Is there currently any method to get a list of demos from the server without using a QW client? Same for the actual demos.

I know the individual QTV sites (i.e. not the one MetaQTV shown on http://www.quakeworld.tv) used to have a demos list from where you can stream the demos at least. :}

if a QTV server has access to a directory with demos then they will be available for download and streaming via the webinterface, but for individual servers it's not possible.

qw.fi demos are available here: http://quakeworld.fi:28000/demos/

However, depending on what you need it for... We might be able to dig something up.

you could use my ascii client

Just doing some prototyping to see how feasible foogs ladder idea would be.

ATM I am thinking that I will write a windows service that will act as a hub and be responsible for supplying demo lists to players (via an IRC bot or other means) and then grabing and parsing the .mvd.

QTV would be possible - easy enough to parse the html but that (I think) would restrict players to certain servers.

Another alternative would be to just write a special QW client, but that seems like overkill to me ;-) Ascii client sounds cool :-)

Checking irc might let you accomplish what you need