Airgun Chat Ideas

[Insanity]

If someone got booted for seemingly being AFK can just join back in its a boot not a ban.

[Gone Fishing]

We have not had enough enter the chat to find out. I will say that rule will likely stand as it dose not need to be removed.

So much I could say, but I'll do it this way nicely.....for now....

That "rule" as stands DOES NOT take into account someone who, for whatever the reason, may need to be away from their keyboard for a few minutes or more. Wife, kid/kids, bathroom, snacks, something to drink, went outside to have a smoke because they do but don't inside their home among any number of others.

It's also permissible and always has been to have private conversations, aka whispering, in the chatroom if you wanted to talk to a friend and not disrupt the chat flow of the other chatters in the open chat.

You will also have chatters that may not know a thing about a gun being discussed or may have no interest in it, so they say nothing and just watch to learn a thing or 3.

You can't just arbitrarily boot someone out of that chat room just because you don't see them typing anything and honestly have no idea why they may not be.

Chat Room rules need to be amended and I'd think a set of rules added for moderators to follow when they're in there to stop the chance of possible heavy handed moderating and unnecessary booting of chatters who don't need to be. All that's going to accomplish is driving people away from chat and right back to a very expensive (IT techs don't work cheap and Fixer spent a lot of hours tweaking that chat) but dead again chat room if that kind of moderation is allowed.

Anyone who was a regular in the old chat and remembers either Geoffrey_K or Jeff Privateer when they were the chat mods will know exactly what I mean when I say those are the type of moderators needed for chat. Fair, even handed, didn't boot people unless they got completely out of hand or started discussions of subjects not allowed on GTA. They DID NOT boot people just because they did not see them typing in chat.

This is exactly what I've been told by 5 people now. Thanks for posting this.

[Gone Fishing]

It's funny people naming names here though, because as a new guy I have absolutely no idea the mythology here (I'll call it that). Whatever can make the chat working again I am up for. We had a great Convo last night btw

[Insanity]

I have had Jeff boot me from chat before while I was cooking dinner guess I didn't take it personally as he was doing his job.

[SteveP-52]

If someone got booted for seemingly being AFK can just join back in its a boot not a ban.

Jeff? Job?? Not likely. The rare times he booted someone "doing the job" it was because they were causing trouble, starting fights or disrupting chat, never for AFK or Camping and if he was booting you, he usually joked first that he was about to just to be a pain in the butt and "Job" had nothing to do with it.

Noticed you mentioned AFK yet still no reason for you to boot someone other than whatever need you might have to flex your little muscles as a moderator. Did it ever occur to you to maybe whisper them yourself and ask if they are?? Apparently not because in your own words, "it's a boot, not a ban" and you seem to be hinging on Rule #4: no camping in chat as a lame one for booting people that to be honest, really don't need to be.
And now that I think about it, that might well make for a good chat rule: If you're going to be AFK for a few, type AFK in the chatroom so moderators don't boot you for violation of Chat Rule #4. Getting rid of that rule would make it a very moot point and save on those unnecessary boots.

Also noticed you failed to mention these either:
-It's also permissible and always has been to have private conversations, aka whispering, in the chatroom if you wanted to talk to a friend and not disrupt the chat flow of the other chatters in the open chat.
Does it bother or offend you for some reason that 2 people might be chatting privately?? It is allowed or that feature wouldn't be built into chat. They do because as mentioned, they don't want to disturb you or other chatters or the chat flow in the room. Should they mention in open chat (not that they should have to) that they're having a private conversation so, once again, moderators know they are and not just camping.

- You will also have chatters that may not know a thing about a gun being discussed or may have no interest in it, so they say nothing and just watch to learn a thing or 3.
I joined GTA 3+ years before you did, was in that chat long before you and that rule was actually in place before I ever went in chat the first time. Neither of the 2 chat moderators, who both became good friends btw, or the admins that wandered in booted me for sitting watching chat to try and learn a few things without actually participating in open chat. You'll get a lot of new members who come in to see what it's about, say Hi, then just watch to get a feel for things. Again, they don't know the gun or scope or parts you may be talking about so they say nothing. Sadly for them, you may well give them the boot for camping and they may not come back.

Whether you like it or not, and you very obviously do not, Rule #4 needs to be gotten rid of. Said before and will again, unless a chatter is getting out of hand, started a fight or is talking about banned topics on GTA, there's no reason they should be getting booted from chat.

[SteveP-52]

Not going to apologize for keeping this front page and visible or who I might well irritate by keeping it there. It needs to be addressed.

Rules currently in play in chat were written almost 5 years ago and things were more than a little different here. It's now 5 years later, a new owner, new policies, allowing for under 18 members to join, the chat room that used to be a separate entity from the forum is now a piece of it for the security of the forum and as such is now under the blanket of all the filters and such that the regular forum is. With all of those changes, some of these rules are long overdue to be amended. For anyone who hasn't clicked the sticky at the top explaining them, I'll post them here:
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As of 10/14/16 the following guidelines apply to the GTA chat effective immediately!!!!

1. Minimum age for chat is 18 years old regardless of situation. Travis as the new owner has already stated he would very much like to start allowing younger members to join to help encourage the sport and we now have more than a few.

