the idea i had was an option in the quicklinks menu that would either take you to an own page with a java chat client, or pop up a little window with one. for the sake of professionality, i don't think this forum should use some half-ass click-and-play javascript, but one that was customized to go with the layout. first and foremost i don't know how experienced mike is with customizing a java applet, nor do i think he has the time to do so.
when i talked about resources i didn't mean the bandwidth it would use, but the actual server resources it would take up. as in use of ram and cpu power. maybe the server wouldn't be able to handle it because like i said, i don't know if a java applet would take up a significant amount of cpu power and memory.
if this idea is too much work and too little gain to put in motion, a forum where a post doesn't add to your post count could be an idea. shit, it might even take some freeposting away from the remaining forums because people could post as much as they wanted in there. if people truly don't care about their post counts as they state, they would have no reason to freepost.
anyway, it was just an idea
edit: as far as it being used goes, i think at first everyone would use it, then it would die out, and eventually people would check by now and then. it would be a nice way to get to know members on a more personal level because you could have discussions and chats moreso than on the forums.