[Deleted]

I know something that I personally do a lot is lurk on a site while watching the cbox for a few days before I even pop in or say hello to anyone. If I recognize someone, usually I'll talk to them off the site, ie on Skype, and let them know about my interest.

When I'm advertising, I use the cbox to judge how active a site is, and if it's been dead for more than a week or so, then I'd just delete the ad and not even bother linking back. This is what happens when you let ads sit around for wayy too long. I also usually make the assumption that the site is dead if I can't see a cbox, because people remove the cbox after the site dies.

So what would you do if a site didn't have a cbox?
I know a few years ago, this wouldn't have been a big problem if there was somewhere to chat on the site, ie the general board or something. Nowadays, however, it seems that people will just dismiss your site if you don't have a cbox.

[FLANNEL]

Pretty much most of what you said. An active cbox is a great indication of whether or not the site still has a beating heart, so if the members are still all talking to each other in it, that's a pretty good sign.

I also tend to lurk the site a while before hopping into the cbox. Sometimes I don't do it until my character is finished. For me it kinda feels like, by deciding to introduce myself in the cbox, I'm almost officially declaring myself a member of the community who's there to stay, so I don't usually say anything in there until I'm sure It's a place I'd like to be a part of. I don't even log in as a guest and go "I'm just looking around". If I start talking, it's usually because I already registered and I want to connect with my fellow members!

I suppose I won't straight up dismiss a site if it doesn't have a cbox, but... I guess my expectations would be lowered somewhat. Like you said, when there's no cbox, that's a sign the place is dead, but also, I've never been on a site where the general board was used to do anything other than play games or introduce myself/let everyone know I'm leaving. It's much easier and quicker to have a casual conversation in a cbox.

[CRANE]

I probably would still join, but it'd depend on whether the site is just that good, ya know? Livejournal role plays back then didn't have cboxes. And to be honest, posting was pretty tedious, even plotting (setting up blogs, comments, reply, reply, comments, check back on main livejournal for updates to threads--) so it really depends on the nature and the impression the site can give without a cbox.

But for the reasons you mentioned, I totally agree that the cbox is a nifty little thing, especially for mods or advertisers. It makes getting to know one another easier, plus it makes the atmosphere a little lighter.

tldr; I'd join a site without a cbox depending on its plot and over-all appeal.

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

I'll dismiss people who dismiss my site because it doesn't have a cbox.

If I wanted to gauge how active and good the site is, I read threads and plot pages. Really, it's the best way you go around in telling how good a site is. Go read the forum. The cbox is less reliable because you have there different people chatting at different times. Don't get me wrong; not trying to mean you guys are wrong for using the cbox to judge a site but it kind of beats the point of having a forum. I got close to people through threading and PM, and I guess you could say I have some anti-cbox sentiment because of the majority of people I've met there.

The cbox isn't bad but people give it way too much importance because they depend on it a lot more than the forum. Already here in GS, we have several people saying "oooh GS is dead" because no one has been saying anything for the past couple of days, and we're not even an RP site. Talking in the cbox all the time is tiring. I prefer being able to say everything I want in the forum and reading things to my leisure.

At the end of the day, cbox is a trivial thing unless you opt to use a crappy-looking one like chatango. That's worse than having no cbox at all. As a site owner, I wouldn't give a damn if people don't join my site because I don't have a cbox as long as I know the site itself is awesome and they're noobs for not seeing that.

[Zozma]

Gonna have to agree with the above. I have cboxes because they're expected but I personally am not their biggest fan. I dislike how strongly people rely on them to decide if a site is worth joining. What if they come around when it's a slow week in the box? What if they come around and misjudge a playful conversation as a real argument? Heck, what if they come by when one of my members says something terrible and I'm not there to monitor it?

Don't get me wrong: I have spurts where I poke around in the cbox and have some fun. I get wild and make stupid jokes, link videos, discuss rumors, share cute pictures, goof off, and even plot in the cbox but I wouldn't say it makes or breaks the boards. Even without the cbox, I would PM and IM and use the general forums.

And sometimes, the cbox is more hurt than help. :/ I've had people get really upset because they were bulldozed over when two or three others leave them out. Hell, I've been irritated when I try to have a conversation while others are dominating the box. (I take it to PM when it gets bad.) I personally don't take it personally enough to quit a forum but I have had people leave my forums before--and all due to cbox action (I think they were a little immature for their decision but it's still a thing that happens).

All in all, I don't love or hate the cbox. I just have one on each site because it's convenient.

[FLANNEL]

Aug 5, 2013 0:21:09 GMT -8 Egao, Egao Everywhere said:

At the end of the day, cbox is a trivial thing unless you opt to use a crappy-looking one like chatango. That's worse than having no cbox at all.

I agree. A site I'm on used chatango before finally being able to afford the premium box that everyone seems to have, and I couldn't bring myself to use it.

