Indie-rpg chat function possibilities:
to talk without moderation, or concern of moderation
to discuss one's personal life, and how it intersects with one's game creation
to talk socially, building bonds
to explore writer's block, and not writing games
to dissaude another from writing a fantasy heartbreaker
to dissaude one's self from writing a fantasy heartbreaker
to escape the permanancy of posting to the forum
to create a place where amateurs and professionals mix freely, without intimidation[/list:u]
Is anyone interested in participating in or hosting a chat area devoted to independent RPG development?
Interesting idea, but I don't think it'd be worth it. I've been around various chat rooms and I can tell you that RPG chat rooms have spotty attendance. There are times when the Wizards chat room is just plain empty. No one but dice bots.
No. I think that the best idea that will accomplish the same thing is to put on your profile the various instant messaging software you're signed up to so people can contact you that way. This will have all of the same feature you've listed but will not need to be hosted anywhere and won't draw comment that the chat room is "dead" because people rare use it or whatever.
Just my opinion.
I'm going to say it's not just Jack's opinion. I never do chat. My life is not so happily constituted that scheduled events ever fit, and generally by the time I'm free for something it's only the Australians and Japanese who are around to talk. It's either too slow or too fast--that is, sometimes I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs thinking of all the things I should be getting done while someone is typing a response (or at least, I think he is--for all I know, his wife may have just screamed, and he's left the room to deal with a mouse or something), or else there are so many people talking at once I can't read fast enough to keep up with things.
I've got several chat programs on my computer. I have shut down two of them because of harrassment from unknown persons who think it's funny to ask completely inane questions (recent ones were where to put the Multiverser table of contents when company is coming over and you need the living room space, and whether there's any truth to the rumor that Robin Leach will be playing the role of twenty-year-old African American soldier Joseph Kondor in a forthcoming movie based on the new Multiverser novel), but I am available by e-mail and still on ICQ, and can turn on one of the others if someone really wants to talk to me about something.
I guess I'm not a chatroom person. Maybe others are, but I've never really seen it work all that well as a discussion forum sort of thing. Special events sometimes work (like interviews with known game designers), but they require moderation or you get stupid questions and hecklers.
--M. J. Young
If someone's interested in starting up a chat -- heck, scheduling "town halls" with particular topics in mind for particular times -- I figure the Connections forum here would be a fine place to announce such things and instructions as far as how to hook up for said event. Over time, you'd get a sense of who'd be game for such things, and more of the same would flow fluidly, I'd hope.