CaptRiker's TOP TEN CHAT MOMENTS



In preparation for the 2005 reunion, I've taken the liberty to compile 'CaptRiker's Top Ten Chat Moments', a subjective list which aims to draw attention to some of those classic chat moments that shaped and defined #Tiberius/#CR'sbar/#Theden. How many of these chat sessions did you attend? How many have you heard about? I've included my own commentary on the events below to put them in context, and I hope at least that reading this list jolts your memory as to some of those truly essential chats from 1999-2003 when our rooms were active.

I'm not suggesting that these events were the most 'enjoyable' or the 'greatest' chats we ever had. Most likely, our best chats can be found during those quite-unremarkable everyday chat sessions featuring our regular chatter lineup, which were undoubtably great chats but don't bode well for inclusion in lists like these. Instead, these 10 events were specifically chosen because they each had either some discernible influence on the chats that followed it or were, in some way, characteristic of our chatroom.

The inspiration for this list came from a total of 12 long-forgotten saved chat logs I found on my old computer. Upon reviewing these old chat sessions for the first time in years, I came to realise that these chats deserved some recognition, and indeed several of those saved logs are described in the list below. In addition to the 10 Essential #Tiberius/#CR'sbar/#Theden Chat Moments, I've included six Honourary Mentions at the bottom of this page that I felt were equally worth mentioning. Enjoy...




10. the_doc striptease (April 2000)

In our early days, truth or dare games were common and actually quite a trademark of #Tiberius, and surely our most famous truth or dare of all occured in this chat session: fireangel dares the_doc to simulate a striptease in open chat. Doc proceeds to perform the dare to the leers and catcalls of women in the room such as fireangel, AdmDakota, Tosh, and vina, and is met with the simultaneous horrified reactions of males in the room such as HakanWolf, Cetacean and CaptRiker. The striptease itself was seemingly neverending (20+ minutes), and the wealth of descriptive detail, coupled with the degree of audience interaction, made this one of our most memorable chat sessions.



9. Reunion (September 2002)

This final reunion held while #CR'sbar was open came at the tailend of our chatroom's lineage, and certainly wasn't as highly attended or anticipated as our previous reunions. Nonetheless, this get-together served to reunite most of the essential regulars of our community, including Selena, IrishFae, Spot, Zoa & Steve, QV, Bear, Meeka, CaptRiker, LadyMaxx and defiant, among others. Particularly given that some of those who attended had not been active in chat in months, the presence of these familiar chatters allowed this reunion to become noteworthy for briefly recapturing the fun atmosphere of our chatroom as it might have been a year earlier. Historically, this late-period reunion also earns a free pass on this list as the last major chat session ever held in #CR'sbar; our chatters transitioned into #theden later that week.



8. nat vs The World (August 2000)

On this fateful day of chat, a seemingly harmless comment regarding animals in captivity escalated into a room-wide argument about two intrusive Trekscripts operators, largely instigated by the continued provocations of nat (aka ahSatan). I'm sure the inclusion of what was essentially a room-wide argument will create some confusion, but remember that I'm not merely ranking the most 'enjoyable' or 'best' days of chat on this list, and this chat is one of our most important. Prior to this session, IRCop Louis had stated that he disliked the presence of 'tri-net freaks' on his server, and had threatened to shut our room down on one occasion. Nat, while still a regular chatter in our room, fiercely defended some of the more hostile operators of Trekscripts, and in response doc, Cetacean and even fireangel argued in favour of our room until nat eventually scuttled off. The server interference persisted in the weeks that followed, with the two IRCops remaining an unfortunate thorn in our sides. In some ways, this chat represents all that was wrong with our stay on the Trekscripts server, but it also shows our chatroom's unity, and there's actually a hilarious segue into the Ducktales theme song right in the middle of it.



7. Baiting IRCops (April 2000)

In contrast to the above event, this night in chat was all in good fun. In early 2000, there was an abundance of Tri-net operators, and in this chat session the_doc, CaptRiker and IrishFae poked fun at their noticeable omnipresence by playing the deadly game of 'Do something to get an Op in here and get a point'. For an hour, we threw out hilarious fake whispers, changed names, and conversed in "hacker-speak" in an attempt to garner the attention of a Tri-net operator, until the unsuspecting IRCop DataLore entered the room and was, to his surprise, greeted with much laughter. Only three chatters took part in this chat and it's a little hard to accurately describe it to those who weren't there, but I still don't hesitate to include it on this list, since I can think of no better example of the crazy spontaneity and fun that were characteristic of our earlier days than this particular night.



