Return of the General chat! (poll)

[WolfQueen]

I don't think the reasoning behind this decision was explained clearly except blaming us for the problem and punishing people who wanted to step up. I mean, it's been nearly 5 years. We are kind of over it by now but nothing has really changed despite what was promised.

I'm now wondering how general chat can be added again. It requires part of the source code that I assume Raz still has, but he has been MIA for quite a while. :/

[Insoholic]

My main concern with bringing the chat back is that it allowed people to reach over 300 people at once, meaning that all of those people coud see someone using inappropriate language (or even worse). While you can turn off the chat, those users would be still abusing the chat and affecting other users. As for Local, the chat itself affects no more than 70 users at a time, but think about it for a moment. We're kind of "forced" to stay near the entrance of "The Grounds" to socialize with other players. And with bringing the chat back, I think that players would start to spread out more and in different maps. But it's also clear that people have changed their behaviour in the chats, so bringing it back in the game would definitely make a difference. Years passed and the chat being gone didn't really improve the game greatly, especially for those advertising. And General Chat was there for mostly advertising, even though people have been abusing it.

Since the Staff are extremely restricted in what they can do with the game, bringing the chat back with its limitations and no support (game wise) to improve it or even modify it, it may not be the best idea to put it back in the game. But if it doesn't help bringing it back, I think the community will have to face once more the removal of the chat. Maybe it's worth a shot?

I have mixed feelings on this subject, but I've casted my vote ("Yes").

[Valar.Morghulis]

My main concern with bringing the chat back is that it allowed people to reach over 300 people at once, meaning that all of those people coud see someone using inappropriate language (or even worse). While you can turn off the chat, those users would be still abusing the chat and affecting other users.

Well that is true, everyone could see what was written.
But people swear in local too, so there is not much difference after all.

As for Local, the chat itself affects no more than 70 users at a time, but think about it for a moment. We're kind of "forced" to stay near the entrance of "The Grounds" to socialize with other players. And with bringing the chat back, I think that players would start to spread out more and in different maps. But it's also clear that people have changed their behaviour in the chats, so bringing it back in the game would definitely make a difference. Years passed and the chat being gone didn't really improve the game greatly, especially for those advertising. And General Chat was there for mostly advertising, even though people have been abusing it.

Since the Staff are extremely restricted in what they can do with the game, bringing the chat back with its limitations and no support (game wise) to improve it or even modify it, it may not be the best idea to put it back in the game. But if it doesn't help bringing it back, I think the community will have to face once more the removal of the chat. Maybe it's worth a shot?

Hm I don't completely agree with you here.
General chat doesn't need any 'modifying'
It was always fine. People can just turn it off if they get sick of it (which I highly doubt that they will)

Also as you said, the community is a lot different now.

And It is definitely worth a shot!

I have mixed feelings on this subject, but I've casted my vote ("Yes").

[Insoholic]

Well that is true, everyone could see what was written.
But people swear in local too, so there is not much difference after all.

The difference is the number of players affected by the use of inappropriate language.

Hm I don't completely agree with you here.
General chat doesn't need any 'modifying'
It was always fine. People can just turn it off if they get sick of it (which I highly doubt that they will)

Also as you said, the community is a lot different now.

And It is definitely worth a shot!

In my opinion, the whole chat system has to be modified. It would be great to have a language filter/chat lexicon, which will prevent the use of certain words (like slurs) in the chatbox. I think it will be for the best to have restrictions on what words can be typed, but without the source code it's not possible to implement such additions.

[Wyldercat]

Honestly, I see few downsides to re-adding general. While it's true that inappropriate content can be easily broadcasted to large quantities of people, local chat in a crowded area such as the grounds is basically the same effect. Unfortunately people will make fools of themselves for a cheap laugh no matter what, so I don't think the chat channel will effect much there. As for pushing people into different maps, that's not necessarily a bad thing either. While it may make it easier to break the rules for some people, which is never good, people are bound to do such things away from the public eye regardless. Dispersing the player base more may reduce lag (even my computer bugs out a bit when I go to the Grounds entrance) and reduce chat and "x has arrived" spam.

[ZombieKitteh]

I definitely agree with it returning! General being removed tends to be one of the big issues a lot of people have with FH, so I'd love to see it return soon.

Yep! I agree. I don't remember that the community was even asked regarding the removal of General chat. It was just gone one day as far as I can remember

We weren't. There was no poll, no notification, nothing regarding this until it happened. Not long after the removal, Razmirz posted a thread about it.

This is what he had to say about it

There was no notice or attempt to hear our opinions on this beforehand.

And, you noted how people went off in a rage about General being removed. Do you think it would have been any better received if we'd consulted the community beforehand? Most would have assumed it was a terrible idea right off the bat, without looking at the possible long-term effects of its removal.

Presumably this was the reasoning as to why.

This bothers me. A lot. Mainly, because it shows a severe lack of trust between the ones who make a decision and the ones who are affected. We weren't trusted to give an objective opinion, and were given the reasoning behind the decision after it was made.

It's like taking a toy from a child. You can either tell the child that you will take their toy away if they misbehave, or, you can walk up to them, tear it out of their hands, and toss it in the trash bin without saying a word. It goes without saying that if you do the latter, your child will grow up with some trust issues.


Regardless, what's done is done. General chat was in the game for three years, starting since 2011. It's officially been over three years without general chat. It can't be said that we aren't patient or that the impact hasn't been assessed yet.

As far as bringing it back, personally, I think I'd like that. Of course, if it causes trouble, then we're potentially heading towards another removal of it in the future. That being said, I do wonder if that alone will bring in more members. I know a lot of us want to bring back the "old FH vibes", but I don't know if that can be done by simply bringing back all the old maps and features. I think it was more than that.

It was a mix of time, community, circumstance and the right variables. We could bring back everything from 2011. Registration, maps, general chat, etc. and I'm still not sure if that would bring the old FH spirit back. It was what it was, and nobody knows how it died. Sometimes the way to fix things isn't with old methods.

Eh, I'm rambling. As far as convenience goes, I liked the chat much better than the current movie method, and yes, I'd like it back.

Bless this post and everything you've said. You took the words out of my mouth.

Hello, long term former FH player back from 2011 here! As much nostalgia as I have for the game and it saddens me, but my trust was lost back then. It's why I no longer play and have moved on. Can't say i'd come back fully if it was re-added, but it'd definitely be a step in the right direction.

[Royal-Blood]

I'm definitely on the wagon with all of you here. Some of us are old souls when it comes to the old FH. I hate to complain about the old maps and old ways of FH being gone, but it's most nostalgic to me. Talking about bringing general chat back seems to be quite controversial. I remember people using it for the purpose of talking from afar. Even though I wasn't much for talking in it, I still enjoyed reading the conversations from time to time. It's nice to talk about stuff like this, I really do miss the old times.   

My poll vote: Yes! bring thou back!

[FlyingGrass]

Unfortunately I didn't save the post I made before, and I'm too lazy to write the whole thing again.

My thoughts: Due to only hearing chats in range of Local, I feel a bit confined to the ramp when I'm not roleplaying, there's some interesting chats in Local there sometimes. I don't think I was even around at the time General was removed(Or never read the news and never noticed General was gone, or was on a hiatus when General was removed), and I don't recall ever speaking in General chat, so I'm just standing around thinking "How good was it when General was here?".