If IRC was stateful (ie, it would "remember"/deliver offline messages when I sign-on again (at least buffer them for some configurable period)), I'd be onboard with using it for almost everything
But it's not
That's what made Slack so appealing early on - IRC-like communication with history
Maybe you know already, but you can use an IRC relay to act as pseudo client, connect to that and then read back on messages. You’ll have to find a place to host it though.
For example, “The Lounge”.
But it's not
That's what made Slack so appealing early on - IRC-like communication with history