Basic Guide To Using IRC

I know that IRC can appear to be a little confusing and overwhelming. Especially if you've never had experience with it before. There is definitely quite a bit about IRC and the different clients that I haven't explored yet either. The good news is, you don't need to know and understand everything about IRC to use it

I have put together some of the basics on how to use IRC to hopefully make it more user friendly for everyone here at FOG.

Internet Relay chat (IRC) is not much different than any other chat room you've been in before. Much like signing into AOL and joining an AOL chat room. What you're doing is connecting to an IRC server and joining a chat room. On IRC chat rooms are referred to as channels and they begin with a funky #.

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The simple way to join our chat room:
If you take a look at the navigation links at the top of the forum, you'll see the 'Chat Room' link. This link will open a new window that loads FOG's Mibbit widget. Now, I know you might be saying, "what the hell is a mibbit widget?". Basically, it is a browser based IRC client. This allows you to login using a name of your choice (as long as it isn't in use- I'll explain). It will automatically connect you to the server and join our channel, #fogchat. Nothing extra needs to be done. [You can also join the Tabletop RPG channel from there by typing /j #FOG-RP]

I know I said nothing else needs to be done, right? That's true, it can be that easy. However, there is one thing I would highly recomend you do and that is register your nickname. This will make the name yours and that way no one else can use it (unless it is inactive for 30 days). First, make sure you are signed in as the name you want to register.

This is what you will need to type to register your nickname:
/msg NickServ REGISTER 'password' 'youremail@email.com'
Replacing 'password' and 'youremail@email.com' with your own password and email address. (do not use the quotes)

Once you have registered your name, it belongs to you. If you ever want to change your nick or change any channel settings you will have to identify yourself using this command:
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY 'password'

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These are the basic IRC commands:
http://www.ircbeginner.com/ircinfo/ircc-commands.html
/join, /me, /msg, /part, /ignore, /quit

More info on NickServ commands:
http://darkmyst.org/?page=services-nickserv
http://chanops.org/documents/nickserv/nickserv-commands-2.html

That first post summed up the basic steps you need to take in order to use FOG's IRC chat. See, it was easier than you thought, wasn't it?

Now I'll be moving on to some extra information about IRC. With IRC you generally connect to a server through the use of a client. A software program that you download and install. These can be a little tricky to set up, but in my opinion are definitely worth the effort because they save all your personal settings and have far more options than Mibbit.

Some IRC chat clients:
Windows: http://www.ircreviews.org/clients/platforms-windows.html
Mac: http://www.ircreviews.org/clients/platforms-macos.html

Commonly used clients are:
IceChat, X-Chat, Irssi, Pidgin, KVIrc
ChatZilla - This is an add-on for FireFox.
mIRC - This is the client that I use. The download is only a 30 day trial. You can continue to use it after that, but you have to push a button when you open the software or you can pay $20 for a registered version.
Colloquy - Looks like a nice Mac client.

(how to set up a client coming soon)

Fun and Games:
The FOG chat rooms have some fun things that you can play around with. There is GameServ which is a service provided by darkmyst.org and there is our very own Charlie-Bot.
**Note: I did not write the code for Charlie-Bot and he has some bugs. I have added a few things to the bot myself and tried to fix some things, but he is far from perfect. Please be nice to the bot, he can't help it

GameServ
All GameServ commands are either sent via /msg gameserv [#channel] [command] or `[command]
**Note: The ` before the command is located in the upper left of most keyboards, it is not a quote '

GameServ Commands:
`bottle ~Spin the bottle
`calc [equation] ~Calculator
`eightball [question] ~Magic eightball
`info [#channel]
`roll [quantity]d[sides] ~Rolls dice
`nwod [quantity] [-chance] [-reroll #] ~Rolls dice for New World of Darkness
`wod [quantity] [difficulty] ~Rolls dice for World of Darkness

More information on GameServ commands:
http://www.darkmyst.org/?page=services-gameserv
http://www.darkmyst.org/?page=faq-gameserv


Charlie-Bot
At any time in one of the FOG channels while Charlie-Bot is present, you can type !status and he will send you a msg (in a new tab) listing most of the available commands.
**Note: Charlie-Bot is being run from my PC. If my PC is not on or I do not have the program running, he will not be in the channels.

Charlie-Bot Commands:
!rps [nickname] ~Another rock paper scissors game
!toss ~Hot potato game
!spin ~Spin the bottle
!eightball [question] ~Another magic eightball
!weather [city or zip] ~Displays the current weather
!vendmenu ~Sends you a msg with the vending machine menu
!google [word or phrase] ~Displays the first website that would be on google.com
!tplay or !trivia ~Trivia games (currently inactive)

More information on Charlie-Bot:
http://www.ybbot.com/

For role-play chat purposes, an IRC chat room has been set up here at FOG. To access it, follow this link:




Connecting Through Your Own IRC Client:
Server: irc.darkmyst.org
Port: 6667 (or check here for a specific server location: http://darkmyst.org/?page=servers )
Channel: #FOG-RP


Dice Rolls:
Once the dice have been turned on, there are two commands you can use to make a roll (whichever one you prefer, the 1st one obviously being shorter):

type in channel: `roll #d# (replacing the first # with the number of dice & the second # with the number of sides)
ie. `roll 5d6 -- this will roll 5 6-sided dice

-or-

type in channel: /msg GameServ ROLL #channel #ofdiced#ofsides
ie: /msg GameServ ROLL #FOG-RP 5d6 -- this will roll 5 6-sided dice