The Rise and Fall of #CR'sbar (Director's Cut)

It was on November 21st, 1999 that it all began, fittingly at the close of one century and the dawn of a new one, though we didn’t appreciate the symbolism at the time. Annoyed with the widespread and damaging politics of the Paramount/Tri-net server, it was a devoted chatter named Tiberius who created a room as a refuge: #Tiberius. While the hosts of Tri-net fruitlessly pandered around in the big rooms trying to deal with the largely uncontrolled lamers and hackers that inhabited the imaginary walls of the chatrooms, it was #Tiberius where a group of friends were able to talk and enjoy themselves under their own conditions. The room evolved and changed several times over through the years, and a number of unforgettable twists and turns occured along the way. Our rooms may have faded into oblivion now, but the memories that it left me with remain, and I feel a certain obligation to retell the history of the chatroom as I experienced it and the meaning I found while in it. Join me, then, and relive four years in the life of our chatroom as I commit to text the events that fashioned our room and the various people in it…

I. To all Things, a Beginning (Origins)

The #Starfleetlounge had existed as a popular chatroom since the early days of 1996, originally as a rather restrictive MSN-only room before becoming available to all users of the Internet from Startrek.com, or on the IRC medium at chat.paramount.com. The people in these rooms were generally intelligent, witty and fun - just like the best episodes of the television series that the room was spawned from, namely, Star Trek. The rooms on the server were ruled under the guidance of several system operators who looked after the place like great painters with attention to detail and care, devoting their time to improve the chats and dealing with the problems arising in every chatroom. These SysOps, such as husband and wife team Mr_Homn and Lwaxana, were able to hold the fort efficiently because they were established and respected, originally chatters and Trekkies themselves. The #Starfleetlounge, the #Starfleetacademychat, the #Klingonchatroom and the #Holosuite thrived, and like any good community, you could catch up with your old friends, make new ones, engage in intelligent conversation, or laugh til your sides hurt.

It was sometime in the middle of 1999 when the big dogs of the server abruptly decided things needed changing, and merged with a small server called Tri-net for extra security and management. Tri-net’s now-infamous administrator, RaNGeR, assigned his own ZTops to run the server, including only few familiar faces and oddly, a couple of glorified hackers. A meeting was called in #ZT (for Zero Tolerance) to discuss the new rules and the many new operators of our much-loved home on the Internet. For three hours or so, old and new chatters and operators argued, insulted, and in some cases, cried. To knuckle down on an apparently increasingly problem with troublemaker chatters, Tri-net would implement a number of changes, many of which invading the privacy and happy atmosphere of the chatters in the interests of the server. Some chatters were upset at the baffling choice of operators, some unhappy at being nominated themselves but not ultimately chosen. After this meeting, several popular chatters, notably Eric2 and Angel, vowed to never return and never did. Irrespective of the popular consensus, Tri-net was there to stay and their new policies pushed down the chatters’ throats whether they approved or not.

The general populus of the rooms continued chatting and laughing, because after all, it was the community aspect and the friendly atmosphere that set the Paramount server apart from all others. Yet with all the rules and scans put into practise by Tri-net, it seemed there were even more lamers trolling around than before that were not going away, and correspondingly the overall quality of chat declined at an alarming rate. Alternatively, hackers, inflammatory debates, sometimes based on religion, were becoming all too frequent. Put simply, things weren’t working. To their credit, however, Tri-net did actually implement the ability to register one’s own room using the T bot, a process which we finally used to our advantage in November 1999. A regular chatter in the #starfleetlounge, the opportunistic Tiberius enlisted the written support of three people as required, they were CaptRiker, IrishFae, and terri, and the next day, our chatroom - #Tiberius - was opened.

II. Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Like any chatroom, the early days are but a teething process as it differentiates itself from other rooms. Not only did Tiberius contribute his considerable knowledge and talents to add to the entertainment of the room, but also capitalised on the many connections he had with other chatters by inviting them to take part. Some of the early regular visitors in the room included CaptRiker, IrishFae, Dukatt, the_doc, Breahn, kiwi, bugg, ausangel, terri, IRC scriptwriter KingToros and Selena. The presence of these many resident chatters suggested that people enjoyed the chatting atmosphere, but looked for an alternative to the #Starfleetlounge as it had become.

