Hello All, as some of you may have noticed, NS2 now has an IRC Chat, which is pretty cool, which is #ns2.....original name, I know.

As you ask questions, I will add them to the FAQ, but note that anyone with chat experience may help you in this thread, along with myself, and this guide. No, this guide is not original, but it is mine. I originally made it for a forum called Hadaway, but this one will be much more in depth. Also, this will be updated by the staff, and myself, when we have time, and in accordance to need.

Now, I will label the sections below, feel free to use CTRL+F to "find" the subsection.

Sections:
I. FAQ's
II.Common Commands
III. Rules
IV.Etiquette
V.Knowledgeable Users
VI. Staff


I. FAQ's


This section comes first as it is essential for your understanding, and will be a time saver.

Question 1: What does IRC Stand for?
Answer: Internet Relay Chat

Question 2: What server is NS2's Chat on?
Answer: Chatspike

Two very basic questions, right there.

Question 3: It says "You must have a registered nick to join #ns2"....what do I do?
Answer: It means you need a registered nick, so, you need to do that. The code is:



Also note that it will tell you what you need to do from there, I see no need to tell you, as it does in your email.*
*Password and Email need to be the ones you want to use, obviously, use a real email.

Question 4: How come some users can talk, and I can't?
Answer: There are a number of reasons, but one must know the modes well for this....a mode being applied actions to the channel. Likely, +m is set, meaning moderated chat, often used in trivia. Users with a "+" next to their name, or any symbol, can talk, but not "unvoiced" users. Sometimes +c, or a ban on color, may be set, among other things. It is best to use the code



This will allow you to talk to the staff, denoted by symbols other than +, by default, and ask why you can't talk.

Question 5: What is with these +letters?
Answer: IRC uses a system of modes. You should know some of the following:

1. +m: Users that are not voiced can not talk.
2. +c: No color is allowed, you won't see text.
3. +S: Color is allowed, it will appear black.
4. +R: Registered nicks only.
5. +i: Channel is invite only, only one way to get in....get invited.
6. +f: Flood Control. Saying x amount of words in x amount of seconds results in a kick.
7. +r: This means the channel is registered...so you can't have it.
8. +n: No one can talk on the channel without being in it....redundant, but mlocked as a base feature.
9. +t: Topic can only be changed by hop and up, mlocked as a base feature.

There are others, but these are the most common you SHOULD see.

Question 6: What are the staff ranks?
Answer: On this client, they appear as symbols, so, see below.

~Founder~: The creator of the chat. They are god, really.
&SuperOp&: Admins, they aren't really different from the next rank, but they have a few minor perks. They basically control chat. One such perk is that they can only be kicked by the Founder, or pre-applied effects by Chanserv.
@Operator@: The mods, they can control the basic-ness of chat.
%Half-Op%: Like LK's....can do everything, but limited to who they can effect.
+voice+: Regular users that have been voiced. Nothing special, they can talk when +m is in effect.

Question 7: I get an error, Erroneous Nick, to be precise, what can I do, and why is this caused?
Answer: Users names that start with entities such as "~" can not enter IRC, and seeing as it is linked to the forum, that poses a problem. Never fear, there is a solution.

http://www.chatspike.net/index.php?p=javairc

Simply go there, type in your nick without said entities, and put the channel as #ns2, and you are good to go.

Question 8: For some reason, I can't get into the chat, any help?
Answer: Sometimes it is so obvious it isn't obvious, your java isn't updated. It may be wise to go HERE for downloading updated Java. There may be other issues, as well, such as being on the wrong network. Should you use a Client (Pidgin, mIRC, XChat, etc.) you need to be on the Chatspike Server, otherwise, you will find an empty channel.

Question 9: What if I have more questions?
Answer: Ask in here, if the question is good, I will add it to this list, along with a response. Please note that there are an infinite number of questions, so I am starting off with the ovious things. This will be updated CONSTANTLY, so never fear. Also note, the guide should answer most questions.

II. Common Commands

This section is essential, but not everything will be put in code tag for you, as that takes a lot of space, and would look ugly.

Registering Your nick: You should register your nick to ensure no one takes it, or can use it against you. Just because it IS registered, does not mean nothing can happen, it just lowers the risk.

