Runes of Magic US / AU

If you know all of this already, skip to question #5 for the network info and see you soon on IRC. Everyone else, have a good read.
I've tried to make it not sound like the usual boring walls of text most FAQs are.

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• Q01: What the F...hell is IRC? I've never heard of that.
  A: [Insert Shameless Wikipedia Plug ]
  Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a protocol for live interactive Internet text messaging (chat) or synchronous conferencing.
  It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer [...]IRC was created in 1988.
  
  TL;DR: It's a chat system. IRC itself is old, but good and known to be working well. To your next question, no it's not a voice chat.
  
  
• Q02: Why do i need that?
  A: To directly have a nice chat with other users, including the mentors and CM Mika when available. A livechat is an approach for literally direct communication.
  If you're able to speak French, Spanish, Polish, [Italian - soon] or German you can also visit the channels for the other languages.
  
  And maybe you even get to watch rare events unfold, like these:
  [20:14:48] <@Mika> I so need to get drunk one nite and come here
  [20:15:07] <Yoman> might be fun
  [20:15:15] <@Mika>
  
  (has not happened - yet! Rumor has it we need atleast 40-50 users in the channel - currently it's more like 20-30)
  
  
  
• Q03: Why are you writing all of this?
  A: I was ...volunteered :/
  
  [...]
  [20:16:20] <@Mika> I know someone who can write few awesome guides
  [20:16:24] * @Mika points at Yoman
  [20:16:25] <@Mika> :p
  [20:16:39] <Yoman> am i so easy to predict?
  
  TL;DR: beware of mind readers. IRC is full of them.
  
  
• Q04: Now I really want to see what's going on there - how do I get on IRC? I'm absolutely clueless with computers.
  A: Just use the webchat URL with your browser: Runes of Magic IRC - WebChat
  Enter your nickname and hit connect. You will be directly connected into the #runesofmagic.us Channel. Which is... the RoM US Channel.
  Alternatively do the same with the IRC Chat button up in the forum home, but you'll have to click on "WebChat" first , so it's one click more.
  I woulddn't recommend the Java version because ... well, it needs the Java plugin and stuff like that is often blocked on work computers and the WebIRC version just works smoothly
  
  
• Q05: Cut it already, I know how to use IRC. Where is the network and channel Info so I can connect with an actual irc client?
  A: See this post from our lovely board admin Elayas.
  For advanced users: SSL Ports are 6697 and 7776. If you want to connect via IPv6 use ipv6.onlinegamesnet.net as server.
  SSL+IPv6 connect combined is also supported.
  
  
  
• Q06: I would like to use an IRC Client instead of this webchat thingie. But I've never used one before and I have no idea what I'm doing. How does all this work?
  A: This will take a bit longer and for better understanding I'll be providing pictures of what's going on.
  Take a look in the other thread please: [IRC Tutorial] #2 - Installation and Configuration of mIRC - for Dummi...everyone!
  
  
  
• Q07: But you didn't mention any clients or tutorials for Linux/MacOS/iOS/Android/Windows RT?
  How do I get on IRC with my uber-leet smartphone/tablet/strangeOS?
  
  A:
  If you manage to run Linux on your own you should be able to use an IRC client.
  "irssi" all the way is my suggestion. Or plain old XChat if you can't handle console.
  For MacOS I've seen a lot of people use "Colloquy".
  A good iOS client is also called "Colloquy" but the iOS version costs ~$2.50.
  Android has "AndChat".
  For Windows RT I've only seen "FooIRC" so far which also costs $1.49 .
  
  Unfortunately I'm unable to give explicit tutorials for all these OSes but the basic principles and commands (see other thread) apply everywhere on IRC.
  Most common issue: configuring autoconnect/commands on connect.
  Try the respective wikis. We'll just cover mIRC.
  

Quoted

[16:08:57] <ruisen2000_> I saw your thread on forums for installing IRC, but I'm confused why it has to be installed?
[16:09:44] <ruisen2000_> Is the installed one better then just using it on the web?
[16:09:49] <Yoman> yes
[...]
[16:13:05] <Millencolin> its kinda like using browserRoM or clientRoM
[16:13:11] <Yoman> yeah

mIRC is the most popular and easy-to-use IRC client for Windows systems.
It's Shareware and has a trial period of 30 days, but even after 30 days it will only pop up a short nag screen on every program start.
You can literally use it forever without problems.

IF you ever decide to buy it at any point look inside - totally optional!

Usually it's supposed to cost $20 but the program itself offers a discount link to $15 after the trial period ends,
and a bit of google-FU brings up the following discount link which brings it down to $10.
This is not a ref-link or anything similar, just a coupon code to reduce the price of mIRC from S20 to $10 when buying on its own homepage.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's start installing and configuring it.

Grab your copy of mIRC here: http://www.mirc.com/get.html . The file will be called mirc(versionnumber).exe , currently mirc732.exe for mIRC 7.32.

