diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectOutputStream.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectOutputStream.as
index ad4677a9f..fe7bac5eb 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectOutputStream.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/ObjectOutputStream.as
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+//
+// $Id$
+
 package com.threerings.io {
 
 import flash.utils.ByteArray;
@@ -86,8 +89,7 @@ public class ObjectOutputStream
     }
 
     /**
-     * This is equivalent to marshalling a field for which there
-     * is a basic streamer.
+     * This is equivalent to marshalling a field for which there is a basic streamer.
      */
     public function writeField (val :Object) :void
         //throws IOError
@@ -100,10 +102,9 @@ public class ObjectOutputStream
     }
 
     /**
-     * Uses the default streamable mechanism to write the contents of the
-     * object currently being streamed. This can only be called from
-     * within a <code>writeObject</code> implementation in a {@link
-     * Streamable} object.
+     * Uses the default streamable mechanism to write the contents of the object currently being
+     * streamed. This can only be called from within a <code>writeObject</code> implementation in a
+     * {@link Streamable} object.
      */
     public function defaultWriteObject () :void
         //throws IOError
@@ -166,8 +167,7 @@ public class ObjectOutputStream
         _targ.writeUTF(value);
     }
 
-    // these two are defined in IDataOutput, but have no java equivalent so
-    // we skip them.
+    // these two are defined in IDataOutput, but have no java equivalent so we skip them.
     //public function writeUnsignedInt (value :int) :void
     //public function writeUTFBytes (value :int) :void
 
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as
index d1503f60e..6246615bd 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as
@@ -50,6 +50,18 @@ public dynamic class TypedArray extends Array
         _jtype = jtype;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Adds all of the elements of the supplied array to this typed array. The types of the
+     * elements of the target array must, of course, be of the type specified for this array
+     * otherwise badness will ensue.
+     */
+    public function addAll (other :Array) :void
+    {
+        for (var ii :int = 0; ii < other.length; ii++) {
+            this[ii] = other[ii];
+        }
+    }
+
     public function getJavaType () :String
     {
         return _jtype;
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as
index fc072d909..3b170a0a1 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ public class ArrayStreamer extends Streamer
             baseClass = Translations.getFromServer(baseClass);
             _elementType = ClassUtil.getClassByName(baseClass);
             _isFinal = ClassUtil.isFinal(_elementType);
+            if (_elementType == String) {
+                _delegate = new StringStreamer();
+            }
 
         } else if (secondChar === "I") {
             _elementType = int;
@@ -76,8 +79,7 @@ public class ArrayStreamer extends Streamer
         return ta;
     }
 
-    override public function writeObject (obj :Object, out :ObjectOutputStream)
-            :void
+    override public function writeObject (obj :Object, out :ObjectOutputStream) :void
     {
         var arr :Array = (obj as Array);
         var ii :int;
@@ -115,8 +117,7 @@ public class ArrayStreamer extends Streamer
         }
     }
 
-    override public function readObject (obj :Object, ins :ObjectInputStream)
-            :void
+    override public function readObject (obj :Object, ins :ObjectInputStream) :void
     {
         var arr :Array = (obj as Array);
         var ii :int;
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/BasicDirector.as b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/BasicDirector.as
index 1accac256..6bc1aeb79 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/BasicDirector.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/BasicDirector.as
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ public class BasicDirector
 
         // if we're already logged on, fire off a call to fetch services
         if (client.isLoggedOn()) {
+            // this is a sanity check: it will fail if this post-logon initialized director claims
+            // to need service groups (it must make that known prior to logon)
+            registerServices(client);
             fetchServices(client);
             clientObjectUpdated(client);
         }
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Client.as b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Client.as
index 7c957852e..9d542d1db 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Client.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/client/Client.as
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+//
+// $Id$
+
 package com.threerings.presents.client {
 
 import flash.display.Stage;
@@ -59,9 +62,8 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
     }
 
     /**
-     * Unregisters the supplied observer. Upon return of this function,
-     * the observer will no longer receive notifications of state changes
-     * within the client.
+     * Unregisters the supplied observer. Upon return of this function, the observer will no longer
+     * receive notifications of state changes within the client.
      */
     public function removeClientObserver (observer :SessionObserver) :void
     {
@@ -176,8 +178,11 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
      */
     public function addServiceGroup (group :String) :void
     {
+        if (isLoggedOn()) {
+            throw new Error("Services must be registered prior to logon().");
+        }
         if (_bootGroups.indexOf(group) == -1) {
-            _bootGroups.concat(group);
+            _bootGroups.push(group);
         }
     }
 
@@ -226,28 +231,35 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
             return false;
         }
 