A strengthened sense of community arose from our group, small perhaps, but loyal to our room nonetheless. Kiwi and CaptRiker would race to get to the room first each day, the_doc and Breahn’s relationship heated up such that they became our resident romantic couple, Tiberius’ movie discussions and quotes were a big talking point. Newer chatters became showing up more regularly, such as CaptKirk, ECH (Emergency Captain’s Hologram), defiant_n, the somewhat vulgar VulcanBob, AdmDakota, CaptRalph, deana, darkknight, Seven, Jenn, CptRyan, RaNg, Admscotty, Macker, and The_Sisko. #Tiberius seemed a more controlled, erudite atmosphere, free of some of the problems that now plagued the #Starfleetlounge.

Within a couple of weeks, the occasional lamer cropped up here and there, and the fact that Tiberius could only be online a certain amount of hours a day necessitated some other hosts to cover a wider range of timezones. Later the_doc and CaptRiker were crowned with the task, as the community was growing and becoming more unique as a result. Cartman’s obsession with the Enterprise-E, among other things, caused him to hold the record of being kicked out most times in one day. One morning kiwi surveyed the room for a new name, to which Tiberius suggested ‘vina’, from the original pilot of Star Trek; she still uses that name to this day. Truth or dare chats became a part of chat, involving the trademark creative truths and embarrassing dares, while meanwhile the #Starfleetlounge banned the word ‘sperm’ - go figure. Y2K came and went and nothing happened - go figure even more. The new year was a new beginning for the room.

Back in the #Starfleetlounge, gradually many of those people who defined the room disappeared away, in some cases because of real life, some due to the troubles in the Lounge and choosing to stay on AIM or ICQ or whatever to chat instead. For #Tiberius at least, business was going strong. Doc brought long time real life friend Troyet2, while from the famed family of the #Klingonchatroom came Fireangel, who quickly settled into our community and became our newest host, at the same time inviting many of her other friends to the room. Quiet Q1 and flirt king Jazz were always around. Others from the #Starfleetlounge soon dropped anchor here, such as AustinPowersF and FelicityP, ShaTon and brother ZarNell, Vash, rems, |NOVA|, SeanLuc, AmbrSpock, maxx, SweetDave, Sebulba, and quick-witted dolphin Cetacean. Two of the more friendly ops, Jadzia1 and Orog, often checked in on us.

However, the fickle forces of fate intervened one day in February 2000 as Paramount announced they were pulling out their chat servers leaving only Tri-net to run the Star Trek chats. For one thing, this meant there would be no access through the Java applet, which instantly precluded a majority of people from the rooms, for better or worse. In hindsight this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, with many of the older regulars never returning after this day. Once proud rooms like #Starfleetlounge and #Starfleetacademychat were almost immediately deserted and lifeless, while some chatters looked for other rooms. One mass exodus was made towards the irc.Scifi.com server, an unmoderated room with no rules and an ‘anything-goes’ atmosphere, and another simultaneously to Fchat, an initially popular server that was eventually assimilated into Tri-net and again cast off. But #Tiberius remained, and many of those who hung around Tri-net stumbled into our room, including such staples of the chats as Lee451 and Eliza, MissQ, Spot, Marcell, TeeCee, KANEKI, Zoa and Steve, and balduk and honeygirl. With the loss of the two big rooms, #Tiberius was now one of the more prominent rooms on the server and gathered more attention, unfortunately, both good and bad.

III. Road to TrekScripts

Of course, there were always going to be inherent problems attached to chat. A particularly stormy incident occurred with two Ztops, HackBrain and Fikser, apparently feeling bigger than our room, arrived one day to deliver a profanity-laden spiel on how they could do what they liked in the room. When directly insulting 15-year old Jenn, the_doc, obviously not intimidated by the leverage the two held over the server, kicked both the Ztops out. The two were back, of course, and proved a legitimate thorn in our sides. The future status of our room was also put into question when an embittered RaNGeR came into #tiberius with complains of our room topics and the advertising of other servers. On a more personal note, Troyet2 and Breahn announced they were together, essentially ending the 17 year friendship doc had with Troy; it was an inappropriate parting of ways, to say the least. Fireangel, however, was a comforting speaker and eventually she and doc linked romantically as well, while Troyet2 (later TeeJ) and Breahn (later Asel) both abruptly left the room. While both later returned, it seemed an awkward shadow had been cast on our room for the first time, although thankfully a short-lived one.