Installation and Basic Configuration:

[TL;DR installation without pictures: Click next/agree on everything but UNCHECK "Servers List" when you encounter the list of components to install. Check "Run mIRC" at the end.]
Installation:


Open your downloaded mirc installer mircXXX.exe (XXX=versionnumber) and follow the pictures


Click Next.


Click "I Agree" to agree with the EULA.


Click "Next" or enter a different path.


UNcheck "Servers List" unless you know what you're doing. Makes life easier.
We only need a single server info and will add it manually, later.


Click "Next" again.


On the summary page of the install, just click "Install".


Check "Run mIRC" and click "Finish".
We're through the install process now (was easy, eh?) and will no move on to configuring mIRC to make it do as we please.

Configuration:


This window comes up directly after starting mIRC and will show how many days of the trial phase are left. If you ever want to buy it remember the spoiler from the top . Everyone else just click "Continue".


The next window will open now with some fields to fill in.
Nickname: your nickname.
Alternative: an alternative nickname in case your nickname is already taken. Most people use something like nickname_ .
Name: Enter anything. This field is usually called "real name" but just enter anything.
Email: Meant for entering an email adress, just enter something like "nick@" as seen on the screenshot.


Click on "Servers" on the left menu, which should leave you with an empty box (remember we unchecked "Servers List" ?). Click "Add" to add server info.
Enter the information like you see in the screenshot. I'll list it here again.
Description: OnlineGamesNet
IRC Server: irc.onlinegamesnet.net
Ports: 6667
Group: OnlineGamesNet
Password: Not needed unless you have an Auth account on OnlineGamesNet and want to make use of it directly. (see Auth Account thread - WIP ).

using the password field

If you have an Auth account on OnlineGamesNet and wish to use this field to instantly auth yourself during the connecting phase, enter your accountname and passwort as account : password in the password field.
So if your accountname is "test" and your password is "12345" enter "test:12345" - without the quotes and without spaces between.

Finally click "Add" and you'll see the servers group and the server for OnlineGamesNet have been added to your list.


Select the actual server like in the screenshot and hit "Select".


You are now back in the window where you previously entered your nickname among other things. Just hit "Connect".



The window shown in the screenshot should pop up. Just uncheck both options "Pop up favorites on connect" and "Enable join on connect".



If you've done everything correctly so far your mIRC window should look similar to this picture. Don't get confused by all the lines, these are status messages from the IRC server we just connected to and irrelevant to us.


We want to join the US Runes of Magic IRC channel that's what this is all about. Just type the following command into the chat prompt at the bottom:
/join #runesofmagic.us
A new window will open up showing that you are "Now talking in #runesofmagic.us" - the picture shows the basic principle but from the german channel because i'm reusing pictures from a german guide
On the upper left you'll see a switchbar which shows you in which channels you currently are. The treeview on the left side basically shows the same in a modern fashion.
In the actual channel window you'll see a list of nicknames on the right side - that is the current userlist of the channel. All users that are currently on this channel are shown there.
And on the bottom you'll have your chat prompt to enter text and other commands.

You've made it. You have now successfully installed mIRC and configured it to connect into the US RoM channel with your nickname - once. Now some tweaking of mIRC settings is up next to make it work permanently .


[Thanks @ Vayus (team member for various GF games like TERA, Ikariam and the new SKILL SF 2) for the pictures from the german guide you made, saved me some time]

We already managed to install mIRC and to configure it to connect to OnlineGamesNet and then we joined #runesofmagic.us - manually.
But we always want to join #runesofmagic.us when we start mIRC- automatically.

Additional settings:

Press Alt+O or go through the top menu via Tools>Options to open up the options menu.

Choose "Connect" and go into the submenu "Options"
Check "Connect on Startup" and after that click on "Perform".



You'll see this window coming up. Check "Enable perform on connect" and click "Add".


Not much to do here. Select the obvious, "OnlineGamesNet" and click OK.


It should now look like picture#2 but below Network: it should read OnlineGamesNet instead of "All Networks".
Now enter the channel(s) you would like to join on startup in the same way you joined #runesofmagic.us manually.
Usually you want to join at least #runesofmagic.us
Therefore type into the window, always one command per line:
/join #runesofmagic.us

( /join #whateverchannelyouwouldliketojoin ) -- you get the idea.




And one more convenience setting - usable Timestamps.

Click OK in the previous window to get back to the options menu.
Now choose "IRC" and the submenu "Messages".

Check the "Timestamp events" box and you will have timestamps in your chat. By default the timestamps only show hours and minutes.
I recommend replacing the default setting [HH:nn] with [HH:nn:ss] which will also show seconds.

Click OK again to save the changes.

Congratulations - you've installed mIRC, made it join into #runesofmagic.us - and now it will join the channel on startup.


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Up next in threads #3 and #4 : Auth Accounts (3) and IRC Command Overview (4). But first i need some sleep :p

Ah yeah and more layouting and other finetuning in thread1+2.