once every so often to chat with my fellow TT buddys. I think the approval system has been well thought out and tested thoroughly - so I have nothing but admiration for the help and time that TamaTalk staff have put in to help keep the forums in shape, up-to-date and an overall fun place to hang out.

This may have been suggested before: perhaps to help speed up the approval process on the admin side and to also help a user become more familiar with the site and gain "experience" per se, would it make sense for a user to require a minimum # of posts per account before approval can be set? For example: the user would require at least 10 posts MINIMUM before being approved for chat. When a users requests approval for Chat, TamaTalk staff could then check that users posts to see if it's relevant enough for approval and then move forward. A minimum # of posts required may help the approval process ONLY if the process starts to become overwhelming...just a suggestion for future implementation. The current setup, in my eyes at least, seems to be working just fine!

[TamaMum]

It seems to me from watching the Chat room list that there have been some pretty regular members in Chat recently - I often see several names from the same group of 5-6 members in there chatting.

True, it is not chock-full of members - but it looks to me like some of the members who like to use it for their RP discussions (for example) and to chat with their other friends (about Tumblr for instance) are making good use of it.


(Just to play "devil's advocate" for a moment... I don't suppose anyone might have considered that it might not be the Entry approval system that is keeping members away from Chat?
Some members just don't like going into Chat rooms where they are constantly put down because of their age or have to deal with swearing or even a "clique" of friends who are not as friendly or welcoming towards newcomers as they could be.)

[.chasm.]

I do think that the approval system has affected the number of people in the chat somewhat. There have been less people in the chat lately, and I don't think it's down to the time of year or anything else, because that's never made the numbers go this low before. There have been whole hours where I've left the chat open, then come back later and not one person has entered the chat.

I do think that the system's a good idea, it's just made less people come into the chat, partly because some haven't been approved or haven't even posted a topic yet.

[Runner]

I do think that the approval system has affected the number of people in the chat somewhat. There have been less people in the chat lately, and I don't think it's down to the time of year or anything else, because that's never made the numbers go this low before. There have been whole hours where I've left the chat open, then come back later and not one person has entered the chat.

I. Totally. Agree.

Sure, maybe for you people who say you see people normally on there, it looks that way. But maybe for people like me who get on in the afternoon and night Pacific time, I see only like 0-4 people in there at a time. Mostly, none or two people.

Please get rid of this system, Admin, I hate having there be like no people in chat. It's scaring people away from chat and this site (I just posted in a departure topic where the girl was unhappy about the approval thing too). TT has already gone downhill enough, and if you manage to scare everyone away from chat (Which is like one of the main lifebloods of TT), then, well, you'll scare everyone away from here. D:

[Admin]

I appreciate everyone sharing their thoughts on this. I do want to say that I have watched traffic to the site drop at this time of year almost every single year since we have been open. It is a regular pattern of dropping as people start up school )or whatever) again and then it starts going up again soon after. Is this the main reason for chat traffic also being low? No way of knowing. I am curious to know about the approval thing being a reason for people not wanting to be in there... I can not even begin to count the number of times people have PMed me saying they hated going into chat because of some of the behavior/treatment others in chat would unleash at times. Which of any of this is the actual reason for the forever alone in chat feeling? I can only guess since we don't have a way of testing the difference. All I know is that the approval system was the main thing that addressed my concerns over chat. Please remember that the original question was related to closing chat completely. I have a hard time seeing how approvals can be that big of a problem (much less a reason to leave the site!). We have 100+ accounts already approved in just over 3 weeks time (all approved in well under 24 hours).

@Graficks: Thanks for the kind words of support. As far as the idea of post first before being approved goes, this idea was tossed around. The fear was having people post spam topics just to get the minimum required to be approved. I figured we start this out a little more broad and open and then tighten only when necessary.

[Violetchilluvr3]

I hardly see why this would make someone not ant to go into chat. What's so bad about it? Make one topic and let Admin do the rest. That's a pretty suckish reason to not go in, in my opinion.