[WILLOW]

chatboxes are great, but lately i've come to the conclusion they're not as rad as i think they are. easy chatting without having to sign into an account and access the board is a huge + but i feel like it takes away from the actual board usage sometimes. from sites i see, rarely does anyone use the ooc board for anything and i feel like that takes away from the actual experience. i started on a site that had a cbox but that caused drama so they took it out. conversations went along just as well in the boards.

i know there is a hate on free cboxes, so i'd like to know what's better. no cbox or a free cbox because i'm not going to pay six dollars for three months of refreshing if the sites not going to last a few weeks.

p.s: i do know there are ways to get refreshing without paying, i'm just saying that if there wasn't i wouldn't pay six dollars for three months.

[AERIE]

Cboxes don't create drama, people create drama.

When I first got into forums and role playing, shoutboxes weren't as popular as actual message boards. In fact, more shit happened because you can get longer rants/thoughts out in a post than in a cbox. In a cbox, shit blows over and is scrolled away to be forgotten.

I don't think cboxes are all that necessary, but many people are attracted to them and good luck if you have absolutely no fast chat. Especially when people have questions but don't want to join just to ask them. Maybe at least have a free cbox for questions/comments etc but not for chatting? If you're so against cboxes that is.

But I think you're taking cboxes a little too seriously. If you post up a few simple rules and make sure they are enforced, not much stuff is gonna happen. Having paid for a refreshing cbox on my site for over a year and then having other people donate money for it for an extra year, there has been 100x more drama on Skype and PMs than in the cbox.

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[naomi]

The worst part about starting a new site is deciding whether or not to have a cbox, and if you do, there's the option of the free one, or spending money on a cbox for a site that might drown right off the bat. I personally don't know which one would be best, but most sites that don't have a cbox tend to irritate me, because as a guest, I have no way to ask questions and the like.

If I could get a free cbox that refreshed, that'd be awesome, imo.

[Pool Boy]

these days, ive always considered a paid cbox a symbol of an admin who is dedicated to their site. coughing up six dollars symbolizes that you have invested in the site's success and you believe it will last three months.

when an admin doesn't have faith that their site will last the term of a cbox payment, neither will the people who peruse/join, and so, it probably will die.

thats just how things are lately, i feel. my first rp didnt have a paid cbox, but we were all close and casual. We spoke more on IM anyway. (Then again, no one new really joined.)

[SIFR]

What was that one site that uses a free C-Box just to tag people for threads and nothing else. Gossamer? I think?

[THE LEVIATHAN]

Nov 21, 2013 0:02:40 GMT -8 SIFR said:

What was that one site that uses a free C-Box just to tag people for threads and nothing else. Gossamer? I think?

BRSW does it as well, but it's not for tagging people in threads - and we've used proboards free cbox for that. It's mostly so that when people need the staff's attention (finished / edited profiles, purchases, completed threads, etc.), we can see and get it done faster. It was a pretty good idea imo.

I think on a jcink site like Gossamer, people would benefit for tagging responses in a separate cbox. But on proboards v5 where they've implemented the tagging feature, it seems redundant to have a cbox for tagging people ... when you can just tag them in your post.

[darth vader]

tbh i don't like cboxes like they can be fun sure, but. i prefer ooc forum posting to cboxes. i wish they would fall out of fashion lmao. i'd much rather have a thriving ooc chatterbox forum than a cbox i like the mentality there better.

i also agree ab taking away from board usage, i've lost track of the times i've watched a cbox thrive while the site went post-less. like congrats you have a great-knit community but no actual rp--what's the point?

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

Nov 21, 2013 5:02:50 GMT -8 THE LEVIATHAN said:

Nov 21, 2013 0:02:40 GMT -8 SIFR said:

What was that one site that uses a free C-Box just to tag people for threads and nothing else. Gossamer? I think?

BRSW does it as well, but it's not for tagging people in threads - and we've used proboards free cbox for that. It's mostly so that when people need the staff's attention (finished / edited profiles, purchases, completed threads, etc.), we can see and get it done faster. It was a pretty good idea imo.

I think on a jcink site like Gossamer, people would benefit for tagging responses in a separate cbox. But on proboards v5 where they've implemented the tagging feature, it seems redundant to have a cbox for tagging people ... when you can just tag them in your post.

I first saw this stuff in a YJ/DC site. I thought it was really cool for announcing stuffs and I'll most likely add the same feature for my site in the future. Even though its purpose is to tag people, I find it more informative as a news feed of sort just to see what people have been up to.

And I agree with Tsun. A tag cbox is rad, an ooc cbox is not. I wouldn't mind if we have something like the cbox here in GS where silence in the cbox doesn't necessarily mean the site is dead or inactive, or just because you never show up in it doesn't mean you've never really "met" the people of the community. Maybe having an introductions forum is what helped. Instead of saying hi to the community through the cbox, you do it via a thread instead.