bot_test_1.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

require 'rubygems'
require 'cinch'

bot = Cinch.setup do
  server 'irc.freenode.org'
  nick 'cardroid'
  channels %w[#namaste_bitches]
end

p bot.options

bot.run

## output:
## #<OpenStruct prefix="!", nick_suffix="_", realname="Cinch IRC Bot Building Framework", username="cinch", ssl=false, usermode=0, server="irc.freenode.org", password=nil, nick="cardroid", channels=["#namaste_bitches"], port=6667>
## gets on IRC, joins the channel

bot_test_2.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

require 'rubygems'
require 'cinch'

bot = Cinch.setup
bot.options.server = 'irc.freenode.org'
bot.options.nick = 'cardroid'
bot.options.channels = %w[#namaste_bitches]

p bot.options

bot.run


## output:
## #<OpenStruct prefix="!", nick_suffix="_", realname="Cinch IRC Bot Building Framework", username="cinch", ssl=false, usermode=0, server="irc.freenode.org", password=nil, nick="cardroid", channels=["#namaste_bitches"], port=6667>
## gets on IRC, does not join channel