Nonetheless, the room was still chugging along quite nicely. The humour of Cetacean and Spot brightened up every chat they were in, as did the conversation of vina and IrishFae, and the intelligence of Tiberius and doc, along with a multitudinous amount of others. The_Sisko returned under the name of JediSisko, bringing his girlfriend giggles into the fold. Vina brought her real-life friend from work angel1 (later ^kyra^), and HakanWolf introduced Hatchet, with a similarly sharp sense of humour. Fireangel brought several friends to become regulars, including Blaze, Kamal, Matrix, ^dax^ and ^lulu^. From the #Holosuite sim room came CaptSym (CaptDax) and Kvarn. Ztops CT and Ariel seemed to be fixtures in the room. The relationship between long-time chatters Bear and Vash was also most evident in a string of expressive, extremely creative wavs. Poking fun at the noticeable omnipresence of Tri-net’s operators buzzing about our room, I recall one night where IrishFae, doc and myself jokingly baited the ops into pretending we were hackers, with hilarious results. In these months we were able to work together better as a community, and somebody had the bright idea of creating a website entirely for the chatters of our room. Defiant selflessly gave up his own domain to make way for one devoted to #Tiberius, and by May 2000 we’d produced a commendable introduction to explain to the viewing world just who we were. It was months before this website was finished, most probably the very same website you’re reading this on, but the seeds had been planted for our chat to be immortalised in hypertext.

It was around June 2000 where many chatters began to lose faith in Tri-net once and for all, largely due to an abundance of netsplits, excessive lag and the presence of hackers, and who could help but look for alternative servers. Enzo had recently introduced us to the BeyondIRC server, home of the #Knowitall trivia room, and some of us began to alternate time online in there. We later set up a #Tiberius on that server with the intention of moving server to server, but in the course of exploring the place, Doc and Fireangel had inadvertently gotten themselves k-lined, delaying our plans to move there. Tiberius decided it might be best to put up with the nonsense and stay at Tri-net. However, in a well-timed move, AnArchyyt chimed in about a server he and some friends managed on their own at irc.TrekScripts.com. We visited and it seemed fine, though secluded, and on that day created a new room which, for reasons that escape me now, we named #Cr’sbar.

IV. Ch-ch-changes

On the TrekScripts server we originally hoped the people from #Tiberius would permanently come to the newer room, which we assumed lacked the problems with lamers and server interference, though the process took longer than expected. Tiberius and doc, notably, were determined to stay at the Tri-net server, and indeed for a few weeks we alternated between the two rooms, but the buzz of a new room gave #Cr’sbar the upper hand in terms of attendance. As a mark of distinction between the two rooms, #Cr’sbar added every regular chatter to the auto-op list, to both avoid the power imbalance between regulars and to make chatters feel a little more welcomed. At that stage, we were by far the biggest room on the server, and more people began to visit us daily, like SoloCoyote, Cassie, QV, Jman, Delta and Q`res, Mikeyman (the former Dr_Rom), and former SysOps at Paramount BaTaL and Marleei, who gave the room an air of legitimacy. The following couple of weeks, however, were quite disastrous.

While we continued visiting both rooms that we occupied, TrekScripts admin Louis himself began going to #Tiberius, until getting into an argument with Tiberius and being kicked out. Apparently infuriated, the somewhat corrupted Louis announced nobody in #Cr’sbar would be allowed to frequent #Tiberius at the same time, or be banned, and went to the extent of monitoring both servers. On this day, he reduced fireangel to tears from his near-megalomaniacal performance, and I really didn't know how to handle Louis in his current mental state (for the record, I was about 14 at the time). In a timely entrance, the unblushingly raucous and well-spoken AustinPowersF joined chat and upon hearing of the situation, managed to successfully verbally defend our room until Louis eventually cooled off. Regardless, it was still a painful experience, and wasn’t even the last time they caused trouble.

But while almost under attack from IRCops, it was on TrekScripts that it seemed we bonded together as we created a wav for our room, following Spot’s famous precedent from the #Starfleetlounge which included many chatters' voices on an impressive collage (Thecrew.wav). Spot initially put several of our chatters saying their names on a wav temporarily called Tib.wav, but it was Cetacean who immediately after used his own sound editing software to complete the wav. We would eventually incorporate the names of some of our most-loved chatters onto this massive wav file.

