There is no reason for a dedicated GB Chat when we already have the GB forum and IRC. I get enough craziness from the forums, and I'm completely convinced that chat rooms would give me a heart attack.
We keep an unofficial IRC which serves well enough. The problem with a site chat, as was proven with the live Matrix event, is that if everyone on GB floats into that chatroom, it becomes impossible to follow.
And the IRC crowd has breached the subject of a site chat a couple times to the staff- it's unlikely to happen because people linger in a chatroom as opposed to clicking around the site which is really what they want you to be doing. So, not likely to happen any time in the near future.
I don't know. I've never been to the IRC, but honestly, I spend enough time in the standard forums. I did the chat room scene years ago on AOL when it was still a relevant meeting place for web surfers. These days, I prefer to think and organize my thoughts before I send out a message. That's not always possible in the quick paced world of a chat room.
Jeff has said that he is fine with keeping the unofficial IRC, rather than having an official chat room. He said that when people are in a chat room, they are generally just sat in the chat room chatting. They aren't browsing pages and seeing/clicking ads. And thus there isn't really any advantage to having an official, on-site chat room, rather than just keeping with the unofficial IRC.
So, no, there will not be an official chat room, but the IRC is fine and serves the same purpose, so it's not a big deal.
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