Tigers' New Chat/Forum

As some have suspected, bubbles_71 & I are working to try to set up a team chat & forum. We intend to restrict membership to only current team members. bubbles_71 has graciously consented to run the chat, and to take care of security for us. 3 cheers for bubbles!

Among the things we want, is to make it easier than the Yahoo chat rooms are, to acquire membership, and log in. Yahoo insists that the user provide an email address, and some personal details; and endure a wait for processing, before receiving an email to allow access. Alas, we find the same to be true at Chatshack (the volunteers who are helping us set this up - thanks to bubbles - are affiliated with Chatshack.) However, at least with Chatshack, we may be able to bend that bar just a little, so that (if everything I envision works, and there are no unforeseen problems) we can easily manufacture exactly what Tigers need to get in.

The credentials required, would be only a current Tigers playername, and a mass password which we will provide, but which will need the member to reset it after entry. Recording of an email account will be strongly recommended, so that the team can communicate when necessary. However, that email record would not be enforced at least for now. Subsequently, that would be where team messages would go. Fairly simple, and many of the accounts can be done fairly fast. I estimate that I can do them almost as fast as I can copy&paste the playernames into position. Well, the rest of the process eats a couple of minutes per Tiger. If all is good, I can probably manufacture a couple hundred accounts per day, and bubbles may be able to help to make that faster. That would mean we hope that IWON stalls another 5 days, to allow us to be ready, before dropping a major choice on the team.

Possessing that much information, the player would approach the link (which we will provide, through IWON - most likely on the team page header), with the credentials to request entrance. Non-members and members alike, would see the Greeting screen with some assorted links, and a little text. Members would request admittance (we have not yet totally set the routine for that), and enter either the team chat, or the team forum - from each, the other is accessible. There is a picture gallery, so be sure to bring a current photo of yourself to post - or not, if you are ashamed to be seen with the rest of us. But you can.

The forum allows us to have a truly private place to post information, whether hints & tips for games, discussions of future plans, debates about team policies, or whatever we choose. I expect that, if not at first, ultimately, all Tigers will be able to post articles there, when they feel the urge. One of the first I will add, is the question of how to deal with IWON in regard to the check that they must soon deal with us about. Possibly that one leads to another article, proposing some sort of new leadership, interim or permanent, and whether we can induce IWON to accept a hydra-type beast, a leadership council, with perhaps, one member designated by that group to deal with the current & any future checks. I am almost sure that IWON will want the legal safeguard of having that single individual be the speaker for the check - but may be flexible as to other dealings between IWON & Tigers. Others might have the task of dealing with IWON help; of managing internal teamwork; of seeking opportunities for recruiting non-IWONers to join the site & hopefully, our team; or whatever that council determines. I have thus far located only three (3) team members willing AND able to assume posts in that council, so I feel we are at least one member shy of a complete set. There are several willing, who are not able; and probably many able, but not willing. We need both for that position.

The chat allows us to speak to one another as with the team page, but with some extra tools, should we choose to apply them. That is one place we could actually conduct a vote over three shifts, about some of the items we might discuss / debate / fight about in the forum.

Both the chat and the forum would be invisible to non-members finding the Greeting page - they would meet only the external links (the ADA, the blog, some other organizations). Members should see the Greeting page with an opportunity to sign in.

Much is unclear, until we actually have it running, and some members set up in accounts. I will update as I can.

*****UPDATE

We have a few more than 300 Tigers set up in the forum / chat now, & some have already visited the construction site, to change passwords, email acccounts, etc. The more who do that now, the better for them, and for the Team. A last-minute rush to get those details cleared up may strain the resources of this operation, if there are problems in the passwords assigned, or other problems. We should attempt to get as many through the logon and clean-up as possible, as early as possible. We may face an IWON deadline on some decisions that remain for now, pending.

The players with playernames beginning in a number, "A", & "B" are set. Half the "M"s are in, and some of the "L"s; the top 16 are all in; most of the active posters on the team page are included as well; the balance will follow as rapidly as we can. If you are not certain if you are in, the best way to find out is to try to log on periodically. See the Tigers team page for instructions.

One note for those attempting to log on: lowercase alpha characters. CAPS - upper case - will probably not work.

Another note: there is a function to allow mIRC entry to the chat. I do not know how, I do not know if it even works. But it is there. If not now, we will try it soon, and let you know - so if you are a mIRC-er, we have you covered. If you have already done the logon trial, and the cleanup, go ahead & try it for yourself.

Final note for this update: I am the dummy in this group. If there is a problem, I can probably fix your password. For more complex problems, see bubbles_71. She is usually on the forum / chat site when she is not on the team page. If there is something she does not know about the process, I have not yet discovered it - and she knows the personnel who do the things she is not allowed to do.

Even worse, I will be undergoing a battery of hurriedly scheduled tests from about 8:00 AM to about 5:00 PM EST on Saturday - today. So I will not be on either site. That means ONLY bubbles, for most of Saturday. I will be on one or both sites for the remainder of the day Saturday. Must. Get. Coins. Must. Get. Coins.

*****UPDATE

We got all the Tigers built as members, and have had the Official Grand Opening. The chat was just sensational, and I think a lot of members who were expecting a clone of the IWON game chats were quite surprised and impressed. We managed to solve some connection problems for the few who had them and had a robust session.

More than expected, fewer than desired, showed up to change passwords (and maybe emails) to ensure their ability to participate if we need to choose leadership in a hurry. We also got a couple of articles posted to the forum, just to show that we could. And bubbles_71 is tinkering with the photo albums - there is a technical glitch right now that keeps all members from being able to post pictures of themselves into the Tigers album. We hope to resolve that issue by next week.

Also, *I* did get to meet several of the Tigers whose names I knew, but whom I had not really dealt with at length, and that was another high point for me. I think we grew a lot closer as a team due just to the encounters in that chat session. I wish that every Tiger would rush to the next event, for the experience of meeting, greeting, and chatting with their colleagues on the team. Nothing more is scheduled right now, although I keep pushing the chat/forum to the members on the team page.

I will likely push again at the Friday gathering in the Wild West Slots. That is a whole other article, though.