You DON'T have to register mIRC! Once the 30 days trial has expired, you can still use the program, but you'll have to wait a short amount of time before the "Continue" button lights up.
Please read the rules, located at the bottom of this post.



In addition to the forums, I created our own chatroom.

The channel #Housepets has now been registered on irc.gamesurge.net.

EDIT: Much easier way to join by an application created by Kyderra! Read his post here!

For those unfamiliar with IRC, here's how you can join, using mIRC:

1. Download and install mIRC from http://www.mirc.com
2. Create an account on http://www.gamesurge.net (Optional)
3. Verify your email and take note of your password (Optional)
4. Run mIRC and type the following commands:

/server irc.gamesurge.net

Wait until you're connected to the server.

/authserv auth username password
(replacing "username" and "password" with your values, optional, if you registered above)

You should get an automatic response indicating "-AuthServ- I recognize you."

/join #Housepets

And that's it.

If you can't install mIRC or want to visit #Housepets without downloading additional software, visit http://www.gamesurge.net/chat.

Enjoy, and I hope to see you all there!

This has been discussed with Rick. Here to quote his words: "I am currently not interested in maintaining an IRC channel". That's why I am doing the moderation of it, and I can assure you that I am not abusing it in any way. Here also to quote my words to Rick: "Of course, if/when you join, I will make you a master immediately." That basically means that if Rick ever joins the channel (Which he has never done yet), he will be the main moderator of the channel.


Important rules

The following 7 rules ARE NOT FOR DISCUSSION. Break them at your own risk.

1)IF YOU CAN'T ASK IN THE FORUMS, DON'T ASK IN THE CHANNEL!
This is self-explanatory. All forum rules apply in all HP related channels.

2)DO NOT ASK ANYONE FOR, OR LINK TO COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN THE CHANNEL.
This is forbidden! I don't want any talk about ISOs, obtaining MP3s, movies, games or whatever. You will be temporary banned from the channel if you get caught talking about this!

3)ABSOLUTELY NO TALK ABOUT I flunked middle school, NO LINKS TO I flunked middle school, NO "DRAWING" I flunked middle school (by writing symbols and letters on more lines in the channel)!!!
Not just that I am disgusted by any kind of I flunked middle school, but it is strictly against the forum rules! You will be permanently banned from the channel if you break this rule.

4)NO LINKING TO SHOCK SITES AND SITES THAT CONTAIN MALWARE!
I don't care how funny a shock site is, DO NOT link to them. As the moderator, I will have to check every link posted in the channel, and I really wouldn't like my PC to get infected by something.

5)ABSOLUTELY NO FLAMING/TROLLING!
I don't care what it is, if you call someone a derogatory name or flame anything, expect to be dealt with swiftly, and usually severely. And by "anything" I mean ANYTHING! Flaming others in PMs will get treated as flaming in the channel. In addition, harassing users or saying inflammatory things to make them react is unacceptable on ANY HP channel.

6)ABSOLUTELY NO RACISM/RELIGIOUS/SEXUAL HARASSMENT!
- Racism isn't funny, especially in a channel with users you likely don't know in real life. Sorry, it just isn't.
- I don't care about political or religious debates, just remember everyone is entitled to their own, equal opinion, don't flame, etc. Be civil and friendly.
- Calling things 'gay' isn't funny. Subsequently, you'll be penalized. Lame? Sorry, like it or leave.

7)NO ADVERTISING NON-HP CHATROOMS/CHANNELS
Do not advertise your chat channels in ANY of the HP related channels, and do not harass users to join via PMs. If the advertised room's rating is higher than ours, it could be grounds for a ban from the IRC, depending on the content and use of the channel.

8)NO SWEARING
This rule is not up for discussion. ONE swear word will lead to a one-hour devoice, and more than one will lead to a one-day ban. Linking to something that has a swear word inside (Picture, video) will have the same consequences.
ANYONE WHO POINTS OUT THAT SOMEONE SWORE WILL BE DEVOICED FOR ONE HOUR! If you see someone swear, your job is to keep the logs or to take a snapshot or whatever, and show it to ME (Or any other mod present)!

Minor rules

The following rules don't result in a ban/kick, but please follow them. You will be warned via PM (in IRC) if you break them multiple times. Continue, and you will be dealt with.

Don't spam the channel!
- The considerate limit for consecutive lines from one user in IRC is 4, with very few exceptions. If you feel it necessary to repeat yourself, go "OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG" on one line rather than five "OMG"s on five lines, you get the idea. Expect a devoice (timeout) or a kick if you spam the channel. Expect the same if you abuse the CAPS lock. Expect the same if you repeatedly change your IRC nickname in an annoying fashion.
- There is not always active conversation in the channel. Do not fill the void with "it's quiet" "I'm bored" "someone talk" or anything of the like. You're on the Internet. If you're bored, you're not trying hard enough, and this channel does not exist for your personal entertainment. Of course, feel free to start talking about something to "revive" the channel. If you're drunk and typing every thought that pops into your mind into the channel, I will remove your ability to do so.
- Intentionally spelling words wrong, interjecting with "inb4," "lrn2," "wat"-type chat will be considered spamming since it possesses no value in the channel. Expect a devoice (timeout), temp-ban or perma-ban depending on how persistently annoying you are. If you wish to act like an illiterate child, there are plenty of other forums and IRC channels for you to do so, not ours.

