Chatbox/Shoutbox

[Rhysin_ 540 / 13,167]

 


The chatbox is an easy way for someone who doesn't know how the forums work to get help finding what they need. While these exist:
Many people still use the chat box for assistance navigating.
While this is mostly just people being lazy or oblivious when on a computer, these are harder to find when on mobile. 
I have seen many people trying to appeal a ban use the chat box for help navigating the forums, and they usually get a link to what they need fairly quickly.

What if they don't know any of the moderators forum names? The chatbox is an easier way to ask people for help with finding who they need.

 
What about those who don't have use Discord? No communication with the community for them without chatbox. While not having discord isnt super common for people in gaming communities it's not impossible.

I'm all for moving it, or making it smaller. It can go under the donate button on the forum index

 "Top Donated Servers" Isn't the most important thing to see imo.

Feel free to put your reasons why  the chat box should/shouldn't get removed.

 

[jarm323 170 / 6,621]

In my opinion, the chatbox/shoutbox should stay. It has been part of this community for way too long. Back when I discovered GFL, the shoutbox was the primary communication tool. We did have TS3, but not everyone used it, the people that used it were the council bois .  Most of the new players/members use it to get around the site and ask their questions. Yeah, they may later transition over to Discord, but as a newcomer it might be difficult to know how everything is done. So, its gonna be a no from me dawg.

 

Also +1 on renaming it to Shoutbox #Nostalgia  

 

[Joshy 4,364 / 44,927]

I'll admit my bias here that my reasons are more sentiment from having it around for so long.  I think it's cool to just have a casual Shout box no need to hop to another website or login elsewhere (especially if you don't have an account); I also don't feel like it's harming or hurting the community.  I agree with you some of the other side content are (in my opinion) not as exciting for the typical forum user and so I'd rather keep the Shout box or replace those other items with the Shout box if something had to go.  A lot of communities have both a Shout box and a Discord and so I think it also helps our forums stay competitive in terms of its features.

 

Secondary to that: Some people do get banned on Discord.  I think if that happens then Shout box and the forums is a good pathway for them to proof good behaviour in their appeals.

[Dominic 135 / 2,013]

I don't think I have any inherent bias here, but I will admit that one of the reasons I'd prefer it stays is just because it'd feel odd without it. However, there are more logical arguments to keep it which were pretty much covered above. First, there's really no harm whatsoever in having it there. If the forum was really cluttered and you wanted to reduce that then maybe, but the forum really isn't cluttered. If anything, if it doesn't exist already, you can allow users to disable it in the settings or with a dropdown arrow similar to the toggling of the categories.

 

I see people in there occasionally asking for help. It may not be frequent, but those people are benefitting from having the Shoutbox there. They may not be using Discord because they don't have it, because they're blocked from it, or a few other valid reasons.. or it's simply more convenient. In any case, that means the Shoutbox is benefitting them. Like I said, I don't think anyone is being harmed by the Shoutbox. I also think it'd be odd to write it off as "dead" or anything of the sort, it's not as if it goes days without messages. (from what I see)

 

I'd actually go as far as to say it should be treated like any game server in the sense that we should attempt to "populate" it. Just like you want people to engage more in forum topics and post more, you should want people to use the Shoutbox. It gets people to talk to each other, in turn making them feel more like a member of the community and in turn promoting more forum activity. Starting discussions in there and getting the chat messages flowing can only lead to positive outcomes.

[Alexis 578 / 12,012]

I just like the randomness of it, that's all really.

[Serenity 546 / 7,380]

I also would not like to see shoutbox go mainly because it would feel weird without it. It’s still used somewhat to help navigate players. If possible like some stated above, maybe we could add a close button menu where it hides the shoutbox for users who don’t want to see it?

 

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Serenity

[Liloz01 1,256 / 19,825]

I currently plan on moving and collapsing it by default to be like so:

 

There will still be prompts, though less intrusive ones, to join Discord instead. Discord will always be a better alternative to Shoutbox, and I believe at some point we should transition fully to Discord as our only "real-time" communication platform.

 

I also plan on using the real estate gained by moving shoutbox to implement some navigation cards to places users regularly want to go, for example:

 

 

Obviously, the cards can be customised.... or instead of cards, it could even be a dashboard that displays messages that pertain to you, e.g. when a user has linked steam you may be able to see "there's a ban on your steamID from x server, appeal here!" or "you have x notifications!".... just putting ideas out there on what to use the space for, lol.

 

I also want to point out that the shoutbox really isn't the great resource as is portrayed in this thread by many, it's... just not active. Questions go unanswered for hours or are ignored and in its current state it catches the eye of users who are looking to solve a problem, and they waste time typing in it... 

 

Sometimes, change is hard, but it's for the better.  Let me know what you think of this.

[Dominic 135 / 2,013]

I'm glad you provided some valid reasoning for removing the Shoutbox, which is to add something that would probably be more helpful overall. However, can't those cards be placed on the currently very barren homepage? That is the first thing you see when you type in https://gflclan.com/ - and right now it just consists of recent announcements. It's a nice addition for sure, but I think it essentially replacing the Shoutbox can be avoided and perhaps having it on the homepage can lead to even better results.

[Joshy 4,364 / 44,927]

I do have to admit I like the cards.  Would it still be difficult to have both and appeal to sentiment by moving the Shout box to the right side area for people he would like to continue using it?  So long as it's not at the top right it shouldn't distract those distressed users away from your cool looking cards; there doesn't seem to be a tradeoff or cost to doing this.  I feel like those cards no matter what you link them to I feel like the links are only going to appeal to newer users and the Shout box is really an appeal or an award for people who have been around for a while.