Clan IRC Channels?

[Avkon]

Does a clan need an IRC channel?

My clan recently created one, but I don't see much use for it, except the fact that it's simpler and more community-styled than Xfire, where you need to invite everyone manually to a chatroom in order to have a clan discussion.

I'm working on commands for viewing the roster, checking the results of CWs, checking member activity, etc. via IRC, but if all this needs to be done to encourage clan members to use IRC, why use it in the first place?

Many clans do not have anyone who has even an inkling of how to create an IRC bot, and many have never used IRC at all, but whenever there's a clan recruitment post, there'll be someone, as likely as not, who says "If you're clan is good, you need to get on IRC!"

Why is that? I'd like to know your opinions on this topic.

[KorrupT MerC]

The big thing about IRC for clans is mainly to get CW's from what i gather. Now most of the challenges i get for CW are on xfire, so i tend to disagree.

IRC, imo, is not necessary, just to say ''yeah we have IRC'', now i do like having one because like you said, its more community-oriented than xfire is and you can also go private if need be.

I'm working on commands for viewing the roster, checking the results of CWs, checking member activity, etc. via IRC, but if all this needs to be done to encourage clan members to use IRC, why use it in the first place?

Ask the same question about forums, are forums really necessary? No, but do they help, Yes.

A clan could be run just by xfire, and i would see no reason why they wouldnt succeed. Its all about the perks, image is everything.

[Outcast]

Tell me one clan with xfire that can compete with the better IRC clans?
There aren't any, even if you might think they are. In IRC you have all the members in 1 channel and communication is simpler. You have quite a few gathers where you can train when your clan members are not around. IRC is needed because that is where the best players and clans are and if you want to play with them, you'll need IRC. You cannot say your clan is good until you've battled with the IRC community and see where you stand.

[Avkon]

Ah, I think this is the first time in a long time I've seen Outcast post something other that "Spam cleared." or "Warning 2", lol.

Anyway, about the forums thing, Korrupt, a forum is useful for maintaining 'records' of CWs, etc. as well as for discussing stuff. When Farah set up the |kC| IRC channel, how did everyone know about it? He posted a topic there, otherwise it'd have to be spread by word of mouth on Xfire, which would be inefficient and not reliable at all.

Outcast, what exactly do you mean by 'IRC clans'? Many clans have IRC channels which are lying empty, and how do you convince members to get on IRC? About the all-members-in-one-room thing, I already emphasised. It's just that people are used to seeing all their clan members AS WELL AS OTHER FRIENDS on Xfire, MSN, whatever, and it might seem like too much of a bother to get on IRC as well, and that too where only about 3/4th of your clan members, maybe about 6-12 people are online...

[KorrupT MerC]

Tell me one clan with xfire that can compete with the better IRC clans?

HAHA, you got me outcast... if you threw 2 clan names in front of my face and asked me if they are 'xfire' or 'irc' based, i couldnt tell you... cookie for you!

BUT xfire has something irc lacks... notification... you can be in game and you can either be pmed while still playing or if disabled, you still hear the sound of getting a message... thats a big prop for xfire. Also, xfire can have the option of multi-chat if needed, but usually you carry on the conversation of one on one. The only thing it would need is a 'clan finder' and it would probably out class IRC in every way and may make it obsolete.

Avkon, word of mouth wouldnt be inefficient, it would be more efficient, since farah posted the irc channel it has had about 1/4th of the clan actually visit the channel, now tell each clan member to go to IRC by xfire, lets see which one works out better

[FliesLikeABrick]

the community-oriented approach of IRC is awesome, plus the realtime interaction with multiple people definitely caters to increased practice together plus scrims/CWs when you find another clan with multiple people online

[Kagesha]

Well most australian clans don't use IRC we usually use msn or xfire to communicate etc. Teamspeak/Ventrillo is one of the better options for wars or even general chat.

