What is IRC?

What it is

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of real-time Internet chat or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message, as well as chat and data transfers via Direct Client-to-Client (DCC).

Channels

The basic means of communication in an established IRC session is a channel. Users can join to a channel using the command /join #channelname and send messages to it, which are relayed to all other users on the same channel.

The current MBI server is:

 irc.blitzed.org

The current MBI channel on that server is kept private and only issued to MBI applicants and members.

Moderators

There are also users who maintain elevated rights, called Moderators, who operate the channel. They can give other users moderator rights, and they can control who is and is not allowed in the channel, even going so far as to make it private and only available for certain users. The MBI moderators are Sage and CK.

Clients

There are many different kinds of IRC clients. To view some of them check out the links page. The preferred client for the MBI is mIRC, which can be downloaded here.

How to Connect

Once you submit a bio, the moderators will review it. After that step, you’ll receive a trial date, time and the MBI channel. After that, you’ll need to use an IRC client to connect to the chatroom. The instructions listed below are for mIRC.

Step 1:

After installing mIRC and setting up your information (we recomend fake information for privacy reasons), you’ll start up mIRC and go to File –> Select Server.

Step 2:

An IRC sever list will pop-up, but you’ll need to manually add one to it, so click on Add.

Step 3:

You can add whatever description you want for the server so you can find it again later. The IRC Server is irc.blitzed.org and the default port should be 6667. (Note: If you are behind a firewall or on a university network, you may need to use a different port or have to use the browser-based web chat.) With that done, click on Add.

Step 4:

The server will now show up on your list. Select it and then click OK.

Step 5:

The pop-up windows will then go away as your server has been selected. You now go to File –> Connect.

Step 6:

The connection window will show the progress of the connection. This may take a few moments to finish.

Step 7:

After the connection to the server has been made, a window will pop-up asking you which channel to join. Type in the name of the channel provided to you, and make sure that is has a number sign # in front of it. The channel name displayed above is an example name, and not the real one. After you have typed in the name, click Join.

Step 8:

You’ve now joined the MBI/SK RPG chatroom. Other members will be there to greet you on your arrival.

Some Basic IRC Commands

These are commands that can be typed directly into the textarea to do various things. If you are using a client, it may have buttons you can click that do these things.

/join
Type /join #channelname — to join a channel of your choice
Example: /join #bossmom
What it looks like:

[18:44] *** Now talking in #beginner
 --Op-- bossmom has joined the channel
 [18:44] *** Topic is 'Beginner's Help/Chat Channel....All Are Welcome Here!! ®© [ENGLISH]'
 [18:44] *** Set by X on Sun Jul 23 16:10:34

/me
The /me is an action message.
Type /me ‘does anything’
Example: /me waves hello
What it looks like:

* bossmom waves hello

/nick
/nick changes your nickname
Example: type /nick newnickname (limit 9 characters)
What it looks like:

/nick luv2quilt
 *** bossmom is now known as luv2quilt

/quit
Type /quit to leave IRC altogether. This disconnects mirc from the server.
Example: /quit Going out for dinner…nite all
What it looks like:

*** Quits: saca (Leaving)

For more IRC commands you can check out this page.