/nickserv register passhere emailhere

Only edit the last two words appropriately.

Changing Nicks: /nick newname OR type it in the box on the chat.

Linking more names: You can link as many as 20 names. This allows you to use the same pass for numerous names!

/nickserv link desiredname This function is currently disabled, whether or not it returns is a matter of "ifs." However, chances are the new group command will permanently replace it.

Grouping Nicks: Basically, linking. However, new rules apply. Allow for a copy paste from Chatspike.

QUOTE

-NickServ-
GROUP registers your current nickname to your account. This means that NickServ protects this nickname the same way as it protects your account name. Most services commands will accept the new nickname as an alias for your account name. Please note that grouped nicks expire separately from accounts. To prevent this, you must use them. Otherwise, all properties of the account are shared among all nicks registered to it.

Examples:

CODE

  /msg NickServ IDENTIFY OldNick SecretPassword

CODE

   /msg NickServ GROUP

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not link someone else's name, an oper will force you to remove it, Typobox especially.

Mackormoses did this! /*me texthere (removing the *)
This gives ya the pink text, used for talking in the third person, DM_Walking thinks.

Joining a Channel: /join #channel

There are other channels out there! Yes, yes there are. #Chatspike is an example, and should be used if you need help.

Leaving a Channel: /part #channel quittingmessage

Leaving ALL CHATS: /quit #channel quittingmessage

Bah, why did I use color, originally? Oh well, there are more commands, obviously, but this guide is for dummies

Let's see, what are some other good ones....

Talking to A User: /query *usernamehere* OR double click their name and type OR /msg *user* *message*

Ignoring a User: /ignore *username here* Doing this will allow you to not see anymore messages posted by the user you ignore.
To unignore them, type /unignore *usernamehere*

Getting help: /msg ChanServ help. It's especially useful for a detailed description on some of the aspects of IRC, or if you hope to someday join a channel staff, which would require a pretty fair knowledge of IRC commands.

III. Rules-According to Eric

It is important there is a set of solid rules, so, be sure to follow them. This statement sums it up:



[tl;dr]
-Forum Rules Apply
-Don't Impersonate, EVER!

IV. Etiquette

Not all of you know this, but chat has its' own etiquette, so, be sure to follow these guidelines.

-Don't use eye-raping colors such as pink or yellow, they are painful.
-Don't constantly PING a user, if they don't respond, leave them be.
-Don't flood, we don't want to see "hi" posted ten thousand times in a row.
-Keep 1337 talk minimal, as it is generally an annoyance. Chats are for communication, not retardation.
-Be responsible, don't do things that irritate others, obviously, more will be added to this section, but these are guidelines.

V. Knowledgeable Users

In order to be placed on this list, you must display intelligence with IRC, whether it be in this thread, or in chat. Staff or myself can add to this.

1. Mackormoses-Semi Active User, mace360@hotmail.com, feel free to /msg on Chatspike, often in #nsider
2. PsychoYoshi- Inactive User, feel free to /msg on Chatspike, often in #nsider
3. Genius-NS2 Staff

VI. Staff

~Founder~
-Only one person can have this in each channel. If you want it, go get your own channel.

1. Vaatixganon (Head of Chat)

~Co-Founder~
-The founder's successor(s). This is very hard to obtain; it's likely that only Kodiack will have this position.

1. Kodiack

&System Operators&
-It is believed the tech admins, admins, and some mods or KoH will get this rank.

1. Pelord
2. Raymond
3. Ret
4. Matt

@Operators@
-It is believed Mods and KoH will get this rank.

1. Shy
2. PXD
3. Juni
4. Other Mods
5. Mackormoses *User Operator*
6. Chanserv (bot)

KoH get this privelage, but theabove are the users you'll see most.

%Half Operators%
-No one knows how this rank is obtained, could be a prize, could be for knowledgeable users. However, as mysterious as it is, non staff members will have a hard time getting on any op list, so, likely a low number will ever have power.

