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Gramphos,
actually two of you.
Locutus also spotted.
Plato,
glad you asked, because certainly a worthy question why IRC chat is in many cases better or more suitable than instant messaging, or how they differ. I'll briefly try to make my case. Also emphasizing the Civ aspects.
Instant messaging services, such as AIM, ICQ, MSN and Y!M, are designed for sending messages from client to client, just like one would send SMS with a mobile phone. IM services use centralised servers, which mean that the users of eg. ICQ all connect through the same centralised server. IRC however is intended for group chats (also client to client chats can be done, just as in IM, which I will soon get to), in which users don't have to connect through the same server necessarily, but it could be any other server on the network. The world relay in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) refers to relaying the messages to all servers, which means I can be on Boadicea, but the other users can be on Xerxes. However all users must be connected to the same network. They're just not dependant on one centralised server. On IRC messages are exchanged on channels (like "rooms" in traditional web chats), meaning all those present get the messages.
Some IM services, such as AIM, does indeed have group chat features, but they're limited, awkward and often unstable. Users usually have to use the standard client of the IM provider for those features to work properly. I strongly advise against the use of AIM and MSN for group chats, as they're very unreliable in comparison to IRC, which has been around since 1988 and is robust.
Instant messaging works best for contacting people you know and have their contact information for (eg. ICQ UIQ or AIM handle), while finding general chat company or others interested of the same topic (lets say Civ II MP) isn't that easy, as you need to find the people first somewhere. I would compare IM and IRC like this: when you use IM, it's like looking in your phone book and calling your mother, while IRC is like going out to the bar/pub for a drink/pint with the lads. Also you may meet new people in the bar/pub, being a social gathering/venue.
Of course it's not that simple, as there's user directories such as ICQ White Pages or MSN Member Directory, where you can look for interesting people, but finding a group (and eventually individual users too) is easier on IRC, once you find a network to connect to. When you're on a network, just fire up the channel list or join a lobby/chit chat channel to ask for directions ("anyone happen to know where to find Civ II MP company?"). Or you might already know what channel to join. If you would use IM, you would be only talking to one user at a time, but on IRC you talk to all on the channel. Of course you could just address just one or several persons, but just like being in the bar/pub, also the ones being next to you hear that. But those who are in the room don't hear you.
IRC can also be used for file transfers and direct client-to-client private chats (just like IM). These don't differ from IM, except you're limited to the users of the same network, just like with IM services. You can't connect to AIM users with Y!M, etc.
IRC makes it easy to organise group events, meetings and chats. Or to be present, despite actually being away from your PC. Of course possible with IM services too, but you can mark your self available for eg. Civ II MP by simply join the channel #civ2mp, so when others join, they can assume you're a Civ II MP player and drop you a line, asking if you want to have a multiplayer session in 2 hours time.
Now for Civ enthusiasts IRC offers these interesting opportunities:
- Lobby styled multiplayer matchmaking. You join the channel #civ2mp (just an example) and ask if there's anyone who wants to join for a deity level 4 player game in 30 minutes. This is possible of course on the forums and with eg. ICQ, but IRC makes it faster and more convinient. You don't have to contact all your Civ II MP buddies, but instead you can ask all at once and everyone can communicate as agroup. Also works as a good replacement for the in-game chat system, which is buggy and lacks features, plus makes you independent from the game for chat, so when it crashes, it's easy to resume the chat or tell the others your host crashed.
- Group venues. Apolyton has hosted several hosted chat venues on IRC with special guests from Firaxis and Big Huges Games. It makes it easy to gather a group of people to one place and have one or two persons talking. In these cases an IRC channel works like an auditorium. We on CivIRC also intend to get something similar done in the nearby future, depending on how we find honour guests.
- Group meetings. Game development teams, Civ modification makers, multiplayer clans/teams and what not can meet for arranged meetings, in which they can discuss the recent devlopments and in a meeting style discuss issues and vote about them. The Stella Polaris and ColToo projects have done this succesfully on IRC, and possibly too the FreeCiv folks. It makes it convinient to gather all necessar attendants into a shared group environment.
- Live assistance. Chats can be utilised for easily and quick answer support questions that require an instant answer and which can be answered briefly. This doesn't have to be official support, but could just as well be helping to get ones firewall work for Civ II MP or configure an IRC client. CivIRC Helpdesk's #helpdesk utilises this and ages ago some of us did it on #apolyton of ACS, when people dropped by for Civ III related questions.
