True... although, if you could embed such chats into journal entries, that might have helped. (Kind of like shoutboxing, also). I didn't use it, but the behavior you describe about the lag does sound really annoying.

I tried using LJtalk back in the day, but no one I knew used it, so there was no reason to use it any more.

BTW, I was looking at changelog the other day and saw something about a "virus game." I wonder if it's some kind of newfangled virus protection/anti-malware thing or is LJ going to try get into mini-games.