That line looks like it's doing nothing useful. Why would you have it there? Also, you return 1; from both execution paths inside the !8ball scenario. Wouldn't it be clearer to remove that from the inner blocks and leave it in the middle block?

Another suggestion would be to reverse your thought process. Instead of figuring out what you need to do to enter a block, figure out what you need to do to continue processing. Possibly done as such:

sub shake_the_ball
{
  my ($eb_connection, $eb_sender, $eb_message, $eb_flags) = @_;

  return unless $eb_message =~ /!8ball/;

  my $answer = split(' ', $eb_message) > 1
    ? "You need to ask a question!"
    : "The magic 8 ball says..." . $ball_messages[ rand scalar @ball_m
+essages ] . ".\n";

  GAIM::serv_send_im($eb_connection, $eb_sender, $answer_message, 1);
 
  return 1;
}
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Take code that's the same except for one variable and combine it so that the variable is assigned, not the code re-written. That improves clarity, reduces bugs, and can often provide a speed boost. (If only in the compile stage ...)

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We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

The idea is a little like C++ templates, except not quite so brain-meltingly complicated. -- TheDamian, Exegesis 6

Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.