InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "The human world is a mess"

materialise (materialise) wrote in rp_tutorials,
@ 2013-07-13 23:30:00

IM question
Hey everyone. I'm starting a game with a friend but neither of us has been active in games for years (the same applies to our friends) so I decided to turn to this comm, in hopes that someone may be able to answer.

In the games we used to be, scenes were usually written on AIM and then posted to the main community. I don't think anyone uses AIM anymore so... what should we use? We'd like something that allows IMs but also group chats. I've suggested Skype because I have an account and most people I know do too, but my friend doesn't have one so we don't know if it's something most people will have.

I know that we can always have in-thread scenes but I don't really like that format so I'd like to avoid it if possible. Thanks.

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	materialise 2013-07-14 12:00 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! I'll look into that option. How would it work for chats? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hangthestars
2013-07-14 12:13 am UTC (link)

You CAN use docs to talk to people if that's what you're into. Since they update in real time, using them as chats is actually pretty feasible. Personally, I use gdocs primarily for logging and stick with AIM or email (or even just OOC posts) to talk about OOC stuff, but I've used gdocs for group projects before. In my case it was organizing a seven person meetup, and it worked pretty well, but it's not my favorite way of communicating with people other than the log. Gdocs also has an "email collaborators" feature now so that you can send a notif directly from the doc when you finish your tag instead of having to send them a separate email or IM.

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	materialise 2013-07-14 12:18 am UTC (link)
	Oh, that's awesome! I'll look into this. Thank you so much! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	staceywacey 2013-07-18 05:18 am UTC (link)
	There is also a chat option within gdocs where you can leave messages for anyone viewing the doc, which is helpful if you want to tell someone that it's their turn. I like to use gdocs for logs and then chat on AIM or gtalk. (Reply to this) (Parent)

hangthestars
2013-07-14 12:16 am UTC (link)

And because IJ ate part of my post: AIM chats might not be awesome for scenes anymore, but the newest version of it allows for chatrooms that can be accessed whenever. They don't close you out when you log off, which is handy if you want to keep up a perpetual game chat or something. We don't do it for our game because we're really comfy with our emails, etc., but if that's your preferred way of talking to your players OOC it's not a terrible option.

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	materialise 2013-07-14 12:20 am UTC (link)
	Oh, so you're always technically in the chat? That sucks! We used to have an OOC room where people would go and chat every night, and then for events or scenes with more than two players we'd create special chat rooms. I'll make AIM an option, then, just in case that's easier for people for OOC purposes at least. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	hangthestars 2013-07-14 12:22 am UTC (link)
	Only if you want to be! I know I'd make a group chat or something and then realize four days later that I'm still technically in it and have to close it out. You can definitely leave (creepy if you couldn't), but you have to actually make the effort to click the button, you aren't automatically taken out when you sign off. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

droa
2013-07-14 12:30 am UTC (link)

Huh. That always-on chat function makes a lot of sense. Out of curiosity, if you invite someone to that new style of chat, do you know if the original chat-creator can boot other folks out, essentially turning the chatroom 'off' for those parties?

I don't actually use AIM (Mac-friendly chat program, go), but courtesy your explanation now realize someone tossed me into one of those always-on chats... and now it's impossible for me to get the damn thing off my flist.

Sorry to turn you into The AIM Expert, but I was totally unaware of that new feature until reading your comments.

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hangthestars
2013-07-14 12:41 am UTC (link)

Iii don't know? I've never had to boot anyone. But I know that there's no obvious "get me out of this chat" button. If I remember right, you have to right click something or find something that says "leave this chat" because clicking the little X in the corner doesn't actually do it. I've had chats in my list for over a week because I keep forgetting to leave them, but you CAN remove them. It's just kind of inconvenient.

Also! I used to have a Mac (RIP my Macbook) and have used both Adium and the desktop version of GChat. Only the actual gchat client supports group chats, though. I was also recently using our Mac desktop while my PC was in the shop, and the current version of AIM works just as well on a Mac as it does on the PC. Only downside is that despite being able to use Gchat from the AIM client, you still can't be in a group Gchat from it, but most people I talk to use AIM anyway.

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	ex_dickens625 2013-07-14 03:32 am UTC (link)
	If you go through http://blast.aim.com you can modify the blast groups that you are in. You can stay a member but not receive messages, leave the group entirely etc. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ex_dickens625 2013-07-14 03:32 am UTC (link)
	If you go through http://blast.aim.com you can modify the blast groups that you are in. You can stay a member but not receive messages, leave the group entirely etc. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	droa 2013-07-14 03:46 am UTC (link)
	You have just saved my sanity. Thank you so, so much for the assist. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_dickens625 2013-07-14 05:23 am UTC (link)
	That's alright, I looked it up for much the same reason. Mostly when I was marathoning Uni work I didn't want to be interrupted. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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