Is this all just advertising speech, as you perhaps expect it to be, or is it based on real experiences?
Yes and no. I haven't really made it look too rosy, as de facto IRC is very flexible for chat, as you can either talk to one or several persons, as per your choice, while IM is pretty mcuh limited to one user at a time. All the examples haven't been yet done, but as hopefully we get the group of IRC chatting Civers grow, more different kinds of things can be arranged.
Many of us Apolytonian Finns have experience from using IRC to arrange occasionally 4-7 player multiplayer sessions for Civ II. At times there hasn't even been enough seats in the game (as we know, Civ II is pretty limited on how many civs you can have) for all who wanted to play.
On the channel we have arranged the game (who plays, which civs, etc), shared technical information (IPs, who hosts, what game rules and settings, etc), commented the game events (should have some good VJ or Kassiopeia quote here 
) and in crash situations got things in order to resume the game.
As the number of SMAC playing chatters has been quite small, we haven't had that many SMAC MP sessions. Mainly VJ has been pushing for ones. But yes, occasionally that too, but with 2-3 players. On the opening evening, we even got one MP session arranged, with VJ playing against Buster. But once again, as we haven't really been that active MP oriented chatters, so far not much. But hopefully more to come with all types of MP sessions, once people realise how easy IRC is for Civ MP gaming.
For some historical background, IRC has been ever since the Finn Jarkko Oikarinen developed it back in 1988, a popular medium in times of abnormal circumstances and for communications in general. As an information source, IRC has been used to fast distribute news in an underground fasion already back in 1991. Events which have been reported by people first on IRC include (that means, before any mainstream media has reported it or more details have been available than through media):
- The fall of the Soviet union and Iron Curtain. During the news blackout, news were coming in from the East to West via IRC.
- The Gulf War. Especially Kuwaitis were reporting what was going on.
- Los Angeles earthquake 1994.
- 9/11 (WTC, Pentagon, etc). (For the record, I first read about it on Usenet, not IRC.)
For some external references, here's a quote from Wikipedia:
The mIRC website:
I hope my response addresses your question in a satisfying manner. I'm open to any questions you may have.
actually two of you.
Locutus also spotted.Plato,
glad you asked, because certainly a worthy question why IRC chat is in many cases better or more suitable than instant messaging, or how they differ.
I'll briefly try to make my case. Also emphasizing the Civ aspects.Instant messaging services, such as AIM, ICQ, MSN and Y!M, are designed for sending messages from client to client, just like one would send SMS with a mobile phone. IM services use centralised servers, which mean that the users of eg. ICQ all connect through the same centralised server. IRC however is intended for group chats (also client to client chats can be done, just as in IM, which I will soon get to), in which users don't have to connect through the same server necessarily, but it could be any other server on the network. The world relay in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) refers to relaying the messages to all servers, which means I can be on Boadicea, but the other users can be on Xerxes. However all users must be connected to the same network. They're just not dependant on one centralised server. On IRC messages are exchanged on channels (like "rooms" in traditional web chats), meaning all those present get the messages.
Some IM services, such as AIM, does indeed have group chat features, but they're limited, awkward and often unstable. Users usually have to use the standard client of the IM provider for those features to work properly. I strongly advise against the use of AIM and MSN for group chats, as they're very unreliable in comparison to IRC, which has been around since 1988 and is robust.
Instant messaging works best for contacting people you know and have their contact information for (eg. ICQ UIQ or AIM handle), while finding general chat company or others interested of the same topic (lets say Civ II MP) isn't that easy, as you need to find the people first somewhere. I would compare IM and IRC like this: when you use IM, it's like looking in your phone book and calling your mother, while IRC is like going out to the bar/pub for a drink/pint with the lads.
Also you may meet new people in the bar/pub, being a social gathering/venue.Of course it's not that simple, as there's user directories such as ICQ White Pages or MSN Member Directory, where you can look for interesting people, but finding a group (and eventually individual users too) is easier on IRC, once you find a network to connect to. When you're on a network, just fire up the channel list or join a lobby/chit chat channel to ask for directions ("anyone happen to know where to find Civ II MP company?"). Or you might already know what channel to join. If you would use IM, you would be only talking to one user at a time, but on IRC you talk to all on the channel. Of course you could just address just one or several persons, but just like being in the bar/pub, also the ones being next to you hear that. But those who are in the room don't hear you.
IRC can also be used for file transfers and direct client-to-client private chats (just like IM). These don't differ from IM, except you're limited to the users of the same network, just like with IM services. You can't connect to AIM users with Y!M, etc.
