Joining HQ's Chat & Chat Voice

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Nemesis
Director of Synchronous Communication Channels
Posts: 454
Joined: Feb 2, '23

Joining HQ's Chat & Chat Voice

Post by Nemesis »

RPGHQ uses Internet Relay Chat (IRC) for synchronized communications among users. We do not have a Discord server.

Our official channel is #rpghq on the Rizon network. Anyone can join, but nickname registration and authentication are strongly encouraged.

Forum rules apply to the channel: Be civil, no spamming, English only. What’s not allowed on the forum is also not allowed on IRC.

NETWORK SETTINGS

US server: irc.rizon.net
EU server: irc.defineya.com
SSL Ports: 6697 or 9999

Additional servers can be found here.



IRC SOFTWARE

If you are a Windows or Linux user, we strongly recommend using Hexchat, a third-party chat client that has a friendly graphical user interface and a variety of settings to help automate connecting and authenticating (more on that later) to a number of IRC networks. You can also customize the client with themes.

Other GUIs: Terminal Web-based
  • RPGHQ provides a web-based chat client through The Lounge.


The following instructions will be presented from the point of view of a Hexchat user. The steps should be the same for most IRC clients.

CONNECTING TO RIZON

Note: If you aren't using Hexchat or already know how to automatically connect to Rizon and auto-join channels, you can skip this section.
► Connection Guide

AUTHENTICATION WITH RIZON

As mentioned before, anyone can join #rpghq, but the ability to chat (or have voice) is granted to users who've registered and authenticated a nickname with the Rizon server.

Authentication mitigates spamming, assists with user disciplining (should the need arise), and allows channel operators to utilize Rizon's bot services, such as autovoicing.
► Authentication guide

USER MODES

Limit who can send you private messages

Rizon allows users to limit who can send them private messages with its +g mode.

On IRC, enter /mode yourNickName +g and the mode will be active. This can be automated with Hexchat or other client. When someone messages you, Rizon will send a notification about a pending message. Enter /accept nickName whitelist the user.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I joined the channel. Why don't have I voice?

Have you registered and authenticated your nickname?

Yes, I authenticated and rejoined the channel. Why don't I have voice?

Read "Notify the operators" in the Authentication Guide above.

I pinged them and they haven't responded.

Then you must wait.

I registered my nickname, but I can't identify. What am I doing wrong?

Make sure you've entered the confirmation code Rizon sent to the address you used to register. You will know the registration was successful if you enter /msg NickServ IDENTIFY yourPassword and the service responds with a successful message.

If that didn't work, you likely have a typo in the email or password.

There was a typo with my email or password. How do I fix that?

You will need to wait--likely 24 hours--until Rizon drops the registration request for the nickname you want. You can also choose another nickname and go through the process again.

I have two nicknames that I want to group under the same email address. How do I do that?

You can use NickServ's GROUP command, which is as follows

/msg NickServ GROUP nickNameYouWantToAdd passwordForDesiredNick

Let's see this in action.

You can group as many nicks as you want to an email. Consider the following scenario:

Say you've registered the nickname ILoveRPGs with the password ILoveRPGs123 and want to also use IHateRPGs.

First, make sure you've identified yourself with the ILoveRPGs nickname:

/nick ILoveRPGs
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY ILoveRPGs123

Now, enter:

/msg NickServ GROUP IHateRPGs IHateRPGs123.

This will register the IHateRPGs nickname with the IHateRPGs123 password to the same email you used to register ILoveRPGs.

Now you can identify with either and do any housekeeping, i.e. resetting or changing a password, for them.

I use the web-based client, and I keep getting disconnected. How can I stop this?

If you use the web-based client, you are likely connecting directly from your home ISP. Some internet providers do not play well with IRC networks. We recently encountered an issue where an EU-based user tried connecting to a US-based Rizon server and kept pinging out. We remedied the issue by having the user connect to an EU-based Rizon network.

If you've tried that, and it doesn't work, then there might be an issue with your home network, which is out of our hands.

I use the web-based client on my phone, and I keep getting disconnected. What gives?

If you put your phone to sleep, there is a chance the action puts the tabs from your device's default browser into some form of "idle mode," which will disconnect you automatically. Using a paid service like IRCCloud and its app will remove this problem.

Every time I join, I can't see previous messages. I want history. Discord has history.

If you want history, you will need to take additional steps that are more advanced for the average IRC user. These include:
  • Setting up a bouncer, which is a "proxy" that connects to the network on your behalf. You can picture it this way: you <-(optionally connected)-> bouncer <-(always connected)-> network.
  • Switching to a terminal client and running it in a multiplexer, like screen or tmux, on a VPS. If none of this sounds interesting, then this isn't a valid option.
  • Paying for a service like IRCCloud, which handles nearly everything mentioned in this guide: authentication, history, and mobile and web-based access.
  • Keeping your computer on and never closing the chat
    client.
If you are interested in trying these options, the advanced chatters in the channel can offer advice.

If none of these options seems viable, then don't worry about history.

Why won't you guys use Discord?
Read
this
in its entirety.
Last edited by Nemesis on December 17th, 2023, 16:11, edited 7 times in total.
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rusty_shackleford
Site Admin
Posts: 8918
Joined: Feb 2, '23

Post by rusty_shackleford »

Chat is currently voice-only mode, if you don't get voice when you join it's because your stupid ass hasn't registered your nick yet. Do it already.
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rusty_shackleford
Site Admin
Posts: 8918
Joined: Feb 2, '23

Post by rusty_shackleford »

Clarified that you aren't supposed to include the brackets for big-brains like @Lhynn.
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