This series is a fun discussion brought to you by three Starbloggers: AllDolledUp, Kage and Pimient0! We will be collaborating on Hot Topic segments. As friends we will be sharing our views on Stardoll-related content and maybe even offer tips on higher education or schooling, beauty, fashion, healthy diets and relationships.  

Hi Dolls, 

To chat or not to chat? If you’re an active visitor of many Suites, by now you may have noticed the words “No chat” on the occasional presentation. I personally, choose not to write this on my presentation at the moment, due to people ignoring it, as well as it possibly coming off as a bit stand-offish. However, I am not fond of the social aspect of Stardoll, and the least of my favorite features would have to be the Chat feature.

The Good: Sometimes when the conditions are right, and the planets are aligned, I end up having the most interesting, meaningful conversation with a random stranger. This person may or may not turn into a dear friend on here. I have quite a few friends and besties on Stardoll that I may have not met if it weren’t for that initial conversation. Also, have to credit the ability to quickly reach people to let them know something important and being able to tell who is online helps.

The Bad: No one likes being spammed in chat. NO ONE. If Stardoll staff would allow us to turn off chat, create block lists, “group chats,” and the ability to screen who sees us online (for example BFFs), then I would be overjoyed with happiness. Until then, do not spam me in chat. Also, chat glitches so much. I tend to see messages turn grey and my multiple tabs don’t exactly help the situation either.

The Ugly: I am what you may deem a creative loner. My sole purpose in this game is to create content. Designing, blogging, and decorating are all very time consuming tasks. Chat messages can often distract me. The worst part is when people take offense and don’t respect your privacy or time. They demand to be answered in chat, to be gifted items, and beg to given SC designs. I don’t understand why they assume that everyone is going to listen to such demands, and the manipulative behavior is the worst part. When someone tries to chat you for X amount of time and then proceeds to tell you they want something from their Wishlist, or want you to open your wardrobe and storage to them. I block manipulative behavior. Dolls who do this, why can’t you just have manners and maybe try regular messaging instead? This is the reason I prefer to be left to my devices. If you’re reading this: please don’t do this to people. 

How to improve the Chat feature: Players feel forced to use third party platforms, and the word filter is so lame. Revamp the user interface and turn it into a better version of Facebook messenger! 

What Pim and Kage had to say about the Chat feature…

Pimient0: “Messaging has always had its ups and downs in my opinion. Yes, you get to chat with friends and can even Suite chat, but often times it’s hard to have a real conversation with someone. Between the glitches, campaigning, multitude of tabs, missed messages, and language filters, chatting can develop into an impersonal, forced greeting. I typically try to respond to people out of respect, but I don’t always see chats right away and  sometimes I just have no clue to say to someone. When they’re all in my face like “Hello dear! Visit my Suite and vote me Covergirl!!!” Spamming without any personal touch just seems so weird to me, and I’m not very dear if I’m getting a copy-pasted message. I once had a random dude message me asking about my religion and he ended up telling me I was going to burn in hell chatting. So it would seem it is much more complicated upon closer inspection.”

Kage: “Private messages and chatting has always been a fundamental side of the social aspect of the game. It was one of the one out of three (or four, if you count all kinds of comments) methods of communication and it’s the most private one. Putting aside that the whole chat glitches when you open another tab, or how suddenly, your friend disappears from the online list all of the sudden, being private also means the report button is used more often than not to report trolls, shady deals, and overall harassers that won’t disappear at first even if you block and unfriend them.”

Final verdict: To chat or not to chat? ADU says, NO CHAT.

Bring in the dancing lobsters! I don't like to use chat; y'all can find me on Discord and Insta instead.  Share your answer in the comments below! I look forward to reading your thoughts regarding chats.

Written by AllDolledUp

Insta: @alldolledupstardoll