After leaving AOL chat, and spending some time on EFnet searching for clean chat channels with good decent people, our founder Pat started #Decent_Talk on DALnet in April of '96. He then "recruited" Pam and together the two of them set about making a channel where everyone would feel welcomed and non-threatened, so long as they gave people the common respect and decency deserved of them. In the beginning, the two spent an average of 10 hours a day in the new #Decent_Talk channel, establishing guidelines, making friends, and gaining a good reputation for the channel.

Many friends were made, and many ops established, and a set of ground rules were laid out about what would and would not be tolerated in the channel, and by the ops. #Decent_Talk continued to grow, taking in a great many "members." During this time, DALnet was growing too, expanding to be one of the largest IRC networks. Many of the people at #Decent_Talk, including its founder felt that a smaller, quieter network was needed, where certain "questionable" channels existed in much smaller numbers. Eventually, #Decent_Talk moved to a relatively small network, SorceryNet, which we now call home.

The #Decent_Talk channel on DALnet still exists, and is still open and visited on occasion, but the main home for #Decent_Talk is now SorceryNet.

From the very beginning #Decent_Talk was intended to be a channel where one could go and feel safe from harm and harassment, where the atmosphere was a welcoming one and the people were friendly. That goal has been well established and maintains today. It is a place where friends gather to share experiences, and where new folk can come and visit and feel at home. The ops in DT have very high standards and a very low tolerance for those who seek to do harm, offend or harass other IRC users. #Decent_Talk strives to be, and truly is, "a channel where you would feel comfortable letting your kids go to chat."

We use the term "members" quite frequently to refer to the ops and regular visitors to #Decent_Talk. That's not in any way to say that #Decent_Talk isn't open to anyone with a friendly personality and good intentions. The ops of #Decent_Talk are a close knit group, and the term best describes members of a family, rather than members of a club or team. We're always willing to expand our family.