IRC makes it easy to organise group events, meetings and chats. Or to be present, despite actually being away from your PC. Of course possible with IM services too, but you can mark your self available for eg. Civ II MP by simply join the channel #civ2mp, so when others join, they can assume you're a Civ II MP player and drop you a line, asking if you want to have a multiplayer session in 2 hours time.
Now for Civ enthusiasts IRC offers these interesting opportunities:
- Lobby styled multiplayer matchmaking. You join the channel #civ2mp (just an example) and ask if there's anyone who wants to join for a deity level 4 player game in 30 minutes. This is possible of course on the forums and with eg. ICQ, but IRC makes it faster and more convinient. You don't have to contact all your Civ II MP buddies, but instead you can ask all at once and everyone can communicate as agroup. Also works as a good replacement for the in-game chat system, which is buggy and lacks features, plus makes you independent from the game for chat, so when it crashes, it's easy to resume the chat or tell the others your host crashed.
- Group venues. Apolyton has hosted several hosted chat venues on IRC with special guests from Firaxis and Big Huges Games. It makes it easy to gather a group of people to one place and have one or two persons talking. In these cases an IRC channel works like an auditorium. We on CivIRC also intend to get something similar done in the nearby future, depending on how we find honour guests.
- Group meetings. Game development teams, Civ modification makers, multiplayer clans/teams and what not can meet for arranged meetings, in which they can discuss the recent devlopments and in a meeting style discuss issues and vote about them. The Stella Polaris and ColToo projects have done this succesfully on IRC, and possibly too the FreeCiv folks. It makes it convinient to gather all necessar attendants into a shared group environment.
- Live assistance. Chats can be utilised for easily and quick answer support questions that require an instant answer and which can be answered briefly. This doesn't have to be official support, but could just as well be helping to get ones firewall work for Civ II MP or configure an IRC client. CivIRC Helpdesk's #helpdesk utilises this and ages ago some of us did it on #apolyton of ACS, when people dropped by for Civ III related questions.
Is this all just advertising speech, as you perhaps expect it to be, or is it based on real experiences?
Yes and no. I haven't really made it look too rosy, as de facto IRC is very flexible for chat, as you can either talk to one or several persons, as per your choice, while IM is pretty mcuh limited to one user at a time. All the examples haven't been yet done, but as hopefully we get the group of IRC chatting Civers grow, more different kinds of things can be arranged.
Many of us Apolytonian Finns have experience from using IRC to arrange occasionally 4-7 player multiplayer sessions for Civ II. At times there hasn't even been enough seats in the game (as we know, Civ II is pretty limited on how many civs you can have) for all who wanted to play.
On the channel we have arranged the game (who plays, which civs, etc), shared technical information (IPs, who hosts, what game rules and settings, etc), commented the game events (should have some good VJ or Kassiopeia quote here ) and in crash situations got things in order to resume the game.As the number of SMAC playing chatters has been quite small, we haven't had that many SMAC MP sessions. Mainly VJ has been pushing for ones. But yes, occasionally that too, but with 2-3 players. On the opening evening, we even got one MP session arranged, with VJ playing against Buster. But once again, as we haven't really been that active MP oriented chatters, so far not much. But hopefully more to come with all types of MP sessions, once people realise how easy IRC is for Civ MP gaming.
For some historical background, IRC has been ever since the Finn Jarkko Oikarinen developed it back in 1988, a popular medium in times of abnormal circumstances and for communications in general. As an information source, IRC has been used to fast distribute news in an underground fasion already back in 1991. Events which have been reported by people first on IRC include (that means, before any mainstream media has reported it or more details have been available than through media):
- The fall of the Soviet union and Iron Curtain. During the news blackout, news were coming in from the East to West via IRC.
- The Gulf War. Especially Kuwaitis were reporting what was going on.
- Los Angeles earthquake 1994.
- 9/11 (WTC, Pentagon, etc). (For the record, I first read about it on Usenet, not IRC.
)For some external references, here's a quote from Wikipedia:
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of instant communication over the Internet. It is mainly designed for group (many-to-many) communication in discussion forums called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication.
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. IRC is a multi-user chat system, where people meet on "channels" (rooms, virtual places, usually with a certain topic of conversation) to talk in groups, or privately. There is no restriction to the number of people that can participate in a given discussion, or the number of channels that can be formed on IRC.
I'm open to any questions you may have.
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