It still would require a competent programmer who is familiar with the software. I believe there is also a support/hosting agreement in place that would preclude freelancing the work.
As for adding custom features we already know that is not part of the current support agreement.
If only we knew an expert level programmer… 
hmmm.
Also I think it’d make more sense to focus on the B/S/T side in terms of adding functionality, if people want a chat, then add a link to a Slack or Discord somewhere… it’s such a niche activity really, versus B/S/T which is at the core of what happens here.
That reminds me, I wanted to ask @Markmont if he would be interested in building a Discourse theme… paid of course! He is a designer and I suspect he’s done HTML/CSS before?
Come on how cool would it be to have a Markmont theme for your forum!? 