User blog:Madman97/The Status of the Chat

Look out, Madman97 is doing political commentary again. Hide yo wife, hide yo kids. But to add salt to the wound, Dave is with me! How are you Dave?

Dave: Bored. And no one wll probably read this.

Madman97: Exactly, and that's exactly what this blog is for. Because, yet again, there are problems with the chat. Dave, take it away.

Dave: I've largely lost interest in the Blog Critic thing after less and less readers have been tuning in and my job has prohibited me from doing much else but I decided I needed closure and needed to do one last blog with our madman here. About a week and a half ago, I entered chat to find it as it always has been. A rabble of argumentative instigators, including Madman here.

Madman97: And I like it that way. However, I just got back from my recent hiatus from Connecticut and found the chat a plane of desolation. Hardly anyone was on it anymore. Why? Well, that's why were here. You see, the chat has been a sort of hub for anyone who truly enjoys this site and supports it (Mostly), and as for me, I enjoyed going on there and sparking numerous debates about my feelings towards Kirkbride, which fanboys have a fierce defense ready every time. Pissing them off so much was too much fun. But there was also intelligent debate in there somewhere...somewhere. But ah, listen to be ramble (To those who have put up with it the past two years, I appreciate it). But that's not what I am here to talk about. My main idea here is a sort of memorial for the times in chat we had. Why? Because its dead. Seriously, it's practically gone. Apparently, while I was away, yet another blow was given to the chat and the majority of the Mods either quit or CT'd. Along with that, Jimeee, a former administrator, also resigned. This was big news to me. He's been around since I createdmy profile here.

Dave: While I never had much interaction with the guy besides being associated with the idiot beside me who brought his attention to our table because of Madman's blog on the status of the Wikia, I knew there was a lot of struggle between him and members of the wikia on the rights and privaledges the Chat got compared to other sections of the Wikia, mostly between a few individuals who know damn well who they are and the majority of the chat who either tried to let these indivisuals off easy by explaining that nothing was really wrong and those who thought these individuals were complete dipsh*ts and bashed them for thinking the chat was short of perfect. The result was a disfuctional mess that ultimately killed off the chat and left in ruins for a future generation of Wikians to pick up.

Madman97: Many arguments were raised about how the Mods in chat and the people there were getting little treatment while others were getting more, saying that every part of the wiki should be equal. Despite somewhat supporting this end, the actual result of giving the chat more attention could have hurt the wiki more than some people thought. See, the rules of the chat are kind of simple and easy to follow. Don't be rude (Yeah, that's never happened within chat), keep language clean (Pfff), adhere to the rules of the wikia (At least one person was banned from every chat session Ive been in), ect. I know I get a lot of flack for the blog Status of the Wikia, which I swear to God, though many don't like it anyway, that it was meant to be a satrical take on what was going on within the wiki and the mindset of certain individuals that I guess no one found really amusing, least of all Jimeee himself, who personally commented on everything that was wrong with the blog, but the mindset shown within the blog was one many actually shared within and outside chat. Though it was exactly what I wanted and the flaws were intentional, I see Jimeee's point and I honestly have always been an Admins supporter.

A lot of inspiration from the blog was taken directly from conversations I had within chat. I find myself stumbling onto an ongoing argument a lot when I enter chat, and I add fuel to the fire a lot as well, but it's almost always oriented to one subject, something that, for the love of God, has gotten way too old, about as old as still arguing over Kirkbride. It was beating a dead horse with a stick. But hey, the commentary made for a great instigation blog that allowed many users a reason to get angry with me in the comments section, which I also thouroughly enjoy. You might think it to being trollish, which you are half right, but it is also to see another's opinion on the subject at hand, and as much as I brush people off and present myself as an @$$hole (Not all of you are the nicest either), I do enjoy intelligent debate. The problem is finding one. To me, Chat really helped me out with this, and the chat comments always helped me with my blogs as a sort of muse to inspire me.

