The Town Hall Archives

Jared · Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 8:59 am Post subject: INFO: Chat Room Announcement

Due to recent abuse of the IRC channel we use for the Town Hall chat and to the potential for further abuse by this and other individuals, we have taken the step of requiring chat room users to be "voiced" before they can speak in the chat room. This will be a minor inconvenience to some, but we believe it worth that if it helps us achieve our goal of keeping the chat room a place where anyone here could feel comfortable.

For those who are not familiar with what "voice" means in the context of a chat room, it basically means that one of the chat room operators has to confirm you before you can actually speak inside the chat. This is a one-time process.

Those who are frequent users of the chat room as of the time of this pronouncement have already been added to the voice list, but it is possible that we have missed someone. If you get in and find that you cannot speak, double-click on the name of any "Op" and privately ask them to voice you (or, if you prefer a text-based approach, you may type "/msg <Op's Name> <Your message>" [sans quotes]). They will be glad to do so, as this is merely an attempt to have better control of keeping people out as the need arises in such cases as a normal ban proves unfruitful. (Unfortunately, circumventing a ban isn't particularly hard for many people, and in a further unfortunate incident, it is not uncommon knowledge among precisely the people that sometimes need to be barred from participation if we are to keep the chat room clean and free from offense.)

If you are new, you'll also have to do this before you can say anything in the chat room. If for some reason you cannot get the attention of any of the Ops, feel free to PM me here at the board and I'll see what I can do.

To make it easier on the admins who will be doing the "voicing," we request that you register a name on the server. This is not absolutely essential, and we can accommodate you if for some reason you choose not to go this route, but if you do so, there may be some delay in how soon you can be added, there being at present only one person who can add unregistered hostmasks.

Furthermore, we cannot ensure that we will not have to require registered nicks in the future, so we ask you to, if at all possible, go ahead and register the nick of your choice. To do so, first select the nick you want by typing [all sans quotes] "/nick <Choice of Nick>" -- just as you would to change your chat handle to something else without registering. Then, type "/msg nickserv register <password of choice> <valid email address>" to register the nickname you are using. You will receive a validation email with an authorization code and instructions on how to use it to confirm your account. The entire process should take about a minute, ensures that only you can use that particular username and makes it much easier for the Ops to "voice" you and to ensure that no matter where you log on from, you will be auto-voiced from then on.

Once you are a registered user, you will have to "log in" when you enter if you are to use your registered nick. This can be done by typing (again sans quotes) "/msg nickserv identify <password>" or set your client of choice to log you in automatically.

On a final note for the uninitiated, the Town Hall chat can be found at irc.shadowfire.org, channel #aio

All styles but "subSilver" currently show a "Load Chat" link in the forum masthead that initiates a Java client if you do not choose to access the chat room by means of a traditional client, be it X-Chat, mIRC or a multi-service IM client such as Trillian. (The "Load Chat" link will soon be restored for subSilver forum display style users.)

We thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

The Top Crusader · Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:50 am Post subject:

On the topic of chat, is the handy-dandy little link going to come back for SubSilver someday? Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all, but I'd like to see it again some day. It's so cute!

Tim Peterson · Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 8:44 pm Post subject: Re: Chat Room Announcement

The Top Crusader · Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:58 pm Post subject:

It wasn't there earlier... Embarassed

AIOfan11 · Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:24 pm Post subject:

Can someone explain the Chat Room thing to me? I have never done it, and would like to know how. And, who are the "Op's"?

Kanimoto · Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:34 pm Post subject:

I think that means "Operators."

AIOfan11 · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject:

Is the chat room over voice? Do you have to have a microphone?

Tim Peterson · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:50 pm Post subject:

A chat room is a real-time exchange of text messages. You can type a message and it will show up on the screen of everyone else in the room immediately.

AIOfan11 · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:41 am Post subject:

How can I see if I like it?

Jeffro · Just Moved In Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Posts: 21