Online Chat

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Chat Online - So, you've downloaded the games, so how do you find someone to play against? Here's a primer on how to use IRC for finding others online. Plus online etiquette, typing shortcuts, and more.

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This page is a primer for going online, chatting, and finding people online to play against. There are dozens of ways today to chat with people online, from web browser plug-ins, to commerical online services (like AOL), to internet chat programs.

One of the most popular options is IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, which I'll focus on here. More and more game companies are incorporating a chat interface and a game finder into their games (such as Myth and Warcraft), and not surprisingly, these games are quite popular.

Still, there are plenty of reasons to check out the various IRC channels. You can can First, many, if not most, netgames don't have built in chat or gaming to to find people online, I will outline a few of them, with some quick instructions on how to get up and running.

Online Etiquette

Nobody likes a jerk. Chatting online allows for some amount of antonymy, and some people think this is a license to say whatever they please.

I'm not going to offer guidelines other than don't type anything that you wouldn't say to your next door neighbor (assuming you get along with your neighbor ;-). Expletives (i.e. swearing) should be kept absolutely minimal. Don't think swearing makes you sound cool.

My biggest pieve is name calling. These are the real jerks of the internet. I can't stand it when I hear people calling other people names over something stupid, or losers who whine because they lost a netgame, or or because they thought they played the game unfairly. The simple rule is, be a good sport. There's nothing wrong with a little trash-talking, but don't cross the line into bragging. Remember, you may know you're using sarcasism, but without facial expressions and tone of voice it can be awefully hard to detect it on the other end. If you lose, congratualate them on a good game, or better yet, ask for a rematch so that you can learn from your mistakes.

Obviously, people are not as shy on the internet. Everyone has a soapbox. You're gonna find the same people here as you do in real life, it's just a matter of finding the right people to hang with and where to hang out.

Shortcuts

Typing is slow. And when you are typing in real time with someone else, typing feels very slow. Therefore, commonly accepted shortcuts exist for various expressions.

These may seem silly at first, but they play an important role in a world where you can't actually see the expression of the other person. A ;-) helps express the context you're saying something in. For example, saying, "You really choked on that one." would be simply rude, compared to, "Hey, you really choked on that one. ;-)" says that it's all in good fun.

Here are some common ones (it helps to look at them sideways, where the : are the eyes, the - is the nose, and the ) is the smile):

:-) - straight smile

;-) - a wink and a smile (as in, "get it?" or a knowing nudge)

:-( - a frown

You are bound to see all sort of variations, such as ;-j (smile with a cigerette) :-D (Laugh) :-P (croked smile) :-/ (puzzlement), etc.

Then there are some expressions abreviated:

lol - Laughing Out Loud. Sure beats typing, "Wow! That sure was funny! You're a funny guy. You really had me laughing, I wish you could hear it!"

rotfl - Rolling On The Floor Funny. Serious big time funny!

wtf? - What The Fuck? As in, what was that all about?

then there's context specific ones, such as used with particular games, like:

ffa - Free for all (no teams)

ctf - Capture the flag (a myth netgame map)

TvB - Top Verses Bottom, often used in Warcraft and others to mean the top player challenge the bottom players.

If you see a new acronym, try first to associate it with a game map or something about the game, but don't be afraid to ask if you don't know.

What is IRC?

What is IRC? From the IRC FAQ:

IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat". It was originally written by Jarkko Oikarinen in 1988. Since starting in Finland, it has been used in over 60 countries around the world. It was designed as a replacement for the "talk" program (on UNIX) but has become much much more than that. IRC is a multi-user chat system, where people convene on "channels" (a virtual place, usually with a topic of conversation) to talk in groups, or privately. IRC is constantly evolving.

IRC gained international fame during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, where updates from around the world came accross the wire, and most irc users who were online at the time gathered on a single channel to hear these reports. IRC had similar uses during the coup against Boris Yeltsin in September 1993, where IRC users from Moscow were giving live reports about the unstable situation there.

Mac users have a variety IRC programs to choose from. If you are brave enough, you can also always IRC through a standard telnet session (but why would you do that? ;-). Two programs I would recommend is (and will cover here) is IRCle and Snak (see below for configuring). Please do not use Homer, a once popular IRC client. Homer is slow, lacks many basic features, and notoriously crashes.

For Mac network gaming, some popular channels are:

    #MacNetGames
    #MacWarcraft
    #MacDescent
    #hornet

As you can see, the conventions are not too difficult. Try putting "Mac" in front of any popular game; for example, try #MacQuake. Also, the channel #Macintosh is a catch-all for all macintosh-related discussions. It's likely you'll find a dozen or more in this group at any given time day or night.

SEE ALSO:

EFnet IRChelp Homepage - The definitive source for IRC issues on any platform (Mac, PC, UNIX), with over 800 help documents, everything is listed from setting up a server to a IRC Primer for beginners.

Getting Started with Snak

Snak is a new client for the Mac that is breaking new ground by providing an intuitive and easy to use interface to IRC which have been lacking in other programs to date. Snak is my recommendation to the new or casual user, as it has a majority of features one would want from a IRC program, yet is easy to use. Another advantage for me is that it fits everything into one window per session, so it fits on my 640x480 monitor. Not to criticize IRCle, but it has so many windows that I have to overlap them just to fit it all on the screen!

Getting Started with IRCle

IRCle is often recognized as the defacto standard for IRC on the Mac. It is flexible, powerful, and fully featured. It is probably the most popular IRC client for the Macintosh. IRCle also has a notoriously steep learning curve with its complicated interface and menus.