And this is what was really damaging about the chat and it would have been worse if the Admin's took the time to make it as complex as the rest of the mainstream pages. The chat, apologies to anyone, is full of jerks, argumentative, nonstop arguing, trolling, jerks. Don't think I'm excluding myself. I'll proudly admit my involvment. The Chat in the last few months saw nothing but argument after argument about how it should be run and a lot of people went through a lot of frustration about something that should have been straight forward. I was even nominated as a chat mod at one point before that Lord Hadron guy came along and spoiled it with his anti nord sh*t, but Im honestly kind of glad he did, because I would have hated being a mod. Seriously, I pity those who are. Dave, explain.

Dave: (sigh) Don't get us wrong, we liked the mods fine, but when some jack@$$ comes along and they started something, the mods didn't really handle it correctly. This was only a few times, I can't speak for every day for them, but whenever I was there, though they may have stepped in, their authority was dismal. F*ck, even the Admins thought them to be basically glorified users. To people, they were just a normal user in chat. They got into arguments too. This exacerbated things whenever some argument about how the wiki was run came up. Some supported the idea, though a lot opposed it, and it was pandamonium. Everyone was at each other's throats and there were arguments every goddamn day.

Madman97: We wouldn't say this if it wasn't true. Mods, hate me all you want, there was always a problem with the Chat for you.

(Rubs temples) It really sucks to see the downfall of what was pretty great at first. I can chronicle the chat from since I began to go in. First was the excitement that Madman97 had joined the chat (Come on, people were surprised), then it was the Kirkbride business which lasted many months, then a brief interlude of just random conversations, and then a couple months later started this revolutionary bullsh*t. Finally, I hardly see more than six people in chat at once. The people in there aren't very happy to see me either, as if I somehow caused this great catastrophe. (I helped, but I didn't cause it) It's much like the downfall of the Blog section. When I first took a break from the wiki website by ending the Wabbajack Grinding at Season 3 and waiting until ESO came out to start Season 4, a lot of other bloggers uit out to, leaving these extremely sh*tty blogs in there place that didn't get more than 4 comments per blog. I remember each blog in the most popular section usually garnered hundreds. There was a brief revival but was quickly snuffed out when everyone started focusing on the chat nonsense but it made me sad to see it go, especially when all the attention focused on the chat ultimately led to its decay as well.

Who is to blame here?

Dave: In truth, everyone. Everyone contributed to this mess of a chat either intentionally and unintentionally, mostly the latter. What can we say? It's the internet. Really, only the forum has been the most successful source of community involvment these past few years. They survive the bickering and survive when people go away. The Status of the Chat is that its been dying for a long time and now it finally might be dead. However, there is always hope it can be revived, but I fear it will never reach the level it was before.

Madman97: That includes the Blog Sections to. Even my Wabbajack Grinding is no longer bringing people in anymore. They just dont have the time. And honestly, neither do I. In fact, I may go on record saying this is my final blog on this site after I have done so many, but I feel some dignity is needed and if I am to leave with some, I may as well go out with how I started. By writing a blog about it.

There may yet still be hope for another one, but does anyone really want one? I was just in chat with someone who told me I am known for complaining, trolling, and generally being an @$$ about Kirkbride, all of which are true in some way. Though, I only ever complained because it was meant to be humorous and comical. The trolling, like I said before, garnered more opinions for us to look at and examine, and the Kirkbride thing? Yes, I hate Kirkbride. That's my opinion. I respect yours if you still believe in it. But it seems even the greatness of Madman97 has faded away...

Dave: Give me a f*ckin break...

Madman97: Lol, sorry Dave. Unfortunately, this may be goodbye. If you have kept up with my blogs, thank you. It really means a lot. If not, well, I would read them. For those who supported my theories, I also support yours. For those who don't, well, just know you were probably right in the first place. No need to get worked up because I've grinded your Wabbajacks. (But Kirkbride's gay)

Dave: That's as good as an apology for all the sh*t Madman has done on this site for you guys, so yeah. It's been fun.

Madman97: And now, back to Ranty Land.

Dave: Oh, Jesus. Not again.

Madman97: Cousin Sheo will want tea and cheese. Gather my things!

Dave: I'm not your man servant.

Madman97: Humph, you wish you were.

Dave:....

Madman97: Well, ta-ta everyone. Stay Mad.