An IRC bouncer does what you're wanting in terms of offline notification, they're just hard to configure. The problem with IRC is largely it's structure. Huge n

An IRC bouncer does what you're wanting in terms of offline notification, they're just hard to configure. The problem with IRC is largely it's structure. Huge networks don't really merge anymore, channel owners stay in their seats for very long periods of time, and the network operators largely run on a very libertarian ideology of non-interference. Discord solves that, and many people moved because of that before Discord had all the novel features it has. The people that stick around on IRC usually have gripes about the networks they're on, but the gripes are tolerable enough.