Do we need the Steam group anymore?

Do we need the Steam group anymore?

  • Yes

    Votes: 21 95.5%
  • No

    Votes: 1 4.5%

  • Total voters
    22

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
aa
Oct 25, 2007
949
1,228
Be honest with me. As membership here grows and the group stagnates, I question if the effort to maintain it is really neccessary. For almost the past month, everyone who was Player Of The Week didn't even know it. And close to 3/4 of the members haven't been heard from since the day they joined. I'm sure we could get a quasi chat room going here on the forums if needed. It just seems to me that we have evolved from being TF2Mappers group to the tf2maps.net community. This is fine by me, as it means less work on my end lol. But I really need to know what you guys think. I'm not adding any 'what if' answers. Straight up yes or no, and please tell me why.
 

drp

aa
Oct 25, 2007
2,273
2,628
IMO, i think having both a steam chat and messageboard is beneficial. having a way for users to get help on the fly vs posting and waiting is monumental. but i do see your point!

im with ya either way bud. :biggthumpup:
 
Oct 25, 2007
219
690
I know I don't check it as often as I should, but I like having it around. Especially when the MB is down.
 
G

gnat

i think it would be really silly to rid yourself of the steam group. i'm curious what efforts are needed to maintain it? are there any costs involved? the real time chat is vastly superior for on the fly conversations and organizing things like playtesting.

i havent been on the chatroom much the last couple weeks but then again i've barely opened hammer either. if i'm actually mapping i'm far more likely to check a chatroom, be it IRC or steam for people's immediate opinions or advice.
 
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Nizzem

L2: Junior Member
Nov 29, 2007
57
0
I think we need to try and get more people involved in the chat room. It is really an invaluable resource and I would hate to loose it.
 

Intraman

L4: Comfortable Member
Nov 4, 2007
191
0
I really think it's necessary and helpful. In fact this morning there was someone in the chat that happened fine the steam group. She was a great mapper to (from what screens I saw.) I doubt that is a rare occurance at all.
The steam group is really useful being able to play with people from the boards, helping play test, getting quick help, and such too. It's really a vital resource.
 

Dox

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Oct 26, 2007
588
62
Ive had difficulties in the past with IRC... Please keep chat the way it is. Nothing makes me happier than joining the chat room and starting a random conversation about ramen ignoring the current conversation lines going on.
 
B

Buster Charlie

I use the chat all the time
You can get messages IN GAME with it, while you are testing maps
 

Ziggurat

L1: Registered
Nov 7, 2007
20
0
I feel that steam community chat is vastly inferior to irc for the following reasons:

1) I already use irc. This makes it easy to just add a new channel to what I'm already in.

2) Steam is a resource hog. Steam for me uses 15 megs of ram and 115 VM just being idle. Mirc uses 7 and 8, respectively. So, if I'm not doing level design or actually in game, I don't even have steam running.

3) irc has effortless logging
 

Intraman

L4: Comfortable Member
Nov 4, 2007
191
0
Again though, the chat is of most use to people that are mapping and have steam open.
 

Godling

L2: Junior Member
Oct 26, 2007
55
14
I can't even begin to imagine why this question is being posed. Well... sure I can. What happened? Last scheduled activity didn't pan out, so you want to ditch the steam group?

This group should never leave steam. It's a way for new users to find us and it's a way for people using steam friends to see who is around. I personally really like the convenience of the steam group chat, which would obviously disappear if the group disbanded. I also don't really see a pseudo chat here via the web site doing any better than the steam chat would (or irc for that matter). Sure, a web based chat or irc provides many more chat options... I just don't see that as being a draw. Steam has convenience on its side... and if you're worried about the steam program footprint in memory... ram is cheap... upgrade... it will also benefit your mapping.

... and of coarse... already mentioned by some... the ability to join games in progress and to be able to message while in game.

Suggestion: remove group members that have been inactive for over 60 days. They can always rejoin if they want to.
 

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
aa
Oct 25, 2007
949
1,228
I appreciate all of your thoughts guys, I really do. I honestly wasn't sure how useful the Steam chatroom is, since you can look up almost anything here or on the Valve wiki. I realize IRC or Xfire make better chat programs. If the day ever comes when our chatroom actually gets crowded, I'll look into an alternative. But for now, long as you guys think we need it, it will remain open :)
 

HoundDawg

L1: Registered
Dec 18, 2007
48
2
The steam group is a definite yes. I really didn't know about this until I was searching the steam groups. Then, just yesterday as I was trying to release the final version of cp_meleebarn, I ran into a few roadblocks which the steam chat allowed me to work through them and get it released.

IRC is going to be superior to Steam Chat and I'm not sure if Valve is trying to become IRC either. They're just wanting to provide a simple chat system that will benefit gamers while playing too, without being too intrusive. I think they've come a long ways from the original beta Steam I tested years ago.

I don't see much problem having both an IRC channel and the Steam group, as long as there are people willing to idle in them and assist mappers. Personally, I prefer Steam over IRC, since I no longer idle in IRC anymore and Steam is already active.

Oh, and the problem I had with XFire (when it first released... never gave it a second chance) is that programs like that... from 3rd party companies that hook windows like they did... I just don't trust them anymore. I know they possibly had good intentions.. but I really didn't like how it was all handled back then and haven't felt good about giving them a second chance either. Not that I haven't had the need for XFire at all anyway when other more trustworthy options exist.
 
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Vilepickle

Banned
Oct 25, 2007
372
199
I'd prefer if it was an IRC room on Gamesurge, as anyone on IRC has no idea about there being a Steam group for mapping.

Plus, the fucking window doesn't flash at me every time someone types something.