How To Make #thepokecommunity More Active?

Well, for what I consider to be (and perhaps actually is) the largest fan-based Pokemon site online, the chat is dead 98% of the time! And I doubt it's my timezone (EST GMT-5). People just aren't talking. It doesn't even have to be just about Pokemon. They're not talking about anything D:

So why is this? Do people just not know? Are others having trouble launching it in their browsers (I had to get ChatZilla for it to specifically work) and thus are too lazy to figure out how to fix the Plug-In issue? Are people so consumed by post count that they prefer just to stick to the boards than to use the IRC channel?

I just think it's interesting that smaller boards of less obscure topics have more active IRCs than PC does lol

How can we fix this, though :\ How can we make it more interesting? Better/more emblems? More IRC-related events? I dunno. I love IRC so it's a bit sad to see that no one's really in there D:

Well the reason the smaller IRC chats have more activity is because there are less people, therefore everyone knows/can get to know each other better which makes it easy to talk to them. And I wouldn't call Challenges or the Trade Corner "smaller boards of less obscure topics". I'm fairly sure this was brought up a few months ago, though I can't find it anywhere.

tabor62 said:

And I wouldn't call Challenges or the Trade Corner "smaller boards of less obscure topics".

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I think you misunderstood that part. Boards in this context refers to forums outside of PC (as expressed when stating "than PC does"). So other, external forum boards with no relation to PC and of less population have active IRCs, whereas PC doesn't and is much larger.

There is frequently 500+ users on PC at any given time. I've even seen it hit 1,200, with 100 or so being registered and the rest being guests. Even guests can access the IRC so I don't really understand why there are only maybe, 15 people (most AFK) in the IRC.

:(

Yusshin said:

I think you misunderstood that part. Boards in this context refers to forums outside of PC (as expressed when stating "than PC does"). So other, external forum boards with no relation to PC and of less population have active IRCs, whereas PC doesn't and is much larger.

There is frequently 500+ users on PC at any given time. I've even seen it hit 1,200, with 100 or so being registered and the rest being guests. Even guests can access the IRC so I don't really understand why there are only maybe, 15 people (most AFK) in the IRC.

:(

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Oops, sorry for the misunderstanding hehe.

I don't know about you or other people, but I've been in the main IRC a few times. Most of the time I was too intimidated or too shy to say anything until someone spoke to me directly or asked a question to everyone in the room. I think the amount of people in the room at times can intimidate some people. Plus sometimes the admins are in there x.x I know I shouldn't be afraid to say something, but I can't help but feel intimidated at times.

tabor62 said:

Oops, sorry for the misunderstanding hehe.

I don't know about you or other people, but I've been in the main IRC a few times. Most of the time I was too intimidated or too shy to say anything until someone spoke to me directly or asked a question to everyone in the room. I think the amount of people in the room at times can intimidate some people. Plus sometimes the admins are in there x.x I know I shouldn't be afraid to say something, but I can't help but feel intimidated at times.

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The only admins that go there are... Audy, Cowrie, Jake, and PPN. Literally the four least intimidating admins of all time. Audy is normally crazy, Jake normally is confusing (Sotomura that is), PPN says "hmm" and Cowrie does w/e. :( I'm sorry you're scared of them though! But honestly I'm more intimidating than they are ahahaha. Maybe. Anyway you should just join in and try to establish a connection with them :) they're really nice!

tabor62 said:

Oops, sorry for the misunderstanding hehe.

I don't know about you or other people, but I've been in the main IRC a few times. Most of the time I was too intimidated or too shy to say anything until someone spoke to me directly or asked a question to everyone in the room. I think the amount of people in the room at times can intimidate some people. Plus sometimes the admins are in there x.x I know I shouldn't be afraid to say something, but I can't help but feel intimidated at times.

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From someone who's been on and off the IRC channel since '05... you raise a valid point about intimidation. When you're new and around for the first time, you can't help but wonder what exactly the atmosphere is in the first place.

I guess that's what's so weird about IRC in general - if it's not a Q&A/support channel and you're not a regular, it's tough to integrate. A few years ago the forum had some sort of banner on the main page advertising the channel and that seemed to work well for the first few days; although, thinking again, maybe trying to give people a clearer idea of what #tpc is (or was) all about would work best - just something like letting people know that it's a place where you can just relax and talk about anything, and that you're definitely welcome to join in and try to be a part of whoever hangs out there regularly, even if it's not necessarily the most active place at times.

