This looks pretty cool. Good find Val.

This is awesome

So, what I read from this report, is that I should not make any challenges in #dbgaming. Got it!

I know you said - several times, hehe - that all challenges must be made in #dbgaming, as required by the RoCs. However, this program seems to provide a way of skirting that exact rule. How so? Well, say two members go on hipchat and "discuss" having a match soon. They then pop into #dbgaming, instantly challenge each other, play the match, and when it's over they leave the room.

Now - did they technically violate the RoCs? No, they met the requirement. However, I would argue that they absolutely did violate the spirit of the RoCs and the challenge rule. The intention of having all challenges made in #dbgaming is for anyone who is interested in gaming at a given time be able to join the channel and see who is available to game. If 'discussions' about meeting for challenges can be made via other venues such as hipchat, it undermines the intention of the rule.

Kir - While I agree, nothing stops people from doing the exact same thing in a Clan Channel or PM over IRC though.

That is true, although we wouldn't condone that practice or make it easier for it to happen. In this case it seems like the express purpose of this chat is provide a platform in which gamers can per-arrange matches, which would seemingly be setting people up for potential RoC violations. There is an additional argument to be made against further fragmenting the DB - gamers communicate via hipchat, others via whatsapp, some via IRC, etc.

IRC is hardly mobile and doesn't present the opportunity to communicate "on the go" that WhatsApp does. WhatsApp doesn't give the privacy that HipChat does. I'm not creating new Club Policy, just offering something for gamers to use to talk "on the go".

IRC is still the primary platform for the club. WhatsApp and HipChat just offer a mobile alternative if people want to talk. Also, the majority of the conversation that's occurred in WhatsApp has been around PVE games and Co-Op matches. I'm shooting for the same thing here.

We're already fragmented. We have IRC, Teamspeak, Google + Hangouts, Google Chat, WhatsApp, FBChat (yes, some DBers keep in touch that way as well).

The idea is to experiment with different ways to find programs that can maybe combine the best parts of these different services and minimize, ultimately, what we use on a daily basis. So, I think this is really cool that you're trying something new out, Val. If we don't try new things, we'll stay stuck in the past forever using a 20 year old chat protocall as our primary means of communication--with a new generation of teenagers who are spoiled by smartphones and dumbed down Apple products who will loose interest when they can't get IRC to connect to a stable server, or have a good way of communicating from a mobile device or smaller screen.

(I've used various mobile IRC programs across both iOS and Android. None of them are really on par with options readily available like Kik or WhatsApp or Google +).

Honestly, if WhatsApp existed without needing your phone number--that's the perfect solution. You could have IRC as the main, for people who want to lord their ops/power over others, and then everyone else that works or can't be on irc on their computer while at work, can easily communicate and share things via easily managable and creatable groups with something like WhatsApp.

But, to each his own. I wouldn't be too worried about fragmentation. I just realized I left Skype off the list too. Damn.

Thank you, Val for taking the time to set this up. I encourage everyone who has the time and enjoys gaming or talking about games to jump on board!

I had the same question as Kir, but Val's response was more than enough for me to give the okay for a trial phase of this program. Why? Because I don't truly believe that many of our gamers organize their matches or co-opt play through mIRC. mIRC is old, outdated, and is slowly losing its place as our number one communications platform. We already know that plenty of matches are organized through other communications means and then our members log into #db gaming to check the block.

People text one another to play Destiny, people WhatsApp one another to play Diablo, people Facebook one another to link up on all kinds other games. We can't go back in time and stop our members from communicating across these platforms and I'm not even sure we should. I'm also not going to pretend that all gaming is established in #dbgaming.

So while we want to use #db gaming to establish matches for vendettas and to establish matches for competitive PVP, I don't think it is reality to expect it for other forms of gaming. Hence, my approval to give this little program a test run. If it is not used, or it is not liked, then it goes away.

I don't think mIRC is dying, but it is true lots and lots of matches are organized outside of #dbgaming. This is patently obvious when two people join #dbgaming and immediately challenge one another, play their games, and immediately leave. Sometimes, someone waiting in the channel is thus screwed out of a game because they can't type quite as fast. It would seem HipChat is just another way for members to do this.

Val is already trying to address this (see Gaming Update 32) with a gaming bot that will organize Vendetta matchmaking. Hopefully such a bot can be available during Gorefest and other events, too, so that members don't need to feel "jumped in line."

Although there is plenty of opinion in this, and most of it has already been said, I want to point out a few key things.

"We can't go back in time and stop our members from communicating across these platforms and I'm not even sure we should." Communication is a huge part of a social club, don't take it away.

"As folks join if they'd like to create more channels for other games or topics feel free, its completely within your ability..." Although he stated it was mainly focused on gaming, he never said people couldn't use it for other means. I don't have the ability to log into irc at work, and if this will help me work out details of the next big competition, promotion, project, etc., then I will use a program like this to sort the details out!

"Honestly, if WhatsApp existed without needing your phone number--that's the perfect solution." I don't know how many times I've heard this, but so many people have stated that they don't want to share their phone number. What Val did was find a program that worked as simply as Whatsapp, without the need of the phone number. Isn't that a good thing?

"This is patently obvious when two people join #dbgaming and immediately challenge one another, play their games, and immediately leave." If this is the problem, should we not address the people doing it, or attempt to make it impossible? I would think that if the same people keep doing it, it would be just a blatantly obvious. I would suggest making a three to five minute mandatory "room time" where people can challenge you after a match or something, but I know there are people that have time restrictions. Also, I can see this solution being solved by the bot that was previously brought up.

There will be opposition, of that I am sure, but try to come at this with an open mind. If you love fiction, make a fiction channel, talk about it, allow us the ease of joining in with you! We gamers like to play along side our brethren, and I'm sure that you guys have a lot more to talk about than sitting in irc waiting for that one person to come on to talk about coffee, tea, or the random /me emote that someone just used.

I know it's long, but it's food for thought.

-Warp

Warp, since it appears my response may have been misleading, Val is trying to address those issues regarding people organizing matches elsewhere I believe. I think the bot project he mentioned in the aforementioned gaming update will take care of a lot of that.