A couple of questions

So, I'm aware of how the combat system works, etc. etc., but I'm just curious about one thing. This is kind of hard to explain, so just say if you don't get it.

Do all weapons have the same damage scores as other weapons? Or does 1 weapon have more power than another weapong, etc. Been wondering this for a while and never bothered to ask.

And also, what is the purpose of the IC Chat? On other role play sites I've seen them to be different each time, 1 is that characters talk to each other like the ICC is a MSN or AIM conversation. And another one is that it is used mainly for small actions (kind of like Blitz posting, except when something is such a small detail that it's not big enough to thread, but you still want to roleplay it)