Cbox

[Caldoor]

I think this was brought up in GTX's FAQ thread once before, and I just now decided to pose the question here. Without further ado...

What does everyone think about a Cbox?

For those of you who don’t know, it’s a free and nifty little widget that allows you type in your name and up to I think 150 or so characters in a message bar. You can then ‘post’ the note up in the… er… box and chat with others without having to start a thread or post something on the more permanent forums. It just seems more casual and open, in a way. I know that WW already has its little chat-y thing, but it doesn’t work on my computer and thus I don't really know what it is.

Cbox also comes with its share of problems, though; it would be easy to become flooded with spam and people can much more easily impersonate others. Also, any way you do it would probably be unsightly because one) where would it go and two) a lengthy rules section would probably have to accompany it.

I’ve seen them employed on other roleplaying sites, and weighing the pros and cons I think it could be a nifty little gadget for WolfWeb to have, if you agree. Of course, I couldn’t be one to implement it (I don’t know a whit about these things), but I'm just throwing the idea out there and testing the waters, so to speak.

What's your opinion?

[Sheshe]

It would get abused. . . Severely here, not saying by members, but possibly by some by passers. . . I say nay.

[silentmoon]

I say no also. It would just be abused. By BOTH members and by passers. If there was a way to just keep it to members only, then yeah.

[EbonyDove]

According to the Cbox Features, a paid version would allow for password protected names, moderators, and user integration...just depends if you feel like it's worth paying for a premium version or not - it would cost circa $24 a year.

Of course, you could also install a phpBB hack. I'm not sure what version of phpBB we're running here, but I'm sure there's a shoutbox/chatbox hack available out there somewhere.

[Lefitte]

Hmmm. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mean I think it would be kind of cool, especially if new members awaiting approval could type in it. I can see other good uses too to where it would be fun to have, but I agree that it's very likely it could get abused. ESPECIALLY if bots could post on it.
I don't think its worth $24 and who know how much WW already costs to keep open [btw, have you got you WW shirt/hoodie/whatevers yet?!].

*shrugs* really don't know.

Its a good thing to bring up though =]

[Fenrir]

You'd need to employ someone to ban all the e-crickets that keep chirping.

[Sheshe]

Well, you'd think that most members here would actually have the sense not to spam or abuse it, seeing as how WW was hacked and all the stupid nonsense things that happened here. You'd think people would be sick of what has happened in the past. But then again, you can't forget the occasional newb who thinks it's cool to be a complete moron and make themselves look stupid. Just because they think it's funny to type a hundred of the same message in just to scroll the box, and or post a million advertisements for other forums. . . .

Though, not only do you have the option to pay ( I wouldn't seeing as C-box occasionally screws up and doesn't show up.) People could still sign up to just spam it, then you have to go through all the trouble of checking IP's and deleting the spam messages or possibly the vulgar ones. Yeah, you can ban the IP addresses, but anyone can change their IP.

So whether you pay or not, it can still get abused. So in order for none of that to happen, you'd either have to have people monitor it constantly, or just let it go.

Even if we did get it, someone would ruin it for everyone eventually anyways. . . I unno, just my little rant on it xD

[wolflover]

All I'm going to say in this thing is simply I don't see the point of it...

Problems of abuse and whatever aside, I seriously don't see what we'd use it for...

We have a WW chat. And even though it gets poed when you talk to much - it DOES work. And yes, people abuse it too, but it's there. We can use it.

And if you want to talk to someone one on one why not just PM them?

I just don't really get the point of having one...

[Unoma]

The chat is a fail. And when you pm someone you really don't get to talk to them like you wish you could. I can't say I am for the Cbox, but I am not really against. Pm freaking sucks, chat freaking sucks. Let's just all get over all this crap and continue barely talking to eachother.

[wolflover]

...

I don't undersand why you say our chat sucks. And that PMing sucks.

I have GREAT success with both.

But whatever. I'm not going to argue with you.

[GTX]

[EDITED.... I'm just going to make another rant post]

I vote no for a CBox or another -box thing of sort on the main page. We have the Basement for some random nonsense, and people can use IRC channels for otherwise random nonsense if need be. If you can't understand IRC or refuse to use it, there's always the fail that is known as setting up an AIM or MSN chat room (which always seems to horribly fail for me anymore).

I feel a rant coming on.

Edit: Rant made.

[Adrasteia]

I get the feeling that a Cbox would end up being much more of a hassle than its worth for WW. There are alternative ways to get in touch with someone you want to speak with, on the site and off the site.

Thank you, Caldoor, for the suggestion, but at this point in time, my vote is against a Cbox.

.//Di te ament

[Fenrir]

They should invent a cbox where you can only post . and -

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