Live chat location for interactive fiction talk?

Hi again! I was wondering recently if there’s any place people in this community go to discuss interactive fiction and related topics live: IRC, a Discord channel, something like that. I recall hearing about some MUD that apparently used to be the main chat location, but I don’t know how to access it or if it’s even still relevant.

If there’s no such place these days, might there be a demand for one? I know I’d certainly hang out in there.

Check out info on the MUD here. There’s also a Euphoria room.

Ah, thanks!

Any reason for those venues, rather than IRC (which would personally be more accessible)?

I think the MUD was chosen because it emulates an old-school IF environment. The Euphoria room was started more recently as an experiment, and web apps are more flashy (and often newbie-friendly) than IRC servers. But the MUD is used effectively as IRC most of the time; it even has an IRC-style system of channels.

The euphoria chat is very active, except on weekends. As for discord, several people on euphoria have talked about it, so there might be some people to talk to there

Alright. I’m just waiting for my password email so I can join the MUD (I hope I didn’t mistype my address… does it usually take a while?).

I recently got into Discord (mentioned in the top post) due to No Man’s Sky. It’s pretty badass. Especially if it’ll include voice chat.

Just saying. The IRC channel is … I’m not sure if that’s the way to go moving forward.

In my experience, the Euphoria group is a GREAT community… unless you are me. If you are me, you’ll feel alienated by the environment there and more tolerated than accepted. But most people aren’t me and are prolly gonna have fun.

I feel tolerated most places I go. But I’m greatly enjoying the Euphoria group so far (which is good, because I still haven’t gotten an ifMUD password email).

@owlor ): is there a particular reason why? (if you don’t mind saying - here or elsewhere - no pressure intended)

Now I’ve finally gotten into ifMUD. Apparently there was a problem which has since been (or will be?) fixed regarding sending password emails to Gmail.

So, now I’m all set up in BeipMU. I look forward to hanging out with you all there as well as Euphoria. :smiley:

The reason I’ve been reluctant to address it is just that it requires outing something about myself that I don’t like talking about. But since this is kind of an important thing to consider from an accessibility perspective, here goes: I got Aspberger, high-functioning ASD. And one of the things this means is that I have trouble interacting with people if I have to do a lot of guessing what their intentions are. Things like heavy use of irony or figurative language… it’s not that I can’t deal with it, but I have to parse it more consciously than perhaps is the norm.

What this means in practical terms is that to be comfortable in a community, I have to feel that it’s okay to “not get it”. Cus I’m not always going to get it. And I’ve been outright told in the Euphoria channel that asking people to be a bit more straightforward is going against the purpose of the room. And if that’s the case, I can’t use it!

I don’t wanna give the impression that I want everybody to talk in robo-speak, just that you can’t assume everyone will pick up on hidden implications, unwritten rules, unspoken agreements and several layers of irony. I think that’s a good idea in general; mental quirks aside, I’m also a newbie and aren’t gonna pick up on those things right away.

Does having this in mind ruin peoples sense of community? That’s the impression I’ve been given: that people have to feel like everyone around them will be able to intuit what they mean by an ambiguous statement or else they don’t get the sense of camaraderie they are after. And again: if that’s the requirement for being part of a community, I cannot be a part of it, cus I can’t always do that.

That seems… uncharacteristically rude of the Euphoria room, and of this community in general. It’s really unfortunate that that was the impression you were given, because that wasn’t the experience I’ve had at all: the room, just like this forum, seems to me to be full of understanding people who are friendly and patient.

Maybe you should give it another shot? If not, that’s okay; I understand. But I know I’d be sad if you or anyone were put off from it like that.

I sense a tangent, and also I would like to add that I do not speak for the mod of &if. I’m sorry you had that experience ): People do get carried away, especially when emotions run high, and the real-time aspect of it makes regrettable speech devastatingly easy. Also some people have in-jokes with each other, so sometimes people’s messages sound downright cryptic (“just saw That thing you showed me” kinda messages). Just - if you’d ever like to give it a shot again, please know that you will definitely be welcome!

I had that experience WITH the mod of &if, which is kind of the problem. It wasn’t like we had a big fight, they just made it clear that there’s a “we” in this chatroom, and that “we” does not include me. This has not been a problem with anyone else, they have been very welcoming and while there are in-jokes, I’ve never felt alienated for not “getting it”… except by the mod.

It’s pretty likely they misspoke, but as a mod, their words carry more weight in this context than that of some random users’. And in any case, it leaves me with kind of a bad impression of the room, like the good times I’ve had there and the awesome people I’ve met happened in spite of the intended vision of the community, not because of it.

Hi Owlor! idk if you’ll remember me (no worries if not!), but I remember seeing you around in euphoria. I know I speak for myself and at least a handful of others when I say your presence there was enjoyed.

I also fall on the autistic spectrum, and I can empathize deeply with feeling like many places aren’t hospitable to people with our kind of social peculiarities. For whatever reason, I seem to have a lot easier time picking up on irony and jokes and the like than a lot of people who are also on the spectrum; my social issues tend to be more on the side of self expression. If you ever wanted to give euphoria another try, I’d be more than happy to help clarify, to the best of my ability, the intent of things said in there you’re unsure of through PMs or something. I have done similar things for people in the past and have not minded at all. There have been sooo many times where I wished I had someone to ask “hey, how did I come off here?”, so I’d be really happy to help someone in a sort of similar way. I also pretty much live on my computer, hehhh, so I’m around a lot.

I’ve been a regular in euphoria for a while now, and have interacted a lot with the mod in question. I know that mod is very dedicated to making euphoria, and IF in general, a welcoming and more diverse space. I very much doubt he would be unreceptive to a conversation from someone on the spectrum about things that could aid in that goal. I’m happy to have that conversation with him, and if you think it would help you and not cause too much stress, I encourage you to reach out as well. I am sorry your bad experience has been the catalyst for this, but hopefully it will lead to healing and making euphoria a more pleasant experience for everyone.

If you’d like updates on how that conversation goes, please let me know. :slight_smile:

Yeah, that’s worth mentioning, there’s always gonna be SOMEBODY who feels excluded. Make the most open and welcoming community and some asshole will be mad they can’t use slurs as commas.

But when picking out a tone you’re trying to set for a community, it’s worth keeping in mind who it’s going to exclude. What gets to me is that I don’t really see a reason why I wouldn’t fit in. A version of the chatroom I WOULD feel at home with would look almost identical to one I wouldn’t. The most tangible difference would be that I would be there.

Thank you, that’s a generous offer. I’d rather not make a bigger deal about it than it already is, however. And he obviously doesn’t like being told how to run his own forum. Eventually, I’m gonna need to ask around for beta-readers (I have a couple of good ones already, but I’m gonna need a pair of fresh eyes for the new draft) and I might pop in. I’m not boycotting it by any means, and I wouldn’t kick up a fuss if I didn’t feel it was a great community at its core. :slight_smile:

Well… uh…

I think I’m going to make an interactive fiction IRC channel soon. I haven’t decided where, but it’ll probably be on Esper or something. Once I do, anyone is welcome to go there if they’re interested. I know the sentiment from earlier was that IRC wasn’t necessarily the best venue, but I figure more venues are better than fewer, right…?

Isn’t there already an IRC channel? I remember going there a couple of times.

I appreciate that you have come out of this (somewhat harrowing) thread on-topic and with a plan to do the thing you wanted in the first place. :slight_smile:

Seriously, thank you.