Well, we don't bash people on a regular basis 
that I know of ^_^;; if we do the person usually 
has done something so awful that they have 
managed to piss off all 20+ people that come to 
chat on a regular basis. 99% of the time we 
discuss cels, anime, Yahoo Japan, eBay, 
collections, and just general stuff. As I don't 
know who you are, I can't really comment as to 
what is said, but I would suggest not going by 
rumors. One person may have said one thing that 
got way blown out of proportion by the time it 
got to you through the rumormill. Come online, 
get to know people, and then make your own 
judgement, and vice versa.

IRC is really easy to use. Really. Don't be 
scared of it.

The easiest-to-use client for Windows is:
http://www.mirc.com/
or 
http://www.ircle.com/

I'll do a little explanation for MIRC (what I 
use) and post it, okay ? Give me a little bit to 
write it ^_^

Marisa