For 10 long years and $1030.16 I have paid for and managed The Chat. It has served us... I won't say admirably. It has served us. It's been easy to pick up, easy to use, but it has had its' share of problems.
If you post a link that is too long, the table often breaks and text forgets to word-wrap, meaning I could be talking like this and suddenly whoops off the side of the screen goes the rest of my message.
Hope you didn't want to read that.
There's also problems with it flat-out refusing to work, with java updates sometimes breaking it entirely, with frequent discon-
(Jul 29-21:31) Twi has left.
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-nections, and with the fact that I'm paying 9.95 a month for a chat service that is, in my opinion, subpar. HOWEVER! I do not wish to suddenly say 'screw you all, I'm not going to pay for this anymore'. I promised I would keep the chat up for as long as I was able, and as long as RERN needed it. That said, I would like to offer an alternative.
DISCORD is a free chat+VOIP service that can be used both from the web, from mobile phone, and from a dedicated PC or Mac client (sorry, Linux users.) It is free, both to use and to run a server on, and it has features like grouping users by different permissions, customizable looks, embedded chat-links, etcetera. I feel very strongly that RERN would be better off using it. In fact, we already have a room set up!
You can join the Discord room RIGHT HERE
I would like you all to try out Discord for a while. In a few days, or whenever there's a clear lead, I will take the results of this poll and either discontinue paying for Parachat, or I will sod off and quit bothering you about other chat services. Fair deal, hm?
Comments or arguments in favor or against are welcomed.
Chat Vote Poll
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I was the one who suggested this in the first place, so, I mean, y'know the business.
Also holy shit you sank a grand into this?
Also holy shit you sank a grand into this?
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I could whip together a new page for the Discord chat. That widget to show the people online on the chat and a link to the browser client.
No way to put it in an iframe though. There's no way to embed it in a different way. So people would have to get used to the browser client or the PC client/mobile client. But at least we wouldn't get issues involving Java anymore.
No way to put it in an iframe though. There's no way to embed it in a different way. So people would have to get used to the browser client or the PC client/mobile client. But at least we wouldn't get issues involving Java anymore.
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Yeah I'm totally for moving over to discord, means I'll actually be able to come into chat more often.
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With a vote like 6-1, I've gone ahead and canceled Parachat. It will implode either shortly, or on the 2nd of next month when the billing cycle ends.
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After thoroughly making a fool of myself last night, I'll add a more formal agreement here that I'm also all for switching to a chat that doens't require funding, and the discord seems fine.
...
Although, I've just learned that it does, in fact, log everything, so... that's embarrassing...
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Although, I've just learned that it does, in fact, log everything, so... that's embarrassing...
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We can do additional polls for eventual functionality of the Discord server. It is possible to disable logging the chat history, from what I've been told.
I've changed the chat page to include the invitation link to the Discord chat server and a list of online users, along with the rules we've had on the chat page before.
I've changed the chat page to include the invitation link to the Discord chat server and a list of online users, along with the rules we've had on the chat page before.