+        // let our observers know that we're logging on (this will give directors a chance to
+        // register invocation service groups)
         notifyObservers(ClientEvent.CLIENT_WILL_LOGON);
 
+        // we need to wait for the CLIENT_WILL_LOGON to have been dispatched before we actually
+        // tell the communicator to logon, so we run this through the callLater pipeline
         _comm = new Communicator(this);
-        _comm.logon();
+        callLater(function () :void {
+            _comm.logon();
+        });
 
+        // it is safe, however, to start up our tick interval immediately
         if (_tickInterval == null) {
             _tickInterval = new Timer(5000);
             _tickInterval.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, tick);
             _tickInterval.start();
         }
+
         return true;
     }
 
     /**
      * Requests that the client log off of the server to which it is connected.
      *
-     * @param abortable if true, the client will call clientWillDisconnect
-     * on allthe client observers and abort the logoff process if any of them
-     * return false. If false, clientWillDisconnect will not be called.
+     * @param abortable if true, the client will call clientWillDisconnect on allthe client
+     * observers and abort the logoff process if any of them return false. If false,
+     * clientWillDisconnect will not be called.
      *
-     * @return true if the logoff succeeded, false if it failed due to a
-     * disagreeable observer.
+     * @return true if the logoff succeeded, false if it failed due to a disagreeable observer.
      */
     public function logoff (abortable :Boolean) :Boolean
     {
@@ -256,9 +268,8 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
             return true;
         }
 
-        // if the request is abortable, let's run it past the observers.
-        // if any of them call preventDefault() then the logoff will be
-        // cancelled
+        // if the request is abortable, let's run it past the observers.  if any of them call
+        // preventDefault() then the logoff will be cancelled
         if (abortable && !notifyObservers(ClientEvent.CLIENT_WILL_LOGOFF)) {
             return false;
         }
@@ -285,8 +296,8 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
     }
 
     /**
-     * Called every five seconds; ensures that we ping the server if we
-     * haven't communicated in a long while.
+     * Called every five seconds; ensures that we ping the server if we haven't communicated in a
+     * long while.
      */
     protected function tick (event :TimerEvent) :void
     {
@@ -301,8 +312,8 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
     }
 
     /**
-     * Called by the {@link Communicator} if it is experiencing trouble logging
-     * on but is still trying fallback strategies.
+     * Called by the {@link Communicator} if it is experiencing trouble logging on but is still
+     * trying fallback strategies.
      */
     internal function reportLogonTribulations (cause :LogonError) :void
     {
@@ -310,8 +321,8 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
     }
 
     /**
-     * Called by the invocation director when it successfully subscribes
-     * to the client object immediately following logon.
+     * Called by the invocation director when it successfully subscribes to the client object
+     * immediately following logon.
      */
     public function gotClientObject (clobj :ClientObject) :void
     {
@@ -320,8 +331,7 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
     }
 
     /**
-     * Called by the invocation director if it fails to subscribe to the
-     * client object after logon.
+     * Called by the invocation director if it fails to subscribe to the client object after logon.
      */
     public function getClientObjectFailed (cause :Error) :void
     {
@@ -329,8 +339,7 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
     }
 
     /**
-     * Called by the invocation director when it discovers that the client
-     * object has changed.
+     * Called by the invocation director when it discovers that the client object has changed.
      */
     protected function clientObjectDidChange (clobj :ClientObject) :void
     {
@@ -351,9 +360,8 @@ public class Client extends EventDispatcher
         // and let our invocation director know we're logged off
         _invdir.cleanup();
 
-        // if this was due to a logon error, we can notify our listeners
-        // now that we're cleaned up: they may want to retry logon on
-        // another port, or something
+        // if this was due to a logon error, we can notify our listeners now that we're cleaned up:
+        // they may want to retry logon on another port, or something
         if (logonError != null) {
             notifyObservers(ClientEvent.CLIENT_FAILED_TO_LOGON, logonError);
         } else {
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/net/AuthRequest.as b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/net/AuthRequest.as
index a9bbf08e3..7a744fb8c 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/presents/net/AuthRequest.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/presents/net/AuthRequest.as
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+//
+// $Id$
+
 package com.threerings.presents.net {
 
 import com.threerings.io.ObjectInputStream;
@@ -13,7 +16,7 @@ public class AuthRequest extends UpstreamMessage
         _creds = creds;
         _version = version;
         _bootGroups = new TypedArray("[Ljava.lang.String;");
-        _bootGroups.concat(bootGroups);
+        _bootGroups.addAll(bootGroups);
 
         // magic up a timezone in the format "GMT+XX:XX"
         // Of course, the sign returned from getTimezoneOffset() is wrong