I've seen 'em before but it's usually just a place for people to act like shits because they can't get away with it on the boards. Or there's like a bazillion active members so it's just HI, Hello, how ya doin, all day. Ours is better. Plus it's nice and prominent up top instead of a little streaming thing off to the side.
I think a lot of people want the chatroom for privacy. I can understand that since everyone who looks at the forum can see the shoutbox. But can't you just do instant messaging? I mean, I've never actually done it so I don't know