Open a US chat for us.

Gerald Williams6 said:She totally blew up on me—it was all because of the vibe. She has absolutely no right to be sharing stuff like that, and I really hope that’s the last time she ever does.
I need some time to put this thread together with all the segments included, because I don't want to miss a single thing.

I actually got banned from my own chat too. My suggestion? Let's team up and start a more sophisticated group, or maybe just take over another one with an iron fist. Right now, the atmosphere is straight-up Apocalypse Now.

Larry Diaz4 said:The moderator should definitely be Joe. He’d get things sorted in no time—plus, everyone actually likes him! 🍿
That way we can be totally sure he'll be too busy catching up on all the backlogs to have any spare time to go out looking for a third wife, or whatever else that US-man gets up to. 👍

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

Joe doesn't read the leftovers.
Back in Santa Barbara, it was just me and Mars-man tracking those leftovers.

But Joe gets his info in real life. 😬

Daniel Kelly57 said:Who the hell am I even supposed to be hooking up with? If I actually had someone lined up, I wouldn't even be hanging out on this US chat. I honestly don't get why Louise is waiting around like this. It's total WTF. Three bans in just a few days and I'm already over it. Moving on. 🤔

There are plenty of attractive, smart, and great women on the chat; just pick one. 😳

ruggedmaker43 said:🤦 You went in headfirst, didn't you? Just dove straight into the deep end!

Ninety percent of us are perfectly fine here, so why would you go and clutter up the entire chat just because of ten percent of the idiots who can't stop bickering?

Do you even care how shutting down this chat affects me and Joe? Our entire day is completely ruined because the chat is still locked!

So, what exactly is the plan for tonight? And what about tomorrow? Heck, what are we even doing for the next month?!

It’s just not like that. 🕺

I suspect the percentage of people who drop in just to cause trouble and live their lives on the forum is actually higher than what you mentioned, but there's a different issue here. The chat tries to enforce pacifism whenever there’s a fight. It's impossible to have a group where everyone agrees with everyone else, but the problem is that nobody reacts when these morons show up, stir the pot, and start fights just because they're having a bad day. Frustration is expected, but if someone does react to these idiots, the rest should at least offer some support.
We've seen this before. Someone hops on the chat, acts out, triggers more drama, and then when someone finally calls them out for being a nuisance, half the chat jumps in with comments telling the person who reacted to just let it go. I don't know if many people on the chat have thought about this, but sometimes the person who reacts in time—to get rid of the agitator—gets treated worse than the provocateur. Sometimes people deserve to be told to get lost based on how they act, rather than the person reacting getting mocked for "lowering themselves" to that level. This way, there will always be an audience for them, and they'll keep hovering around to troll until things escalate like they are now. In my opinion, when outsiders or lurkers see all this nonsense happening on the chat, it's only natural that the people who actually come here to socialize will leave just as quickly, especially those who don't participate in the chat much. That's how I see it.

You don't care how closing the chat affects me and Daniel Kelly57... our whole day is ruined and the chat is still locked.

I'm just here to offer radical and totalitarian suggestions.

So what are we going to do tonight? Or tomorrow? Or for the next month like you say?!!

It can't work like that. 🕺

Go ahead, go sex, go hiking, read some books, just lie in a field or get some sleep. The forum and the chat aren't going anywhere 😳

Look, these chats aren't some mandatory requirement; they exist solely because we have moderators who are willing to volunteer their time to manage specific threads. I feel like I've said this a hundred times already! Someone mentioned earlier that the chat on the ZOO was only brought back after a multi-year hiatus, and honestly, that's only because we finally have a moderator who actually has the bandwidth and the desire to check in periodically and keep things under control.

It is totally standard practice to temporarily lock a thread if things descend into pure chaos. It makes moderation much more manageable and stops the mess from snowballing. Sometimes it lasts a few hours, sometimes a couple of days—it all just depends on the situation, and frankly, any of those approaches is perfectly reasonable. I get that you might be feeling impatient—trust me, I've been there, done that—but you’re just going to have to wait until the dust settles and things are sorted out.

Honestly, you guys are making a massive mountain out of a molehill here. The chat is temporarily closed, plain and simple. The less nonsense people act out, the faster it’ll reopen, and the lower the chances of it being shut down again, whether that's just for a bit or permanently. And let me just quote one of our wonderful moderators:

Drew Ross2 said:The chat is currently locked—not just because of the constant critiques regarding moderation, but because the endless bickering and provocation have become a pattern lately.
Don't take this personally, but you all know I’ve warned you multiple times about attacking the moderation team. I’ve also mentioned quite often that if someone gets under your skin, your options are simple: either use the ignore function or stick to actual arguments instead of descending into insults and petty provocations.
You can't just blame everything on some external scapegoat whenever things go south in the chat; it would be nice if people took some accountability for their own behavior and considered whether their intolerance is actually worth having the whole channel shut down.

I’ll let you know once the chat is reopened. In the meantime, try to behave—stick to the forum rules and remember the basics of decent, respectful communication.

I've taken a look at some of the deleted posts, and quite frankly, they were removed for good reason. Given how many of them popped up in such a short window, I completely support the decision to temporarily close the chat. I still need to go through everything, and we have to determine if any formal warnings or penalties are necessary. It's ultimately up to Louise to decide if she wants to reopen the chat now or wait until we've cleared everything out. Since I'm swamped today, I doubt I'll have time to deal with this right away, so don't be too surprised if you wake up tomorrow to a notification about points being deducted. In the meantime, while we wait for the chat to open back up: the rest of this forum is huge and wonderful!