Anyway, another thing I do to gauge how active/good a site is, is to check the most recent post. If it's mostly threads, plots, trackers, request, ect. then yes, obviously, that's a great sign. If it's nothing but ads for other sites, however, that's troubling. Using the cbox and the cbox only to judge a site would be silly. Thankfully, I doubt most people actually doing just that (there are exceptions though, no doubt).

I noticed, when I joined GS, that the boards are far more active than the cbox is, and I think that's because GS is a place where people tend to have interesting conversations (like the one we're having right now) that require more elaboration than the thin, digital message spaces of the cbox can provide.

On rp sites, people aren't usually having conversations that require that level of detail because they're too busy roleplaying (or they just don't care to have those conversations). I want to rp on the rp boards of the rp site. If I want to talk to everybody, I go to the cbox cause it's quick and easy and that's where they are.

...There's more I'll attempt to poorly articulate later, but I'm gonna sleep now cause I forget them at the moment.

[meg]

i check the newest topics to see if a site is active or not. some places forget to remove their cboxes from dead sites so the site might look active from the chatting but actually it's not. or, sometimes the site's not even active and people are just chatting in it because no one is posting or anything. i wouldn't care if a site didn't have a chatbox of some sort. i hardly use them myself, honestly.

[katya]

Aug 5, 2013 0:21:09 GMT -8 Egao, Egao Everywhere said:

At the end of the day, cbox is a trivial thing unless you opt to use a crappy-looking one like chatango.

[gimmick]

Not that I go in cboxes often, but I didn't even know there WERE still sites that don't have any form of a chat box o.o

[Deleted]

I'm more worried that it'd deter guests that have questions and have no easy way to contact admins or may not be brave enough to post in the forums, even if there is one designated to questions/suggestions, since I know another common use of the cbox is just anon members popping in to ask questions if they are interested.

Aug 5, 2013 2:35:11 GMT -8 meg said:

i check the newest topics to see if a site is active or not.

oh, I do this a lot too. Sometimes, I'll just read around the recent topics just to see what the site is like even if I have no intention of joining because I find good threads absolutely fascinating even if it has nothing to do with me.

Aug 5, 2013 14:09:40 GMT -8 gimmick said:

Not that I go in cboxes often, but I didn't even know there WERE still sites that don't have any form of a chat box o.o

once upon a time, there were forums without cboxes and everyone posted/pm'd if they wanted to talk. some sites weren't even built on connected forums (boards2go etc) so you'd just have to try and get everyone else's IM info/emails (my god, we sent emails!) if you wanted to talk to someone privately.

[Egao, Egao Everywhere]

Aug 5, 2013 15:52:07 GMT -8 @skullbeat said:

Aug 5, 2013 14:09:40 GMT -8 gimmick said:

Not that I go in cboxes often, but I didn't even know there WERE still sites that don't have any form of a chat box o.o

once upon a time, there were forums without cboxes and everyone posted/pm'd if they wanted to talk. some sites weren't even built on connected forums (boards2go etc) so you'd just have to try and get everyone else's IM info/emails (my god, we sent emails!) if you wanted to talk to someone privately.

PMs are beautiful :c people won't judge you for writing a wall of text and the person won't have to feel like they'd have to act on a certain way...and if they did, only you would know.

Besides plotting, I use PM to appreciate someone. I don't like saying things like that in the cbox because people might get the impression I'm fishing for compliments. Usually, convos unfortunately end to a bunch of compliments when one's given out.

Having no cbox can deter some guests from asking quick questions but the lost isn't that big. Maybe you'll have like 5 guests dropping by to ask more than one question in the cbox per few months, and most likely at the start of the site you'd have like 10? Then after that, it's all lurking. Most people really just lurk. Once your site's good and running, people will learn from examples.

And this isn't under the assumption that if they can't ask questions, they won't join. Just because they're unable to doesn't mean that they might not eventually join and all. I don't think I've really heard of a person who terribly wanted to join a site but didn't because s/he never got to ask a certain question for being too shy to post.

[Zozma]

Aug 5, 2013 15:52:07 GMT -8 @skullbeat said:

Aug 5, 2013 2:35:11 GMT -8 meg said:

i check the newest topics to see if a site is active or not.

oh, I do this a lot too. Sometimes, I'll just read around the recent topics just to see what the site is like even if I have no intention of joining because I find good threads absolutely fascinating even if it has nothing to do with me.

I do this too. I don't have time to join more boards but there's a forum in my affiliates that I check in with every couple of days and I read threads of my favorite character. I don't even know the author and the character is an OC (using a face claim I use, too but I like their character better than mine LOL)... At all. I have no idea who he/she is. But after I affiliated with the forum, I got nosy and poked around their forums, found a thread, read back, and then started keeping up with their threads because I really enjoyed their character. I don't do that often, so... Pretty amazing work! (Somebody out there has a secret admirer... Haha!)

[POLARBEAR]

Yes I would join a site without a c-box. Besides...there's always skype. ^^

[SIFR]

I haven't been on a site without a c-box since... probably 2009. None the less, I'd like that feeling back.