Live chats

[elRuffsta]

yet another feature that should be added.. yes, probably a mod feature add on.. but should be able to chat live with friends.. even MMORPG games have them..

[Steve R Jones]

That won't happen here either.

While I'm sitting here typing this note - the last thing in the world that I'd want is 2 or 3 three people wanting to chat me up about their killer ideas on how to improve the site. And no, I wouldn't want a "I'm unavailable" option...

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yeah, that would be horrible. Does any programming site do something like that? Online, free, tutorial-slaves?

One of the best things about the site is that you only answer the questions you feel like when you have the time to answer them. You have time to think about answers, write them, edit them, and think twice about them before posting. What possible value would chat add to that? Chat makes sense for MMORPG games because nobody is saying anything intelligent, and many people on there don't even reach those low bars.

Also, this may be English language when written, but a whole lot of people don't speak English the same way.

[PlausiblyDamp]

even MMORPG games have them..

That is because being able to chat to people is pretty fundamental to MMORPGs, they also have many other things that aren't relevant for a programming forum. There are plenty of existing platforms if people want to chat, just use one of them rather than expecting a programming forum to compete with WhatsApp or Discord.

[techgnome]

there's been talk of a chat and/or discord server being added ... and the general consensus is ... no. Most of us have day jobs and it's bad enough being available via slack for work, but then also having people expect us to be available anytime for a chat? No thank you. Chats tend to be busy and noisy. Doscussions will get lost. Also chats are not searchable. There's no record... so there's no ability for someone to find a solution easily. So one of two things will happen (or both will happen) ... first people simply go somewhere else. Or never even arrive because the google search sent them somewhere else. Or, the chat becomes choked with the same questions over and over... Nother of which are desireable.

-tg

[elRuffsta]

you only chat with friends or one on one with someone helping you with something.. doesn't mean you have to have everyone on your list chatting up a storm.. you can also do chat invites and only chat to that 1 person..