Other than adding a warning to your profile area or sig, there's not much else we can do.
I think the question we need to ask is, Why do members still need to use an off-site chat?
The chat was updated two months ago so that it would load instantly, without having to reload the page. This makes chatting just as fast as Discord or Skype. If there are other reasons to go off-site, I think addressing these would help combat the impersonation problem better than trying to post warnings everywhere.
1) Why do sellers still prefer to chat offsite?
2) What can we do, add, or change to get sellers to stop using other chats?
It's sellers' conveniences and buyers' habit.
1.For seller, the ability to chat instantly with multiple buyers is a must. I had 10 messages from 10 potential buyers and couple more from discord Friend List. I can just multi tasking and finish them all in around 15-30 minutes. Compare to our Chat Message , it equivalent to 10+ browser opens and you kinda lost which one of them is messaging you.
2. The chat process is totally different. Discord is universal Chat Messenger and EpicNPC is a Forum. Not many people familiar with forum type.
Discord: Buyer see Discord Tag -> Add Friend -> Seller Accepts -> Chat instantly if seller accept fast.
EpicNPC: Buyers have a hard time finding where is Start Conversation since there is no indication that clicking on Seller name can show that or the Letter Icon is Start Conversation -> Register taking a while -> Chat and not sure if the conversation is continuous for both Seller & Buyer.
You have all kind of social media messenger like Facebook, Line, Kik, Skype, Whatsap, etc... They have UI of continuous chatting. EpicNPC just didn't feel right.
- I prefer the old little live chat we got back then. Could improve that one instead of old inbox chatting. Can even let anonymous chat with sellers and sellers decide anonymous to register for safety is up to their own choice. If anonymous scamming, we can ban his IP.
- There should be a big fat button with Message Seller/Message me/Start Conversation/Contact Seller on seller thread or Profile.
- Oh, also phone notification is also important. Every time a message came from Discord, my phone always make a sound so I usually chat with buyer instantly. EpicNPC doesn't seems to have an app yet which is huge let down.