IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is what we currently use as our chat program. Normally you can access it via the link at the top of the page (as a sub-category under the "Forums" link), but for now that's not working properly. In the meantime, you can enter our chatroom by visiting this website...
Because someone has to be in there all the time and listening. With chat, we tend to have mods who can occasionally go AFK but are available if someone mentions or messages them. Plus, there are logs of everything that's said.
I think a voice chat would be great, but I do understand the issue of moderation. Would it be possible to have one with a warning that there's no active moderation, so enter at your own risk? Or maybe someone could set up an unofficial voice server somewhere.
No, just the web client we chose to use, and they're working on getting it un-listed. The sorcery.net server is still accessible by other means, like IRC Cloud or mIRC.
List of positive/negative features to consider:
Mobile and desktop friendly
Ad-free
Easy to link to
Random people can pop in
Familiar
Have to provide personal information
Voice chat
Share images/videos/gifs
Respond to/quote messages
Join vs be added to a group
Bots
Notifications
List of chat...
If we do switch, I want something that can still be used exclusively on the computer. Whatsapp, for example, ties into the wifi of your phone whether you're using the computer or not.