The room forged ahead while the IRCops were at it again and Cmdr_St began frequenting our room. Seemingly unamused by the lack of a friendly reception he kept receiving, he once rather absurdly threatened to ban those who wouldn’t greet him with a ‘hello’, though this was never put into practise. One day, Nat (aka ahsatan) went on a long tirade starting on experimentation on animals, which somehow escalated into a room-wide argument about the IRCops of the server, whom Nat fiercely defended. BearV kicked her out, and she had complained to the now furious Cmdr_St. While Bear was pretty much met with applause from the room, St was considering taking away the room’s ability to op, in a level of room interference never experienced at Tri-net. Coyote and QV argued for our room and St eventually scuttled off, though every day seemed a new argument with the IRCops and in hindsight I’m unsure of why we put up with it for so long. Resident hacker Remington didn’t seem to help matters either.

Some good things came out of the stay at TrekScripts, for one thing, the room was better promoted and for a brief period we had an influx of scifi.com chatters such as tth, Arahki, Meeka, kalaa, GrandNagus, and others. The two weeks of Sydney Olympics made for some highly attended and interesting chat sessions. BorgQueen made a cameo on one memorable day of chat. Two friendly IRCops, Darok and Neo, defended our room from some of the others. More bios and information were collected for the #Tiberius-#CR’sbar website for it’s eventual debut, and the Tib wav kept growing in numbers. But with all the negative factors, something had to give, and then it finally happened.

V. BeyondIRC

In October 2000, the BeyondIRC server again represented greener pastures and a new room was finally born, as the bans of Fireangel and Doc had long since been lifted. A new #CR’sbar was registered and almost overnight the transition occurred as a group of chatters phased out of TrekScripts and into BeyondIRC for a fresh start. Memorably, a bunch of people, seemingly galvanised by the prospect of a new chatroom, vocally voiced their true opinions of Louis as they went out in a kind of blaze of glory, as the brotherhood was once again united. The very opening night celebrations were to be had as the Tib.wav, now up to volume 35, was fantastically completed by Cetacean and greatly augmented with a professional background theme; this was later renamed the GlobeChatters.wav. Over 50 people had etched their names in this one sound file that captured the spirit and community of our room. To top it off, the #Tiberius-#Cr’sbar website was completed and could be witnessed at http://beam.to/trekkin, named after the room’s second most popular wav (Bill.wav was #1). The TrekScripts era had ended, and the only truly good thing to directly come out of this ugly period of chat was the relationship between Darok and AdmDakota, who stayed behind with the rest of us left, and eventually married. Either way, #CR’sbar was still alive and had the momentum it needed to continue fighting.

After a month we had settled, proven by the memorable conversations taking place, too involved and diverse to try and recreate in text here. Several themed chats, based on QV’s well-known ‘bear’ chats from the Paramount days, also took place. Later that month, over three days and to twenty-one people a survey was distributed to #CR’sbar, with questions ranging from personal to fun, to choosing their favourite chatters and the best and worst of the past year in chat. The survey was a success as people, naturally, anxiously awaited results to find out more about themselves and others. Some also began to inhabit our now next-door neighbour #Knowitall more regularly, and several of their chatters similarly popped up in our room from time to time. To our website came Cetacean’s immaculate collection, involving several chatters conversing with actors from Star Trek in a set of aesthetically brilliant created wavs, setting our room apart from all others.

Just before Christmas 2000 one of our favourite chatters, Fireangel, suddenly left the room, and partner Doc not long after, impacting immediately on the chatroom. What was going through their minds at the time and for what reasons they left are known only to them, but the fact remained that #Cr’sbar had lost two of its most loyal and versatile chatters, and the exciting chats that these two in particular provided every single day vanished. The void was initially noticeable, but the room inevitably survived. I still wonder to this day of the reasoning and the secrecy of their actions, but at the same time respect their need for privacy.

The year 2001 rolled by, as the unstable server transitions and arguments were now behind us permanently. JediSisko and giggles collaborated on the website by creating a #Cr’sbar Message Forum, and while in hindsight it never achieved a great deal of activity, it served as useful in leaving messages or announcements for the whole room to read. In the room itself, several people showed a great deal of creativity in the designing of colourful autogreets and macros. The regular chatters had changed since our earlier days, including now Cetacean and vina, Tiberius/Tosh, Spot, Lee451 and Eliza, Selena, Zoa and Steve, QV, IrishFae, Jazz, JediSisko and Giggles, Vash and Bear, MissQ, and SoloCoyote, a lineup I’d probably most identify as personifying the room as I remembered it.

