I decided to write up a little guide on how to get on the new network and what has changed:
1.1 Getting connected
The generic address for OFTC is irc.oftc.net. You will have to tell your IRC client to go there instead of quakenet. You can do this in different ways depending on your client, but most of the time you will get there with either the /server or the /connect commands; look at your IRC client's documentation if you don't know which one to use.
If your client has been set up as the handler for irc:// links (mIRC will in most cases do this), you may also click on [url=irc://irc.oftc.net/tycoon]irc://irc.oftc.net/tycoon[/url] or you may use the
chat applet provided by TT-Forums.
1.2 But I've got channels on Quakenet that I want to be in!
That's okay, most clients allow you to connect to more than one server at a time. Again, the commands to do this differ per client. In mIRC, you can use the -m switch to connect to a second server:
In irssi, it is default behavior of /connect to connect to a server without disconnecting from the current ones. Since I have no experience with the other clients, I can't say how to connect to other servers with them, but the documentation is sure to contain more information on the subject
However, we urge most channels that are in some way related to #tycoon to make the move with us! While we won't force anyone, the move has only been made after we were certain that at least a good part of the spin-off channels would make the move with us. You may be interested to know that ChanServ does not have criteria your channel will have to meet in order to have it registered, unlike L. Apart from that, the fact that OFTC is a lot more stable should be more than enough motivation for moving, really.
2. Authentication
While Quakenet has it's Q and L services that allow you to register yourself so you can control a channel or get operator or voice status automatically, OFTC has the NickServ and ChanServ services. These services are certainly similar, but there are a few key differences:
- NickServ allows you to register your nickname, not just your user account. If someone on the network steals your nickname, you can force them to be renamed to something arbitrary (i.e. "Guest2654") so that you may reclaim your nickname. This can be done by typing /msg nickserv regain nickname password
- In order to register yourself with the services, you have to type /msg nickserv register password e-mail. Note that you will have to be using the nickname you want as your primary nickname at the time you register, as that nickname will be the one you can recover through nickserv.
- On quakenet you would auth(enticate) yourself. On OFTC however, you will have to identify yourself. You do this by - you've probably guessed it - typing /msg nickserv identify password. You may also add your nickname to the end of that command if you're not currently using your registered nickname and it will automatically rename you. Also note that you may want to send the command to nickserv@services.oftc.net if you're paranoid or when you connect to multiple servers and you're using a script to automatically identify yourself when you're connecting to IRC.
3. Why did we move?
The idea of moving to irc.oftc.net has been floating around for quite some time now, but the actual move never happened because we couldn't really be bothered.
Lately however, Quakenet has seen increasing amounts of
net-splits. Net-splits happen when parts of the network get disconnected from other parts of the network, which basically causes a temporary split in the network. People connected to one part of a net-splitted network will not be able to see or talk to people unless those people are on the same part of the network. Because I suck at explaining this stuff properly, go and read up on the topic at
wikipedia if you want.
Quakenet has always been plagued by netsplits but lately the amount of times this has happened grew out of hand. This was partially due to maintenance to the servers, but that doesn't make it less annoying.
OFTC is (currently) a smaller network which is mostly used by Open Source projects, including [url=irc://irc.oftc.net/openttd]OpenTTD[/url]. In part because of it's smaller size but in part also due to the fact that OFTC seems to be operated by more competent people, OFTC is a lot more stable.
4. I got banned from #tycoon on quakenet!
If you got banned some time in the past on quakenet, you will still be able to get into the OFTC channel; Unless you've been so much of an annoyance that we've seen fit to ban you on OFTC as well. In essence this means you get a second chance.
Don't mess it up because we will ban you again if you've not learned your lesson.
If you're a regular and got banned somewhere around Sunday 13 January, this will probably have happened in order force people to move to the new network. We've banned everyone who had already made the move to OFTC. That way, we can be relatively certain that #tycoon on Quakenet will die out, because all the regulars won't be there any more.