Because a lot of people on the forums never visit the chat.
Chatroom for Dummies
by kotor
Part 1
I know what you're thinking. "Wow, kotor, you're so amazingly smart for coming up with this awesome idea for a guide! Wow! So much smarter than Liggy!" While all this is true, we can't sit around here gawking all day at what a good idea is: there are people seeking knowledge! I am here to facilitate that learning in a subject of the utmost importance: the chatroom.
What is the chatroom? Why should you use it? Why is no one talking? Why does Dude keep posting links to Japanese youtube videos that no one ever clicks on? Well, let's start by talking a little bit about the chatroom. The chatroom is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC). It is similar in function to any chatroom over instant messaging services, and it is widely used across the internet (so you may have used it before and didn't even notice!)
There are many ways you can use this strange “chatroom.” The simplest way is to just click the chat link available on both the homepage and at the top of the forums. Once you become more acquainted with the chat room, this mediocre portal will no longer suit your needs: you’ll need to upgrade to chatzilla, mIRC, or (though some consider it a downgrade) pidgin.
Now, you have your chat set up. You know what it is, you know how to get there, but now that you’re there…what? Well, let’s give a little context of the IRC. There are various servers on the IRC across the whole wide internet. Our server is “link.nfnet.org” It’s run by our pals ebuch, Mkava, and Dustin over at
http://nintendofreaks.com/. On this server, there are certain chatrooms you can enter. Our chatroom (which is set to auto-join on the chatroom link on our site) is #vgv. If you ever want to explore the realm of link.nfnet.org, some other popular channels are #gekinzuku and #lobby, for gekinzuku.com and zreomusic.com respectively. Or, more formally, you could check out the server’s web site at:
http://nfnet.org/. They have a lot of information there.
Next step! Off to the left or right, you’ll see a list of names. These are the people in the chatroom at the time. Some of the names you’ll recognize from the forums, but plenty of people drop by from other sites onto the chat and some people come only to the chatroom. Now, the names are in alphabetical order except for a few people at the top: these people have some sort of power in the chat room. The chatroom operators are Hugo, SEXY KOTOR, and Sauce. The symbol for us will change depending on what IRC client, or what program you connect to the chatroom through, you’re using. Usually admins and operators are set aside with stars, flags, or different colored markers. The hierarchy of chatroom power is as follows:
Owner (+q)
Admin (+a)
Operator (+o)
Half-operator (+h)
Voice (+v)
Regular Member
Voice basically means you can talk while the chatroom is muted. It doesn’t have much power. Half-operators and operators can kick people from the chatroom, set topics, and basic powers like that. Admin and Owner can do more advanced things, such as operate ChanServ for the channel to set different things about the channel. Operators/admins/etc can give regular members rank, but it’s not permanent (i.e. if you leave the channel it goes away). You can only get permanent operator status if an admin or owner sets it on ChanServ.
Now, there is one other type of power: Server operators, abbreviated opers. These are people who have power over the entire server, superseding individual chat powers. They’re the bosses of the server, so be cool to them, and go to them if you need anything. The list of opers is here:
• Dustin
• Eric
• FireGS
• HugoMeister
• Mkava
• Mooshykris
• Stephen
• Trondheim
• Zelda28
• kotor
Now, what do you do? First, you can start talking. Just type into the box and hit enter. Simple enough. But what you’ll quickly need is commands. You run a command by typing into the box “/*command name* _____________________”. For example, if I wanted to kick Sauce from the chat, I’d say “/kick Sauce *message here*” But remember, only ops can do that. Sux 4 u. Here is a list of common commands that you’ll probably need:
“/me *action here*” – allows the user to do an action. For example: “/me waves hello to Hugo”
“/join #*channel name here*” – join other channels than just vgv. Feel free to do some a’splorin’.
“/nick *new nickname here*” – Used to change your name to something else. Ex: “/nick kotorfanboy” Nicknames must be all one word, and some freaky characters probably won’t work.
Those are some of the basic ones.
Here is some basic terminology that you’ll hear around the chat room and would be good to know.
Ping – Ping is when you say the name of a person in the chat or any words that that person has as “ping words” Now, what’s the point of that? When you say the name of someone, their IRC client will ping, beep, or make some other cliché alert noise. So, if you want to talk to someone who isn’t talking, address someone, etc, just say their name, and (usually) they’ll come running.
Mute – Mute is a somewhat rare occurrence, since we’re ALL SO AWESOME. Yea. Anyway, mute is when an operator puts +m on a channel and no one (besides those with power) can talk. Basically used when people get out of control. But I’m sure you won’t be too annoying, right?
Kick – This is when an operator kicks someone out of the channel. Done when they’re being annoying, etc. A kick is more of a warning, though, because you can just join right back. Most people even have “auto-rejoin” on, so the kick does nothing. Still, it’s used as a warning, and when coupled with a ban, Terminology: ping, mute, kick, ban, ChanServ, NickServ
Hostmask – Your host mask is a specialized “code” of sorts of how you’re recognized. It’s generally made up of some hexadecimals + your location and internet company. It’s often called IP instead, though that is something different. It looks something like this:
kotor@NF-C9831F3B.bstnma.fios.verizon.netBan – If someone, obviously not you top-of-the-line IRC users, breaks the rules of the chat, or just gets really annoying and needs to leave for a while, an operator issues a ban. While a kick is just a warning, a ban is much harder to get around and is a strong message to stop whatever you’re doing.
Perhaps a fitting conclusion to this guide is: Why use the chatroom? Aren’t the forums enough? Firstly, yes, the forums are a great place to talk and mingle, but the chatroom is a completely different type of interaction. You get to know people a lot more and get integrated into the community much more quickly. You might think you know some people around the forums, but you don’t really know them until you spend some time chatting with them. It really is fun. I’ll go as far as to say that you haven’t experienced vgvirtuoso until you experience its chatroom. We can get a tad…eccentric, but it’s definitely a great time. So come join us; the more the merrier.
Part 2 - FAQ
Why is no one talking?Because we don’t like you. Go home. Or, try pinging some people you recognize to spark up conversation, or ask an operator for help.
Part 3 - TO DO
Screenshots!
More sections
Retyping sections of the main guide for clarity (and awesome jokes) based upon suggestions
Adding more FAQs
MOAR COWBELL
Read and such please.
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