The relationship between Cetacean and vina grew to the point where they would seemingly talk for hours every day and become the focus of the room’s conversation. While I’m sure most appreciated the entertaining and lively talks they brought to us, I could similarly notice them becoming more distant from the room. Cetacean’s change in attitude towards some people in the room was most evident, and by February 2001, had swum away to deeper waters (pardon the pun). Vina too, stopped coming to the room with little fanfare, and as alienated as the two had apparently been in the past few weeks, there was no denying their strong room presence. The majority of other chatters retained their attendance and were as vocal and fun as ever.

By popular demand, a second survey was conducted in March 2001, and by all accounts, chat had improved in the four months between surveys. The website was growing as more bios and groups of sound wavs were available to preserve our room forever. QV compiled a birthday list as reference and made sure to acknowledge everybody’s special day. Selena had shown her own adaptability by becoming a fixture in both #Cr’sbar and #Knowitall, whilst also flirting with everything with two legs. At Bear's invitation, the young LadyMaxx was also imported, bringing with her the good humour and fun that made her a popular member of the #Klingonchatroom. The voluminous voids were once again being filled as the room again flourished with acquisitions while simultaneously saying goodbye to those more established names who departed for bigger and better things.

VI. Still Standing

The inherent consequence about having a room on a larger server like BeyondIRC, despite it’s obvious advantages, was it was less likely to be noticed and attract any new chatters, and with the same, albeit loyal people coming to chat day in day out, chat can become stagnant. We of course looked for new ways to revitalise the room. In an attempt to recapture the atmosphere of the #starfleetlounge and gather all of our regulars together for a live chat event, our first reunion was planned in March 2001. It was the first time we arranged for all our chatters to meet at a given time, and the usual crowd was out in force, as well as several popular guests such as Mikeyman (Dr_Rom), Jadzia1, HakanWolf, Saavedra, and terri. Our chatters responded favourably to the reunion, and afterwards several people actually requested to make the events a regular occurance. After successfully treading the waters, our second reunion came in May 2001, with a mammoth turnout drawing many classic PDE chatters, such as TJ, ^Kira^, AustinPowersF & Felicity, Kaneki, Jadzia1, Delta`res, Mouse, Cassie, spitfire and Lwaxana, among many others. With 32 people concurrently in the room at one stage (a #Cr’sbar record), and with the trademark chat-going-so-fast-you-can’t-keep up, the memorable session seemed to spark interest in the room once again.

In retrospect, this set the stakes too high to keep up on a consistent basis. In the same time period, QV conducted a third and final survey, receiving a record number of responses. CaptRiker added several names and a new background theme to the Globechatters.wav, which was unfortunately never done as professionally as the original. Giggles, a talented artist, served up the creative idea of drawing everyone in #CR’sbar as Delphins (half horse, half human), then having a contest to guess who was who, with the winner getting their portrait drawn by Giggles herself. The Guess the Chatter competition, eventually won by StoneCold, was innovative for our room and done very well, later put up on the website for all to witness. Looking for lightning to strike twice, we planned our third reunion for July 2001, which vina and Cetacean both attended, as did the #Starfleetlounge’s well-liked Deanna888; although still an excellent chat, it didn't quite match up to its predecessor.

Despite the trinity of reunions, we soon dwindled back to the core group of regulars and encountered the same problems as before. Some, like JediSisko and giggles, transitioned to the irc.Dunbin.com server, completely run and operated by former Paramount chatters, who like us, were also providing an alternative. Again, the gaps were filled by newcomers; heeeche, Ric, Adria, Macche, Xcalibr, DataLore, spitfire, and zed formed new blood for the room. The horny ta-ploc and wife Aleigha returned briefly to chat, having not been active in chat since the #Tiberius days, as did AngelDax (the former ausangel) and McMelrose. CaptKirk returned repackaged as Imenhotep, and braved the lengthy timezone differences to talk with international chatters, and Sebulba revisited under the name of Spardak. Irrespective, it had been nine months since we arrived on the server with little to disrupt the status quo, and despite various insightful and hilarious days I doubt we reached the same level of creativity or fun as days before.

