hey all

The current chat system (an old version of Cometchat) is really showing its age and it's always been horribly resource intensive on the server. What's are your thoughts on replacing it?

- should it be text only or would voice chat be nice to have?

- integrate with a platform such as Slack or Discord or use a standalone product?

One benefit of platform integration is that we could also integrate the game notification system into it so you could be notified in a Slack channel that it's your turn or whatever.

Voice does not interest me.

Big fan of Slack, never used to Discord - though I hear it is what the kids use.

have certainly gotten used to what we have hear - minimal is nice - initial thoughts are -

Are we talking about message boards, in-game messages or the private message system?  (Or all 3?)

For message boards being able to "+1" would be great and an easier ability to post images would be nice.

For in-game message it would be nice to message a group of other players (esp. team games). Also better notification that you have a message to view on your turn.

I think Tom is talking about the actual chat in the bottom right - click on the gear, or if you don't have a gear, click the speech bubble, then the gear.

I have literally never used that, but I just tried it out.  Looks like there is a lobby you can post to, but if I'm reading this right, it's almost never been used:

(2:35pm 16th Jun)

bobthefish:  (4:15pm 25th Jun)

Hrm.  For some reason when I paste I can't get the timestamps to show up.  Let me try this:

(2:35pm 16th Jun)
kennyszub:  Is there any way to fix?(2:35pm 16th Jun)
bobthefish:  Not sure how to fix anything these days.(4:14pm 25th Jun)
bobthefish:  i hope someone shows up to chat with me(4:15pm 25th Jun)
bobthefish:  Sick(4:15pm 25th Jun)
bobthefish:  @camelhand(4:50pm 25th Jun)
blackwolf:  Is there a reason that I can't upload any file to my new board Im making? Read all the info and following it all. cards and board I can't load.(2:38pm 23rd Jul)
blackwolf:  Got it. Had to do it on the Windows PC and not the Mac(1:41pm 25th Jul)
Silver:  How do I join games? I see the menu item and list of games but how do I join a game?(6:31pm 8th Aug)
chuck820357:  Hello everyone.(4:40pm 22nd Feb)

Discord is not something just the kids use .... 

It is also in use as chat area for a lot of games, so going that way would make sense here. 

And with threads possible in Discord recently making it possible to move parts of the forum there would also make sense. 

Haven't used Slack in years. No idea if it even exists, or if it is a good fit for here. Others may have to chip in on that. 

I am also playing minetest, and there are several Discord channels related to that, including several bots, and Discord and IRC bridged to ingame chat and each other. A lot can be learned and gleaned from there, that might benefit wargear. 

Never used Discord (no particular interest) and have used Slack some (for work stuff). Can't say I see much personal need for it -- I'm pretty happy with the forums and in-game messages - but I imagine that some system like that would be really good for bringing in and retaining new players.

I tried using the chat & chatrooms when they first came online; but then trying to find others that had it working at the same time i was on made for limited use - eventually fading to non-use.

Personally i think there are other items that would better serve your limited time; although if you want to continue to pursue and potentially tie other things with it...

I've never used slack, so no input there. I've used Discord minimally and find it somewhat clunky, but it's supposed to be super powerful - so maybe i just need to get familiar with it. 

I don't see the need for voice, but maybe nice to have - it was especially nice to have voice when we did the real-time tourneys those couple times (why i have used Discord as little as I have). 

my .02; and will chime in with more as Tom asks more.

Ozyman wrote:

I think Tom is talking about the actual chat in the bottom right - click on the gear, or if you don't have a gear, click the speech bubble, then the gear.

Oh! Thanks - I vaguely remember turning that off -

I think since we are such an asynchronous group we communicate more with the things I listed rather than in the moment chat -

Wow, I totally forgot we had chat.  I just looked and saw I had a few messages - in one case I didn't recognize the name and no idea when they sent the message but I can see their last login was 2016 so minimum 5 years I've not noticed it.  I either hid it or am blind. 

I'm more of a lurker anyways, I'm in many discords for some games but tend to just read them once in awhile vs actively participate in chat.  Life is busy!

I have only used the chat feature to try to wrangle up people for real-time games. So not much. I'm fine with just the forums and in-game messaging.

I also don't seem to be able to access the lobby that Ozyman mentioned. Clicking the gear just gives me Chat Options. Clicking Chatrooms doesn't do anything.

>I also don't seem to be able to access the lobby that Ozyman mentioned. Clicking the gear just gives me Chat Options. Clicking Chatrooms doesn't do anything.

FYI - I see the same thing as you when I am in firefox, but in chrome, clicking the "chatrooms" button gives me the lobby and some other options, so maybe try another browser?

That worked. Thank you.

Sorry yes to be clear it's a replacement for the actual chat in the bottom right.

Since 1st October only 30 messages have been sent with it so it's not being used much.

I used chat a bit early on but it disappeared from me and now I had forgotten it ever existed. Like korrun I'm on the wrong browser to use it and didn't realize. So I won't miss the old one.

I suppose chat is a nice feature, but it's not super relevant for a site where gameplay is mostly asynchronous ..it's certainly not relevant for me. If I want to converse in real time with someone I'm playing, I'm more likely to use a third-party app.  For instance with family and friends, something like Zoom.  The chat/messaging section below all games does everything I need as long as folks look down there. Personally I would prefer that Tom somehow makes those chats a little harder to miss.  It seems the blinking message light at the top of the board is only for Private messages.

@Tom: if you're playin with the in-game messaging system; the new block is showing up as black while i have the 'work mode' turned on. 

I suppose chat is a nice feature, but it's not super relevant for a site where gameplay is mostly asynchronous ..it's certainly not relevant for me. If I want to converse in real time with someone I'm playing, I'm more likely to use a third-party app.  For instance with family and friends, something like Zoom.  The chat/messaging section below all games does everything I need as long as folks look down there. Personally I would prefer that Tom somehow makes those chats a little harder to miss.  It seems the blinking message light at the top of the board is only for Private messages.

+1

Ozyman wrote:

I suppose chat is a nice feature, but it's not super relevant for a site where gameplay is mostly asynchronous ..it's certainly not relevant for me. If I want to converse in real time with someone I'm playing, I'm more likely to use a third-party app.  For instance with family and friends, something like Zoom.  The chat/messaging section below all games does everything I need as long as folks look down there. Personally I would prefer that Tom somehow makes those chats a little harder to miss.  It seems the blinking message light at the top of the board is only for Private messages.

+1

+1

Amidon37 wrote:

For in-game message it would be nice to message a group of other players (esp. team games). Also better notification that you have a message to view on your turn. 

I've fixed the message notification which shows that you have a new message on your turn. This appears in the top bar when you revisit or reload the game Join, View or Player pages.

Just to note, there is also a push notification (top right) if you are already in the game that there's a new message so that's covered as well.