Interacting! Friendliness! Community!
Posted on Wed Apr 7th, 2010 @ 10:35pm by Captain Vorn Krace
Did you get the subtle hint in the title of this news item as to what it might possibly be about? Really? Well, OK. This news posts is about getting us to work harder at becoming an even better community than we are already, and interacting more outside of our posts on the site!
So, how can we do this? Well, one method is of course the forums, which are linked at the top of the site. Forums can be a great way to interact with each other, as they don't even require the people interacting to be online at the same time. They can also provide a broad range of ways to interact, from forum games, to quizes, to Q&As about your character, to general chat of what's going on in the RL world. I highly recommend that you all make sure you have an account on the forums, and you start checking them regularly, as I'm going to start ensuring once again that we have plenty of things on the forums to respond to!
The second method, and one that I find to be particularly useful when making friends with fellow ship-mates, is to make use of our IRC chat. If you are like I was when I first considered using IRC, you would be cautious, as there has always been a lot of hype of the dangers of internet chat rooms. However, IRC is one of the more friendly types of chat rooms you can make use of. You can choose what channels you want to be in and leave them at a whim if you don't like what is going on in them, and each channel has a number of Ops who can and will be there to regulate the channel, and ensure that nobody is being bullied or victimised in any way. And these aren't just random people who are the channel operators; they are people you know! In our channel, I am the primary operator, with each of our department heads being 'Voices'. This basically means they get a slightly higher access level to the channel, and puts them right in line to be temporarily made an Operator if I will be going away or will be unavailable to keep an eye on the channel.
I have made many friends in the RPG community since I started using IRC, and I highly endorse it to everyone else. It is a great way for a sim's crew to get together and talk causally. You can even start small in who you meet, as we have our own dedicated channel on the server, and from there you can always expand if you wish to joining the channels of the fleet, or any other sims you may be on, if such channels exist.
How do I do this? you may be asking at this point. Well, it is simple; there are two options you can take. The easiest, is to make use of the IRC client that is built-in to this website; simply go to the main page, and click Iapetus Chat on the side menu, or go here; http://ussiapetus.pegasusfleet.net/index.php?page=database&entry=7. You will need JAVA enabled on your browser, and should be prepared to allow the client through whatever firewalls you have in place; the connection is simple, and shouldn't cause any harm to your computer. Once there, simply type in the input box /nick
The second way is to use a dedicated IRC client, such as Trillian or mIRC. I personally use mIRC, but it is up to you which of the many clients out there you wish to use. These clients mean you don't have to stay on a specific web page to use IRC, and allow more control over the preferences you use when on IRC. For using each one, you should consult a relevant user guide for setting it up, but you will need to know we are on the DarkMyst server, in the channel #USSIapetus.
I also encourage those of you who have Instant Messengers to make this known to other members of the crew, and add those who you can. MSN, ICQ and Y!M are all great ways for one-to-one chats, and some can even be expanded to have group chats, similar to those on IRC.
I hope to be seeing more of each of you around the web, and getting to know each of you a bit better!
--
Matt
AKA
Capt. Krace
Category: Out of Character