Things were made worse when for different reasons CaptRiker and the pregnant IrishFae were kept out of chat for several weeks, similarly with QV and her computer troubles. The appearances of Tiberius and Tosh became less and less frequent. SoloCoyote later announced the impossibility of his presence as a regular chatter due to various things happening in his life - naturally we, as a room, discussed the best way to bid him adieu once and for all. The creative webmaster Spot used his considerable talents to create a website, hosted under our #Tiberius-#Cr’sbar site, where a number of chatters left messages saying goodbye to the veteran chatter. On Coyote’s final day in chat, unsure of how best to break the news to him, I invited him to take a look at the bio we had created for him (this being, of course, after about 12 months of Coy’s procrastination about not writing a bio) and pasted the address. I will vividly remember his change in reaction upon the tribute page he actually found there, genuinely shocked and later admitted he had been brought to tears at the emotional lengths the chatters had gone to for him. Of course, a chat retirement is never permanent and the venerable SoloCoyote made sporadic appearances throughout the next year.

As October 31th 2001 drew closer, we fast approached the first year anniversary of #Cr’sbar on BeyondIRC. The event would be called International Cr’sbar Day, and would be our fourth reunion. Marred by several absences, the event was a quieter one than the prior reunions and ultimately unremarkable. Chat rolled on as we came to December 2001 and more than one chatter commented to me on the staleness of chat over the past few weeks. There was nothing that could be done as many of the chatters the room had relied on had lost their passion for chatting, or long since left #Cr’sbar. Those that remained held up the room admirably, but there seemed to be an absence of the spark that once made the room the place to be, and in retrospect, the final months were little more than prolonging the inevitable.

VII. A State of Flux

One of the newer members of the room, the young and reliable Ric, quickly became a part of the room but had a tendency to leave his name (often idle) in the room for up to 24 hours a day. Some chatters believed the fact that all chats would be automatically logged was an invasion into their privacy. One day, Ric was kicked out of the room, setting off a chain reaction resulting in an angry Ric swapping derogatory remarks to many people in the room. Feeling in the minority, Ric later left the room to go back to Tri-net with his position as a ChanOp, but the incident had been a depressing reminder of similar events months earlier. CaptRiker was increasingly frustrated with the way small events like this were handled - particularly since I invited Ric and others knowing they would spice up conversation and room activity. Around this point I myself became less and less interested in the room, tending to let #CR’sbar run out it’s natural course rather than endeavouring to keep it fresh and largely populated.

As January 2002 came and passed, the room was temporarily able to restore a perhaps-lost sense of community by playing in game tournaments at Candystand.com. Again, Spot enlisted his talents to create an Art Gallery, using the creative works of Zoa, StoneCold and others, to also be shown on the website, while at the same time adding some great flash animation that noticeably spiced up the place. CaptRiker also looked to augment the success received when I hosted chats at the Dunbin.com server by creating a #CR’sbar chatters trivia session. The thirty-three questions in and of the room and its people was a memorable day, won inevitably by trivia queen herself Selena. The room was however unable to capitalise on the high of this chat with the departure of Spot, who simply could no longer chat on a full-time basis anymore due to work and family commitments. So ingrained was he in the chat that we all, in essence, shared in the celebration and anxieties before the birth of SpotBaby v2.0. This exit was one of the most damaging losses to date as Spot had stuck with the room through the highs and lows, and supplied understanding and witticisms without fail. The room was dealt a blow that in hindsight it could never recover from.

Late March 2002 proved what would be the final curtain for the original lineup of #CR’sbar, as CaptRiker himself quietly announced he could no longer come to the room regularly. At the time I attributed it to the growing schoolwork, which was true, and looking back this was clearly the right decision. It gave me considerably more time to savour final two years at school with friends and focusing on attaining the high marks that I was rewarded with at the finish. But it was also due to a loss of passion for chat, and the fact that I didn’t like the nagging person I had become in trying to keep the room afloat, and if anybody can’t go to chat to enjoy themselves, it’s better for all concerned to focus creative energies elsewhere. Without the room’s namesake, #CR’sbar continued, and newer regulars (particularly QV) emailed some older regulars and brought up some creative topics to keep the room going. Of course, this could only last so long before the motivation was gone and chat gradually became slower and less interesting for all concerned. Despite the efforts of a number of people, it seemed #CR’sbar was doomed to be forgotten.

