The chat 'crisis'

* quick entry note, these are my initial thoughts on the matter and I just writ them from the top of my head. I haven't time to revise them with everything and I could be absolutely wrong tbh. So you can read and listen or just ignore it, it's all up to you people what you do.

So, I had an idea. There's an awful lot of fuss over the chatbox and slype and which one to use and when. So I was thinking and I came up with an idea. We can separate the usage on one or the other based on purpose and not fear of going inactive.

You see the main problem everyone is having is the fear of losing the forums. Llama pointed out that Jem, or Silver, said that if the forums became inactive, he'd shut it down. That was my understanding anyway. Since I came to the site and we started the colloctive by chance, activity has risen through the roof. When I left a month prior, things changed a bit and it is true that people prefer slype to the chatbox now. And things are quite in disorder, so this is my first act in dealing with that disorder.

Essentially, there's been a divide. People keep arguing over the littlest subjects and this seems to be the most common. In my present situation, the chatbox is more of a no go for me. Some people can't really access the chatbox or slype because of similar reasons or the fact that they don't have the means to access one or the other. And you have to keep that in mind instead of dictating people.

In fact dictating people altogether is a no go. You can't force people into a situation based on what you want or need p, so instead of ordering them around, just ask them if they want to go to one or stay put. This really shouldn't be an issue and it wasn't until recently. You have to stop fearing things. The end of something is just another beginning. And in my view, the forums won't die, it keeps growing yes, posting is the most important part of the forums. That's where the activity lies. It can be seen as activity unlike going to the chatbox that can only be viewed when people are there in reality.

Yes it has changed in the time we've been around but it isn't a bad thing, it just means it's evolving based on the situation. We need to adapt properly too instead of clinging to what was. So let's start with the chatbox.


Primarily it was used for those on the forums to converse. Altogether it was open to all with an account to converse with others on whatever subjects arose. Into what it's purpose should be, it should be for the less frequent forum users to converse with other users whenever people are there to converse. Not saying the the regulars shouldn't, on the contrary anyone should use it when they feel like it or want to talk with other members not on the slype or not currently using it. But people shouldn't be pressured into using it.

Now whilst not censoring what people can say, I'd just like to give what I'd like to think conversation should consist of on the chat. It isn't very secure and not everyone on there will always be a close personal friend. I wouldn't think it wise to put out all your problems or anything in your personal life on there when the archives are public access but it can be if you want, remember this is just my opinion on how our different chats can be used to reduce conflict. As said earlier not everyone can access one site or another so there are obviously acceptances on my views because of this. I would have general conversation and more forum related conversations on the chatbox to keep it into the whole community but any topics can be discussed if wished to by any person.

As for slype. Well that's much more personal. The colloctive group was made for people who joined together to essentially make the beating heart of the forums and breathe life into it. Off of that came a closer communication in slype. That's what I think that the colloctive and any of its limbs are for, personal conversation between close forum members. They don't always have to, and they can choose where they talk. It all depends on the person and what they want to do. You could completely ignore this if you want. I'm just giving my opinion and trying to clear the air on the whole subject.

As a final note, once again don't give in to anything. Not fear, not pressure, or any other thing and do what you choose. Completely ignore that if you want but I'm just trying to say that nothing's gonna change based on the frequency of which one chat is used or which is preferred over another. The only way this gets taken down is if the whole forum decides to stop posting and updating. I know no one will let that happen. So it's all entirely your choice. That is unless you like others to choose for you.

That's all from me and I just hope this fixed something for once because everything seems to be falling apart lately. If not, then I hope this didn't make anything worse. That's all for now and that's all I have to say for now on the matter.

The way I see it, the Chatbox is like the street to our neighborhood, and we are the kids who play in the street. It's a place for the public to enjoy everyone's company, even if they aren't the closest of friends. Skype is like our houses, a place more secure than the street. Safer. When it starts storming outside, going inside is never an issue. If you ever want to just play with two of your friends, but not with everyone else, then invite them into your house to have fun alone. But right now, we are all staying cooped up in our houses, where we feel safe. Sure, it may be easier to talk inside, but you won't meet the new kids who move in on your street. Yeah, you may see them from your window, but if you don't go outside and meet them, then you won't make any new friends. We need to enjoy our street while we are kids, while we have it. We'll always have our houses, but we won't always be able to enjoy the street.

Now, to directly adress the problems I have with what you've said.

I'm not trying to dictate people. I've been busy dealing with the loss of my aunt and the fear of the loss of my mother. I understand I was being kind of bossy and generally mean, and I'm honestly so sorry for that, and I hate myself for the way I was acting, but many people were quick to forget that fact. And we've tried asking and explaining, but that often got ignored besides by a handful of people. When asking fails in these situations, telling is the next best way to solve the problem, not ignoring them back. The end of this wouldn't be the start of anything. Would anything change on Skype if this place disappeared, honestly? And posting has gone down A LOT more than Chatbox activity because new members don't feel fully welcomed when we never interact with them. And I am adapting to the situation. My situation, as well as many others, is fear of the possibility of losing a place that means so much to us, so we want to save it. The problem I have with your "purpose" for the Chatbox is that you say it should be primarily for new users, but it should be a place for the old members to meet the new members, and make them feel more welcome as well as just being a place to casually hang out and chat with anyone. I do agree with the statement of not putting more personal stuff there, however, unless the person saying it is okay with it, and other people want to hear it. The Colloctive group is hardly close friends, in all honesty. I do agree, it's more personal there, but how many people there would you call a close friend? It's also not Colloctive members anymore. It's just a big Skype chat at this point. I personally feel that Skype should be used less, not abandoned, as some seem to think I want. If it truly is a more "personal" place, then it should be treated as such, and not like how we treat the Chatbox. It should be for when you want to talk to a smaller amount of people, or when the Chatbox gets hectic, as the Chatbox should also be used when the Skype chat gets too hectic.

Fear is something we all should experience, but ignoring it doesn't solve the problem. We aren't giving into fear, we are trying to beat the fear.

Also, I feel you had no reason to post this today. Yesterday, I would have understood, but nothing bad related to this happened today. All I did was showed Tri a conversation I had with Zeno and Yria, and she realized why I was doing this. The problem was resolving itself, Tri even said so in the Skype chat before you posted this, and you responded to that comment. This just seems like a pointless thing to post AFTER someone says that the problem is being resolved, and just seems like a way to make it a problem again.

I see. Well since you have it figured out and had everything sorted, I'll leave you to sort everything out then. I'm resigning from helping out in any situation because it never seems to do any good and in most cases I've made it worse somehow. So I'm just gonna chill and not care about any problems because it seems everyone is better off without my input. So for my earlier statement, completely agree ignore that. If there's no need for my input then so be it.

I'm not trying to say we don't need your imput. Far from that, in fact. I was just stating my opinion on the matter. I apologize if I upset you or offended you in any way, because that wasn't my intention. It was just one viewpoint against another. Again, I'm sorry if I upset you. I care about your imput on this, I was just disagreeing with some of it. That's all. If you're mad with mad with me, I understand, and I don't blame you. Just please, if you are, say it. I won't be upset.

I'm not mad with you Llama. It would be an easier time if I was but, no. I'm mad with myself. I used to be able to help but now I'm only hindering. I change every so often and I don't know what will happen next but this time I just make things worse interfering with them. That's why I'm not helping any more, the simple fact I can't. I'm not a good person really, deep down I'm not, no matter what anyone thinks. And it's just futile to try change that. I may act good on the surface but inside, it's a whole other story. I'm mad with myself and that won't change, if I do show aggression towards anyone, it's because I can't show it to myself.