Back in my halo-modding days, I used to hang out with other modders in an IRC channel. We used it to discuss ideas, help each other out with our projects or even just chitchat!
For those who don't know, an IRC channel is basically a chatroom where users can join and chat. It's a pretty old protocol but it's still widely used nowadays for all sorts of things, from tech support to community hubs. Users on the same network may also chat privately without the need for a room, of course; and said rooms could potentially house hundreds of thousands of users simultaneously!
Well, it turns out there's an official FTL channel too! So when i found out i immediately joined in, and it was awesome. In there i met people like DryEagle, Kieve, English Narwhal and many more. They were (and hopefully still are, lol) great humans that helped me immensely whenever i needed. : ) They were great times, but then life happened and I had to leave for a while.
Where am I going with this? Well, I tried joining that channel again recently and... it's pretty much dead!
It's sad, because a chatroom where modders could hang out has a lot of potential! I think if more people joined in it would ultimately benefit the quality of the mod output from this community.The best example I can think of is... the Mod Testing Environment. After ranting with Narwhal about how a pain in the ass it was to make these videos, he came out with the idea of making a series of scripted events that would let me make the actions i needed to show a ship off.
I was like FUCK
that's an AWESOME idea!!! So we started messing around with events and, after a while, MTE was born....the point is: If it weren't for that IRC channel, MTE wouldn't exist! :0 It came to be only because english narwhal and me met in that chat! 0_0
(or at least, that's what i like to believe?)
...in any case, I think that we should promote the IRC channel more. I believe that if we put a sticky into the Mods section about it, it'd be beneficial to everyone!
The thread should contain:
- a short guide to connect quickly, perhaps by using a browser-based client like the one on quake.net or IRCCloud.
- a list of clients for each OS, and instructions on how to set them up
- a link to the IRC etiquette. Interactions between humans in an IRC channel are different than in real life. Every user should take a look at this :V but yeah
- possibly a link to this. We could at least gather information from there and adapt it to a thread.
(i only now realise i'm basically saying "let's move this to the Mods section." But blargh, i think the OP could be updated with more info)
Whaddayathink, guys? Maybe we could make a channel made specifically for modders! I think that being able to chat with each other would be a great thing!
I can't think of a conclusion for this post that doesn't involve me repeating myself, so i'll stop here. >_> but yeah i'd like to hear some opinions and stuff