VIII. Not Dark Yet (But it’s Getting There)

Twice reunions were planned for the room, one in July 2002 and another in September 2002, which although slightly anticipated, were mere shadows of the past reunions and more of a get-together of what would have been an average day in chat just a year earlier. QV’s computer troubles kept her out of the room for a number of months thus handicapping the room’s progress, but on her return tirelessly promoted it to keep it open. Of course only mentioning these events is to ignore the rich tapestry of conversation that went on in the mean time, though I can’t personally vouch for it as I wasn’t there. Maxxy still came to visit everyday, as did Zoa and Steve, Sebby, and Selena, who had worked her way up the ranks to actually becoming one of the operators of the #Knowitall room, and racking up enough wins to eventually become that room’s #1 trivia player of all time. Ex-#starfleetlounge mainstays ECHO and Lynx (AdmTraz) returned to become semi-regulars. The September get-together reunited chatters like CaptRiker, QV, Spot, IrishFae, Bear, defiant, Selena, Meeka, Zoa, Steve and others but was ultimately unmemorable. It was at this point the depressing state of the chatroom was made very clear.

The next day, I requested people stop frequenting #CR’sbar, mostly because I didn’t like knowing my name was still attached to something I had no part in anymore. Those who still enjoyed the chatting experience of our room protested, and SoloCoyote set up #theden, which QV later operated with great fervour. #Theden represented another marked transition, but a now smaller union of chatters continued the trend of supporting it regardless. By all accounts, the chatting atmosphere in these days was reliable and interesting enough to keep people coming back every day, if uneventful.

Driven by a motivation to keep chatfriends together, QV persevered to keep the chats open. She also looked after the website of our room, customising it to represent the changes in the room and then greatly supplementing it with her Javascript programs and a Movie reviews page, which she updated every month. The room continued through 2003, but my only connection with the room at this time was QV, who periodically emailed on her progress, and I admit a fair share of times I advised her it may be in her best interests to close up shop, assuming it would be too late to resuscitate the chatroom. There was one reunion held in March 2003, a relaxing and fun day, but QV finally closed #theden by August 2003. She had managed things remarkably well and was contented knowing she had reunited old friends like IrishFae, Sebulba and SweetDave, and the others through her room. By her innovations on the website, it was also evident that she considered this a fun mission on which to project her personality, along with being an operator in another trivia room run by former chatter herself Wildfire, at irc.Jedicoder.net. Unfortunately, QV died on December 7th 2003, met with sadness from all those who were lucky enough to know her. Less importantly, this event was a swift and symbolic conclusion to the chances of our room ever reforming or continuing in any capacity.

IX. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

The period following QV’s death was the first time I had resumed contact with other chatters in many months, and for me at least, it was a startling reminder of the fragility of life and a warning to savour the time you have with people while you still can. The website had been left as it was since her last update, and I took the liberty of restoring it. Realising I had little contact with many former chatters, I dreamt up the ‘Where are they Now’ Project in April 2004 with the intention of tracking down former chatters and creating a section on the website to display what the chatters have been doing since they left our rooms. I greatly appreciated the help of the 20 people who responded, but at the same time, it seemed a somewhat-depressing awareness of just how many of people I had lost contact with, probably forever.

Then something quite extraordinary happened.

Both on the 'Where Are They Now' page and in the guestbook, I had seen chatters suggest a future chat reunion. I never gave much thought to the prospect of another reunion; I really thought that too many of our chatters would be impossible to track down or uninterested in chat after so long an absence. I didn't seriously consider a #CR'sbar reunion until a conversation with Selena in July 2005, who prompted me to think that a worthy reunion might indeed be possible. Not long after, I sent out an email to gauge interest regarding the reunion, and even though I only had active email addresses for around 10 of our chatters, word apparently got around quickly. Within weeks, almost every major chatter from #Tiberius/#CR'sbar had contacted me and expressed their interest in attending. To my amazement, chatters whom I had lost contact with years before and those that I had assumed were long-lost begun to emerge from the woodwork. Things absolutely steamrolled in the weeks leading up to the planned date in October 2005, and it truly appeared as though this reunion would be a chat for the ages. As the zero hour approached, the stage was set, the brotherhood was united, and a mighty lineup of chatters were ready to once again converge within the imaginary walls of #CR'sbar.....

X. The Last Waltz

On October 2nd 2005, there can be no denying the genuine, spine-tingling emotion present in our chatroom: #CR'sbar lived again. For me, it was as though six years of chat lineage - all those highs and lows, the work of all those great people that supported our room - had been leading up to this night.

