General Chat: Not a fan.

[RicardoRix]

I'm not a big fan of the new general chat, personal reason why:

It's something to do in idle time. If I'm idle then I'm not wanting to open up the messages and scroll through. I used to be able to glance to the side and see 'what's up'. Playing mainly turn-based games the number of times I come back to the page is quite frequent. If a general message pops up it's quite distracting, I am thinking it's a personal message coming through, but no just a call for a Saboteur game. For me, It was less distracting when it was always there, and far easier to scan all the messages very briefly to see if there was something of interest.

davinksi what is this chat 12:39:07
boardgame arena sure changed.. 12:39:51
jamaroyal general chat to the entire site 12:40:18
Recyclops yeah this is recently new as of like two days ago.. not a huge fan lol 12:41:11
senatorhung yeah .. this general chat is not ideal .. especially since i keep multiple BGA tabs open ... 12:43:06
davinksi its interesting.. 12:43:09
davinksi can you hide it? it kinda is nice to have a general chat but like the time limit is super annoying 12:44:46
nmego you can uncheck notify chat messages, time limit is so that people don't spam 12:45:12
davinksi ah and I guess one is forced to write longer messages..are you kidding me the time gets longer??240 seconds now. 12:48:57
Recyclops you can close this but then idk how to get it back 12:52:03
80Hg Ah, so this is where the chat went 12:52:54
davinksi I wouldnt really call this a chat. I think the time getting longer is just bs:O

[eoc]

For me, It was less distracting when it was always there, and far easier to scan all the messages very briefly to see if there was something of interest.

Fully agree with both points! I would occasionally use the old chat, even though the increasing warning times really did kill most conversations/discussions before they could get started. The new chat however is sure to be removed entirely from my client view. Which is a problem since I'll also miss table suggestions that way, which apparently are presented right in the same noisy chat window?

[sourisdudesert]

Hi,

I agree with you: the previous position of the general chat had some advantages, and you named them.

However, it also had some big disadvantages. The two main ones are:

• It was taking an important space on the right of the screen, while a minority of you are posting messages on it (according to statistics, between 1% and 2%). We love this general chat and do not want to turn it off, but it's not important enough to take so much space. Now, every screen of BGA is larger, more clear and more confortable, so this changes benefits the whole website
• It was having an incoherent design with the other chats of BGA. The chat history was upside down (older messages at the bottom), with the chat input at the top.

To conclude: we perfectly know that with every change we are losing something while we are gaining something. However in this case, we are 100% sure that the benefits are more important than the disadvantages.

[RicardoRix]

ok, fair enough. I've turned my chat off now. This is not something I feel amazingly passionate about, but it was nice feature to have. Previously I have helped and have been helped in a very spontaneous chatty kind of way, as well as having a nice bit of banter.

You may well find though a lot of lurkers, people that like to read but not contribute, and a lot of non-english native speakers that may well be hesitant about posting. As a (not very good) learner of spanish, any spanish comments I used to try and pretend to translate. Adios por ahora.

[Caffe Latte]

I also turned off. Anyway I do not need to see that 2 for Carcassone needed, SECRET MOOOOOOOOOON or pleeease someone open Love letter (what a strength needed to resist temptation to answer - buy membership and open yourself)

It means I am not reachable by general chat if there some important announcement to be made. Hopefully not

[Marif1607]

Totally agree, I'm not a fan either! It's really weird and not nice to have the screen dedicated to games that is so wide! I found it easy to take a look at the general chat while now it's really more complicated ... I do not understand at all the interest of this change !? Personally, I find that it really is really not a good idea! Whereas a lot of really good suggestions have been made on Facebook...

(sorry if my english is not good, I make a translation by google)

[Silene]

Not sure what the wider main site is needed for now. If in future you use it to make a less moving open-tables-list (using more columns, fixed areas,...) that would be great. Right now i sometimes feel like a hunter trying to hit the right table (same goes with suggesting players btw... a very long and "movy" list).

[sourisdudesert]

If in future you use it to make a less moving open-tables-list

You should try "Simple mode"

[Silene]

You should try "Simple mode"

I use it for mobile play (chatting+scrolling is uncomfortable there anyway). On PC I'd rather be able to see the list of open tables and be able to chat with those I'm currently waiting with.

[vichy]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I'm in favor of the change.

To take a quick look just click and the window is open, below, but it is.

There is the option to be notified every time there is a message

And really the game suggestions have ever served you for something? When I want to play a game I go in to see the tables open and I join. I do not have the desire because I read that someone has opened a game.

I do not know, for me that column has always been a bit of a nuisance...

And even if I could stop having notifications of when someone connects or disconnects, even better. They distract me and I even feel a little lurker watching continuously if my friends enter or not.

And I take advantage, the checks in private conversations to know if a message has been read also seems a bit intrusive ...