To the point!

It's much more efficient for everyone involved to just get to the point with a PM on IRC. Simply put, letting us know that you want help with an app/wanted a possession of a certain NPC/found an item that said to inform a DM you have it/etc. let's us know what you wanted, even if you log off before we read your message. Sometimes we can actually do something about your request, even if we never responded.

The long-winded explanation

Some of us get extremely vague PMs on IRC several times a day. They may be as long as "I was wondering if you were around" or as short as "hey". Usually they fall somewhere inbetween.

Sometimes we aren't around, and when we come back we find out that someone has left us a message and since logged off. We'll never know what they wanted if that keeps up!

Sometimes, and try to understand, we are around, but we're busy IG and just checking the forums information, or we're working in the toolset, or helping someone else. "Are you there?" doesn't sound terribly important, and isn't leaving an impression on us, so we might not feel compelled to wrap up what we're doing. For all we know, the next thing you mean to ask is "how's the weather?"

On a related note, the forums are not the place for attracting DM attention for personal issues. If you have a problem with a DM or another player, or think something's just plain wrong and it's not a bug or a module suggestion, send an email to escapefromunderdark@gmail.com or send an active DM a forum PM. (The email is more secure, since any DM can check it and it will be available until the end of Google, whereas a PM can be lost through inactivity or a full inbox.)

Getting to the point helps us all out when you're using the DM channel IG, too. The server logs will have a record of your request and, once again, if we're AFK or busy, we can figure out what you needed help with and even set you up - even if we never reply to you.

"Help! DM? Hey!" doesn't help anyone and doesn't sound extremely urgent, not even with the exclamation points and the 'Hey'. "Help! This min-maxed half-orc is griefing my party in front of Blackbeard!" sounds very urgent, and we've got it in our Logs of Truth from now 'till doomsday.

Scotty "Help! DM? Hey!" doesn't help anyone and doesn't sound extremely urgent, not even with the exclamation points and the 'Hey'. "Help! This min-maxed half-orc is griefing my party in front of Blackbeard!" sounds very urgent, and we've got it in our Logs of Truth from now 'till doomsday.

Srsly.

Please put in a reason when trying to get one of us IG. "Hello any DMs?" is not going to look as good for me as "Hello, I need a DM for PvP at <wherever>" or "Hello I need a DM for a quick possession of <whoever> for <whatever reason>".