Maverick said:

so it's more of a win-win situation now.

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Ythan said:

I'm really sorry to take away a service you were enjoying. I feel bad, but I think it was the right decision for the site. Let me just copy and paste some of the posts I made in the mod forum where I was arguing to close chat and hopefully you can see where I'm coming from:

Quote:

Yah I also have concerns about chat. I'm seeing lots of chat-related bans in the BoM without any supporting evidence, and I'm also getting numerous complaints about chat OPs and poor moderation. I'm worried it may end up with the same problems as IRC, where there isn't enough of a senior staff presence to ensure it's run according to our standards. But as Sell Your Soul pointed out to me, it's still a useful resource for people with pressing cultivation questions and that sort of thing. I don't have a good solution in mind, but I do think we should try to keep chat on a very tight leash. It seems to degenerate very quickly.

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Quote:

I would really like to ditch chat entirely. I don't agree that the solution is just to "get in there and do some moderating". We simply don't have the time or resources for that, that's why IRC got so out of control in the first place. If we were able to oversee chat effectively, we could just re-launch IRC and keep a proper staff presence there. Changing the type of chat or the server where it's hosted isn't going to alter the fundamental problem. With the ability for chat mods to ban people from the BB, it's causing way more drama than IRC ever did, and crossing over to the site more often. I really think we should sever ties with chat. No irc.shroomery.org. No shroomery.org/chat. If someone wants to host an unofficial chat server for Shroomery members, nobody is stopping them. It has literally never been cheaper or easier. But right now, more than ever, it's only serving to piss off members and create hassle for staff. I think it's a mistake to keep offering this service in any sort of official capacity. It's just going to continue reflecting poorly on the site.

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Quote:

So I just got this PM, it's one of many complaints I've received about chat recently:

Quote:

I have been a member here for a long time and i thought this site was about helping people and harm reduction.

My best friend died today of an overdose and i went into the chat to warn my shroomery brothers to be safe, and that life isnt worth drugs killing you.

i was told i was a junkie and my friend deserved to die and all this shit. then i was kicked from the room for flaming by stateofmind404.

when i came here it was nothing like this, it was about love.

i came here to talk to someone who would understand and was shit on by mods that you have put in place.

is this the kind of site you wanna be running? i was in mourning and now i am just sick to my stomach.

please man, think about the messages that are being put out by the site.

in the end it all falls back on your name.

much love

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I've made my thoughts on chat known already, this is just the icing on the cake for me.

Should will kill chat? Let's do four days of voting and go with the majority decision. To be clear, when I talk about killing chat, I mean cutting all official association with any chat service. People can start their own unofficial chat rooms if they want, but they won't be endorsed or supported by the Shroomery.

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The staff voted, and there were 19 people in favor of closing chat, 3 against it, and 1 who didn't have a preference. With such an overwhelming majority I felt confident with the decision, even though I knew it would upset some people.

When we first introduced Shroomery chat, there weren't a lot of chat options available and it served an important purpose. But it's extremely simple to create a chat room these days. You literally just have to go to http://tinychat.com/ and click a button. Or if someone wants to run their own IRC or Chatterbox implementation, they can do it on a shared server which costs $5/month. I absolutely encourage people to create and maintain an unofficial Shroomery chat room, I just don't think the site should be directly associated with it.

Anyway I hope that makes sense, even if you don't like my answer. Again, I'm sorry to disappoint you by removing this feature!

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You definitely made the right choice!

op2kal said:

I bet not one of the 19 people that voted against having the chat- even used the chat in the past 10 years....

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I also bet most of the thought process that went into their vote was something like, "Do I like chat? No. So I'll vote that we should get rid of it entirely because this forum is all about what I want."




JK don't warn me again.

op2kal said:

I bet not one of the 19 people that voted against having the chat- even used the chat in the past 10 years....

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Shroomism said:

And you would be dead wrong.

I see a lot of self-righteous entitlement in this thread.

It is just not in our best interests to have it officially associated with or run by the shroomery.

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Shroomism said:

And you would be dead wrong.

I see a lot of self-righteous entitlement in this thread.
Perhaps not all of you have been around long enough to see, but chat and IRC has consistently been a thorn in the shroomery's side for a long time.
It has been the single biggest causer of serious problems the SITE has ever faced. It has put us in jeopardy more than once.
Anyone is free to make their own chat servers. and that is even encouraged.

The fact of the matter is the admins combined with the mods inputs made an executive decision that was in the best interests of the Shroomery as a whole.
It is just not in our best interests to have it officially associated with or run by the shroomery.

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eat my fuck said:

Closing chat was obviously the best option.
Ythan has the well being of the shroomery in mind and really couldn't care less about your fragile egos.
Show some respect and stop questioning his decisions.

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eat my fuck said:

People who don't like the decisions being made by site staff are 100% entitled to leaving and registering elsewhere.

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