The MBoard

It has come to my attention lately that NO ONE goes on Mchat anymore. I find this sad.

If this is because you look at the "online users" and it is constantly zero, I urge you to always go in and wait for someone. I know I do. Just keep the window open somewhere. If everyone did this, it would be a much busier place and a good use of the wonderful utility that is Mchat.

Now, if you aren't going on because you don't feel like chatting, that's a different story.

I waltz in and stay sometimes, but only if I know I'll be online for a while.
It used to be active because Abe brought it back, and then it slowly dwindled into disuse, and here we are.

Yeah, I know. And I see that happen all the time, I hate it.

I would like it to notify somehow when someone types a message or enters a room, because I'd rather not be staring at an MChat screen for a long period of time. If I'm going in there alone, I'm keeping the thing minimized because I have other stuff to do. Which is pointless because when someone DOES come on they'll start talking to a brick wall because I don't know when they came on.

Abe should make it so that it plays a noise when someone enters the room you're standing it.

I'm... standing it?

I didn't mean necessarily a noise, but it'd be cool for the tab to flash like with MSN windows and such.

STANDING IN.

YOU KNEW I MEANT THAT

I go on sometimes, but usually theres a member there that has completely forgotten they're on MChat. So I cuss at them and call them names >8-(

Vinch, I wasn't sure you were adding to what I said or deliberately not acknowledging that I made a post, but guessed the latter and I treated it like the former in irony.

Figured it had something to with your anguish caused by ASR's recent devilry.

I was replying to your "I'm... standing it?" statement.

Well, I'm there now. Get moving!

Yeah, I think I need to make a little "puff" noise for every speech bubble...

*Goes*

Everyone who saw WS's message and decided not to go on MChat disappoint me. >:(

Everytime I go on there's someone there who is completely gone. Which I get. I'm always doing a hundred and seven things when I'm on the computer, but because there's no sound effects in MChat they don't come back. And on the same note, if I put MChat in the background for any length of time I miss people talking to me 'cause there's no message noise stuff.

And that's really my only real problem with MChat and why I don't go on. Because I always have to put it in the background like MSN or AIM, 'cause I'm always doing SOMETHING and get back to anyone the millisecond after they say something. So I don't want to leave MChat up to just end up ignoring people.

And I would go on now but I'm doing stuff.

Yeah, I think I need to make a little "puff" noise for every speech bubble...

That could get annoying after a while, but it would be easy to remedy with a switch to turn noises on or off.

/noise, maybe.

A louder ding should accompany room entry, because I dunno about everyone else, but I listen to music most of the time I'm surfing.

Right, all anyone's getting is a puff.

abe also cutsom avatars plz

Maybe, but it'd be limited to one each, and it would remain with you for the rest of time, and I have no doubt that nobody would stick to that.

That's actually a pretty nice idea, and I don't think too many of us would mind being bound to just one.

I wouldn't.

I wouldn't mind one CUSTOM avatar as long as we can use other ones as well.
Hell, do you mods complain about it?

"But Aaaaabe, I need to be able to change my sprite depending on my mood! The Chao needs to be angry if I'm in an angry mood! And he needs a sad face if I'm in a sad mood!"

I wouldn't mind one CUSTOM avatar as long as we can use other ones as well.
Hell, do you mods complain about it?

No, but we get a custom avatar AND can use the Mega Man ones.   You'd be limited to one avatar FOREVER if the rules were the same as they were back in the day as far as space goes.  We'd have to clear out all the MM avatars to make space for the custom avatars.

Beh, I try to make an effort to make me Duo.

But then again... all of the avatars are custom made, so a bunch of hard work is lost in that regard...

Still, it would be nice to be me for once...

I just had this amazing idea for the people who don't want to hear the puff.

What if there was a button, or some kind of dial or something on your computer that could make it so that it doesn't make any noises!

I never have sound on my computer unless I specifically turn it on to listen to music or watch a video. Doesn't really make a difference to me.

I just had this amazing idea for the people who don't want to hear the puff.

What if there was a button, or some kind of dial or something on your computer that could make it so that it doesn't make any noises!

That's a great idea.
Oh, except I was going to listen to some music. No dice, I guess.
What a drag.

How about the computer shocks you whenever someone enters the room?

No, actually, how about the computer shocks you whenever someone says something?

