I write to inform all the people out there that don't know what an IRC chat is, that it is an Internet Relay Chat. This means that when you send a sentance into the chatbox the person on the other side recieves it almost instantly.

This would be a great addition to the forums that get a lot of hits every hour, meaning that people can get on one weekend , chat, and get what they need to know that weekend rather than posting a thread, waiting for the replies, and then mayby ,if you don't come on that often , only getting the replies a week later.

Please , if you know a high ranking person on this site, pass the information on to them sothat we can get this going as soon as possible

Thanxz for reading , and don't froget to tell.
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Dont worry about passing it on, Marc looks though all these threads it seams.
There is a susgestions section and i've put IRC chat in there, but dont expect things over night, he's a busy guy.
Till then if you see on the info the user has ICQ or MSN, then use it.
I've had online chats using the forum just as it is, ok you have to wait 5 mins for an answer, but it worked great. My entire thread turned from question to chat lol

I've been exploring different IRC packages over the last few weeks actually...also some one on one chat packages...question would it be preferable where you could do one on one chats to those who are online (we do have PM's but a little clumsier than live chat I know) or full chat rooms with lots of members?

The downside of a live chat room with many members is that it's "live" so usually unmoderated and one troublemaker can come in and ruin it for many as I have seen in other chat rooms quite often. The one on one live chat is usually more civil and does not need moderating and rarely gets out of hand.

Curious what you all think...

Marc,

What you say is true about one bad seed ruining an otherwise well-mannered chat room. To echo what phillybaby said, you guys (moderators and yourself) seem to be on top of these posts quite quickly (live??). If this is the case, it would seem you could zap a trouble maker pretty quick. If not, I don't think it's worth the trouble to have a full-blown chat room- I for one am happy with the forums and PM the way they are. One feature I would suggest though, is, if a user permits, their e-mail address be available to members- it is cumbersome to create an e-mail via RCU, as attachments can't be sent, etc.

Anyway, just rambling, sorry. BTW, thanks for the great site and a pleasant alternative to RCO.

- George

George,

Yes..me and the mods are quick when something does need attention usually but chat is 24/7 and things could get way out of hand pretty quick and somebody won't always be there and I'd like anything associated with RCU to have a positive contribution.

The email thing is possible however the reason we don't is several fold. First attachments are nice but can also cause viruses to propogate. Through our system as you know they are not allowed. 2nd and most important to people is that the "cloaking" of emails keeps their email protected from spammers. If an email were visible in any way on this site a bot could troll the site and pick them all up and then the email spam flood begins.

What I always suggest is to send the email using the system and request the users email address from that person so when they reply to you if that person wants he can divulge his email and then you can contact them directly. This protects the virus thing and the spammer problem. Also many times users put their emails into the post if they don't mind them being public. Funny thing is that many users still use public emails here (yahoo, hotmail, etc...) for fear of spam but with this system it is prevented.

I could make it an option for those who truly don't mind but have to make it clear to them what the downsides could be so they don't come back complaining to me that a spammer got their email from here and now they are getting flooded with junk mail...when the site first started users would email me blaming our site for junk mail when we don't sell or show any emails in any way! Go figure...

After reading a closed thread and some pretty nasty replys i really think person to person would be best, after all, its one person reply to your post that you want to talk to, just look at my old Unlimited Prophanging thread ( or what ever i called it ) Miderror and my self sent replys back and forth, we now E-mail and ICQ chat.
My reason for asking for it is when someone replys, you can just wack these ideas back and forth very quickly.
The same style as the MP3 downloaders. Also very handy for those silly things you want to ask one person, but it doesnt warrent a thread, i know the current PM is the best way for this at the moment.
It could be an option wether to have this running or not.
For bigger chats, it would be better if it was an event type thing and then it can be morederated, ie ( tonight, talk to ******* the rep for X-Brand ) ( or tonight super star flyer ******* will take your questions ) like those internet chats you get after some TV programs

phillybaby,

this will likely be the format we take...person to person chat and then live events with some "star" players and moderated sessions for those.

will be working on this after we get a few other things done and online here...

ooooh i feel all wrm and fuzzy that i can make a diffrence.
I just love how personal this forum is and that you can talk to anyone and be treated as a friend

There are already a few irc chats out there. I sometimes visit the rooms at at http://www.rcchat.net or IRC at irc.webmaster.com channel #rc_chat.

Phillybaby,

Thanks..I always believe you have to treat others and talk to them the way you expect to be talked to and treated...when I call a company I expect them to treat me with fanatical customer service...a few do and those are the great ones...I decided that you do get back what you give and every user here is very important.

My hosting provider for RCU (rackspace.com) is fanatical and a good example..when I need something they jump all over it and do it with an enthusiastic friendly smile. This is not often seen in many organizations so when you do see it you notice it...they just blew me away with their service level for anything I needed. Very refreshing and a model more companies should emulate...

One other dowside to iRC is that there is really no archived record. Here when a topic is started lots can be involved in the discussion even weeks after it has happened. Valid points and tips can be viewed again and again at a later date by someone not even in the hobby yet. I would hate to see things go away from this valuable resourse, especially since you typically can't (shouldn't) be online 24/7... some of us unfortunately do have to work! hahaha just my .02..