My thoughts on this (and I know that precisely no one cares).

I used to frequent IRC... but to be honest, I never found it much of a tool. It was just a fun place to hang out and joke with some folks while playing poker. To that end, it served its purpose.

But then, things would start happening. I'd walk away for a while, and some smartass Op (and I don't even know who it was, so I'm not pointing fingers or anything) would boot me WHEN I WAS IDLE. I tolerated that for a while, but then the noise ratio got too high. I don't mind the jokes (hell, I used to joke with Boost and Newjack in there all the time.) but when you see:

OMG!! AA<67. FISH. FUUUUUUUUCK.

Over and over again, it gets tiresome. I made a personal decision to leave. Other than some book discussion on occasion, the amount of actual poker knowledge I got from IRC was nil. If others of you feel differently, more power to you. You clearly made better use of the resource than I did, and you are to be commended for that.

What I don't like is the overflow into the forums. I don't really care if Miffed got kicked, or Dwarfy got out of line... handle it there or via PM. You don't see people in IRC going "Fortune is a prick. He just trashed the way I played a hand in the SNG forum."

It's unnecessary noise. Actually, you could say the same thing about the Community here, but I think the key element is that it remain FRIENDLY noise. The Commune and IRC are not places to air out personal grievances.

I am but a lowly member of FTR, I understand that, and as so, my opinion doesn't carry a lot of weight, but what makes this place so great is its affable environment. Poker is a brutal game... and sometimes the lessons need to be too... but these places and issues have nothing to do with LEARNING THE GAME... so there's no reason to not put our best face forward and maintain the friendly atmosphere. IRC was detracting from that. The Commune of late has been detracting from that? I mean, bashing Tim's Girlfriend? C'mon folks. She's attractive... but even if she were a butt ugly dog.... it is not your place to insult and belittle one of our forum members. Free speech or no, it just strikes me as classless.

EDITED: Because VQC threatened me!