Talkers are a multi-user service provided over telnet connections. Talkers are very much like MUDs, IRC, and Chat Rooms. Talkers are more than just a chat room however, they are a complete communication system. Talkers are composed of several chat rooms, that you can virtually travel though and join in conversations. Talkers run in real-time, meaning that when you hit your enter key, whatever you have typed immediately interacts with whoever else you're on the talker with.

What's the difference between a talker and a chat line? There is no difference. Chat lines (chatlines, or chats) are the same thing as a talker. However, some "chat services" on the Internet work through your web browser. This makes them slow and cumbersome unless you have a high speed connection to the internet and a very fast computer. Talkers however, work well on any computer with a Telnet program. Note that you can access the Emerald Isle using your web browser because EI provides a Java program that you can telnet from.

Unlike MUDs which are actually on-line role-playing games where you get a character and go around slaying monsters, talkers are designed primarily for talking. As talkers have evolved, they have added games (online poker for example), capitalism, and a variety of things to make the talker experience fun. The Emerald Isle talker supports capitalism--users earn money and then buy things in the store or gamble their earnings. You can buy your own personal chat room, or perhaps some other sort of enhancement for your account.

Most talkers break users up into ranks. The Emerald isle has 8 ranks. 4 of which are user level ranks, and 4 which are Wizard level ranks. Depending what rank you are, you are given more commands and special things you can do on the talker. At the bottom of EI ranks, is a TouRist. Users are promoted to the ViSiTor rank when they configure their account (this is done automatically when you connect for the first time). As a ViSiToR, you can gamble, and a number of other things. Once you set everything properly you become a CiTiZen. After 3 days of total login time, users are auto-promoted to iSLaNDeR rank. iSLaNDeRs are the top level users. They have all user-level commands, and a few system level commands. iSLaNDeRs can search the user-name database and get general low-level information about the talker (uptime, users on, ports, etc.), and can become invisible. Being invisible keeps users that are a lower rank than yourself from seeing you, and can be worthwhile for privacy.

Wizards are responsible for keeping a talker running smoothly. They have the ability to ban malicious users, or just temporarily handicap them so they can't use the talker. Wizards also can promote, or demote a user at will. Usually, a wizard will not promote a user outside of the guidelines set in .rank, except as a temporary promotion that lasts until the user disconnects. Wizards are selected for the way they treat other users, and for helping other users. Normally by asking to become one, you eliminate the possibility of being chosen as one. In ascending order of power the wizard ranks are: DePuTy, oFFiCer, MaYoR and GoVeRNoR.

Privacy is a key issue on talkers. People who use talkers usually go by an alias, as opposed to their real name. There are two reasons for this: 1) there is a lot of competition for real names; and 2) using an alias provides anonymity. Some talkers have "gatecrash" code. This basically permits the owners, and high ranking users on the talker break into your room and see what you are saying (against your will). The Emerald Isle DOES NOT HAVE GATECRASH CODE. The owners of EI removed this feature from the talker to respect users' privacy. Who has access to see what is said in a room is determined by the rooms privacy setting. Public rooms are open to the public. Non-public rooms can be made private by any user, and then nobody can see what is being said inside the room unless invited in. The Emerald Isle values privacy, and respects your rights to have a private conversation. As a user on EI, you are not required to disclose any personal information you don't want to. Here is a quick chart of room privacy levels on EI:

• FIXED PUBLIC -- A public room which is NEVER private.
  
  
• FIXED PRIVATE -- A fixed-private room is private, meaning people cannot just wander in. However, all wizards can enter a fixed private room at will. The Jail-Cell, where malicious users are arrested and placed is an example of a fixed private room.
  
  
• PUBLIC -- A public room that can be made private using the .private command.
  
  
• PRIVATE -- Nobody can enter the room w/o being invited by someone already in the room.
  
  
• FIXED PERSONAL -- The strongest form of privacy on EI. Nobody can enter unless the room's owner is online and has invited them.
  
  
• WIZARDS ROOM -- A wizard's personal room. Users cannot enter unless invited in by the wizard who owns the room.

A talker has a map, and rooms are connected in a specific pattern. To get from one room to another, you must travel a specific path. For example, in your house, to get from the kitchen to the garage, you might have to first go through the living room. On a talker, you would issue two commands, one to .go living room, then .go garage. Teleportation is the ability to traverse rooms that are not directly connected. All wizards can teleport into any room (except private rooms). Users who save up enough money can buy a horse carriage, which enables them to teleport.

Talkers always follow a theme. The theme of a talker is decided by the talker's owners, and vary as far as the imagination will go. The Emerald Isle is a talker based on the theme of having fun and talking to friends. The map, rooms, and layout of EI are based on the town of Kodiak, Alaska.

There are 3 major flavors of talkers: EW-Too; Iforms; and NuTS. The Emerald Isle is a NuTS based talker, but has an EW-Too mode. EW-Too mode is preferred by novice users, and old-time MUD'ers because it has a command prompt. In NuTS mode, you have no prompt, and what you type is automatically said in the current room. For example, If I typed "Hello" in NuTS mode, the whole room would see:

tHuNdEr says: Hello