Shoutbox
- Thread starter Flurp
- Start date
I am a bit disappointed that the shoutbox has not yet returned. Though I very seldom utilized it, there was definitely a need for it in the community. The shoutbox was an asset for the community due to the ease of instant communication. It made it possible for people to find out what is going on in the game without relying on outside resources such as social media sites and messenger programs. As a result it made it much easier to find out news about events, holidays, and quests.
However the biggest positive of the shoutbox was the fact it unified the community. Both the player base and staff could easily converse, questions could be asked and answered in a timely fashion, and it provided an outlet for fun and crazy while doing things in the game such as building and/or riding rides. I hope the decision to remove it completely is reconsidered. Though I do not doubt there were problems, it strikes me as extreme to remove it completely without giving the community a chance. I know staff realize that not everyone who used the shoutbox used it as means to rule break and wreck havoc, many used it as a resource to enhance the game experience in a positive way. I for one would prefer to use "official" resources rather than be forced to go elsewhere to find out the happenings.
However the biggest positive of the shoutbox was the fact it unified the community. Both the player base and staff could easily converse, questions could be asked and answered in a timely fashion, and it provided an outlet for fun and crazy while doing things in the game such as building and/or riding rides. I hope the decision to remove it completely is reconsidered. Though I do not doubt there were problems, it strikes me as extreme to remove it completely without giving the community a chance. I know staff realize that not everyone who used the shoutbox used it as means to rule break and wreck havoc, many used it as a resource to enhance the game experience in a positive way. I for one would prefer to use "official" resources rather than be forced to go elsewhere to find out the happenings.
I don't see why they don't want to add it back because they're tired of the disrespect and rudeness... like you literally gave us a warning telling us if we did anything like that, we would be banned from the shoutbox. What else do you need? Well, I saw none of the staff enforce that rule.. every time someone got into an argument they just argued back and forth and staff would just tell them to stop, they'd keep doing it, then staff would say something again, and it kept repeating, tbh I never saw them enforce that rule that they wanted everyone to notice so badly.
I miss the shoutbox a lot. It was probably the best thing that happened to this forum. Why? Because people could talk to each other and be social. Of course people can do that in game but with the trading/rides/games/cliques/etc. people usually don't talk to each other as much. The shoutbox was a place where people could talk about things to anyone who wanted to read it. It brought people together. I miss the fun bantering or deep conversations that went on in there. Yes they weren't always G-Rated but that's going to happen sometimes.
I understand that people complaining during the whole party situation caused the shoutbox to be taken away, but it's been long enough without it. We all have seen how it affected the community. You can't find out in an instance what is going on. You can't have a regular conversation with a whole group of people easily. Some of the population doesn't have the social medias that are used to announce things and the shoutbox was really helpful to see if there were any updates (or ask if there were).
I can see why you might not want to bring it back (immaturity, people not listening, spam, arguments, etc.) but you need to look to see what is best for the community, not what is easiest to deal with for the staff. Yes, running the shoutbox can be difficult sometimes, especially when there is buzz about something, either negative or positive. But is that really gonna stop you from putting it back up and making the community at least a little bit better than it is at the current moment?
I used to spend a lot of time just sitting on the shoutbox, talking to my friends and having a good time. Sometimes when the staff popped in, I loved chatting with them for a little while. Now when I get on the forums, I sit there for maybe 5 minutes then get off. There is nothing to do anymore. I'm speaking for myself here, but I'm sure many feel the same way: I don't want to sift through a ton of threads to find something worth commenting on. You can't just have a normal conversation with a bunch of people on a thread the way you could on the shoutbox.
It really did benefit the community. Without it, well the forums are pretty boring. Plain and simple.
Thanks for reading this. Please take the time to fully consider it.
~Tailyn
I understand that people complaining during the whole party situation caused the shoutbox to be taken away, but it's been long enough without it. We all have seen how it affected the community. You can't find out in an instance what is going on. You can't have a regular conversation with a whole group of people easily. Some of the population doesn't have the social medias that are used to announce things and the shoutbox was really helpful to see if there were any updates (or ask if there were).
I can see why you might not want to bring it back (immaturity, people not listening, spam, arguments, etc.) but you need to look to see what is best for the community, not what is easiest to deal with for the staff. Yes, running the shoutbox can be difficult sometimes, especially when there is buzz about something, either negative or positive. But is that really gonna stop you from putting it back up and making the community at least a little bit better than it is at the current moment?
