to start off with the old idea:

i still think that a shoutbox (sort of chatbox) on the left of the forum would be a great feature for members to chat a bit while browsing the forums or to ask a question when in dire need for help (hot deals etc)
add the option to turn off the shoutbox for ppl that dont want the blabbering and i think you got a great community bonding tool

second is sort of the same idea, but then to a bigger extent: a NA Ventrilo/teamspeak server
this would allow NA members to log on the server and voice-chat a bit with other collectors.. about their collections, questions about items, random chit-chat (different channels/rooms)
imho a great tool to kill time, have fun, help eachother and create "bonding"

so what do you guys think?

I think that would be a sweet idea man,Sometimes PM's get old.

I remember Dain and I threw this idea around a couple years ago - I think it ended up not being feasible at the time (bad server/connection, etc)...

Maybe now is the time to re-evaluate this one. 

But how is that better than the existing IRC chat room?  ( http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/... )  Voice tends to have the problems of higher bandwidth, many people talking at the same time, and not being able to use it at work.  

well IRC imho has always been (and will always be) a bit "technical" because of its minimal gui etc.. its a high threshold to start using IRC intensively

vent or TS are 1 time setups and you're fully working, never needing a second menu/option

the servers are not expensive afaik, my wow guild ran one for i think 80$ a year and thats bandwidh included

its not about rants/opinions, more about chatting/discussing.. and in my experience ppl will wait for their turns to talk (unless it gets heated;P).. and you can take more private discussions to other channels (usually about 10 rooms on a server that are free to hop in/out)

I just don't see the need for this. The IRC flash chat we use is not technical at all, very simplistic in fact and you don't need any program to run it. I think if people want to talk and do stuff like this it would be better suited for NA radio and push it more.
~~NGD

the easiest way to find out if there is a "market" for it.. have a poll

or try it out