Just... more awareness, really, but not just in the basic sense of putting up a large link; making it clear that it has the potential to be PC's (second?) largest hangout.

To be totally honest, the IRC just kind of fell out of the lime light. We relaunched in 2011, it was insanely active for several months, and it's gradually started to slow down now. Lots of regulars have left or are inactive, and the newer crop of people haven't really filled that vacancy yet, it seems. Also, the popularity of the Pokemon Showdown server have has usurped some of it's activity, I think. As to what we could do to fix the inactivity issue, honestly, we just need people to go there more.

And yeah, I'm sure the intimidation thing is a factor too.

Hmm... Maybe :v but given how active PC is, you'd think people everyone is a chatterbox XD it's not that much different, except for being in real-time and all.

I'd personally like custom PC themes for IRC clients. The ChatZilla one is ugly. Some people are like mockingbirds and are attracted to pretty things. Not sure :( I'd just like to see more regular PC members in there! It can be so much easier to get to know someone in real-time chatter than through forum posts. I find posts in themselves to be distant anyway, and asking outright for an MSN or Skype is intimidating to me XD (and sometimes, you're denied because the other person is shy or doesn't want to share that information)

I've lurked in and out of #tpc, but really found my place in the smaller sub-sectional chats because they're more intimate and they're between groups that have already developed a strong friendship, if that makes sense. If there were some way to encourage others to open up a bit and mingle more, I'm definitely up for it. Admittedly, some of the staff do look intimidating - but once you get to know us, we're really just cuddly teddy bears, full of jelly and flowers and rainbows and gummy bears and all things spicy and nicey? and butterflies and bunnies and maybe I should stop now.

In all seriousness though, I think if there were some way to encourage people to open themselves up for expanding their social connections, then the chat will in-turn benefit simultaneously.

I remember being told "no!!!!! arghghaeghaerh" a couple times (albeit sarcastically) when I said "wow we need to be chatting it up!" or of that sort.

I know, knew and am sure for the future you're all joking, but that really put me off of the whole chat thing.

--personal stories aside, I think each of you guys just need to volunteer about fifteen minutes to an hour in rotation every couple of days where a couple of you will try to spark a conversation (because if nobody's gonna do it, it's not gonna fix itself).

So basically, just try to drum up conversation when you're logged in to the chat. :)

Hey! I thought of something :)

Since we're a Pokémon-centered forum…

Wouldn't it make sense to just leave Pokémon Showdown as it is?

I mean, it's like the forums. I rarely venture into the --- forums, but that doesn't mean that they should be separated from the ones I go to often.

I think people should treat the chat as the irc, and then they can also battle when they want, so that it's all condensed into one.

…I don't know where I went with that, but my point is KEEP THE SERVER AS IT IS and then promote it as the new IRC or something!

I think maybe that the server is basically what IRC should be for a Pokemon forum, because Pokemon is about battling and the Showdown server is battling+chat? I thinkk!

I much prefer the server to #tpc just because of reasons Curious stated, I'm not opposed to meeting new people it's definitely really fun (come see us on the server!!) but personally I think it's because the people on #tpc are people I don't know, so that alone is really intimidating to me and I'm just much more comfortable with there being more people I know than I don't. (I hope that made sense). Maybe that's what other people are thinking and it's why #tpc is just full of lurkers.

Even while active, both of PC's chat avenues are... 'isolated'. This might just be a problem I personally have, but for what it's worth to say: it's so hard to follow, let alone contribute to a conversation between people who are already friends, whom are the people on the chat for the most part. It's like talking to a wall... which talks, but not directly back. So it all just feels like a waste of time and is mighty deterring. That's why I'm not keen on the IRC, and importantly might be why others who have visited haven't stayed.

In any case, I fully support making the battle server the main chat area. It's very convenient for a lot of people and there already is a working link at the top of PC under More Links. One doesn't need to download any sort of plugin to access the site, plus everyone gets to battle and have fun! What say y'all?

