So, this topic has not gotten enough attention in my opinion. I have started a thread earlier myself, and seen/heard of one or two others, but none of them have gotten very far and I don't think I've ever seen any dev contribution (please correct me if I'm wrong).
A few tests ago stoot was talking about how global chat will be gone once the game goes live. I had heard this before but until I heard it from stoot I didn't want to believe it. Global chat is probably my favorite part of this game. It is a way to stay connected with your friends. I know you can IM/join groups, but it's not the same because those are limited only to its members, and have the potential to be exclusive (especially cause some groups you need to be invited to).
When I first started playing this game, one of the first things I did was join trade chat. I was able to ask questions, but more than that I was able to meet new people and get a good feel of the community in this game. In my opinion, the community is one of the best parts of this game. I know there are greeters, and like I said above people have mentioned using groups to keep the community and friendships alive. But I don't think that this will even come close to creating the sense of community global chat creates. And for new players, to come into the game and only have a greeter to talk to (not that greeters aren't awesome) doesn't give the best impression of all the wonderful personalities that are a part of the Glitch community.
Long story short, I think this topic has not gotten enough attention (that's why I didn't post in Ideas, because lets face it, the Ideas forums get much less contribution than the general forums), I really want to hear some dev input as well as ideas about how to keep Global Chat (I understand it will have some problems when the world becomes more populated). Please don't take away such a wonderful part of the game!