I did a board search on recent chat suggestions and there isn't one like it. Well, I opened the first few pages of results, which went back to 2016.

Here are some topics that are similar to what I suggest but not quite the same
Group Chats | Chatrooms | Buddy Chat

What I'm suggesting:
My suggestion is similar to the linked ones above, except a little differently implemented.
It would be more of a new chat "tab" that you can create and invite a few people to. Not quite a buddy chat and not quite a different chat room, but just a little private, persistent group PM that's in the drop down menu above the current chat box so that GPM members can flip back between main chat and their group PM.

It would be invite-only and possibly have a maximum of 5 people. Only the invitees would see the GPM tab and invites would be sent as a game notification that works to an ally request.

As the creator of a GPM, you would have the ability to add future members, kick existing ones or disband the entire GPM.



How would it work?

Lets say Pikachu wants to talk to Frodo and Dracula and realizes that when the three of them are together in main chat that no one else can get a word in, or their conversations get lost in main chat because an event started and chat is going nuts or they got distracted with the wardrobe and hadn't refreshed the page in 30 minutes and didn't remember what they were talking about in the first place. So Pikachu decides to start a Group private message (GPM).

Pikachu can go to Frodo and Dracula's den page and invite them to a GPM. This sends out a game notification message that behaves the same way as a friend request does. Once accepted you can either access the GMP in the drop down of main chat and have it only refresh as you switch pages or click the refresh symbol. Or, if you go to your allies page, you can enter the live chatroom from the link where messages appear as they're sent.

Visual walkthrough for messages and new Group PM section under spoiler tag


What happens if I want to leave?
As a member of the GPM you can choose to leave at any time. I was thinking on having the "hide" box next to the chat name say "Leave" instead. The other option is to have a "Leave" button in the proposed 'Group Pms' section of the allies page. (see images in above spoiler tag for examples.) If a non-creator user leaves the GPM, no message will be sent.

If you were the user who created the group chat you may disband the entire chat at any point. If you disband the chat, anyone who was invited would get a game notification that says "Group PM Disbanded" or something similar.

If, as the creator, you want to leave the GPM but not disband it entirely, you can either choose someone to hold the "creator" responsibility or let it fall to the next oldest member, whoever accepted the invite first. They then have the abilities to invite more members (up to a max of 5) or kick existing ones. A message could be sent to the new "creator" that lets them know of their new responsibility.

What are the limitations?
- An amount of GB to create a GPM (2-5GB?)
- Not able to be in more than 2-4 GPMs
- Users can have a toggle in Den preferences to not accept GPM invites which would remove the option to invite them.
- If you are already in the max number of GPMs the invite button won't appear, or could be grayed out with "Max amount of GPMs reached" near it, or as hover text.

I'm not quote sure how website data is stored in servers or if this could cause a potential server congestion, but hopefully the cost/limit will keep people from mass creating/disbanding GPMs

Moderation
I'd suspect it would work much like DMs, Mods have access to those if need be and if there's a problematic message or issue happening in a GMP, the other users could flag it and bring it to a mod's attention.

Why I'm suggesting this:


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I worked really hard on this suggestion - thinking through different potential issues and scenarios and how it could logistically work with the current site's culture and atmosphere. I read the other suggestions and tried to make a different, but still wanted and useable feature.

However, I am human and may have overlooked something obvious, or not thought of something you have so please let me know if you think anything should be tweaked or added or changed. I'm very open to suggestions.

If you don't support please let me know why and not in a "I just won't use it" sort of way. You may not, but other people may benefit.