Twilight Sky said:

Um..are you sure it's "isolated"? While I might not know about the PC chat, the Showdown server is nowhere near the such, and it even works in a similar fashion to the IRC Server. If you want to talk, bring up a subject, and perhaps others will follow. Besides, 8 or 9 times out of 10 there's always other people that are talking anyway, and they're usually about things others can contribute to that aren't difficult to follow in the slightest, really. oo;

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I'm not at all sure; it's probably just due to my own social ineptitude & disinterest. I just thought I'd share my experience in case it could prove to be part of the problem with IRC activity.

synerjee said:

In any case, I fully support making the battle server the main chat area. It's very convenient for a lot of people and there already is a working link at the top of PC under More Links. One doesn't need to download any sort of plugin to access the site, plus everyone gets to battle and have fun! What say y'all?

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Aye.

Can somebody PLEASE tell me what's an IRC?

IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat". Basically, it's a software protocol that allows a certain kind of chatroom to function. In this case, we're talking about PC's IRC-based chatroom.

Ausaudriel said:

Steve doesn't want to replace the IRC, so the two things are going to remain separate.

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Sigh
I can see his reasons for not wanting to be rid of the IRC, but I know for a fact that that the showdown server makes more sense. I'd still like to see some better integration of the showdown server into PC, even if it's not primary on the front page.

Cassino said:

Even while active, both of PC's chat avenues are... 'isolated'. This might just be a problem I personally have, but for what it's worth to say: it's so hard to follow, let alone contribute to a conversation between people who are already friends, whom are the people on the chat for the most part. It's like talking to a wall... which talks, but not directly back. So it all just feels like a waste of time and is mighty deterring. That's why I'm not keen on the IRC, and importantly might be why others who have visited haven't stayed.

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I see what you mean here. A lot of times when you're on the IRC channel, people are talking, but they don't really want to talk to you who may have just joined in. So when you try to join the conversation they act like it's a crime and overall just treat you somewhat disrespectfully. The IRC has been rebooted several times now and I have to say that the reason it simply doesn't succeed as well is because of the way the regular crowd treats the new users. Sometimes even the staff there are pretty abrasive to users old and new.

Twilight Sky said:

Um..are you sure it's "isolated"? While I might not know about the PC chat, the Showdown server is nowhere near the such, and it even works in a similar fashion to the IRC Server. If you want to talk, bring up a subject, and perhaps others will follow. Besides, 8 or 9 times out of 10 there's always other people that are talking anyway, and they're usually about things others can contribute to that aren't difficult to follow in the slightest, really. oo;

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What she means by isolated is that the two are somewhat exclusive. If you don't fall into the "regular group" you don't always get the best attention. Although I'm fairly sure the showdown server has improved greatly since she was last seen there. It's fairly welcoming there since the staff was reset.

Cassino, I encourage you to try the showdown server, it's actually really friendly these days. I don't know what sort of experience you've had in the past but I'm pretty sure it probably won't reoccur.

I'd love for the battle server to be the main chat, but if Steve doesn't want to replace the IRC, then there's not much that can be done. While I do support "merging" the two, there is an issue with Pokemon Showdown eventually losing support from its developers like with what happened to ShoddyBattle. However, PS shows no signs of that, and it's still early in its life (as a beta, no less). Even so, if PS were to be abandoned, I imagine there wouldn't be any issues with going back to using IRC.

Pachy said:

What she means by isolated is that the two are somewhat exclusive. If you don't fall into the "regular group" you don't always get the best attention. Although I'm fairly sure the showdown server has improved greatly since she was last seen there. It's fairly welcoming there since the staff was reset.

Cassino, I encourage you to try the showdown server, it's actually really friendly these days. I don't know what sort of experience you've had in the past but I'm pretty sure it probably won't reoccur.

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I'm fairly sure that Cassino was online last night, but I could be wrong. The regulars are usually pretty open there, but that may not be true for every single one of them. We usually welcome everyone that joins and are open to talk with anyone. But I think it's worth noting that the battle server is most inactive from around 1 AM to 8 AM (EST), which was when Cassino was online from what I can tell. I find that even when people are online during that time, they're usually afk. Though, I'm usually not online then so take that with a grain of salt. Additionally, we have been getting new regulars over time, so we must be doing something right.

Ausaudriel said:

I... have... no idea what you're trying to say. o.O

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…me neither

My point was, use the Showdown Server as the irc :p I got off track