Chat Box Issues

The chat box simply doesn't work. My partner and I got this to play together and voice is not always an option for us and our friends. Right now the chat box will not even open the option to type (Yes, we've checked our keybinds. We've partied up, We've unpartied, we've logged out and back in, and we've changed our keybinds multiple times. We tried the clicking on the mail icon to get the cursor trick.) In a game where you can run across others and play with friends, we need a working chat box somewhat desperately. Voice is not an option for everyone, or even a desire.