# New Chat?



## Drew

Many of you know that the current chat is having a number of major issues. The company's customer support has been poor. It often feels like they are just stalling in their replies. Also, they are based in China and while they speak English, I feel like there is a lot of miscommunication due to a language barrier. I did some searching and I'm not the only person who has experienced this, so it might not get any better over time.

I started looking into other chat options out of my frustration of the issues with the current chat. And if I'm frustrated, I can only imagine how frustrated all of you regular chat users are!

As I was searching I discovered another option that would be quite different from our current chat and I want to see how everyone feels about it. I want to be careful not to make anyone feel uncomfortable using SAS because of the chat.

*Comet Chat* (http://www.cometchat.com/vbulletin-chat)
- Appears as *bar at the bottom of every page*
- The chat bar *won't load by default* (opt-in)
- Integrates completely with vBulletin, including *your forum avatars*
- The chat can easily be *disabled completely*
- You can easily go offline or *invisible*
- You can see whether *friends on the forums are online*, but can't see others
- You can have *private chats with friends*
- Bar will be hidden for non-logged in users
- There will be *public chats* as well that you can choose to join
- You can "pop out" chats to a new window
- You can see a demo just by going to: http://www.cometchat.com/
(Other similar, but less powerful chat software: Arrow Chat and Envolve)

Please vote and post a reply explaining why you voted how you did!

Don't hesitate to let me know if you think this is a terrible idea.

Thanks!


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## Ventura

I noticed there is a video cam /voice cam option Drew ...would you think about putting it on ? ..


> Empower your users with the ability to have voice and video chats, play 2-player games, share their desktop, send files, translate incoming messages in real-time to their language and do a lot more during their one-on-one chat conversations on your website.


I kind of like the option at least to voice talk ... its great exposers for SA.

At first reading this I was like 'no no no no, change is bad'! But really looking at the chat program I think it would be cool! 

Oh and I also like the fact you can talk to people without going into a chat room like that too. This idea of not having to go into chat with all the users but only people on your friends list can see chat , might bring old members who hate to go in chat being able to chat with friends... and not the huge room ! ... but you will also have the option to join the larger chat which is awesome too.


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## RyanJ

I like the idea of it. It seems to be more tightly integrated (there, I stole their marketing term) with the forums. I often like to browse through threads while in chat, but the two feel like separate worlds sometimes - I ignore one while doing the other. This seems like it would merge the two. 

I would also be curious about the video feature. If it works well (and you can do group video/voice) it would be a great alternative to the tinychat rooms. 

Random thoughts: I don't see way to be in two rooms at once, but that doesn't bother me. That was not a feature I used. I would assume there is a way to control how many public rooms are created. If anyone can create a public room then it might get confusing. There is also no obvious way to either play or mute sounds when messages are sent. Since it is integrated with the forum I don't think it would matter when just browsing this site but when visiting other sites while in chat it might be (or would a new message notification appear in the browser tab?). I didn't see an option to stop auto-scrolling, so I'm not sure how that would work. Finally, would the conversation jump from tab to tab within the SAS universe (okay, it looks like you have to click on 'chatrooms' again to pop it up, but it saves your messages)?

In any case, I think I would favor trying Comet Chat over what we currently have.


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## Durzo

I like the looks of that chat  I say give it a shot. I have lots of issues with the new one, random mutes are annoying.


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## rdrr

I don't think the video chats can be regulated, or the voice. I see those as being two issues.


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## Daniel87

:agree


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## Ventura

rdrr said:


> I don't think the video chats can be regulated, or the voice. I see those as being two issues.


tinychat if you report the the cam / voice it sends a print screen to adims to review.... or the voice parts....

But can understand why that would be a hassle for Drew not to put it on... but if you can do call one on ones w/ voice with friends that would be kind of cool.


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## RyanJ

rdrr said:


> I don't think the video chats can be regulated, or the voice. I see those as being two issues.


But what about tinychat? I haven't been there as much lately, but if I am remembering correctly most of the issues were created by a few 'problem' users. ;p SAS is moderated, and the threat of a ban should provide some motivation to control behavior.


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## mind_games

I personally haven't experienced issues with the new chat room apart from rare occurrences of'Meepie's alternate universe chat', but that was always easily fixed by reloading chat.

So I'm kinda happy with the way things are - based on my experiences alone.

--------------------

I also like the reporting/moderating feature in the current chat room and it makes things so easy I don't want to let it go . However this is without having any thing to compare it to as I don't know what it will be like with Cometchat.


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## rdrr

RyanJ said:


> But what about tinychat? I haven't been there as much lately, but if I am remembering correctly most of the issues were created by a few 'problem' users. ;p SAS is moderated, and the threat of a ban should provide some motivation to control behavior.


Yeah but tinychat is 10-20 people max. SAS is far more. Tinychat is not associated with SAS.


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## RyanJ

rdrr said:


> Yeah but tinychat is 10-20 people max. SAS is far more. Tinychat is not associated with SAS.


I understand these things, but also consider that the new chat format would also be more accessible for moderation. Any time there is a moderator on the forum (which is probably quite often), they could check on chat while reading threads. I think it's one of those things where we would have to see it in action before knowing if it would work or not.


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## SuchSweetSorrow

i cant stand if you block someone; you cannot see them, but they can still see you.

this should be a 2 way street. will this chat block you from their view as well when you hit ignore on someone?

also, i understand there are a few glitches, (which i rarely have issues with anyway on my puter) but why is chat continually changing or being reviewed for modification?


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## rdrr

RyanJ said:


> I understand these things, but also consider that the new chat format would also be more accessible for moderation. Any time there is a moderator on the forum (which is probably quite often), they could check on chat while reading threads. I think it's one of those things where we would have to see it in action before knowing if it would work or not.


