As all forum posters know, without moderation, the content of forums can get diluted very quickly with abusive, hostile posters who would rather ridicule and harrass people then post anything worthwhile. I feel this is even far more evident in chatrooms.
One of the problems with the Newt MUD, in my past experiences, is that it allows full access to any person who wishes to harrass other chatters. Though a wizard (when present) can "kick" the person out in the MUD, they can immediately return in an endless cycle...which has happened to me there several times. Another problem is that the chat format itself was designed for old role-playing games, not simple, user-friendly chatting. It's an odd and cumbersome system to use, especially so for the not-so-computer-savvy caudate hobbyists among us.
It would seem to me to be more practical to have a setup where:
1) ISP addresses can be permanently banned if neccessary by a moderater or even better, automatically by the program.
2) a username/password system
3) private chat or "whispering"
4) a relatively familiar chat format (names of users present on side of chat screen, big window for chatting, etc.) such as one would find on a group Yahoo Messenger or AOL Messenger system.
5) program can be hosted by Caudata.org
I think the demand for a chatroom is there, we just need to find it...anyone know of a suitable program? John probably has other more technical criteria and could add a lot to this. I'm all for a chatroom here though.