6. #Tiberius Opens (November 1999)

Since ZT's arrival, the quality of chat at PDE had declined at an alarming pace, with many of the older regulars gradually deserting the rooms and an influx of lamers replacing them. After witnessing a particularly heated and inflammatory religious debate in the #starfleetlounge and seeing firsthand the unfortunate turn the Lounge had taken, Tiberius was motivated to create a seperate chatroom as a refuge. To do so, Tiberius needed the written support of three chatters, and those friends whom he enlisted were CaptRiker, IrishFae and terri. The next day, #Tiberius was opened, complete with our own T bot and free of some of the problems that had recently plagued the #starfleetlounge. Those who attended our inaugural chat session on November 21st 1999 included Tiberius, the_doc, kiwi, bugg, CaptRiker, Breahn, and Dukatt. While it was still weeks before #tiberius had carved a niche for itself, the first day of #tiberius had succeeded in at least enabling a viable chat alternative for the #starfleetlounge and firmly established a new chat community.



5. Coyote's Farewell (October 2001)

SoloCoyote was one of our longest-running chatters, but had quietly announced the impossibility of his returning to chat due to real life committments early in October 2001. Coyote had set a date that he acknowledged would be his last opportunity to chat in #CR'sbar; little did he realise that the entire chatroom had secretly been in discussions about how we could pay tribute to our departing friend. As Coyote arrived in chat for his final day, we pasted a URL hosted on the #Tiberius/#CR'sbar site for what we advertised as Coy's long-awaited (and much postponed) biography. What he actually found there was a tribute page, compiled and arranged by the creative webmaster Spot, and containing comments from many #CR'sbar chatters recognising Coy's considerable contribution to chat and each saying goodbye in their own way. Clearly caught offguard and perhaps expecting a low-key reception, Coyote was genuinely shocked and later admitted having been brought to tears. Of course, a chat retirement is never permanent and Coyote still made sporadic appearances in chat over the following year, but nonetheless, this day felt extremely 'real' and I've never felt prouder to be a part of #CR'sbar than from witnessing this session.



4. Reunion (July 2001)

Attempting to capitalise on the highs of our our previous reunion, this chat session drew a smaller crowd than its predecessor but remains an enjoyable and memorable day on its own merits. All the expected regulars of the time were there, such as IrishFae, MissQ, Vash & Bear, QV, Arahki, Spot, Selena, SoloCoyote, defiant, Neo, LadyMaxx, SweetDave, Tiberius and Jenn. Cetacean, vina, Marleei and Deanna888 also made appearances after long absences from our chatrooms. Also during this chat, several people's names were added to our channel wav (TheGlobechatters.wav) which was then made available to download, allowing for the inclusion of chatters that missed out on the original October 2000 version. Meanwhile, giggles unveiled her latest artwork: #CR'sbar as Delphins, in which many of our chatters had been drawn as delphins (half-human, half-horse), before holding a contest to 'Guess the Chatter'. By correctly identifying all 17 chatters, StoneCold won the competition - I believe he's still expecting a prize in the mail. In all, a great chat and a capable follow-up to our biggest reunion.



3. The Sydney Olympics Chat (September 2000)

The title I've given this chat is ambiguous; unlike everything else on this list, there's no particular theme to this chat. Indeed, there's no accounting for the seemingly endless amount of chatters that poured into #CR'sbar on this day, and in some ways, that could be why this chat session is so notable. The regular line-up were all there, including Cetacean, vina, Spot, IrishFae, CaptRiker, Selena, Coyote, SweetDave, Sebulba and Zoa, but this day of chat also featured such staples of the PDE chats as Mikeyman (Dr_Rom), Cassie, AngelDax, Icarus, AustinPowersF, Jman, BaTaL, honeygirl and, at Spot's invitation, BorgQueen. The unexpectedly large, #starfleetlounge-esque turnout made for some great moments, and was a true chat reunion long before we'd ever attempted to organise one. The reason for the title comes from the fact that this chat took place on the final day of the Sydney Olympics, and from the particularly spirited Olympics discussion that occurs within. For whatever reason, this chat stands as one of our most memorable.




2. Reunion (May 2001)

On this day, a mammoth amount of chatters converged on #CR'sbar giving us our biggest reunion and our chatroom's largest single day of attendance ever. I've no idea of the cumulative total number of people that passed through our room at this reunion, but the 32 people concurrently in chat at one stage became our #CR'sbar attendance record, never surpassed before or since. The usual crowd were out in force, including Spot, Bear & Vash, Selena, Tosh, Zoa & Steve, SoloCoyote, Sebulba, Neo, Jenn, JediSisko & giggles and QV, but most notable was the multitude of guests such as TJ, ^Kira^, HakanWolf, Jadzia1, AustinPowersF & Felicity, Diane^M (Kamal), spitfire, klingon1, Cassie, Mouse, Nann, KANEKI, Delta`res, StoneCold, Arahki, Freddo from trivia, MissQ's mum (!) and, much later in the day, Lwaxana. With so many people talking in the chatroom at the same time, this chat was warp scrolling at levels that were truly reminiscient of PDE, with too many conversations occurring to focus on all of them. During this chat, QV also collected answers for our third and final survey (which received a record amount of responses) and added the results to our website for all to see. The success of this reunion provided the template for all our future reunions, although in hindsight it set the stakes too high for our room to ever repeat it. Nonetheless, this reunion single-handedly sparked new life into #CR'sbar in the weeks that followed and remains one of our most important chat sessions.
[Click here for a screenshot of the May 2001 reunion]