Maybe you can open the video and voice chat to 18+ members, since you probably can guess what I am alluding to when I say the video chat can be an issue.


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## lionlioncatcat

no harm in giving another chat system a go. the current chat system is royaly p***ing me off


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## AussiePea

I say give it a shot!!


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## RyanJ

rdrr said:


> Maybe you can open the video and voice chat to 18+ members, since you probably can guess what I am alluding to when I say the video chat can be an issue.


Oh I know exactly what you are alluding to. ;p

I mean ideally, if we did have such a thing (and there is probably not much utility in discussing it until we know if we are going to have voice/video chat or not), it should be for people to 'test the waters' socially in a safe, welcoming environment. But I do realize that intended uses and actual uses are not always the same thing.


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## Ventura

You can do the chat demo and play w/ chat yourself by logining into a demo account, I like the layout a lot...


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## Bacon

Eh. i wonder what comet chat is like?


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## Aphexfan

Lets give it a shot!


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## Sam1911

looks good, let's try it and I'm not just saying that because I'm temp banned :rofl can't you downgrade to the old version of chat? oh and an adult room would be nice, something with more lax rules.


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## taffysaur

voted for comet chat. reasons stated above.
i'd try it, for sure.
(_i have been in the current chatroom, but i wouldn't want it changed only on account of what i say_)


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## cubanscorpio

woot. lets try the new chat! after all, us a sa'ers are all about trying new things


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## meepie

Im excited for the new chat. I am hoping it has better ignore features than this one


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## strawberryjulius

I don't mind, just don't take my life-support away!


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## Squirrelevant

strawberryjulius said:


> I don't mind, just don't take my life-support away!


:ditto
It looks as though Comet Chat might be a better option, even if it will take a little getting used to. I think the format may even create a friendlier atmosphere.


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## Fenren

CometChat sounds ok, certainly be a better [and more stable] option than we have right now.


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## HarrietTheSpy

I don't want chat that requires forums to be open to use, and I really don't like the idea of chat that looks like facebook chat (which comet chat seems to ... ). I know they have the option to pop out the chat, but it looks like it is very similar to the facebook chat (ie 'popped out' chat is basically the same but takes up more space, rather than being an easier to read fullscreen or dialog chat display)

I also like being able to customise chat colours and layout, and change avatar easily, which I wouldn't be able to do with comet chat. 

If you do switch to it I'll probably use it but I'm not sure if it will be as good as the current one. 

I think it would be better if you found a chat service that is more similar to the current one, or make our own chat service (maybe an irc server plus a java or flash client to connect to it).


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## Ventura

^

You can popout chat and close forums (I just tried it .. it works) would look like this :


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## Paragon

I like it, comet chat that is. I'd say try that.


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## jim_morrison

Comet chat looks cool. Admittedly I don't use the current chat feature very often. But the new one seems as if it would be more integrated with the forums and user friendly.


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## jim_morrison

anymouse said:


> i mean yes, yes it does.


Lol oops, go easy on me, I'm still learning to read! :teeth


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## papaSmurf

Comet Chat looks pretty flexible, so I'd be all for trying it as long as the privacy options are fairly robust. As someone who finds PMs to be a bit awkward, I think the Facebook-style private conversations feature is really neat.


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## fingertips

if there was an irc-based solution that wasn't totally intimidating for people who never use irc, i'd be all for it.


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## Resonance

RyanJ said:


> It seems to be more tightly integrated...


Oh Ryan, _you're_ tightly integrated! :love2


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## RyanJ

Resonance said:


> Oh Ryan, _you're_ tightly integrated! :love2


:blush


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## SuchSweetSorrow

Sam1911 said:


> looks good, let's try it and I'm not just saying that because I'm temp banned :rofl can't you downgrade to the old version of chat? oh and an adult room would be nice, something with more lax rules.


pickets your banning:afr It looks like the change will go down from percentages of votes :no


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## Paragon

fingertips said:


> if there was an irc-based solution that wasn't totally intimidating for people who never use irc, i'd be all for it.


Yeah, that'd be the nicest proably.. IRC is good. But, oh well, anything that works.


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## Sam1911

iHadItComing said:


> pickets your banning:afr It looks like the change will go down from percentages of votes :no


aww :squeeze the new chat doesn't look so bad


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## Ventura

meepie said:


> Im excited for the new chat.


Me too ! :clap


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## Ventura

bump


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## Amocholes

Patience!


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## Ventura

Whats patience ? I do not compute ... this is illogical .


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## Paragon

chatter chatty chat


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## Amocholes

Patience is a virtue and as a young lady I know that you are virtuous.


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## Paragon

She is??


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## Drew

I apologize for not updating you guys. This new chat might be implemented for some time.

Are you still having issues with the old chat?


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## Ventura

Either 0 people are in chat or I can't get out of the matrix chat


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## Drew

I see 0 people too. Anyone else?


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## Drew

We're giving CometChat a trial run, turned *off* by default.

Join the SAS Chat User public group to test it out:
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/profile.php?do=editusergroups

Let me know if you have any questions or have any problems.

Drew


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## Drew

Please share all your positive and negative feedback!


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## Hey Im Cubie

We should try it! It sounds better than the one we have now.


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## papaSmurf

Comet Chat did seem a bit unintuitive, and that giant bit of adspace above each conversation was pretty unsightly, but I would be interested in seeing some sort of one-to-one chat functionality return to the site eventually. Perhaps there's a better chat service out there?


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## Ventura

Noooooo :'(

I liked the messenger built on sas :cry


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## Aphexfan

I miss it , I liked the games feature alot!!


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## Drew

As I said in the other thread, this is something I may add later through 123FlashChat or another option, but there are more pressing things behind the scenes that I'm working on (keeping SAS up, running fast and secure).


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