2. No Bashing of other members/vendors will be tolerated; period. This one should be a given. You have issues with either, take them up with admins or moderators. If you have an issue with a moderator, by all means take it up with an admin. Also a sticky one since air gunners will be air gunners and there may well be joking potshots between members and jokes about each other made between them.

3. Chat is a family friendly environment but a bit more open so know what you are getting yourself into! You will encounter some adult language, graphic kill images, etc. Valid, but at the same time, members also shouldn't be flooding the chatroom with graphic kill pics. We have a Hunting Gate for those and at the very least, they should be kept to a minimum.

4. No "Camping" in chat, be an active participant of both the chat and the forums!! This means you MUST make posts in the forum and/or comment on threads!! NO EXCUSES!! This one has already been very well mentioned above. No reason anyone should be booted from chat unless they're truly disruptive, trying to or already have started a fight or because they're talking about subjects not allowed on the regular forum.

5. If you have any questions regarding chat policies please contact the chat room moderators or forum admin VIA personal inbox. This should be limited to contacting admins only if you have questions or complaints about either the rules of chat or the actions of any of the moderators in chat.

6. The chat room is an extension of GTA Forums. Please keep that in mind and act accordingly. This should be a given because if you mind your manners out there, you should be able to in chat....lol.
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By all means chime in but the rules as stand after all this time and the changes in the forum need to be amended and the topic not swept under the rug and ignored.

[HunterWhite]

I will admit that rule #4 has pushed me away. I've entered the chat room years ago, introduced myself,  then listened to the chat. It was of no interest to me at that time. I can't just wait for the subject to change, so I left. I only entered twice as I recall.
I think that there was a maximum of 8 chatters back then. I don't know the maximum number of chatters now.

I'll second nixing #4.

I would also interject that a topic of discussion might be announced earlier in the day; like 10 meter, big bore, modding, field target, winter shooting indoors, FX, AEA, CZ, Benjamin, compressors, free form chat, upcoming events, or reports of past events, etc.

What say you?

Hunter

[Gone Fishing]

I will admit that rule #4 has pushed me away. I've entered the chat room years ago, introduced myself,  then listened to the chat. It was of no interest to me at that time. I can't just wait for the subject to change, so I left. I only entered twice as I recall.
I think that there was a maximum of 8 chatters back then. I don't know the maximum number of chatters now.

I'll second nixing #4.

I would also interject that a topic of discussion might be announced earlier in the day; like 10 meter, big bore, modding, field target, winter shooting indoors, FX, AEA, CZ, Benjamin, compressors, free form chat, upcoming events, or reports of past events, etc.

What say you?

Hunter

I'll be on tonight at 6pm and I am shopping for big bores. Sign on at that time. I'm down to be topical. I'm having a hard time getting a big bore that meets my needs.

Otherwise this Saturday 6pm I will be on there.

[jmoronic]

I work many shifts, but if a schedule is posted I would know when to pop into the chat room.

[jmoronic]

So tonight, if I just want to watch and learn about the big bore stuff I will be booted from the chat room?
I would feel stupid talking about something I don't know about. should I just stay out of the chat room?

Any information would be great, still trying to do the right thing on the site.

[SteveP-52]

So tonight, if I just want to watch and learn about the big bore stuff I will be booted from the chat room?
I would feel stupid talking about something I don't know about. should I just stay out of the chat room?

Any information would be great, still trying to do the right thing on the site.

This is exactly why myself and others in this thread have said that rule is outdated and needs to be removed. Yes you could be, should a moderator see you not typing in open chat. He can say you're "camping" and even though you're doing nothing wrong by simply watching to learn things, he can use/abuse that rule to boot you. If he does, you'll get a small popup box that says you have been, by who, why and how long you've been removed for.

[lizzie]

I think that is just because people shouldn't be listening in on someone else's conversation.

Once upon a time, I used to hang around in the chat room a little, and I often just watched and read, because there were things to learn that I didn't see posted in the forum, and I could ask a question and get a pretty quick answer. I wasn't there to "chat" much, but I did like to see what was going on the conversations. "Listening" to a chat room is not listening to someone else's conversation. It is PUBLIC. Whispering, otoh, is a different story.

[Gone Fishing]

I think that is just because people shouldn't be listening in on someone else's conversation.

Once upon a time, I used to hang around in the chat room a little, and I often just watched and read, because there were things to learn that I didn't see posted in the forum, and I could ask a question and get a pretty quick answer. I wasn't there to "chat" much, but I did like to see what was going on the conversations. "Listening" to a chat room is not listening to someone else's conversation. It is PUBLIC. Whispering, otoh, is a different story.

Yeah if someone is thinking there is something private there...there ain't. So it doesn't bother me. The more lurkers the better. We had a very active chat last night, and will be meeting again this Saturday 6pm Pacific.

[SteveP-52]

No one can even see if you are having a private conversation. It's called whisper and what you type can only be seen by the person you sent it to. Don't remember how it comes up in the new chat but in the old one, the names of everyone in chat were in a window on the right side, you clicked a users name, got a list of options, clicked on Private message then typed what you wanted to say and the person you sent it to saw it in a different colored text to know he/she had been. It never was against the rules and shouldn't be now or members getting booted because they're having one.

