When I decided to get back into gaming, the one fantasy setting I had in mind was Greyhawk. A career change saw me suddenly using IRC 24/7, something I hadn't done since the late 90s. I found Canonfire, realized I'd missed what seemed a sort of golden age of Greyhawk online, but was comforted to discover #greytalk existed.
Sadly I found #greytalk devoid of conversation. Even on the advertised Thursday nights, the few people in channel said little. Fortunately able to idle in the channel at all times, I managed to spot a few conversations, maybe once or twice get involved myself... The few of us all agreed it would be nice to see some more activity. Maybe not to the extent once experienced - but enough to keep us entertained once or twice a week.
I can't take much, if any, credit for it. But things, as some of you are aware, have improved of late. Thursday nights are becoming lively again. Tonight as a simple analysis of the logs since I first entered #greytalk, where I've been idling 24/7 since May 2015, I checked the number of lines of conversation per month, and here are the results:
I've written a bot to help manage the channel / entertain us. @boccob manages the topic (!topic), allows (so far, basic) searching of the Greyhawk Wiki (!gwiki<search terms>), allows you to read as far back as 300 lines of conversation you might have missed (!replay<2-300>), and can tell you the last time a user's nick was seen in channel (!seen<nick>).
For fun, @boccob will very very rarely say or share something humorous related to the conversation, and supports the ironic !story command, for those times someone gets on their soapbox or has everyone rapt.
Additional features are being added, and requests are considered.
All of which is an extended way of inviting everyone to give #greytalk a try. We've been having some great conversations in a friendly atmosphere.
We're most active Thursday nights, generally starting around 9pm Eastern. Occasional chat can be found Fridays around 1pm Eastern. Some of us are trying to get chat going on Tuesdays after 8 or 9pm Eastern.
Last edited by lamashtu on Thu May 05, 2016 8:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
There is some sort of shock to the heart of Greyhawk fandom going on right now. Perhaps it is just the pacemakers we are all old enough to have had installed just kicking in.
I can't echo the sentiments in this thread loudly enough. I think GreyTalk is a very important part of keeping the World of Greyhawk alive and well. It demonstrates to those newcomers to the game that are curious about the setting that it is something current and vibrant (in the absence of officially licensed support). Likewise, it demonstrates to those familiar with the game setting that there is more to the Canonfire! community than our active forums. It is a dynamic place where such individuals can exchange ideas and opinions about the Oerth and have their enthusiasm for the setting re-energized.
That said, I think that Lamashtu is being very modest when he defers any credit for GreyTalk's recent renaissance. He has been instrumental in its resurgence with his work on the chat from both a technical and a social perspective. I believe he deserves a well-deserved round of applause from each of us that enjoy it every Thursday eve!
I enjoy Greytalk quite a bit. Good folks. And Lamashtu's Boccob-Bot is very helpful -- just sits quietly by (for the most part) until you call him for assistance.
I'll be at a conference in Texas the week after next, so I'll try to join #greytalk again on the 28th. I've definitely popped in now and again, but I'm an infrequent chatter at best these days..... _________________ Allan Grohe<br />https://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html<br />https://grodog.blogspot.com/
boccob told me we hit a new record of concurrent users. i was busy watching my boys be humiliated by Real Madrid, but the #greytalk idlers club sure is glad to see so many people coming by!
boccob told me we hit a new record of concurrent users. i was busy watching my boys be humiliated by Real Madrid, but the #greytalk idlers club sure is glad to see so many people coming by!
Yep. There were 16 of us when I had to leave at midnight, and people were still dropping in, so I don't know what the final high number was.
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