Its a puff for #####s sake. Deal with it!

BUT I DON'T WANT PUFFS TO INTERRUPT THE SOVIET NATIONAL ANTHEM.
waaaaaah

everyone

lets go on mchat right now

##### u rockman

k i wil

I wouldn't mind being locked to one MChat avatar until the end of the internet at all. I always use the same one in the first place, and I doubt I'm ever going to redesign my character look again because I've refined it down enough I think.

And puff would be good. I don't care about entering/exiting noises.

I say we have a poll.

"What SFX should be heard on MChat when someone says something?"

- A puff
- A foghorn
- Fingernails scratching a chalkboard.
- The "WARNING" sirens from Mega Man X4.
- "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOOOOORRR!?!?"
- ur face
- "LEROOOOOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEENKIIIIIIINSS"

*votes LEROY JENKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS*

"WINDUUUUHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Iris... Iris..? Iris..! Iris..% IRRRIIIIISSSSSSS!!!"

NES MM 1up sound.  Subject closed.

Gutsman's ass sound.

DUH NUH!

Sorry, Rez. Xero wins.

Yeah, I know, I know...

*Enters the mauling tent*

*rushes in after V*

Best idea ever!

That's far too grating.  You have to use something softer and more subtle.

We're trying to get their attention, not lull them to sleep.

If someone logs off it has to play "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOOOOOOOOR?!"

M-chat is a Ghost town. And little bells and wistles will do little but create a minor peak in use, before it dies down.

I mean, Seriously, If people being there while you are AFK was a problem, we'd have 8 inactive members logged, rather than 0.

After M-chat was closed to the public, Membership on the board peaked. People registered to get their 50 posts and get back on M-board, And during that time, Mchat also was a big hit still.

Alas, We all realized that we could state our opinions, documented for everyone to see, here on the board, as many previous prospects refused to create an account to simply chat.

We need new blood, new opinions, new people, and I have no clue how to realistically increase traffic, and encourage members to register, post 50 times responsibly, and then log on more than members with 1000+ posts.

That's a really helpful post, thanks a lot!

...

Anyway, the 1-UP sound would be as annoying as hell if a conversation was actually taking place.

I think almost any 8-bit MM sound effect would be too annoying, since they're all so... Blunt.

And WW, I think it's not so much that people are away from their computers when others are trying to talk to them, it's more that when you're the only one logged on, you put MChat in the background behind other windows. You're still able to chat, but you don't have any way of realizing anyone else is in there without constantly bringing up the window every 12 seconds.

And the biggest reason lamers like MChat is because it looks like a game, and then they make it one. The only way they'd ever actually try to post 50 times if it really WAS a game or had some kind of game-like elements like Gaia Online or something, and I don't think anyone here wants that.

I turn sounds OFF on Trillian because they ARE annoying during a conversation...

Maybe give the option to turn them on or off with a command?

/noise, like Chron suggested.

I know its possible. There's the /alert (or something) to call the moderators, not to mention that to program it to be an on or off switch is simply creating a Boolean variable.

Abe seems to think that would be too much work to do.

I'd love to see the code, but I know that's not gonna happen.

You could just make it so that the sounds don't play when the window is active.

And that's why Majikn is a smart cookie.

Monitoring the window's focus is more complex than you'd think.

Much easier to make a switch.

I'm sure you're right, but if MSN can do it there's no reason a far cooler instant messaging system shouldn't! Of course, MSN is a whole program not an applet or whatever. I don't know programming.

"Applet" sounds like a little apple. But cuter than a crab apple which are sour and all gross but are great to throw at each other when you're a kid and live in my old project back when I was eight.

Javascript.
Javascript is the reason.

although to be honest i'm not wholly familiar with it

A switch would be so freakin' simple.

If noise = 1
play.noise.wav
else
DO NOTHING
end if

And when you log on, automatically turn noise into true.

*starts looking up the script*

Ugh, I keep getting ##### for "how to keep the window active"
I don't want to make an annoying pop-up ad, damnit!

You'd think they would just have a "window.active" thing or something like that.

EDIT: Might this help?
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=568178&SiteID=1

This topic is fruitless now.

Right, guys, stop trying to code something you clearly don't know about.

In fact, I'll just close this until I have fully investigated sound and custom avs.

---

Apparently I have to tell you all that I meant no offense in that last comment.