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Chat Squatting and Etiquette

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Sun, 07/10/2005 - 23:42
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969

Of late there has been quite a bit of what I call "chat squatting,' where someone enters the chat room and, after some amount of chatting, just stays logged into it but ignoring it, not paying attention to the chat window (and perhaps not even being at the computer) for an extended period of time. Sometimes hours.

There are two problems with this:

1. It leads people to believe that there is a chat going on. They enter the room, say hello, wait a while, and leave. This leads folks (understandably) to believe that the chat room is dead, that people don't want to chat with them, that something is wrong with the software, or something else, none of which is conducive to chatting.

2. It effectively records the chat while the squatter is gone. It's a public chat room, a shared space, but if a couple of people who are in the room want to talk about something semi-privately, maybe a game idea with just a couple of folks they know and trust, it's impossible with the "squatters" in place.

Please, if you're going to participate in the chat, great. If you have to step away or work on something for a little while, no big deal. But if you're not actually participating and you're going to be away for an extended time, please leave the chat.

Thanks,
Matthew

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 08:28
#1
Anonymous
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

I'm glad you posted this, because, as a new user, I was beginning to wonder if the chat room was actually active or not. Aside from one session where the participants were active and actually "there" I've gotten no response from the other people shown as logged in the other times I've tried out the chat.

A related question: is there a way to see who is currently in the chat room other than logging into it? That could prevent logging in, not seeing who you were looking for expecting, and then logging right back out - possibly disrupting a conversation in progress as others stop to say hi and greet the newcomer, just to have him leave right away...

Just curious... Thanks, and keep up the good work on the site.

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 08:42
#2
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

There is indeed. Click "SpielTalk! Chat" in the menu at left and you'll see a list of rooms and their occupants.

-- Matthew

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 09:12
#3
Anonymous
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

thanks! of course, as soon as I posted this, the good Captain pointed out the same thing when I wandered into the chat room to see who was logged on this morning! :)

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 17:24
#4
phpbbadmin
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Joined: 04/23/2013
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

FastLearner wrote:
There is indeed. Click "SpielTalk! Chat" in the menu at left and you'll see a list of rooms and their occupants.

-- Matthew

Actually clicking the SpielTalk! link will take you directly to the Spieltalk room. Clicking the SPChat link will actually give you the desired list of rooms and occupants.

-Darke

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 17:40
#5
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

I'm referring to the one further up on the page, the 11th item in the main menu at the top left.

-- Matthew

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 17:41
#6
sedjtroll
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Joined: 07/21/2008
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

For a while the front page sidebar, where it says how many people are in the room, also said who was there. I liked that, personally.

As for chat squatting, I'm not sure I agree with Matthew on this point. However, perhaps if the names were visible on the front page it would be easy to see if it's just the 'chat squatters' or other people who are in there. Maybe that would solve half of the problems Matthew listed.

As for a squatter logging the chat, I don't see where that's a problem. As Matthew pointed out in his post, it IS a public space. There are IMs, PMs, and the whisper command if people want to chat in private.

- Seth

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 17:44
#7
phpbbadmin
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Joined: 04/23/2013
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

FastLearner wrote:
I'm referring to the one further up on the page, the 11th item in the main menu at the top left.

-- Matthew

Ah yes. I forgot there was a link in that menu.

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 17:54
#8
Anonymous
:S

I've actually done this before (not in chats here, but in other chats). I'll go into the chat and talk then disappear for a while, though usually it is because some family member has broken something or needs my help and then I just forge that I was supposed to come back, so usually now I don't go into chatrooms unless I know there is something I need to talk about lol.

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 18:07
#9
Sebastian
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Joined: 07/27/2008
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

ynnen wrote:
I'm glad you posted this, because, as a new user, I was beginning to wonder if the chat room was actually active or not. Aside from one session where the participants were active and actually "there" I've gotten no response from the other people shown as logged in the other times I've tried out the chat.

You should probably try staying logged in a mite longer. When nothing's happening I usually do other things (staring at a blank chat screen not being amazingly interesting). Frequently, when arriving back, you find that someone's popped in, said 'hello', then run off again.

Admittedly, me being logged in like this has probably contributed to FL's rant, so I'm not entirely sure I'm supposed to do that. Is there a sensible way to indicate that you're interested in a chat without just sitting in the chat room waiting for someone to turn up, though? I suppose you could constantly dive in and out, until somebody happenend to dive in at the same point.

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 19:15
#10
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

Great question, Sebastian, and I'm quite stumped by it. The incidental chats are often really great, and I certainly understand moving the chat to the background while nothing's going on (I do that, too). On the other hand, it's very common for me to log into the chat and see that three different people have posted something like:

Quote:

Hello?

Does anyone know anything about X?

Hello?

And that's it, one after another coming in while there are logged-in people who aren't responding.

I don't know hot to allow for the one without having the other.

-- Matthew

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 19:48
#11
hpox
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

Display the names.

If the user posted a message in the last few minutes, display a YAPPING icon. If the user has not posted a message in the last 15 minutes. display a ZZzzZ icon.

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 20:04
#12
sedjtroll
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Joined: 07/21/2008
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

hpox wrote:
Display the names.

If the user posted a message in the last few minutes, display a YAPPING icon. If the user has not posted a message in the last 15 minutes. display a ZZzzZ icon.

AIM does something like this... if you are idle for a certain length of time, your nick turns gray.

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 20:26
#13
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

I agree that it would be a great solution. In Yahoo Messenger is says "(Idle)" next to a name after a certain period of time.

Unfortunately our chat application doesn't allow for this. It has no timeout feature except for a timed-out connection (when your browser stops requesting updates).

-- Matthew

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 21:30
#14
Nando
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Joined: 07/22/2008
Re: Chat Squatting and Etiquette

FastLearner wrote:
Of late there has been quite a bit of what I call "chat squatting' ...

I suppose I was the straw that broke the camel's back here. Sorry about that. In my defense, Sunday afternoon I got hit fast and hard with some type of stomach flu, and I was down for the count. Barring catastrophes like that, I try to make sure I leave since I'm on dialup. :)

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Mon, 07/11/2005 - 22:33
#15
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

Nah, it wasn't you. It was a few months of just low-level irritation about the system.

Now we've at least got a kind of activity meter on the left, thanks to hpox's very much appreciated work. It will help a lot, I think, giving people a better sense of whether the room is actually active or not.

-- Matthew

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Tue, 07/12/2005 - 00:13
#16
JPOG
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

Well I'm really the only other one in the chat the past week or so, so I'm guess it was me, but I only left the room twice without logging out. One was a total accident, and I thought the window that came up afterward that asks you to close the chat would do that (it seems to indicate it does). the other was a PC crash.

But as far as logging in and staying and forgetting about it, I didn't do that for more than 30 minute tops at any time, I paid attention to the chat when I was in it, so I'm not sure if it was me you're talking about or not - either way, sorry for the bad stuff I DID do.

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Tue, 07/12/2005 - 00:26
#17
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

Sorry, let me clarify: it's not anyone in particular. It was just a pattern that a lot of folks were doing.

The activity thing at left will help a lot, and perhaps we'll even be able to add names to it, with activity indicators, to help further.

-- Matthew

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Tue, 07/12/2005 - 08:54
#18
OutsideLime
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat Squatting and Etiquette

I just wanted to drop a note and commend the administrators here for responding to the changing and developing needs of the forum and its visitors. Nice work. Your ongoing efforts to smooth everything out here are appreciated, count on it.

Although, really, I guess I should expect nothing less from a bunch of fellow rule-junkies! ;)

~Josh

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