Pros/cons of merging IRC and Chat

I think this issue needs to be addressed.

First of all, I want you to drop all of your predispositions for a moment and really listen. I know, this is a huge change that will likely need to be put up through an official proposal, but here's our root problem.

We have tons of trolls in Chat. According to some users, they have at least two attacks per week. The problem is, these attacks happen at night, when MilaYin and Perapin are not around. In fact, Perapin has reportedly gone MIA. So, these users are basically forced to just sit there and do nothing about it.

Now, here's two easy solutions.


 * Promote more chat mods
 * Have the admins patrol Chat more

And here's why they don't work. You'd be surprised how many new users there are in Chat. With the exception of Pinky, who is unfortunately very unfit to be a CM just basically due to her attitude and the fact that she had a chance before, there are not many users that have been around for longer than few months. They have no experience and, so far, there are zero users that are actually qualified to be a chat mod.

Option two is to have the admins patrol Chat more. But I've brought up this issue MULTIPLE times, and a few people even said after TDA15 was demoted that they would take on the job. N3 even tried to arrange a shift schedule that didn't work out. We really need to do something about this.

This is ONE of the many options we have. Personally, I think it would be an okay idea for us to close down Chat and have users access the IRC. The thing is, and I'm really not trying to be a dick, but it feels like me and N3 are the only admins that are up for change. The entire wiki is so set in our ways that the thought of making a big change, no matter how many pros it has, is like World War III. That's why I don't think this will sit well with users (at first); Chat users will definitely get upset. But I don't really see why when the IRC is literally just like Chat, but with less emoticons and more features.

I just want us to think about this before it's actually turned into a proposal. And guys, if the reason you oppose is because you don't want new users in the IRC, that's ridiculous. I love TDF but he is an example of someone that is discriminating against the new users for no reason. Sure, they can be annoying at first, but can't we all? We are a community, and even though having 2 separate wiki chats is not hurting anyone, it's certainly not benefiting anyone, either.

I've come up with pros and cons for this idea, BUT, notice that the cons section has nothing to do with anything in Chat that the users are going to lose except emoticons. Chat and IRC are virtually the same. The IRC just has more features, so I propose that we THINK about this idea. Add more info to the pros, and more info to the cons. Whatever you can think of.

Just think about it. What sense does it make for us to have two separate chats, one for the "experienced users" and one for the "less-experienced"? We complain about how dead the IRC is, but you know why? It's because, back in 2009 and early 2010, there was no Chat. Chat is TOTALLY active. If we can get those users into our IRC, we'll have at least 16-18 people in there per day. Just think about it.

-Ryan

Pros

 * More activity
 * Less trolls
 * Chat is an easy place to access right after creating an account, IRC is more secluded
 * Admins do not visit Chat and instead frequent the IRC, which is way more patrolled and you can actually ban IPs on there
 * There are more features in the IRC than Chat
 * Will get to know the newer users better

Cons

 * Will cause an extremely polarizing response from the users: some will love, some will hate
 * Loss of Chat emoticons
 * Takes more time for users to log on
 * Users might have trouble connecting to PJIRC and maybe even webchat.
 * Whereas PJIRC needs java and webchat tends to crash/disconnect.
 * As shown during April Fools Day, the users are very protective of Chat.