Private Member Forum - Having considered this, we will not be proceeding. I think all the information/discounts should be available to all users. As far as I can see, a private members areas have restricted access based on a membership fee or post count. Why should user 'A' who contributes daily not get the same benefits of user 'B' who has never posted on here but paid a membership fee. Likewise, why should user 'C' who has a 1,000 post count have access while user 'D' with a post count of 100 not have access. This will encourage posting quantity rather than quality and I do not see these as adding value to the forum to any of the users.
Chat Box - This can be implemented very easily and cheaply but I think will create a number of issues. For example, it will be impossible to moderate. If a conversation gets out of hand, as it is live it can deteriorate very quickly especially given the number of keyboard warriors on here. While there are chat logs, the only option would be a zero tolerance automatic ban for users. It's fair also to say that the chat facility will be predominately used for general chat and while this benefits the forum in that it brings users together, it wont really add to the content or experience for the majority. Any RCZ related content will be lost and not searchable to the 99.9% users not involved in the actual chat room at that time. The chat box therefore is not a no for now. I will log on to the said chat forum and play around a bit more and may come back in future on this one.