Hi, I figured I'd write an introduction to how the IRC is so that new people can have an easier time getting acquainted and accepted in the chat. Not everyone will agree with all of this, but I did my best to make it representative of how most of the well-liked people in IRC feel. If nothing else, it will at least give you a good start on IRCing with us. If you've never IRCed before, give it a shot! The room will probably be most active in the evenings-ish, North American time. I realise this is kind of an essay, but it's not exactly dense writing, so it shouldn't take too long to glance over and get the gist of it. Also, if you pay too close attention, you'll probably end up thinking it's harder to get along in the IRC than it is. Most of it just boils down to common sense and not being a dick.

First, the channel is #sydlexia and we're on DarkMyst (irc.darkmyst.net). Connecting shouldn't be too difficult, but if you need help send me a PM and I'll be glad to walk you through it. Basically, if you want to connect, you'll need an IRC client. The forums have their own which you can use through your web browser, or you could use Mibbit, which in my opinion is a much nicer experience. Web-based clients are nice if you just want to check out the chat, but if you plan to come regularly, most people much prefer a standalone client. The most popular ones are mIRC (for Windows), ChatZilla (for Firefox), Xchat (Windows and Linux; the Windows version costs money after a bit), and Colloquy (Mac).

So, you've just joined the chat. What now? Well, you can say hi. If people are talking, you should read for a bit to get a feel for the conversation before joining in, probably, and in fact you might be better off to mostly just listen for a couple days after joining to get a feel for the room itself. Don't be shy, though, most of us are friendly.

If you come in and don't see anyone talking, please don't leave right away. We usually have at least one person semi-paying attention to the room, but we are far from having a constant stream of conversation all day. If no one's talking, feel free to offer up a subject of discussion. If nobody replies, whatever. Most people who come to IRC do not usually just sit at their computer watching the chat. We tend to do other things, and glance at the chat from time to time to see if people are talking about something we're interested in. Try doing that.

It won't get you all the way to being liked, but a great way to stop yourself from being forcefully ejected from the room is to listen if people tell you to stop doing something. Listen if anyone tells you off, but pay especially close attention if an op does. Ops are moderators for the IRC channel. Different clients distinguish them from normal users in different ways, but most commonly they'll have an @ before their name. Fernin, FigNewton (that's me!), and UsaSatsui are the primary ops in the channel. If you have a complaint about the room, talk to one of us about it, preferably by private message. "/query FigNewton" (without quotes) will open a PM window with me, for example.

Some people get voice, too. Like with ops, how voice is shown is different depending on your client. It's usually a + in front of the person's name. Unlike with ops, people with voice don't actually have the power to do any moderating, like kicking/banning users or things like that. I'm just mentioning it because if someone has autovoice (that is, Lexy (Lexiabot9000) gives them voice (sets them +v) when they join the room), that means that they have been coming to the chat for a long time, and are generally well-liked (although not everyone who fits that description gets autovoice). Worth noting.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the IRC is not the forums. The forums and the chat are both based around sydlexia.com, but their specific communities are different. There's a lot of overlap, but just because someone posts a lot on the forums doesn't mean that they even come to IRC at all. Similarly, a lot of people who talk a lot in IRC don't post on the forums very much, and some IRC members don't even come to the forums, or have accounts here. As a result, the chat might have a slightly different tone than the forums, and if nothing else the instant nature of it gives it a different feel. We certainly have a lot of our own in-jokes that forum people won't get.

As for general things you shouldn't do, basically if you just try to avoid being a dick, you'll do okay. Be cool. Don't use words like "cunt" or "fag." Don't treat people any differently because of what kind of genitals they have, and don't expect people to treat you any differently because of what kind of genitals you have. If you have some random thing you'd like to talk about, and there's currently a conversation going on, don't butt in; wait till it's quieter. Don't ask for ops. Don't ask for voice. Don't pick fights. If you see people arguing, and you have nothing to add that isn't already being said, joining in and ganging up on someone just makes you look like a dick. Don't treat someone worse just because they're not very popular, if they aren't actually doing anything wrong at that time. Don't harass people. Don't pretend to be another user. Don't spam. Don't play with the bot while people are talking.

Some of those things are against the rules, some of those things are common sense, and some of those things are just things that we frequently complain about when people do. If you aren't actually punished for doing something on that list, I guarantee that people will say mean things about you because of it, whether or not it's to your face. A reminder: If an op tells you to stop something, stop. The rules are pretty flexible and ultimately rely on how the ops feel at any given time, but essentially, if you try not to be an asshole, you're in the clear.

Finally, just some miscellaneous things. This is probably more advanced, but whatever.
- Putting slashes around a word means that that word is in /italics/, whether or not your client actually shows it as italicised. Pressing ctrl-i on mIRC will give italics for mIRC, but it will just show up as garbage for people who aren't using mIRC, so please do not use ctrl-i on mIRC. Slashes work fine.

- Asterisks around a word mean that it is in *bold*. Pressing ctrl-b on mIRC will give bold. I think mIRC's bold works fine for people not using mIRC.

- Underscores around a word mean that it is _underlined_. Pressing ctrl-u on mIRC will give you underlines. These work fine for people on other clients.

- If you put "/me " at the start of a line, that line will be shown as an action. For example, typing "Blah blah blah" gets:
<FigNewton> Blah blah blah
While typing "/me blah blah blahs" gets:
* FigNewton blah blah blahs

- If Lexy kicks you for saying something, don't worry about it, just rejoin. None of the kick triggers in the bot are for things that are actually against the rules; they're just for fun.

- If three people in a row have said ":O" or ":o" all by itself on a line, then please don't say anything except ":O" or ":o" by itself on a line until someone else does, or until someone is kicked for it. ":O" is a kick trigger that only has a 1/6 chance of kicking, and trying to get long chains of it is sort of a game we like. It's not a chain until three people have said it, and if you break a chain you might be kicked for doing so. Not everyone agrees about this, but if you want to be classy, don't take another turn saying ":O" in a chain until at least two other people have said it after you. I invented chains anyway, so my opinion's the only one that matters.

- Pretend you are signed in as CamLose. If someone says "CamLose enough," or "CamLose stop," or (the newcomer) "CamLose you're funny but really know how to aggravate me," they are probably only being half-serious in telling you to cut it out, if that. They're more in-jokes than anything.

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Anyway, that's all I can think of. It should do fine. If you have any questions about anything, please shoot me a PM, either on the forums or (preferably) in IRC. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and hopefully I'll be seeing you in the chat :)