The IRC channel is dead because people left when they stopped developing for the game, or left because others did and the assumption was that it's dead. Saying "it's dead" without actually attempting to usher people back to it, and instead opting for a completely different version of essentially the same thing, seems pointless to me and will befall the same fate unless an effort is made to retain/obtain people.
Everyone I've seen say that IRC is dead is not currently sitting in the channel.
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