tampabay420, no. The gold host is the same as the @ in irc. The brown host is the same as % in irc (halfop). These are just channel hosts. They do not have an special priveleges on other channels or the server itself. The people in these rooms usually use 3rd party clients or scripts. Look at it this way. The AO irc. Once you go there, your ip is masked. Only the server operators and admins can see your real ip (unless you file transfer directly to another user). All the gold hammers and stuff is the same like irc, just a java decoration. The entire msn chat is nothing else but one large gui irc.

Cheers.