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[SueCB]

An interesting topic and some interesting points from different viewpoints.

The thing that sticks out (besides male pixels lol) is that the word “game” is used, not only here but within AChat itself. The same is true for RLC or SL or any online place where there are real people behind those avatars. Comparing AChat to RLC/SL and the like is unfair, those are 3D virtual worlds, not a chat app with animated graphics, the whole purpose of each is totally different. And to compare AChat to something like EQII is absurd: EQII is a roleplaying MMO fantasy game and while there are social aspects, that isn't the focus.

AChat is a social site and they make no bones (ok, so the pun was kind of intended) about the fact that the focus is a place for people to hook up and well … basically cyber. That stuff was going on in Yahoo and AOL/AIM Adult chat rooms long before there was AChat. And there was lots of the same kind of behavior that you find in AChat, including people (almost all guys) asking for phone or cam.

So to keep it where Jasmine intended, AChat's improvements really should focus on two aspects: chat and personal interactions. They do put a lot of effort into the interactions part, with frequent updates. Where I feel they've been lagging is in the chat aspects. Come on, tabbed chat isn't that hard, nor is public chat. If there's a Free user concern about abuse with global chat, have two channels: one for anyone and one for Premium only, but that's presuming there's a user base demand for it. From my previous online Yahoo and AIM days, I'm not a big supporter of global chat … who wants all that bot traffic anyhow?

More important in the chat aspect is making it more user friendly and one of the easiest things to implement (imho) is tabbed chat. That alone would improve an ok chat system with a much better one. Come on, devs, it can't be that hard and there's tons of examples of that feature online already.

So on to the the in-room stuff. Used right, it sure can help the person to person interaction going on in text (until things get to the really steamy omg now I can't type stage), if I have one “beef” with it, it's way too static. Like where's my option to be a seductress and slowllllly strip tease for my partner? Or take his hand and yank his ass to the bed to convey my need without having to type that? So a bit more fluidity would be a great add. From the dev's standpoint, there's already tons of animation examples out there, RLC and SL surely, but also in the game community … look at what users have done for things like Fallout 3 (animated prostitution, additional poses and animations).

Lastly and also an easy fix most likely, is give people a text box to say a bit about themselves. There''s been some creative use of City, Country etc. to add in a bit, but come on, adding a text box for a bit of description can't be too hard. If there's a concern about size or something, make it have a 800 character limit or whatever. Of course that presumes guys actually READING the damn thing to begin with lol. Like “Cold Invite = Ignore” should be a huge clue you'd think. A bit of text would be great and save a lot of time wasted on answering repetitive questions.

Lastly, and this isn't really a AChat wishlist thing, it's more a rant to stupid people thing … wtf part of Hetero don't some of you “women” get? As much as cold invites piss me off, cold invites from other women/shemales piss me off way more.

All the rest of what goes on is what goes on in any social environment to some extent. I'm just as apt to get hit on clubbing as I am here. And yes, really, just as rudely sometimes (I know, that seems like a shocker, huh?). But for all the jerks whose idea of award-winning come-on lines* is “Hi, wanna fuck?” (really, does that ever work? A quick reply of “Yes, just not with you.” and clicking Ignore works great btw), I've also got to meet a lot of really NICE guys (you know who you are!) too. And really, isn't that what socializing is about? Meeting others that you can share with? And for that aspect, AChat does a great job.

* I waitress at a bar, trust me, I've heard a LOT of lame pickup lines. I used to think I'd heard all the pickup lines, but some of the stuff I've seen here gives new meaning to Creative Stupidity. Guys, really, do yourself a favor: A simple “Hi” (or Hello or whatever) is much better than some lame-ass attempt at being clever (and unless she just fell off the chuck wagon she will see right through it) and likely improve the odds that she'll answer.

[SueCB]

I have a similar issue with AChat on WIndows 7 x64 Home Premium. I use the Take picture button, click to save changes, and I get a black image (not a missing picture image). Outfit changes work just fine, however, and are updated.

I emailed AChat support and they somehow fixed it remotely but without saying what the cause is/was/could be, but since a few patches ago, the problem recurred and I was hoping this time for resolution without having to do the whole support email route.

AChat has been reinstalled (clean) several times, the app and the directories have been given all the privileges they need, so it’s not likely a Windows permission thing, a anti-virus thing or the like. I don’t know, in a way it’s kind of cool having that black box

😀 It makes me sort of distinctive (unless maybe somehow they’re implying that I’m in the dark and clueless lol).

[SueCB]

Guys posing as women isn't just an AChat problem, the poser thing happens all over the Net. Why do some guys do that? I don't know, I'm not a pysch major. I do know that it creates problems for real women:

1. Somehow I then become obligated to “prove” who I am, while a guy gets a pass. This is outright gender bias, it violates my right to some anonymity (as a person, not necessarily as a gender), and is a blatant insult to me, because they're calling into question MY integrity, either implicitly or explicitly.
2. An extension of the first is the pic, voice or cam request. This isn't totally a poser issue, as some want that kind of interaction that is outside the scope of AChat to enhance the  online experience; which is fine for those who do it consensually. Where it becomes intrusive and gender-biased is when there is a demand to do it to somehow prove who I am.
3. The gender doubt thing creates a whole doubt issue that can't be readily resolved without the woman having to bear the burden of proof. Oh really, it's my responsibility for who you're trying to cyber-bang? As Rocio said, there are ways to tell who is probably a poser. There are a lot of guys who don't care about any kind of meaningful chat and getting to know who you are first, they just want some quick cyber action (and usually in a crass, rude way). So if guys like babybuggybumper (BigTex) want to be more sure, maybe they ought to treat a woman like a person and not some object to stick their cyber pixels into. Ask the guys who do make it a practice to chat and know you first, making those connections in chat does nothing but improve the whole rest of the experience.

Anyway, that's my quick take on it. Maybe I'll post this over in the non-techy area too, because it is something that happens; I've seen it happen, so maybe there's some way to discuss it (but without maybe tipping off the posers to what the tell-tale signs are lol).

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