Hi,
And yes the SoR chat is still up, but nobody ever goes in there.
Then why do you think they'll go IRC?
I admit the chat is a bit strange - would be nice if you could get a pop up if someone wrote something to you, as there is no fun in sitting in an empty chat room and since folks here come from around the world, they are probably on at different intervals - I think ICQ and similar IMs may be much better alternatives for that reason, but it's been years since I ditched ICQ, overloaded my PC and I always had to be in "Ninja mode" to not get flooded by total strangers wanting me to solve their entire lifes (or close to at least).