1. #CR'sbar Arrives On BeyondIRC (October 2000)

During our four month stay at Trekscripts, the constant IRCop arguments and presence of hackers brought us perilously close to abandoning our chatrooom once and for all. The strength of this October 2000 chat session, however, ensured our survival. One day earlier, Louis had mass deopped everyone in the Trekscripts #CR'sbar and devoiced several people, reaching unprecedented levels of server interference and prompting all of our regular chatters to leave the room one by one, never to return to Trekscripts. It looked like our chatroom had come to an abrupt end, but CaptRiker and IrishFae hurriedly registered a new #CR'sbar on BeyondIRC, the server which had previously been known to us as the home of the #knowitall trivia room. At the time, it seemed a desperation move, but it proved to be the turning point, since our chatters were galvanised by the prospect of a new chatroom and the resultant chat session was one of our best ever; the brotherhood was once again united. IrishFae revived the once-trademark truth or dare game, Zoa's cheesecakes were aplenty, Selena was as flirty as ever, and all of the other regulars of the time like Tiberius, the_doc, fireangel, Spot, vina, Bear & Vash, Coyote, MissQ and SweetDave were on hand. Meanwhile, Cetacean had collected over 50 names on the Tib.wav, now up to volume 35, and during this chat his masterful wav was finally completed, greatly augmented by a professional background theme and renamed 'Globechatters.wav' for all to download. At the same time, after months of work by defiant and CaptRiker, the #Tiberius/#CR'sbar website was completed and put on display for all our chatters to see, immortalising our chatroom in hypertext (the original guestbook entries come from this chat session). Never again would we have any problems with hackers, netsplits or the IRCops that characterised our Trekscripts stint, and BeyondIRC would remain our server of choice until the ultimate closure of QV's #theden in August 2003. To put it in perspective, this chat session is the central point in our chat lineage, dividing everything that came before and everything that came after. Needless to say, I feel that this chat is fully justified in receiving the #1 slot on this list, and our arrival on BeyondIRC will forever be the day that ushered in a great new era for #CR'sbar.







Bonus: Six more chats from #Tiberius/#CR'sbar/#Theden, each of which could arguably have been in the top 10, and were notable chat sessions in their own right:



Honourary Mention: Kiwi's Name Change (December 1999)

Very early in our chat lineage comes this chat, where regular chatter Kiwi wants to change her username and surveys the room for ideas. Tiberius suggests 'vina', a name taken from the original pilot episode of Star Trek, and she accepts it. Nearly six years later, this is still her chat nickname, and in hindsight, this is a important chat session that strengthened our newly formed #Tiberius community.



Honourary Mention: Reunion (March 2001)

This was the first reunion ever attempted in #CR'sbar, and served mostly as a practise run for the reunions we would later organise. Nonetheless, this early reunion featured the attendance of both our usual crowd and several (mostly Australian) popular PDE chatters, including Mouse, Cassie, Mikeyman (Dr_Rom), Jadzia1, Delta`res and terri; also, Darok announced his engagement to AdmDakota. The success of this chat prompted us to aim even higher for the reunions that followed it.



Honourary Mention: #CR'sbar Trivia Session (January 2002)

CaptRiker had previously hosted two chatters trivia themed chats on the Dunbin server, and this day in chat featured our own trivia session live in #CR'sbar with 33 questions pertaining to the room and its chatters. The questions ranged from the obscure to the ridiculously easy, but it seemed everyone who took part learned something about their fellow chatters and hopefully had fun doing it, with the winner of the competition being - who else? - trivia queen Selena.



Honourary Mention: Reunion (March 2003)

Long after our chatroom's peak, QV organised our final reunion, held in #Theden and attended by a dozen or so of our former regular chatters such as Zoa, Bear, Selena, LadyMaxx, MissQ, Spot and CaptRiker for a satisfying and nostalgic reminder of old times. A low-key reunion perhaps, but it was intended as such, and QV was particularly contented knowing she had reunited old friends such as IrishFae, Sebulba and SweetDave on this day.



Honourary Mention: Cartman Sets the Kick Record (December 1999)

Cartman was an early visitor of #Tiberius, characterised by a love of the Enterprise-E and letting everybody know about it. After bringing up the starship topic once too often in open chat, Tiberius resolved to kick Cartman out of the room at every mention of the Enterprise-E. And thus he did - 15 times in one chat session, setting a kick record unlikely to ever be broken (very few people have that kind of persistence, after all!) This chat was, of course, nothing personal and was all in good fun.



Honourary Mention: Ta-ploc corners Selena (circa February? 2000)

Nuff said, lol.




Thanks for reading!

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This page was last updated September 2nd, 2005. 1