Should we get an IRC or Shoutbox?
- Thread starter The Political Gamer
- Start date
Leminnes
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- Jan 20, 2010
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Here's my argument; why not?
We'll be most likely casually chatting in IRC and/or getting questions from people who need help AND keeping useful chat logs.
- Jul 31, 2009
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Chatting the only place you can. Because you can't install Steam (for technical or social reasons) in places like libraries and the workplace. (And even if someone built a Steam web frontend, I'm not sure I'd want to risk putting the same credentials which own all my games through it.)
If you can run Steam, you can run an IRC client or a web-frontend. The reverse is not true.
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Leminnes
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- Jan 20, 2010
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I'm not sure if I speak for others, but I quite often forget to turn on Steam Chat. With IRC, I could set it to open immediately when I open Opera. And if we integrate it into the forums, we would get more people into chat that way. As far as I know, we can't do that with Steam Chat.
Edit: Another thing I noticed, almost everyone who voted yes for Steam Chat are on there consistently. A good amount of the people who voted for alternatives I don't ever see in Steam Chat.
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- Nov 12, 2007
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In addition to the things already mentioned, it will be a good starting place for 6v6 testing. Most people in the steam chat aren't very interested in 6v6, but having the IRC channel on the network where a lot of comp players hang out means that eventually there will hopefully be enough overlap there that we can pull in interested testers for more competitive oriented tests.
I thought that was what TF2lobby was for?
So far the only people i've noticed in there are comp players and you Shmitz, and you're only their because you're the admin who's sponsoring this endeavor. Otherwise it would just be local comp members, with Flame as admin or something. If you're idling, as you usually are, and someone comes in asking for mapping advice, since you know, we're a mapping community, not a comp community... well i guess they're gonna be stumped. If i wanted 6vs6 testing i'd go to a comp community and probably set it up through TF2lobby.
(Hm, the more i reply to this thread the more it looks like i'm anti-IRC, when really i'm nuetral. We have what we want and need, as DJive said. If it's gonna be made, it's gonna be made. As already demonstrated by the pole, the majority of TF2maps members wont be using it. It'd be less of a TF2maps channel and more of a comp-interest-in-custom-maps-channel. If the idea is to reach out to the comp scene then fine, but this was originally posed as a steamchat alternative for people who don't like steamchat. I can't see it being replaced like that).
So far the only people i've noticed in there are comp players and you Shmitz, and you're only their because you're the admin who's sponsoring this endeavor. Otherwise it would just be local comp members, with Flame as admin or something. If you're idling, as you usually are, and someone comes in asking for mapping advice, since you know, we're a mapping community, not a comp community... well i guess they're gonna be stumped. If i wanted 6vs6 testing i'd go to a comp community and probably set it up through TF2lobby.
(Hm, the more i reply to this thread the more it looks like i'm anti-IRC, when really i'm nuetral. We have what we want and need, as DJive said. If it's gonna be made, it's gonna be made. As already demonstrated by the pole, the majority of TF2maps members wont be using it. It'd be less of a TF2maps channel and more of a comp-interest-in-custom-maps-channel. If the idea is to reach out to the comp scene then fine, but this was originally posed as a steamchat alternative for people who don't like steamchat. I can't see it being replaced like that).
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Anyone who's used steamchat is by now familiar with flame. Also, plenty of people in the lobby system would probably gladly help. It's not that hard if you actually want your map to get tested, to get it tested. Youme did it, Mangy did it, I think Nine and a couple others did as well, all without knowing comp players or even TF2lobby. Now we do have TF2lobby, and we do have a comp scene in our steamchat to ask about comp communities.
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- Nov 12, 2007
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And it's not meant to be a replacement. As far as this poll is concerned, it was originally posed by TPG, who didn't really have a good grasp of what IRC even was, much less the reasons behind any interest in it. Please do take that into consideration.
Flame
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- Jul 19, 2009
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mangy went through me... as did youme... as did nineaxis.
as does icarus...
any more examples?
Pretty much why i'd consider using anything else. It happens a lot and it's annoying. Especially as it happens around exciting moments like updates, when we want to be talking anyhow.
Flame tested my maps too, I also stopped mapping for TF2.
I see a trend!
/dons tinfoil hat
Dr. ROCKZO
L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
- Jul 25, 2009
- 580
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Next up in the Community Update for the Engineer.
My experience of IRC left me crying in a corner, why over complicate things with it? I can imagine the ensuing situation if this notion passed. New Member Joe would enter the Steam Chat with a question, he'd get even less of a reply than before, having to learn about and set up an IRC client to get full support. Links would be posted twice and people would start becoming more isolated from each other as a split becomes to form.
I can see the benefits of an IRC; chatlogs, connection to the "outside world" and connection stability. But for what it would take away, I just don't see it as beneficial.
Because I can't be bothered to check, how many people are in #TF2Maps now, and what has its peak been?
- Nov 25, 2008
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As of right now there are... *checks* 11 in #TF2Maps - I believe earlier today there was 17-18 people in there. Were not saying that IRC will be used all the time, but it should be openly available to people who already have it on their PC's. and it is always good to have a back up in case steam servers do go down for maintenance so people can still carry on their conversations. Who says it's splitting anything up? Sure some people might talking in one more than the other, but in the end, these forums right here is where everything comes together and is officially discussed. =)
Dr. ROCKZO
L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
- Jul 25, 2009
- 580
- 159
Sure that makes sense, but the overall mood of the people who are for it seem to want it as a permanent 50:50, not just a back up.