Why doesn't the [chat] shortcode lead straight to the Ink Spot?

Question

We have a comment shortcode [chat], that outputs as Graphic Design Chat, which serves to lead newer users to chat. This link leads to an overview of all rooms: Ink Spot, Spam Blot, Looking Glass and any discussion rooms from comment migration that haven't been deleted yet.

Why doesn't this link lead to the Ink Spot directly?

I imagine that this would lower the barrier to contribute to chat quite a bit. Preciously little new users have found their way to chat, and even lots of regular users and contributors have never been very present in chat. That may be a personal preference, and I don't want to pressure anyone. But I also want to make it as easy as possible.

Answer 1

1. As far as software is concerned, all rooms attached to the site are equal in status. That Ink Spot is considered the main/general chatroom is only by this site's tradition; there is no software setting that prefers it to Spam Blot, etc.

2. Dropping a user into a chatroom may not be always desirable. Unlike normal site browsing, this is a publicly visible action that someone may not want to take. I personally don't want my actions to be announced by "user entered the room" without a compelling reason. The list of chatrooms is an intermediate step that offers the user a chance to read the chat FAQ, consider the different rooms (some sites, like Stack Overflow, do not have an obvious "main" room anyway), and read room information before entering it.