Do Gaming IRC Servers Go Live

Telkom Do Gaming's local Internet Relay Chat (IRC) server, Xiphos, is once again available on the Shadowfire IRC network.

The server is hosted on the Telkom network and allows users better chatting experience with improved response times and accessibility using local-only ADSL bandwidth. This makes it easier for players to discuss gaming news, organise clan matches and join pickups using their Telkom Do Broadband ADSL account.

Furthermore, Telkom Do Gaming has also made it easier for players outside of South Africa to get involved with the South African community and game together, through the setting up of a new IRC server, Hercules.Shadowfire.ORG. This server is hosted in Germany.

What is IRC?

South African gamers who play online competitions and get involved in the community are usually easily found most of the day on IRC. IRC chat servers can be accessed through a number of chat programs, and allow for group and one-on-one chat.

IRC can also be used to facilitate the organisation of pickup matches. A pickup match is a type of game played in the style of competitive clan matches (or "scrims"). These matches are open to anybody and typically last about 30 minutes. Gamers sign up for the match on IRC and when the game is full, a private message is sent to everyone who is in the game telling them what server to connect to.

In games like Call of Duty 4, Counter Strike: Source and so on, gamers play pickup games in mixed teams of five, for one map, following clan match rules. This is a fantastic way to start learning the ropes of competitive play, and experienced players use this to improve their skills as well.

Gamers who want to get involved with the community and play can join the rest of the online players by connecting to the Shadowfire network with a program such as mIRC.

Once connected to the Shadowfire network, players will be able to join pickup matches for their favourite games as well as communicate with other players about matches and the latest news. The two servers mentioned above are now available for gamers to use.

How to connect

Obviously, step one is to download and install mIRC at this link.

Once mIRC is installed and opened, a pop-up will appear to let the user choose a nickname (nick) and server.

Cick on “Servers” on the left hand side and find Shadowfire under “IRC Servers”. Then click on “Random server” and click 'edit'. A new box will pop-up. Change “IRC Server” to: xiphos.shadowfire.org, or Hercules.Shadowfire.ORG if outside South Africa.

Once connected, players need to register their nicknames. To do this, type:
/msg nickserv register <password> <email>. This prevents other people from using your nickname.

Valid email addresses need to be used in order to authenticate the nickname registration. Make sure a password that is easily remembered is used as well.

Gamers can connect to some popular channels for games as well as clans by typing:
/j <channel>. All the channels can be listed by typing in /list.

Game channels:
Counter-Strike Source - #csspickup
Call of Duty 4 - #cod4pickup
Heroes of Newerth - #HoN
Team Fortress 2 - #tf2
Twilight Gaming - #War3

Clans - channel:
Pantheon Gaming - #Pantheon
Brazen - #Brazen
miNt - #mint

Gamers can also join the Telkom Do Gaming channel at #dogaming.