ROFLLLLMAO!!! The problem with IRC is it's IRC. It was a great chat client back on Windows98, but these days it doesn't even come close to a lot of the more popular social networking sites.
I made one for my team through UserPlane, it has Audio/Video support for webcams and microphones, Instant Messaging to anyone in the room, and is so much less of a hassle to use then IRC. Sure people say IRC is not a hassle, but I bet the first time you used it, it probably was.
No signing up or logging in needed, no ads, no headaches basically, just 1 click to use. Courtesy of LLM - Last Lap Motorsports.
the official live for speed cnannel on Gamesurge also has victor and many veteran players on. can be usefull to have around also it's a good atmosphere.
irc is a great way to chat and far less annoying than facebook chat
lol It is web based, UserPlane Directory - LLM Domain, and yeah UserPlane rooms are usually empty since AOL & Time Warner bought the site, however they offer users everything you need to implement an A/V flash chat client complete with all the HTML / JavaScript / Forum embeddable codes once the chat is made.
Out of all the chat services / websites I have used, UserPlane is definitely the most hassle-free, a bare minimum of set-up time, and the only site with A/V features that you can use without signing up. =]
(ROFLMAO!! @ FaceBook chat, last I heard about it, it runs off it's own version of Stickam.com API, kinda like Twitter, but both those sites are constantly getting DDOS'd or API Hooked.)