Today i have decided to review a network a little closer to home. A few months ago, i was asked to join a network ofwhich i had never heard of before by a couple of people i’d known from other networks. Considering i’d never heard of it, i decided to go check it out and later became a network manager on the network.
ChatFTW is not just A network, its THE network! Not only do we provide a rich, feature-filled service, but we learn from mistakes and continue to improve the service day by day! What does this mean? This means that you and your users can rest assure you have a nice, peaceful chatroom with no hassle to use!
Source: http://chatftw.com/
The network attracts a majority of users from across the world although its mostly users that have an interest in technology or games. There is no specific theme or topic to this network, therefore a majority of its channels are based on groups/communities/games or even websites. I asked the network owner for his description of the network. He said the following:
We specalize in making things easier for people who may not have a great knowledge of irc
Source: Joseph Kankowski (JoeK) – Founder of ChatFTW
During my time on the network, i decided to have a look at a few communities that run on the network. I immediatly became attracted by a channel named #lwtv and was interested to find out what this was. LWTV is a website that shows live streams of Live Wrestling on certain days of the week and replays at other times. I was amazed a few weeks ago to find over 300 users in the channel on the IRC Network talking about the streams they were watching on the website. You can visit the website at http://www.lw-tv.com/. The second channel that i decided to have a look at was #bnc4free which specializes in giving away free irc bouncers completly free of charge to users. The channel itself contain on average 30 users but can often attract more or less depending on whats going on with BNC4FREE. A fair number of users in this channel are often directed to it by the website which you can visit at http://bnc4free.com/
Networks are usually no good without a good staff team or stable servers, so this is exactly what i decided to investigate next. I was immediatly able to identify that the network is using Atheme Services and includes NickServ, ChanServ, MemoServ, BotServ and HostServ features. Not only does the network have IRC Services, but they can also be remotely managed via http://manage.chatftw.com/ which is due to be updated sometime very soon to allow more functionality. I also discovered that the network collects statistics using the infamous statistics utility called Denora (PHP Denora). The network also has a service known as AlertServ which allows the user to call staff to a channel using a command. Due to the fact i am a network manager on this network, i’ve ended up meeting and talking with all the staff at some point. From my personal experience, i found the staff were very aware of how to run a irc network and are able to support users efficiently however some of the time, it can take a while to get a response. Many of the network staff also double up as developers and have helped to developer the new web services panel and the main website itself.
Just like every review i carry out, it would be completly wrong of me not to look into the ircd side of things. So guess what i did next…. I was able to discover that they are using InspIRCd version 1.2 and do support %, & and ~ prefixes. The network does support the host cloaking mode which can be enabled and disabled. The server-side ignore command (/silence) is also available aswell as the infamous callerid module that you can use if people attempt to send you messages. The network also supports SSL connections on port 6697 and normal client connections on 6667, 6668, 6669 and 7500.
User and channel wise, the network is an average sized network. At the time of writing this report there were 85 users connected to the network and a total of 80 channels in use. There were also 6 operators online. The network has a total of 6 servers. One of these services is entirely for services and nothing else. Another server runs Denora which is used to produce the statistics at http://stats.chatftw.com/ while another server provided AlertServ and a few other features for network operators. The other 3 servers are located in the United States and currently hold the networks users. All of these servers are ran by Operators on the network and are extremly stable.
Overall, my opinion on this network is that the network itself is extremly stable and secure. if your looking for people who like technology, games or a base for your community, then this sounds like the ideal place for you. If your looking for people who enjoy pokemon, teletubbies or hosting porn, then this probably isnt the place for you. The likely hood of you having problems on the network are minimal but if you do, its pretty certain the support team will kindly assist you as soon as possible.
If you like the sound of this network, you can connect to it via irc.chatftw.com on one the ports specified earlier in this review. Thanks for reading!
Category Networks |
Recently in the depths of IRC, i came across a network that i have honestly never heard of before. Considering i’d never heard of it, i decided to go check it out and was surpised at what i found…..
Omerta (also known as Barafranca to some) is a gaming network provided by Omerta Game Limited. Omerta is a text-based massive multiplayer RPG game, based on the stories about the legendary don Barafranca.
Source: http://barafranca.com/
The network attracts a wide range of users from across the world for all kinds of different reasons. Despite the fact the network is owned and based on a game, there are a selection of people that have channels on the irc network unrelated to the game itself or anything gaming related. I also decided to do a bit of poking around the network to see how the wide range of people on the network using different languages communicate with each other. I immediatly discovered that there are around 5 network support channels (1 for each language) and that some of the main or big channels on the network also had done the same.
After discovering the users and channels , i decided to take a look at their network services and staff. I was immediatly able to identify that the network is using Atheme Services and has NickServ and ChanServ working however there is no BotServ or HostServ. Due to some issues regarding a non-profit bnc organisation that i run, i ended up meeting one of the operators of the network called ‘Patrynunes’. From my personal experience, i found that he was extremly helpful and was able to understand the situation and look into some problems. He even provided me with his email address so i could email him if i had any more problems, which is more than most networks would do!
I decided i would also poke the ircd side of things to see what ircd they were running. I was able to discover that they are using InspIRCd version 1.2 and do support %, & and ~ prefixes. They also appear to use oper prefixes (mode +y or !) however i have only seen these used on services such as ChanServ so far. The network does support the host cloaking mode and even enforced its on hosts on registered nicks (usually yournick.users.omerta). The server-side ignore command (/silence) is also available aswell as the infamous callerid module that you can use if people attempt to send you messages. I was unable to gain a list of ports from the network but have been told that it supports SSL connections on port 6679 and normal client connections on 6667 or 8080
User and channel wise, the network is actually quite a large one. At the time of writing this report there were 1674 users connected to the network and a total of 3926 channels in use. There were also 19 operators online. However a network this size, has quite a big problem. The network only has 2 servers in total. One of these services is entirely for services and nothing else. The other server currently holds all 1674 or more users and channels and could die at anytime. In my opinion, i would consider the network unstable for the reason however in the few weeks that i’ve been connected, the server has only ever gone down once and that could of been a one off!