Also really shouldn't be a need to post threads to say hey, we're having a discussion on this subject and whatever date time you're planning it. Just bring the subject up in chat...kind of the reason for a chat room in the first place and multiple discussions can be had...lol. Get a few members together and bring it up in the open chat and have at it.

Lurking?? Or aka "Camping"?? If I went in there right now with no one there and just left my name in chat so there would be a 1 next to Chat up there lets people know there's actually someone in there. Was one of the bigger things we asked to have added and although it took him a bit, Fixer finally got it to so everyone would know if there was someone in there. Compliments of Rule 4, if a moderator came in and wanted to, he could say I'm camping and boot my name even though the intent was to get a few people to wander in.

Here's the thread on getting that chat room fixed if you're at all interested: https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=172380.0

[Gone Fishing]

We had a blast talking last night. We started with Big Bore discussion but ended up goofing around and talking about 💩 mostly. What a blast. If you want to get it active: be active.

[lizzie]

Yes, chat really isn't anything that should need an announcement or a specific planned subject for discussion. It is the equivalent of seeing a bunch of your friends in a restaurant and going over to say hi and see what is going on.

[BigBird]

Yes, chat really isn't anything that should need an announcement or a specific planned subject for discussion. It is the equivalent of seeing a bunch of your friends in a restaurant and going over to say hi and see what is going on.

Actually, it got me there.  Announcing a topic that I was interested in was good.  Sucker for big bores though.

[oldpro]

 Hi All

 This is a great thread and as you know Im always willing to change things for the betterment of the forum. Im reading threw this and see we need to change a few rules and maybe have a dedicated time for weekly chats. Give me ideas and Ill see what I can do. First thing is I think we need to eliminate the age restriction.

[Gone Fishing]

Hi All

 This is a great thread and as you know Im always willing to change things for the betterment of the forum. Im reading threw this and see we need to change a few rules and maybe have a dedicated time for weekly chats. Give me ideas and Ill see what I can do. First thing is I think we need to eliminate the age restriction.

Travis,

We have had a couple great nights so far. The dedicated time slots are helping,

Other than time slots, a notice outside of the backroom for a specific time would also help. I posted it in the backroom because it is about the site rather than airguns, but if a general notice even just once was posted in PCPs and General airguns we could probably get the word out on whatever suggested times you guys choose.

Thanks for the chat service btw. It really is a great feature. I hope we get this thing busy as ever.

[SteveP-52]

Hi All

 This is a great thread and as you know Im always willing to change things for the betterment of the forum. Im reading threw this and see we need to change a few rules and maybe have a dedicated time for weekly chats. Give me ideas and Ill see what I can do. First thing is I think we need to eliminate the age restriction.

Thanks for chiming in, Travis. Already put up a few, but I'll add one that did come to mind. Name say 2 new people to be chat moderators only, like the old days with Geoff and Jeff. With your current ones already swamped trying to monitor the whole forum, their sole job is the chat room, what goes on in it, have final say on what goes on in there and any other moderators that may wander in chat defer to them to manage it all and they only answer to the admins. You have plenty of level headed, even handed members with good discretion who could do a good job in there and if in say 6 months they aren't, you replace them.

Here's the rest of the suggestions I already made and dropping the age limit was actually the first one...lol.
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As of 10/14/16 the following guidelines apply to the GTA chat effective immediately!!!!

1. Minimum age for chat is 18 years old regardless of situation. Travis as the new owner has already stated he would very much like to start allowing younger members to join to help encourage the sport and we now have more than a few.

2. No Bashing of other members/vendors will be tolerated; period. [b[This one should be a given. You have issues with either, take them up with admins or moderators. If you have an issue with a moderator, by all means take it up with an admin. Also a sticky one since air gunners will be air gunners and there may well be joking potshots between members and jokes about each other made between them.[/b]

3. Chat is a family friendly environment but a bit more open so know what you are getting yourself into! You will encounter some adult language, graphic kill images, etc. Valid, but at the same time, members also shouldn't be flooding the chatroom with graphic kill pics. We have a Hunting Gate for those and at the very least, they should be kept to a minimum.

4. No "Camping" in chat, be an active participant of both the chat and the forums!! This means you MUST make posts in the forum and/or comment on threads!! NO EXCUSES!! This one has already been very well mentioned above. No reason anyone should be booted from chat unless they're truly disruptive, trying to or already have started a fight or because they're talking about subjects not allowed on the regular forum.

5. If you have any questions regarding chat policies please contact the chat room moderators or forum admin VIA personal inbox. This should be limited to contacting admins only if you have questions or complaints about either the rules of chat or the actions of any of the moderators in chat. If you did choose to name a couple new moderators, then by all means, whisper or pm them your concerns unless that moderator IS the concern.

6. The chat room is an extension of GTA Forums. Please keep that in mind and act accordingly. This should be a given because if you mind your manners out there, you should be able to in chat and if the age rule is dropped, all the more reason to.
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