I wouldn't use IRC because for me but it is a different situation (Australian clans dont use IRC) but over there in America IRC seems popular so i think it is a better decision to go with IRC.

To solve members to use IRC make it compulsory to use IRC regularly.

[Avkon]

Hmm, maybe, but there's another thing about IRC also, that no one here's considered:

IRC creates no lag at all, and very little, if any.
I've got to exit Xfire while playing Soldat so as to keep my ping level low, and I miss everything that goes on in Xfire while playing, so the popup thing makes no difference anyway.
I can keep IRC on, though, and I can see all that happened while I was playing.

Besides, it'd be a pain to invite all the clan members to a chatroom to discuss something.

And also, if I want to tell everyone something, and as Korrupt says, the forums wouldn't be great, but if I said it in IRC, quite some people would see the message, or if I set it as the topic of the IRC channel, it would have a larger, uh, audience, and if almost everyone in the clan visits the channel atleast once or twice a day, well, the message goes to everybody...

[Veritas]

Does a clan need an IRC channel?

Do you want to succeed beyond being another crappy clan?

I'm working on commands for viewing the roster, checking the results of CWs, checking member activity, etc. via IRC, but if all this needs to be done to encourage clan members to use IRC, why use it in the first place?

You really don't need a bot. Just set the roster as the topic and you're good.

"If you're clan is good, you need to get on IRC!"

Why is that? I'd like to know your opinions on this topic.

IRC is the best way to get in touch with the other good clans. Otherwise, you're stuck with the other crappy Xfire clans.
(PS: Its "your" Mr. Self Proclaimed Genius.)


IRC is pretty simple, I don't know how you could have trouble with it. Tell your clan members: "If you want to scrim, get on irc and join #whatever." When you have three, "/amsg looking for a scrim /join #whatever or pm me." Play your scrim. Rinse and repeat.

[Demonic]

So how did you manage to miss this post?

Since Veritas and Outcast are covering up everything else, I'll just note that if you find empty clan channels, than those aren't really IRC clans. For inter-clan communication channels like #soldat.gather and #soldat.match are used, that's where you'll see most of the clanwar seeking messages and clan channel adverts.

[Avkon]

Mr. Eristic Illusion, why the attitude? And I don't have a problem with IRC - I have a problem with getting all my members on IRC, but since our channel is just 2 days old, that is only to be expected, initially atleast.

Also, the "you're" thing was a mistake, and if you're going to try and point out every linguistic mistake made by the users of this forum, well, all I can say is you'll have to be here a long, long time. As it is, I'm sure that my language is better than that of most of the people here, but then I don't want to go on about that, it's not the topic.

And Demonic, those are the guidelines, and this is the clan discussion forum, so, unless you discuss things like these, you won't know what to and what not to follow, especially as people like Korrupt have made quite some arguments against IRC, why take one person's word for it?

[Outcast]

Tell me one clan with xfire that can compete with the better IRC clans?

HAHA, you got me outcast... if you threw 2 clan names in front of my face and asked me if they are 'xfire' or 'irc' based, i couldnt tell you... cookie for you!

BUT xfire has something irc lacks... notification... you can be in game and you can either be pmed while still playing or if disabled, you still hear the sound of getting a message... thats a big prop for xfire. Also, xfire can have the option of multi-chat if needed, but usually you carry on the conversation of one on one. The only thing it would need is a 'clan finder' and it would probably out class IRC in every way and may make it obsolete.

Avkon, word of mouth wouldnt be inefficient, it would be more efficient, since farah posted the irc channel it has had about 1/4th of the clan actually visit the channel, now tell each clan member to go to IRC by xfire, lets see which one works out better

You were going about how you can have a succesful xfire clan with just xfire. For you to make that statement you must have examples or you are talking feck.
I don't know any because I don't use xfire so please enlighten me with some examples. Succesful means they are well known and recognised by a large ammount of clanners for their skill. I doubt there's any. The very fact each and every member of the Soldat National Teams, SCTFL playoffs clans, TNL A and B groups uses IRC, tells you that xfire clans aren't even remotely as good as the IRC ones.