1. Syntax_Error


Do note that half op may be awarded temporarily from time to time, Rustoneal and Eva_Chan get this privelage the most. Don't beg for the rank, for God's sakes.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These are not the only staff, some users control the entire network, they are called opers. Two you should know are:

1. Brain: He created Inspircd, if I recall correctly, so is very high up (as in, top dog) in Chatspike.
2. Typobox43: He deals with NSiders more than any of the opers,can be found in #nintendo, and is a great guy, just don't aggravate him! Linking names that don't belong to you seems to peeve him, so be warned.

There are about ten others, but I am yet to personally meet them, and you will be considered lucky to see Brain.

---

Credits: A great deal of my knowledge comes from what my good friend PSYCHOYOSHI has shown me. He is a great user, he knows a lot on this, especially, but this guide was primarily written by me, with some user contribution (at the time of writing this, it is entirely, with help from PY)

Also, if you use this in part or in whole, it is essential you link to it, if it is within NS2. If it is outside, credit is due to me, Mackormoses, and the NSider2 Community.

Hopefully you enjoy IRC, and this as a feature of NS2. This guide is here for you to use, so please don't feel afraid to refer to it. Have fun,

~MoM~

Firefox tells me I do not have the proper plugins, so when I download them and restart FF, still no dice. I tried using mIRC and typed in #nsider2forums, but that is obviously the wrong channel as the register did no work as it was an "unknown function" and nobody else was there.

Any tips?

Download the ChatZilla addon for FireFox, if you have not already.

It is very handy. If need be I can explain how to use it, if this tutorial does not cover that.

This thread shall be stickied, and It's a nice help center.

I keep getting the following two errors. What do they mean?

---

Unable to connect : java.security.AccessControlException : access denied (java.net.SocketPermission irc.chatspike.net resolve)

Unable to connect : java.lang.NullPointerException

Do you have the latest version of Java correctly installed on your computer?

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

I still can't get the 3rd person thing to work. What's wrong?

Not sure in your case, but make sure you input the command directly as:



With no space before the /.

As for your other questions:

@Coke: A good response is too have Java updated fully, and check for any instances that would be obvious. The first time you use an IRC chat you should be prompted to allow it to work, if you say no it won't work....but, I need some more specifics. I also recommend Pidgin as a client, from what I hear from my friends, many really like it. I don't use clients, as I access chat elsewhere.

EDIT: In mirc you can chose which network, I believe, so ensure that you are on CHATSPIKE. The reason no one was there is because you were on another network, I can't believe I missed that

@Tropical: I am going to ask you to go to http://www.chatspike.net/index.php?p=javairc and type in the appropriate info, and see if you can access it, if not, it may be anything, like noted by Ganondorf, from Java to any other minor issues.

@Ganondorf: Thanks for helping while I was away ^_^

@John: Thanks

I added a pretty useful command, IMO. The only thing I'm not positive on is if you can see messages they post if they talk to you directly via /query

I've used it before, but not too recently, so my memory's faded a bit. Ah well.

Clarifications:

Brain is the owner of ChatSpike, the network that the IRC channel is on.
Typobox43 is a service admin; he's also pretty high up in the network. You can find him in #nintendo. He deals with Nsiders primarily because most people on #nintendo are former Nsiders in one regard or another.

I thought I added that, sure I did, but whatever.

Thanks for the clarifications, PY, I have only met Brain twice, Typo thrice.

What does "fingering" do?

Being that I can't access NS2's version of the chat, I have to get in through NSF. What commands like that do is create a shortcut. Rather than going



You just click the box, and it does it. I suppose it is supposed to be rude.

Is it possible to change your domain name and e-mail that are displayed when someone does a query into your name?

You can change the info, but anyone can access that. Should you lose your pass, you are screwed.

That's totally wrong.

How?

Not my doing, sorry.

@Godfather: Let me sleep on it.

You'd need to drop the nick and re-register, use a spam email.

Love this thread.

Thread loves you, Vaati.

You might want to add the process for nick-changing when the channel is +N; I didn't see it on a quick glance through, and a lot of people are whining about it.

1) /part #nsider2forums
2) /nick newnickhere
3) /join #nsider2forums

I just "attended" chat for the first time and after getting disconnected a dozen or so times because of "Nickname collision" I am inclined to ask what exactly does that mean and what am I supposed to do about it. I read this guide and looked through the faq on the IRC website but am still not completely clear.

