ShoutBox Problems

Magma

Magma

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After my month-long break from the forums and return with a more cheerful demeanor, my cheerfulness has sort of worn off as I see how the forum has continued to deteriorate. After the troubles with Metal dissipated, there still seems to be trouble coming from the ShoutBox. With that, it seems the ShoutBox itself is a problem with the forums. From what I've seen, the ShoutBox has lead to increased tensions as well as the noticeable decline in activity elsewhere on the forums though the tension is what my primary concern is since this is related to the previous issue with Metal. As such, it is a recurring problem seemingly caused by the presence of the ShoutBox.

Would anyone else want to chime in as to what they think is causing this?

On a different note relating to possible solutions, I think the ShoutBox is too much trouble for the forums and as such I propose one possible solution. I know some people enjoy it and I would not want them to lose that privilege. What I think would be a possible solution is to have an offsite replacement for the ShoutBox that is still affiliated to the forums but not a direct part of it. The reason I suggest is I do not think the ShoutBox is a critical part of the forums despite the usage it gets. While not mutually exclusive I see there as being two main types of users. Those who make more selective and serious posts and more chatty users who discuss things in a more lighthearted and transient manner. The former would include people such as warelander, GlowSquid, and Angler. The latter would include people like Kyon, Ninja_Cat, and PJ. There are people who fall into the middle such as myself or MonaWare but anyway... The people who mainly use the ShoutBox fall into the more chatty category and thus don't contribute as much to the rest of the site. I'm not trying to single people out but I'm just saying the forums' main purpose is the making of threads and posting in them and as such the ShoutBox is not a vital component of the forums relating to its core purpose.
 
Now I have lighten up to having a ShoutBox in the forum, but I do still strongly believe that it has decreased the activity in most threads. I understand that we've run out of things to talk about Wario, but I think what we're missing is some sort of creativity in making threads. We need to make something that'll give us what made threads in the first place enjoyable to go through which was what the social thread and random did. I've tried to make a creative thread but it was a colossal failure due to everyone not taking part of it and really only two people ever used it and activities died the next day, so a few weeks later I removed it off the forum as it did not go as planned. We need a thread in which will make all of us come in and discuss about whether it's about what goes on in the gaming industry, or what we think about certain things. Threads are something I do want to see make a triumphant return and see everyone posting in them again and speaking about what they love or dislike. I joined this forum knowing what I was getting into due to me being a long time spectator, but I could not have seen something like the ShoutBox added and it may have grew on me, but I still want to see things go back to how they were when I came in.
 
Yes, that is is certainly an issue, though my main concern is that the ShoutBox has increased tensions that were not a major problem before it was added.
 
I'm thinking about what to do with the shoutbox here. I like the feature, but if it's causing that much tension between people, then I guess I might reevaluate it.
 
Tension has been something that happens in both threads and ShoutBox, but I have noticed an increase of it in the ShoutBox. I keep in touch in what happens even when I'm not around since I took my much needed break from the forum for some reasons, but you have things like people saying they might leave the forum due to whatever happened in there.
 
Can't say I disagree. I've met some great people in the shoutbox and every once in a while we'll even have a nice serious discussion or debate. But it's eating up the attention of members here and colossally slowing down real discussion in the threads. It's also been the source of much drama, fighting, and overall tension for the forums. People are leaving because of this. It's no laughing matter.

Case in point, yes, I absolutely agree. Time for the shoutbox to be removed.
 
I think even the ShoutBox's positioning is a problem considering it's on top and the first thing you see on the front page, overshadowing the forum sections and profile posts.
 
My point has nothing to do with attracting guests. My point is that it being on top commands attention. If when you had introduced you had placed it on the bottom it would most likely be perceived as more of a bonus thing rather than the main thing attracting your attention.
 
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Can't see the forum without the Shoutbox now, but I guess it would be for the best. It eats up my time when I could be making forum money!

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I agree, a lot of fights happen there, it causes too much of them. I might be the one to cause some of those, I'll admit that. But fights also did happen on threads like Social and Random. Remember the Mona Parents think? wasn't pretty.

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Would it really matter though? the whole forum won't be active, just the Random posts and Social Threads again. The ShoutBox isn't fully to blame, but I see where you are coming from. Like people were saying, it's just a lack of things to talk about but the things we do talk about can easily be discussed on the ShoutBox. In order to talk about stuff we'd have to make a whole thread, or look for a thread based on the topic.

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It's easy to just type in "Hi" on the shoutbox and join in on the discussion going on right now, it also makes for smaller conversions that don't need its own thread, and if we were to make those small conversions into threads it would clog up the forum, making even more dead threads. However, we could talk about this on the Social Thread which brings up my point.

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We could just talk about everything on the Social Thread/Random posts, which won't do much for the forum in the long run. It's just a Shoutbox thread version without the real time talking. I say we leave the Shoutbox, as it's easier not to miss posts like in Threads, where you'll have to refresh the page every single time, or write another post so the "New messages appeared! show them?" thing pop's up.
 
Again, my main point is the tension. While yes there was tension before the ShoutBox as evidenced by the longstanding beef between me and Kyon among other feuds, the ShoutBox has caused groups of people to turn against each other on a much larger scale than seen before. When it was the lewd images issue there was a side backing Metal and then there was another group. With the recent issues with BlueJack that I'm still not fully understanding it again has to do with a group of people.
 
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I didn't mind all that much, but I found this as a "Hell yeah time to ban Metal" when old grumpy asshole me didn't like him, lol.

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Yeah, but couldn't this happen on a thread? didn't happen but it is possible.

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Guess the odds of a full Forum war breaking out is a bit lower on threads...I guess?
 
Probably, since on the ShoutBox you're more likely to speak on impulse while on forum threads you can probably catch yourself and keep yourself composed.
 
The point is that we all joined a forum and expected it to be just like what a forum should be. I have let go of my dislike towards the ShoutBox, but I still would like to have things back to what they were before. Yes the Social and Random thread will be in big use again, but then you guys can now put that RP thread back on the spot since you guys love to role play and could make threads that are creative. You say it's easier not to miss a post, but not being active on the ShoutBox could have you miss an entire conversation and you wouldn't be able to go back to it while on the threads you're able to still see what others has said in the past.
 
How is removing the Shoutbox going to solve anything, no offense, but the shoutbox has done a lot of good for the site,
and has brought many members together whatever it is to help one another, or just to discuss about some random shit that's not really fit for a thread. i can see why some people would want it removed, but i don't think outright removing would fix anything regarding trolling and increased tensions. because as the site grows, there will naturally be more tensions between members as more people join over time, Maybe the option to disable it for those who don't want it, but outright removing it is not gonna solve anything.
 
The Big Magma said:
Probably, since on the ShoutBox you're more likely to speak on impulse while on forum threads you can probably catch yourself and keep yourself composed.
Click to expand...

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Very good point. There were times I regret saying things on the shoutbox, as on threads I'm given my time to think about what I'm saying and what it could mean for me if I were to post it,

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But, wouldn't having the Shoutbox on another site (like you suggested) still be the same? People will still get mad and it will still carry itself over to here.
 
It probably would, but I was thinking of coming up with a compromise that would not consist of getting rid of the ShoutBox entirely for people who do like it.
 
And keeping it here isn't gonna help the forum grow at the slightest. It's a forum, not a discord chat room, people isn't going to join here because of a chat box when there are many better options out there.
 
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