Also, usually when I play soldat I don't want any distractions so the xfire advantage means nothing to me. While IRC has many usefull advantages over xfire. Now think, whats better, a multichat with an option of private chat, or a private chat with an option of multi chat? What works better for the masses?

I don't even know why I'm writing this as this forum has already had this debate quite a few times and IRC was, is, and will be the best communication client for the soldat competitive scene. End of story.

[Veritas]

And I don't have a problem with IRC - I have a problem with getting all my members on IRC, but since our channel is just 2 days old, that is only to be expected, initially atleast.

...
That was the entire point of the last bit of my post.
Get your clan on IRC by telling them to join your channel if they want to scrim.
plz 2 be reading

you still hear the sound of getting a message...

You do realize you can easily set that up in almost any IRC client?

and it would probably out class IRC in every way and may make it obsolete.

Three things about your argument:
1) When trying to find clans to play, userbase > features.
2) Being able to easily reach that userbase en masse > mainly being able to reach a userbase person by person.
3) IRC clients generally support scripting, meaning IRC could outclass X-Fire without a problem given enough time spent in scripting the features you want.

Korrupt have made quite some arguments against IRC, why take one person's word for it?

AlexOner is a respected player who has been in many top clans. I doubt that Korrupt even knows what SCTFL is.
You take that person's word for it because he knows what hes doing.

Mr. Eristic Illusion, why the attitude?

What attitude?
I am a caustic person and you are a dumbass, I'm not exactly taking on airs.

[Avkon]

I know some clans I frequently speak with on Xfire...

Of course, I see a lot of clan members on Xfire, but here are the clans of which I see more than 2-3 members online frequently:
- dS
- vX (Team VorteX)
- AE (Alter Ego)
- get Highz
That's about it, I guess. There'll be more clans than these on Xfire, but these are all I have online at the moment.

Also, we just posted at the same time ^^^:
Veritas, anyone with half a brain can see that the tone of your previous post was aggressive, if not hostile, which, no matter whether you're caustic, retarded or whatever, was uncalled for, so stfu.
And you skated over the bit about language, hmm? Ah well.

[Demonic]

From the clans you mentioned, AlterEgo is the only good one, and even they use IRC as their main communicational tool. The rest are what would qualify for us as 'randoms'.

[Veritas]

So, Veritas, anyone with half a brain can see that the tone of your previous post was aggressive, if not hostile, so stfu.

You're kidding right?
I just said I was caustic. I acknowledged it myself.
Like I said, plz 2 be reading.

And you skated over the bit about language, hmm? Ah well.

What.
You said it wasn't on topic, and that it wasn't worth discussing.
Thus, I didn't see fit to discuss it. Why are you bringing it up now if you just said it was off topic?


There are many, many more clans on IRC than 4 at the moment, considering the 131 members in #soldat.match and 61 in #sna.gather. I think this point has been noted many times over, but thanks for confirming it.

[Avkon]

Hello? That first sentence isn't there in my post! I was distracted when I typed it, so I edited it asap, and it's either that you quoted it for some crap reason, or that it takes you about 10 min. to type three sentences.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the feedback, and in the words of Outcast, "End of story."

[Veritas]

I counted a bit more than three sentences in my post captain. It turns out posts take longer to write when you decide to get up and get some water and maybe some cookies in the middle of it. True story.

In any case, I don't care what you think is called or uncalled for. Its not my job to coddle you.

Good luck with your channel.

[Despair]

Avkon trust me, we NEED this. (ive already made the bot like 3 days ago :S)
Everybody has already covered what I wanted to say so end of discussion?

[excruciator]

I use IRC only because there is a lot of good clans that only uses IRCs..  If I had to choose between xfire and IRC I would choose Xfire..