User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/New Community Central Chat Guidelines Announced/@comment-24687156-20170506073903/@comment-5811199-20170507073419

Previously, we found that users would ignore the user asking for help, and would constantly struggle to find a solution or simply give up and leave the chat.

Reducing the noise by keeping conversations on-topic, while keeping it fun, is one of the main reasons for the change, so while there may be less users actively talking, I feel there will be a more productive atmosphere.