No auto-triggering scripts, bold/underline text use.
- If you're saying something interesting, that'll distinguish you enough. If you manually trigger an AMIP or 'Now Playing' script once or twice that's fine. Just don't have it set to automatically announce every time a new song comes on. If it gets out of hand, they'll go back to being disallowed.
- Do not CTCP ping, version, time or finger any users in the channel. Do not send a channel-wide notice at any time, for any reason. If a user notifies me of someone doing this, you'll be removed from the channel, temporarily or permanently.

Keep intimate displays of affection to a minimum!
- It's quite true that furries can be much more touchy-feely than most people, but most of the cuddling and licking and stuff makes us look really furry. It's awkward for the non-furries, and can make some groups of people look exclusive as well as scaring people away. Remember, #Housepets isn't exclusive to furries alone!
- Glomping, hugging, and such stuff are okay. Intimate displays of affection should be avoided. It's much like how people can get very awkward or uncomfortable around a couple that is kissing or snuggling in an open park.
- It doesn't matter even if "you know what the limits are," because it's still FAR too easy to cross that limit unintentionally. That is no excuse to justify acts that can potentially jeopardize the comfortableness of other users!
-This rule applies to everyone and everything. Don't forget that.

If you have a problem with rules, discuss with a moderator in PM!
- Arguing about rules in the main chatroom can raise the tension very easily. We are trying to avoid drama and you are not helping by raising the tension. You will be devoiced if you keep on doing it, especially when you start to anger or annoy other users.
- Don't argue with another user about the rules. If another user is causing problems, just start IRC PM'ing mods until one responds. If no mod is present, you can still keep logs to prove that someone was causing trouble.

The community is stepping up. Awesome, we have a chat room now! I'll add all of this to the info thread when I get a chance.

Thanks Alex!

An IRC chatroom.

I wonder what's next?

Dang, i was this close to doing that my self. well congrats you figured it out faster then me.

Well, that still doesn't prevent you to join the chat, right ?

@Anon- I don't know, you think of something .

That really doesn't matter. I've been on a forum with the pretty much same amount of users, and we used mIRC just fine. 2 people are enough for it, right? It's easier than a thread, really, and anybody who can access the thread can access mIRC, too.


It's maybe fun in the beginning, but later it gets very annoying.

I like it already.
But only because its what i'm used too.
Fourms scare me.

Jeez, i don't think I'm gonna use mIRC. not willing to pay 20$ to talk to a few of you guys, i can do that for free here.
i gotta see if i can use ChatZilla on this ._.

Yeah, but how many of you here have MSN? I've seen it only in my own signature so far.


I didn't say you are annoying, I said that colors in mIRC get annoying after some time .


Okay, to clear some things: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR IT IN ORDER TO USE IT! After the 30 days trial is over, all you have to do is wait a couple of seconds before you can use it. You DON'T have to pay. The waiting time doesn't increase!

Wouldn't mind using IRC to be honest, but i mainly chat on my laptop, which usually is on weekends and/or Tuesdays.

but when i can, i'll be on!

Well, I hope to see you from time to time in the channel .

Same here!

Don't worry, I'm there 24/7, but on Monday, school starts, so I'll be AFK most of the time. Still, I'm sure that if you just stay in the channel, we'll meet at least once. Just don't leave IRC unless you want to shut your PC down.

Oh okay, if it'll make you happy, I will remove the color rule.

On another community I'm on we all use Skype for a chat room.....

You know, now that I think of it, I did remove the rule just because of you.... weird >_>.


Well, if you have the knowledge to create a Skype chat room, you can do so, and make a thread for it. I'm unfamiliar with Skype, so I can't do it.

I'll just say that I don't hate you .

This is weird... but funny xD

More or less it's just inviting people on your contact list into an instant messaging room......

I edited the OP, mostly the rules- I added new ones, and explained the old ones better. Please follow them, people who come into IRC. (Not that anybody broke any of the rules... yet)

A Trivia bot !

Best time to join chat is at the time Rick puts up a new comic!

the chat channel refused my request to add cows in the next comic!

Yeah, it seems to me sometimes that ChanServ is designed to make people sad and mock them.....

Am I the only one having problems getting into the browser based chat? I used to be able to get to the site, but now it keeps saying something's wrong when I try.

Yeah, if you're talking about the link from the OP, then there is something indeed wrong. In the channel itself, ChanServ, the main bot, has been quitting and coming back lately. This morning, it was gone for more than 2 hours. There is definitely something wrong with the Gamesurge server. Sadly, if you want to talk with us, you'll have to download additional software, or wait for the problem to be fixed.

I will if it ain't fixed in a few days D:

Chatzilla? LINK PLZ.

Okee, so now how do i join #Housepets? :3 oop nevermind

I can't believe I never knew about this

I might just drop into #housepets some time.

You know I actually kind of like NoeIL better.