Not a top Kd, not going to be a top kd. Building a warring kd. We use pimp/in game communication. A few of us have IRC but its not mandatory and we aren't on it a lot. We didn't bother with a private channel even, but would idle in it if anyone really wanted one.
Requirements:
Out of war to login 1x a day and maintain a decent province, post informs occasionally / check kd chat.
In war login 2-3x a day, hopefully attack 2x a day, unless you plan on playing a t/m in which case you should still login 2x a day to do ops. In war forums / in game messages should be checked on every login for orders.
Pimp is not mandatory but its how we do most of our intel sharing, although attacks are posted in forums usually also with the mod off sent.
let me know if you want in,