Hey, because I'm making an mmorpg...I was wondering if anyone knew how to do something like an IM system. I was thinking of actually programming my own little IM system before I implemented that into the game I had. Does anyone have a link, or some code/design ideas as to how to program this. Even better, tell me WHAT is communicated between server/client...if there is any, or is it all P2P ??? I'm new to this idea, so please explain if you guys can... thanks

Honestly, I would start small. Maybe a networked game of 2 to 8 people over LAN or Internet and have that have an in-game IM system. Believe me I'm taking a distributed systems class now. That should be hard enough for you. Also if you're new to networking programming I would look at Beej's WinSock Tutorial, RakNet and the Forum's FAQ.

oh...oops, I should have rephrased that question...

I meant an IM system just between 2 people on the net or something... (if that's possible)

But yeah, I was going to try LAN or IP because I have several computers at my place.

It depends on your needs... For security's sake, I would suggest you use IP... But instead of Client to Client I strongly suggest you have both nodes act as clients, having their data bounced off a central server. That way, neither node knows the "location" of the other node, but can still communicate with it so long as the server allows such communication.

Of course, this is just a verbal idea... the code is sure to be fantastically more complex. (not only that, but an actual data system would need to be worked out -- that is the format of the data packets sent by the various parts of the system)