I used to spend a lot of time just sitting on the shoutbox, talking to my friends and having a good time. Sometimes when the staff popped in, I loved chatting with them for a little while. Now when I get on the forums, I sit there for maybe 5 minutes then get off. There is nothing to do anymore. I'm speaking for myself here, but I'm sure many feel the same way: I don't want to sift through a ton of threads to find something worth commenting on. You can't just have a normal conversation with a bunch of people on a thread the way you could on the shoutbox.
It really did benefit the community. Without it, well the forums are pretty boring. Plain and simple.
Thanks for reading this. Please take the time to fully consider it.
~Tailyn
what @taiflower said...
yea what thaifood said 
e.g. I'd be on for about 15+ minutes when I would go on the forums when the shoutbox was available. Now that the shoutbox is gone, I only go on the forums to look at the announcements on the homepage and see if anyone replied to any of my threads then so long, farewell, to you my friend.
lol
and if u noticed the "so long song thing"
GOODBYE FOR NOW UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!!
i dont remember what song this is but I just remember it lol
e.g. I'd be on for about 15+ minutes when I would go on the forums when the shoutbox was available. Now that the shoutbox is gone, I only go on the forums to look at the announcements on the homepage and see if anyone replied to any of my threads then so long, farewell, to you my friend.
lol
and if u noticed the "so long song thing"
GOODBYE FOR NOW UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!!
i dont remember what song this is but I just remember it lol
I agreed. As soon as you got on the shout box, every time, there was a bold red note that warned everyone if they don't follow the rules, they will be removed.
I saw that happen maybe once? If someone is acting up, remove them. Don't punish the whole community.[DOUBLEPOST=1409018902][/DOUBLEPOST]
OUT OF THE BOX.
I saw that happen maybe once? If someone is acting up, remove them. Don't punish the whole community.[DOUBLEPOST=1409018902][/DOUBLEPOST]
yea what thaifood said
e.g. I'd be on for about 15+ minutes when I would go on the forums when the shoutbox was available. Now that the shoutbox is gone, I only go on the forums to look at the announcements on the homepage and see if anyone replied to any of my threads then so long, farewell, to you my friend.
lol
and if u noticed the "so long song thing"
GOODBYE FOR NOW UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!!
i dont remember what song this is but I just remember it lol
e.g. I'd be on for about 15+ minutes when I would go on the forums when the shoutbox was available. Now that the shoutbox is gone, I only go on the forums to look at the announcements on the homepage and see if anyone replied to any of my threads then so long, farewell, to you my friend.
lol
and if u noticed the "so long song thing"
GOODBYE FOR NOW UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!!
i dont remember what song this is but I just remember it lol
I totally agree with this. There's literally no point in staying on the forums for hours on end anymore. You log on, check out whats new, post in threads, then log off. I believe the shoutbox is a very important tool and is absolutely needed for this type of forums. I mean, it's for a game, not for a regular site. It's not always so easy to get the new buzz, especially since not many have social media accounts to check the twitter account. The shoubox was very beneficial, and I think it's best that we have it back. I think it's ridiculous that staff have refused to bring it back, and it's also their fault for the lack of moderation in the shoutbox. The red warning stated that anyone who disobeyed the rules were to be removed, but did that happen? No. The moderators continued to argue with users about them breaking a rule, and there was no discipline at all. If you're going to address a new rule then actually address it, not just put a warning. But I blame the staff for this, because they should have done what the warning said when someone broke the rules.
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To be completely honest, I considered making a MyVMK page for people to all start connecting more and considered the idea of a shoutbox/live chat window for players. I don't know if that is a good idea now though considering how many problems the original one brought. I would not want to be looked down on or hated for going against the staff because it's not like that at all. I've been wanting to create a small page for a while and that feature was always a favorite of mine. I don't know what to do at this point. I'm considering taking a poll and seeing what people prefer.. I guess there's a lot to think about.
I'm a web-designer though so I know I'd be able to do whatever we all decide, if anything.
Please people, feel free to give more 2 cents.
I'm a web-designer though so I know I'd be able to do whatever we all decide, if anything.
Please people, feel free to give more 2 cents.