While not everyone who emailled me could actually attend on the day, the 2005 reunion managed to assemble many of our most-loved chatters for a tribute to those days in #Tiberius, #CR'sbar and #Theden that exceeded all of my original expectations. Those that attended were CaptRiker, IrishFae, Spot, Selena, Zoa & Steve, Cetacean, vina, defiant, Jenn, SweetDave, MissQ, giggles, KANEKI, Adria, honeygirl, ZarNell, Cassie, Meeka, and most surprising of all, the_doc. The night was both the epitome and summation of our days in chat, effectively highlighting just how far our chat community has come since the demise of the #Starfleetlounge back in 1999. By surviving, it was as though our chatroom had succeeded in fulfilling some ultimate goal that many chatrooms never reach. Due solely to the unwavering support of our chatters, the 2005 reunion was a fun, somehow invigorating reminiscience of things past - and a most fitting farewell to #Tiberius/#CR'sbar/#Theden once and for all.

XI. All Things Must Pass (Epilogue)

The events of those last few months of chat back in 2002 essentially ended the life of our chatroom, but not the memories contained within. All the same, it was undoubtedly better off in closure than in a sustained function of remaining open. It seemed so unfair to those fantastic people - people like Selena, Zoa and Steve, QV, MissQ, SweetDave, IrishFae, Tiberius, Spot, and many, many others of those who not only remained loyal to the room to the bitter end but contributed so much to make our room unique and special. Each of them left a discernible impact on our community, perhaps inadvertently. Personally, I treasure the memories from the chats and how, at such a young age, I was able to learn a great deal from all of you; you were the teachers from which I have better understood a great many things. For the record, it is because of these factors that I feel an obligation to write this article and acknowledge the work put in by every single chatter I’ve mentioned here. If anything, this goes to show that your online presence will be remembered, and appreciated, although if I’ve somehow overlooked you, I am truly sorry.

Perhaps #Tiberius, or #Cr'sbar, or #theden will not leave any lasting impressions on the many who frequented through it. To a select few, they will remember the carefree days of 1999-2000, where the rooms were open and active, fun and humourous, where you could talk to friends or make new ones, and all was right with the online world.


Bonus:#CR'sbar Odds and Ends

62 Members inducted as Globechatters: Tiberius, fireangel, defiant, FelicityP, AustinPowersF, SweetDave, the_doc, vina, Spot, IrishFae, Cetacean, MissQ, CaptRiker, JediSisko, AngelDax, Honeygirl, Hatchet, Selena, SeanLuc, SaNdMaN, Jazz, Smorgas, VashB, BearV, KANEKI, Meeka, Delta`res, CaptKirk, Cassie, TeeJ, Blaze, Zoa, Steve, sheData, Maranello, CaptSym, Lee451, Eliza, balduk, Kamal`M, AmbrSpock, terri, Silar, Marleei, BaTaL, Kvarn, Jenn, Gary_Thompson, spitfire, Coyote, Arahki, AdmDakota, QV, giggles, LadyMaxx, heeeche, ChoTal, StoneCold, Deanna888, Neo, TeeCee, Tosh

15 Original #Tiberius Chatters: Tiberius, CaptRiker, the_doc, Breahn, KingToros, DUKATT, kiwi, bugg, ausangel, Cmdr_St, Selena, IrishFae, ECH, Orog`A, terri

15 Couples That Passed Through #Tiberius/#CR'sbar: the_doc & Breahn, the_doc & Fireangel, LordByron & ^dax^, AustinPowersF & FelicityP, Lee451 & Eliza, AdmDakota & Darok, Zoa & Steve, ta-ploc & Aleigha, Q`res & Delta`res, BaTaL & Marleei, balduk & honeygirl, VashB & BearV, terri & Hunter, AngelDax & McMelrose, JediSisko & giggles

15 Essential #Tiberius/#CR'sbar wavs: Globechatters.wav, Bill.wav, Trekkin.wav, Mynonaccent.wav, kiwi_talk.wav, 10KISSES.wav, Deltaai.wav, Jeri Ryan Alarm Clock.wav, Barney vs ST.wav, How to speak Australian.wav, How to speak American.wav, Sylvester-Shaddup!.wav, Hamsterdance.wav, Coy2.wav, IrishFae and O'Brien.wav

10 Essential #Tiberius/#CR'sbar moments: 10. the_doc striptease (April 2000) 9. Reunion (September 2002) 8. nat vs The World (August 2000) 7. Baiting IRCops (April 2000) 6. #Tiberius Opens (November 1999) 5. Coyote's Farewell (October 2001) 4. Reunion (July 2001) 3. The Sydney Olympics Chat (September 2000) 2. Reunion (May 2001) 1. #CR'sbar Arrives On BeyondIRC (October 2000)


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