1. Do I have to have any special equipment to attend these chats?

No. Simply go to the page http://www.simegen.com/techtools/chat/ and enter your name or nickname where it asks for a name and then hit enter. It's that easy.
 

2. The box says something like 'writerscafe' but that's not the room I want to go to. How do I get to the room where I'm meeting others?

Easy. #Writerscafe is the general chat room for writers to meet and chat. #meetingroom is where special chat events are held (guest speakers). If you are going to attend a special meeting, there are commands you can use.

A. /join is the most common. This is to join a special room. Let's say you have been told there is a meeting in #brainstorming. To go to that room simply type the following: /join #brainstorming To join meetings, you can either look on the main chat page where the list is that says #writerscafe or, once you join writerscafe, you can do: /join #meetingroom, /join #brainstorming, /join #sgchat, etc.

This will pull up another window for you that is brainstorming [or #meeting room, etc.].

B. /part is the way to leave. Or /exit or even /quit. Be careful though. One of the above will sign your completely out while the other will just let you part from the room you are currently in.

C. /msg This is a way to send a private message to someone. If you're in a chat where you have a question for Deb but you just don't want to ask it in the main window do this: /msg Deb I have a question for you Can you help me [then hit enter]. This message will appear in "Deb's" window. Debl would then reply, by doing: /msg to whoever and answer.

OR using the chat page and not an alternate method, you can use the simple way by clicking on the menu items along the top of the page. IF you are using our chat page.
 

3.I'm posting but no one can see me! What is the matter?

Most likely, the room is moderated. When the room is moderated only the people who are operators (ops) [the ones with the @ before their name] can post. This keeps things organized for guest speakers. In this case, to ask a question, you will contact the moderator who will either op you or take your question and post it for asking.[remember, to contact the moderator you do privmsg and their name].

One other possibility--and don't laugh--is you are in the wrong window! Sometimes this just happens! I've done it before when I wasn't paying attention so please don't feel silly if you're writing and you see your words but no one responds!
 

4. I just can't get on this way. I don't like it. Is there another way to access the chat rooms?

Yes. We have IRC clients available. Pirch and MIRC and IRCLE are the most common. If you do a search, these are shareware programs that you can download and install on your computer. Then you sign onto your ISP network. From there you open up the irc client and follow their directions.

The server you want to join is simegen.com So, you do this: /server simegen.com:6667 [you are telling the client the server and the port]. It will connect you and then you follow normal commands for IRC servers.
 
 

For more information, check out our irc gamers page. http://www.simegen.com/ircgames.html . Or you can find it on the top page http://www.simegen.com and follow the links to Gaming.