Subject: All Things IRC 546 views

[XaberTheBlade]

This Thread will be dedicated to quick guides to get you up and running on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). IRC is one of the net's first and most efficient chat protocols. Standing at the base of most chat rooms, instant messaging systems, and other live chats, almost everyone has used IRC but may have no clue about it. At it's base, IRC is extremely extensible and powerful. Built on a command based interface, there isn't much that can't be done in IRC. There's no need to make anyone an expert, it's exceedingly simple to get going and the internet offers more than a few resources if you wanna dive deeper. For now, Lets get you connected and registered to our channel at GlobalGamers.Net


The Quick and Easy

The quickest and easiest way is to click the IRC Web Chat link in the nav bar of these forums. This will bring you to a page that asks for the nickname you wish to use and the channel you wish to join. The channel should already be filled with the correct destination #Neverwinter.

"So whats the hashtag for, is this twitter?"

IRC was huge way before twitter existed. . .you kids and your twits. . . The Hashtag denotes that this is a Channel. Channels are like 'Rooms' you can visit and chat about what ever topic. As I mentioned, the Link in the nav bar will get you in the channel and chatting with us quick and easy But for even better service and features, you are going to want to 'Register' with us.


Registering

Now we begin with your first 'commands' in the IRC world. This is easier that it sounds, so don't worry. If you can do an emote in Neverwinter, then you can handle IRC commands no problem. To register, you will need to talk to the 'NickServ' or Nick Server. This is a behind the scenes system that handles all functions related to Nickname functions. Think of it as account control. To begin remember that all commands are preceded by a '/' and then the command, just like an emote, '/sit' Know that, lets get you registered

/msg [e-mail] REGISTER username password email@address

These commands are not case sensitive.

So lets break this down.
/msg - tells IRC you want to private message or talk directly to the target that follows the command, in this case:
[e-mail]
You wont have to specifiy the server after registering, you can simply say 'NickServ' and cut the rest out.
REGISTER is a command specific to NickServ, this keyword triggers the server to do its thing
username, password, email@address are self explanatory. replace this words with your 'login' credentials you wish to use.

You will receive an email, click the link to activate and you are now a full fledged member of Global Gamers!

To 'login' with your new creds you will use the following command:

/ns auth username password
PLEASE NOTE: Depending on whether you use the webchat or not, the command /ns may not work for you.

WEBCHAT USERS PLEASE USE THE COMMAND:

/msg nickserv auth username password

Again, replace 'username' and 'password' with the credentials you specified!

Place this in your 'AutoPerform' (if you are using a client like mIRC or Xchat) and you are good to go on every connect, no muss no fuss

For more information about NickServ and the various powers within go to Global Gamers NickServ Support and read up.

For more information on using a Client like xchat or mIRC to connect to IRC, rather than the webchat, please visit this link!

ONCE CONNECTED TO IRC, you can type /join #preposterous or /join #Neverwinter for example; to join our channels! #Neverwinter for the NW MMO, and #Preposterous for the Guilds MAIN chatroom!

www.neverwinter-online.com/2013/08/15/neverwinter-irc-chat/

[XaberTheBlade]

There are many good reason to use a client instead of just the webchat. One of them is to automate that pesky AUTH statement that logs you in (discussed in previous guide). Not only can you run commands automatically, you can specify your own for actions or statements or anything else you may want to do. You can also connect to many other channels at the same time, Global Gamers has quite a few themselves. You can also customize your client, different text colors for example.

Here is a quick list of some of the more popular clients:

IceChat - this is the one I personally use
mIRC - one of the oldest and most widely used
xChat- cross-platform works in both windows and Linux
HydraIRC - Low resource use, not in active developement

I would recommend IceChat or mIRC. Both are highly customizable, still very active and current, and have plugin and theme support.

Each client is a bit different so I won't go diving into the settings of each. For that you will need google, the F1 key, or you can come into the channels and ask us

Generally, there will be panel for all your Servers. This server being irc.globalgamers.net and connected channels i.e. #neverwinter. There will be a dialog for the server settings in which you will find an Auto-Perform. This is where you will place your AUTH statement to login immediately after connecting so you won't have to type that stuff every time you connect.

"But how do I connect?"

I'm getting there!. . .actually we are there.

When you launch your client you may see that nothing has happened, well you haven't told it what to do yet. First I will run you through the commands to connect and join as well as a few other commands you may find yourself using often.

To connect to a server:
/connect irc.globalgamers.net

BAM you are connected to the GG server, you can think of this as a lobby of sorts. Now you need to connect to a channel, or 'room'
/join #neverwinter

BOOM you're in the Neverwinter channel! Easy peasy right

"You mentioned there are other channels."

I did, didn't I! If you would like to see the channels that a server hosts, use:
/list
This will show a list of all the channels available. Remember that when joining a channel, you must use the hashtag (#) to specify its a channel.

"You keep mentioning servers, are they others that I can go to?"

Of course there are. You would connect to them in the same way with the /connect command. Among the biggest ones are:

Quakenet - Grandfather of gaming IRC, soooooo many channels
EFnet - The orignal Freedom of Speech IRC network, trust and respect is key here
Freenode - relativly young but growing amazingly. Everything knowledge and support can be found here, especially for coders
Undernet - best not traverse this one to deeply until you are much more familiar. This is the dark underbelly of IRC

For a list of even more servers, check www.mirc.com/servers.html

"Chatting is all cool, but what else can I do in irc?"

Tons of stuff! It's tricky though. Most functionality in an IRC channel is provided by a 'bot' which is an artificial participant. A bot is there to handle nifty things like search plugins, handle admin commands, and patrol the channel. There are hundreds of different bots out there so you won't know what you can do until you are in a channel and 'talk' to the bot to see its commands. Depending on the bot, you can do things like play card games, dice roll, magic 8ball, even partake in complex RPG systems. As mentioned these commands depend on the bot so don't be afraid to ask in channel to what you can do. That said, there are a few commands you will use that are universal within IRC. These are some you will use often:

/me - action message, displays your text as an action rather than just something said
/nick - changes your nickname, only the name displayed though, not AUTH or anything deeper
/notice - Sends a quick messge to a user that only they can see
/msg - opens a popup or dialog for private messaging between you and another user
/ignore - sometimes you just need to ignore someone how is hassling you, btw, you should also report them so we can handle it
/part - leave the channel, don't leave us. . .we love you

For a full list of IRC commands that are universal to IRC check IRC Commands Wiki

I hope this primer has been enough to get you going with IRC. It really is a great system. As always, if you have any questions, just ask! In the forums, pm's, or IRC there will always be someone to help you out