ok so with the new chat feature there are some new settings in your profile:
to go to your user preferences, click/tap your avatar at top right corner of browser window to get the user menu and then click/tap the little man icon tab at the bottom, then go to your preferences.
or you can just click here, but i want you to know where it is 
there is new Chat settings tab (yes another new tab guys, sorry) over on the far right and click/tapping it will give you screen like below:
if you don’t ever plan to use the chat feature, you can turn it off with the first setting.
otherwise i suggest you all make your setting similar to mine if you only want to get notified of chats and mentions while you on the forum but not at any other time. you can also of course turn chat on and off here whenever you want.
best to set the email notifications to “never” unless you want chat notifications in your email inbox.
the bottom setting will let you specify what to get notified with the chat icon at the top of the screen.
be sure to click/tap the red save changes button at the bottom.
i am leaving the chat function enabled for the weekend for the games, but will disable it again during the week. and it should remember you settings for the next time i turn it on.
as always feel free to ask questions here or tell me how much you hate it lol 
note this is just a trial run for the chat feature for the preseason to see how well it works for the game day chat.