diff --git a/cockatrice/src/chatview.cpp b/cockatrice/src/chatview.cpp
index fba78601..9aecfd1e 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/chatview.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/chatview.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #include "chatview.h"
 
 ChatView::ChatView(const QString &_ownName, bool _showTimestamps, QWidget *parent)
-	: QTextBrowser(parent), evenNumber(false), ownName(_ownName), showTimestamps(_showTimestamps)
+	: QTextBrowser(parent), evenNumber(true), ownName(_ownName), showTimestamps(_showTimestamps)
 {
 	setReadOnly(true);
 	setTextInteractionFlags(Qt::TextSelectableByMouse | Qt::LinksAccessibleByMouse);
@@ -14,16 +14,20 @@ ChatView::ChatView(const QString &_ownName, bool _showTimestamps, QWidget *paren
 	connect(this, SIGNAL(anchorClicked(const QUrl &)), this, SLOT(openLink(const QUrl &)));
 }
 
-QTextCursor ChatView::prepareBlock()
+QTextCursor ChatView::prepareBlock(bool same)
 {
+	lastSender.clear();
+	
 	QTextCursor cursor(document()->lastBlock());
 	cursor.movePosition(QTextCursor::End);
-	
-	QTextBlockFormat blockFormat;
-	if ((evenNumber = !evenNumber))
-		blockFormat.setBackground(palette().alternateBase());
-	blockFormat.setBottomMargin(2);
-	cursor.insertBlock(blockFormat);
+	if (!same) {
+		QTextBlockFormat blockFormat;
+		if ((evenNumber = !evenNumber))
+			blockFormat.setBackground(palette().alternateBase());
+		blockFormat.setBottomMargin(2);
+		cursor.insertBlock(blockFormat);
+	} else
+		cursor.insertHtml("<br>");
 	
 	return cursor;
 }
@@ -36,11 +40,16 @@ void ChatView::appendHtml(const QString &html)
 
 void ChatView::appendMessage(QString sender, QString message, QColor playerColor, bool playerBold)
 {
-	QTextCursor cursor = prepareBlock();
+	bool sameSender = (sender == lastSender) && !lastSender.isEmpty();
+	QTextCursor cursor = prepareBlock(sameSender);
+	lastSender = sender;
 	
 	if (showTimestamps) {
 		QTextCharFormat timeFormat;
-		timeFormat.setForeground(Qt::black);
+		if (sameSender)
+			timeFormat.setForeground(Qt::transparent);
+		else
+			timeFormat.setForeground(Qt::black);
 		cursor.setCharFormat(timeFormat);
 		cursor.insertText(QDateTime::currentDateTime().toString("[hh:mm] "));
 	}
@@ -57,6 +66,8 @@ void ChatView::appendMessage(QString sender, QString message, QColor playerColor
 		if (playerBold)
 			senderFormat.setFontWeight(QFont::Bold);
 	}
+	if (sameSender)
+		senderFormat.setForeground(Qt::transparent);
 	cursor.setCharFormat(senderFormat);
 	if (!sender.isEmpty())
 		sender.append(": ");
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/chatview.h b/cockatrice/src/chatview.h
index 1be07621..33c583c6 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/chatview.h
+++ b/cockatrice/src/chatview.h
@@ -12,13 +12,14 @@ class QMouseEvent;
 class ChatView : public QTextBrowser {
 	Q_OBJECT;
 private:
+	QString lastSender;
 	bool evenNumber;
 	QString ownName;
 	bool showTimestamps;
 	QTextFragment getFragmentUnderMouse(const QPoint &pos) const;
 	QString getCardNameUnderMouse(QTextFragment frag) const;
 	QString getCardNameUnderMouse(const QPoint &pos) const;
-	QTextCursor prepareBlock();
+	QTextCursor prepareBlock(bool same = false);
 private slots:
 	void openLink(const QUrl &link);
 public:
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/gameselector.cpp b/cockatrice/src/gameselector.cpp
index 9c165d26..1feb63d0 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/gameselector.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/gameselector.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ GameSelector::GameSelector(AbstractClient *_client, TabRoom *_room, const QMap<i
 	gameListProxyModel->setSortCaseSensitivity(Qt::CaseInsensitive);
 	gameListView->setModel(gameListProxyModel);
 	gameListView->setSortingEnabled(true);
+	gameListView->setAlternatingRowColors(true);
 	if (_room)
 		gameListView->header()->hideSection(0);
 	gameListView->header()->setResizeMode(1, QHeaderView::ResizeToContents);
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/userlist.cpp b/cockatrice/src/userlist.cpp
index 20b60992..71101f48 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/userlist.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/userlist.cpp
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ UserList::UserList(TabSupervisor *_tabSupervisor, AbstractClient *_client, UserL
 	userTree->setRootIsDecorated(false);
 	userTree->setIconSize(QSize(20, 12));
 	userTree->setItemDelegate(itemDelegate);
+	userTree->setAlternatingRowColors(true);
 	connect(userTree, SIGNAL(itemActivated(QTreeWidgetItem *, int)), this, SLOT(userClicked(QTreeWidgetItem *, int)));
 	
 	QVBoxLayout *vbox = new QVBoxLayout;