Cry me a river, EP.
This thread is on its normal rotation...seems to be due for another round of discussion.
The end result of a chat room is the loss of archival data for those that miss the chat. Yes, chat logs can be generated and kept....but the forum works much better. If you want to chat, most everyone here has AIM, YAHOO or MS Chat or some other chat capability. You can check for their username in their profile and hit them up...or you can try and have a chat get together. Just post the time, chat flavor, and chatroom name so that members can join in as they may.
Aside from that, I'd say an RCNT hosted chatroom while a nice touch would detract from the forum.