Overall, my opinion on this network is that the network itself is based on one game but does have off topic area’s. if your looking to start a business on the network or start a channel about tech stuff, then it probably isnt the place for you. If your looking for people who like games and would be willing to play other games, then i would recommend this network. The likely hood of you having problems on the network are minimal but if you do, its pretty certain the support team will kindly assist you as soon as possible.
If you like the sound of this network, you can connect to it via irc.barafranca.com on one the ports specified earlier in this review. Thanks for reading!
Experience
Category Networks |
Latest news from GeeksIRC!
As of July 28, 2010, the GeeksIRC IRC Network has officially merged into the InfinityIRC IRC Network!
As you all know, IRCReview has been a part of both communities for a long time now, and we wish them the best of luck in this merger, so make sure to update your client’s settings to connect to irc.infinityirc.com instead of irc.geeksirc.com!
During this merger, it should be noted that the passwords on all GeeksIRC registered nicks need to be reset, so please speak to InfinityIRC staff on doing this.
It should also be noted that all channels have been transferred seamlessly, the only thing you’ll need to learn is the new IRCd, UnrealIRCd as GeeksIRC ran InspIRCd, while InfinityIRC runs a modified UnrealIRCd, please be sure to check with the staff on learning the different modes, commands, etc.
Remember to come check out IRCReview on irc.ircreview.net #IRCReview or irc.technoirc.net #IRCReview for better lagtime or any other network we’re currently on, as well as join #support on irc.ircreview.net for getting your network added or letting us know on anything new.
Tags: change, geeksirc, infinityirc, ircd, merger, merges, news, with
Category Headlines, Networks |
Hello everyone.
Unfortunate that some networks have to cause such trouble for IRCReview, but, they do and they have again.
IRCReview has hereby pulled from LogicLounge for the following reasons;
- Network operators who tell users to leave
- Abuse of oper power
- Spamfiltering and blocking our name for no reason
- Banning our relay bot for no reason
- Suspending our channel for no reason
There are many other reasons we discourage the use of LogicLounge of which I will not list today, but IRCReview rates LogicLounge IRC 0 stars out of 10.
Please join #ircreview on irc.ircreview.net or irc.technoirc.net should you have any questions.
~ Elijah
Tags: abusive, banning, from, irc, ircreview, logiclounge, no, opers, pulls, reason, suspending
Category Networks |
Hello everyone.
I am proud to announce that after several months of downtime, our Internetwork Relayer is now back online! We welcome everyone to join our chatroom from any of the networks we are linked on, as well as visit #support on irc.ircreview.net to request we be linked to your network.
Announcements:
After some discussion with the staff of InfinityIRC, IRCReview has lifted the ban for them, we have been relinked to them now.
Due to excessive spamming, as well as oper abuse, we have pulled from ZTecNet and have banned them from linking to us for now.
IRCReview calls the official IRCReview network (irc.ircreview.net) our home network. Here you can join in the relay in #ircreview or get support in #support.
Our staff is currently: Me, Matthew, iYorkie, Chazz, cooper, Brenden and Iqbal — We currently have one opening, please speak to us in #IRCReview if you are interested.
Best Regards,
~ Elijah Perrault
~ IRCReview Owner
Tags: ban, banned, been, from, has, infinityirc, ircreview, lifted, revived, ztecnet
Category Featured, Headlines, Networks, Services |
We would like to welcome a new network to the list of IRC Networks to review, IRC5709 (Community name 5709) to IRCReview! The owners of this community are Shadow and juju2143/Kirby. The services that this network provides are: WebChat (Provided by Mibbit), Shells, and ZNC. We would like to all welcome IRC5709! You can visit them by connecting @ irc.5709.org
Category Networks |
I thought I’d make a quick post to inform you of our current staff and network list.
Staff:
Owners:
Bloggers/Editors:
- Brenden
- Iqbal
- Mitchell (Cooper)
- Jonathan (Greggaz)
- Jordan (iYorkie)
Networks:
Tags: ircreview, Networks, staff
Category General |
I thought I’d write a quick post to inform you on IRCReviews current status. As of now, all that’s holding us back is the VPS we preordered a few weeks ago. Without the VPS we aren’t able to offer our relay service, IRC Network, or continue in the development of our crawler service. However, the VPS /should/ be up soon, so please just remain patient. The good news is, a good friend of mine provided us with this great hosting of our main site. Oh, and, we are soon going to release an application process to be added to our reviewed networks, so expect that soon. On behalf of the entire IRCReview crew, thanks for reading!
Tags: ircreview, Update
Category General |
Since we haven’t written about McInTEC in a while, I thought I’d post some small updates. Recently, McInTEC gained a new server which is now connectable at frisket.mcintec.net. Also, McInTEC is proud to announce that there are soon going to be a few new custom online and irc side services soon, more information on this will follow later into the development. With all that in mind, as always, if you have any questions about McInTEC, feel free to connect to irc.mcintec.net #mcintec
Tags: mcintec, updates
Category Networks |
IRCReview is proud to announce that it’s owners network is switching to InspIRCd and Atheme IRC Services sometime within the next month. The decision was made on user input (by vote), and the results were: UnrealIRCd – 5 ~ InspIRCd – 12 || Anope – 7 ~ Atheme – 10. As you can see, InspIRCd won by far but Atheme was very close. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to connect to TechnoIRC @ irc.technoirc.net
Tags: atheme, inspircd, technoirc
Category Networks |