Was I being impersonated or something?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Sorries, this is like my first time using an IRC chat and I am completely clueless about most everything.

@Nweb- So the name Nweb was taken? It could mean someone on that channel was using that name or registered that name, henceforth you couldn't use it... However, if you try again and do get through with your desired name I'd say register it fairly quickly with the command (I belive it's /msg nickserv register NAMEHERE). But check me on that.

@Mack- So you like plastering this thread on any and every site with IRC? =p Jay kay, you made an awesome FAQ, one that Hadaway and I'm sure here will use for a while.

All right, thanks. Looks like I managed to stop getting kicked out; that's good .

Actually, NWEB, I own your nick. I gathered a bunch up when the channel opened, as Taytay should know. Sorry for an inconvenience, this was just so nothing would happen as you suspected.

@Mush: Uh, no, I am NS2 chat staff, actually, just like I was staff for #hadaway, back in the day. I plaster this guide all over to help people, and keep my sanity, however, this one is much more detailed than had's.....not that Hadaway is up.

I was joking Mack.. ;_; And yes, Hadaway is down... Stupid bots turned hackors...

It wasn't the bot, by my best bet, but that is another story.

Ok, I am getting an extremely frustrating issue with the chat. Whenever I open it, I get a popup, which used to appear just fine, but it now comes up as an empty box, and I can only close it, which disallows me from entering the chat.

Edit: Nevermind, I managed to navigate the box to hit "yes" even though I couldn't see it.

I might as well point out that since Chatspike changed servers, some commands changed as well. Nick linking doesn't work the way it used to. You have to change your nick to the desired link and then use the "/msg nickserv group" command.

You might also want to add a section on ghosting, in case of impersonators.

We have discussed the server update, I am just busy elsewhere as of now, so, I am only getting to it now.

In the IRC, I registered using the /nickserv register mypasswordhere my@email.here command and I got an email. I now have to put a command /msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER Wedge [omitted] into the IRC, but when I do it says I have not registered or I am not connected. What do I do?

It's pretty much just not letting me connect at all.

Are you sure it's "VERIFY REGISTER" and not "Auth" followed by a special number?

I copy/pasted so I'm pretty sure.

Be a little more specific, please. Is the problem that fact that you can't register, or the fact that you can't connect in order to register?

What message does the client give you when it doesn't connect?

You need to check your email, last I saw it was AUTH CODE.

I feel special now. :^D

Channel Change, expect updates.

WHat attached Network should I use for Nsider2?

NS2 is on Chatspike, if that is what you are asking.

Yes I got my Own cilent called Chatzilla for Netscape.

So do I type /attach "ChatSpike"?

I know other people have had this problem, but I forgot how to fix it.

Alright, I forgot to log in with the /ns id password thing when I logged in, so it made me guest<insert numbers> and wouldn't allow me to log in or whatever. So, I disconnected to reconnect and then log in, but now it won't let me connect at all under the basis of "John_Pinkerton reserved nickname: Registered nickname." I can't connect or anything, and therefore cannot id myself.

I am not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to the stuff, so make it simple please


Edit: I was able to get in and ID today, but I still need an answer incase that happens again.

Once somebody gets kicked off of your nick for not being able to ID, it locks up. It's rather simple to fix.

Use the command "/ns release username password", obviously inserting your nick and pass where appropriate. After that, just /nick and ID as normally.

Whenever I try to enter #nsider2forums through the Chatspike client, it keeps on saying that it's an invite-only network. So what do I do to remedy this problem?

Sorry if this was reviewed in the introduction; I skimmed it but couldn't find anything.

Ah, yes. Our channel has moved to #NS2, I need to update that.

Thank ya for everything.

Hi, mods. Don't edit my threads without asking. If you don't like the title, live with it. If one of you can take the time out of your busy schedules to make a guide, let alone show up in chat, feel free to do so. Until then, don't mess with my guides.

Much obliged ^_____________________^

Mackormoses

Wow. I can't believe that someone didn't know the reference. ._.;