There's unnecessary commentary on both PalaceChat and The Manor's VT reviews. People taking sides like politics.
I personally do prefer Palace, but that's really only because of money. I usually pay for shareware I like, but unsure of a yearly 'subscription' type cost.
I know developing takes a lot of time and money is definitely needed, but a yearly cost seems like it should be associated with a service, like the Manor's main server i suppose.

As for how the manor is, it just needs some UI improvements and some stability fixes(which this fixed some looks like)
But the UI really could be mac-ified a lot more

the scripting is definitely good, python is powerful, would rather do that than iptscrae... backwards language.

Neither of the 2D avatar chat programs deserve putting down, both developers are putting serious time into them making excellent software.

I don't really like the manor yet but it could change, i still wouldn't give it a low rating like i did previously, it deserves a fair rating, but it's definitely still under development but progressing well.

Both projects will hopefully go well, hopefully Manor will get a better UI and PalaceChat some scripting, :)