Question on OOC chatter and your interest in joining

[Archivist 26]

This thought was spawned from the contents of another thread.  My site has always had very little OOC chatter on the boards. I never understood why because I like to chatter on the boards. So, my question is- how much does OOC chatter influence your interest in joining a site? 

[Arceus 1,082]

Weellll...

While I am a chatty-person when I'm comfortable, thing is, I gotta get comfortable first. So I probably won't talk much, and I don't care if others do or not, as long as posting IC happens.

 

What matters more to me, is not the frequency of ooc chatter, but the content of it. (And if your site hides the ooc chat from guests, and then make it obvious enough that you do that I can TELL you do, that looks really bad. Gbh.) If it's all really negative, or slurs are thrown around willynilly, or people are constantly talking down to others, or there's that one person that's constantly preening and nobody's checking that behaviour, orrr it's like is this an RP board or a therapy group, nah. Pass. ... I do actually watch the latter, though, bc I get life happens and venting needs to sometimes, too, but if it's a constant thing, man that's a drag. You know? So, yeah. Content over frequency for me. Lol

[Kit the Human 759]

Anyone who has paid any attention to me probably knows what my opinion here is.

 

It typically doesn't. I just want to write with people. So, if interesting things are happening and there are regular posts (I'm no longer worried about frequency!) then my interest will be piqued.

 

The only way OOC chat might influence me is if people are being very cool in OOC chatter (aka, have similar interests to me), or if they're being exceptionally droll. Or the things that Arc said.

 

But those things being an influence is pretty unusual.

[Huskerdust 625]

It doesn’t unless what I do see Ooc is assholery. Otherwise I’m good. I don’t necessarily even like being an Ooc member anymore. It just breeds drama. 

[Kazetatsu 263]

ooc threads on boards tend to be the last thing I look at, in favor of ic or plot-related ooc such as potting threads, journals and bios. I like seeing the presence of some plot-related ooc, but with the presence of discord and other chatbox services I have become more likely to see ooc anything in the chats rather than as threads in boards.

[Bro 89]

I don't care about OOC threads very much, but chatter in the cbox or discord server is something I take into account when I consider joining a site. If people aren't chatting, I don't get a feel for what kind of people they are. I don't want to join a site where everyone only wants to write about edgy stuff or depressing things, or one where everyone feels the need to be sunshine and rainbows all day every day, for example. Same goes for keeping an eye out for slurs or other unpleasant things. Chatter also gives me an idea of the age/style of the people I'll be writing IC with. If the chatter is nothing but kids and asterisks, I'll be likely to avoid. Finally, a good, active chat box makes me feel more like I can ask questions and be answered, rather than posting in an 'ask staff' section of the board and twiddling my thumbs, especially if I'm not sure what I'm about to ask even makes sense. 

[Rune 1,099]

I don't care about ooc threads but I'm with bro on the chat. I want to see chatter and I want to have that function to be able to reach out and pursue threads... Or just shoot the shit. 

[VVitch 8]

If there is too much OOC chatter and not enough IC I to tap out and wander off. I like a little mix of OOC joking and conversation to learn what folks are about, to be assured that they aren't a bunch of toxic yahoos who will waste my time.

 

I also have a bit of a wandering attention span so if people are ALL about the OOC it will also affect my focus in a story situation.

 

 

 

 

[Archivist 26]

Thanks everyone, I do appreciate your responses. I have been thinking about adding a Discord channel but I have a lot going on IRL and I'm not sure I have the time to devote to it. Perhaps after I'm settled from my move (From Iowa to Florida).

 

While my site doesn't have one of those 'ask a staff' sections, I am open for private messages, and can be reached on Facebook. I'm at my computer in the evenings, this is technically my 'office hours' for the site. 

[StormWolfe 557]

I actually prefer that sites have a Discord, Cbox or other means to communicate OOC. I do have OOC boards on my sites, but they are there for the people that simply loathe DMing or IM chat. For me, the forums (or site) is for character management and storytelling. 

 

Honestly, I rarely even look at OOC forums on sites. I check to see if there's anything I need to tend to on my own sites and that's about it.

[Rhindeer 217]

It has zero influence on my decision to join.

 

When I admin games, I'm chatty and stuff. But when I'm a player on another game, I pretty much just wanna thread and don't really get involved in OOC stuff. I've played on a lot of games that had no OOC communication at all, and I loved it. xD That stuff is ideal for introverts like me, lmao.

 

The only time it will influence my decision negatively is if I witness people being douches OOC, reproached. Then I'll peace on out.

[Pallas 14]

For myself, I have Discord and we use the Discord plugin on our site made by Titan so that our members and guests can immediately reach out for support and to shoot the sit any way they prefer. I tend to speak 1:1 when it comes to threading with people, so if I have questions or really enjoy something in the thread, I can tell them straight away. Usually, I'm bouncing around about a thread with them and it really makes RPing enjoyable.

 

OOC interaction can make or break a roleplay, that's for sure.

[Foxypaws 44]

Having an active, friendly chatbox is very important to me. As stated above, I want my members to feel like they can reach out at any time and have an answer available. Being able to pop into a Discord and ask is extremely helpful in this situation. It feels more like the person is speaking to...well, a person rather than submitting a help ticket every time they need to message me.

My members have also commented on how much more comfortable they feel when they can reach out and speak to one another. They are instantly welcomed into the fold the moment they step into the chat. It makes things seem so much more personal.

[Icewolf 258]

If the OOC content is based around the subject of the forum, and isn't all based around a competition on who knows the most amount of lore, than I'd like it. If it's folks sharing their craft creations, art, fan fiction, games etc, then it's great too. What I don't like to see is people using the OOC sections to promote their pet political views (because lets face it, not everyone thinks the same way and it's a good way of making folks feel uncomfortable on the site), general moaning about how bad their life is, putting other people on the board down or inappropriate 'jokes'.

 

Does it influence on whether I join the site? Perhaps. If it's quiet it can make me think that no one visits the site and uses it, but it looking unfriendly is more likely to give me cause to stay away. I do sometimes frequent one of the main Star Wars fan forums on the net and I learnt along time ago to stay out the forums where people discuss politics because most of the time it was those with conservative viewpoints having the floor and putting down socialist viewpoints. It can be just as unfriendly looking if the chatter's full of the opposite viewpoint if they take a bullying approach to voice it. I'd rather it be quiet looking, than that! It's nice to have an OOC board that's helpful to people too with writing, making characters and such, but I've yet to come across that.

[Archivist 26]

I've come to accept that with character creation issues, my members tend to like handing this behind the scenes. Mostly, they'll shoot the profile over on FB or e-mail.  I'm okay with this- as long as the final version is posted on the forum so that it can be approved before play. 

 

With politics, I put a stop to this a number of years ago- declaring The Org a political free zone- and offering a link to another site that welcomes political converse in a designated area. One member actually quit because she posted her perspective on a political event. I deleted it and sent her a note explaining why.  She told me "that's censorship and I have the right to speak." my response was "Not on a privately owned forum, you should know this as a teacher."

 

At some point I can see The Org having a Discord channel, just not right now because of all the things I have going on. Too much on the plate, ya know. I move in June so perhaps after then I'll look into it.