A Push for the Escapist have a Discord?

[ash12181987]

Not really. I would say there is a reason those sub communities are sub communities, and not the community at large: because they want to talk to each other, not everyone.

For that to be true, there has to have been a push for a community discord at some point. I mean, you can't really interpret a lack of history as history supporting you. That becomes an endless loop of us basically arguing that it's my way because of something that didn't happen. Everyone is indicating there have been smaller communities, ergo there is some demand For Community. Is there a point in not offering that to people...?

If no one uses it, it's a free service. They can turn it off, we all move on with our respective lives. It's a Choice.

I'm not really inclined to view Discord servers as having a similar purpose compared to forums like these. How I tend to view them is as outlets for discussion about specific topics (like limited to a certain game or something), or private friend groups. I don't really believe they're all that worth it in the kinds of cases where they just...exist because they can.

Even then, I still just feel pretty iffy about the idea based on my own experience with servers that were created for specific purposes which still allowed just about anybody in. That sometimes tends to create a lot of room for unnecessary friction and other issues that are just a pain to deal with for everyone involved.

At this point, I just have to agree with others saying it's an exercise in redundancy. I don't think this site has the same sense of universal community other places or communities do, especially not anymore. Not really a bad thing. I think subgroups being made is absolutely fine, of course. And you can be jovial and whatnot with the people you want to be friendly with. Just, considering the fucking wringer this place has been put through the past several years, most just aren't interested in a server open to all.

Well that works, except that it wouldn't necessarily exist "because it can" but rather as a means of being a hub where The Escapist can promote it's material.

If that is the same as "Existing because it can" then we need to inform like... Shit, a couple hundred twitch communities, Youtube Communities, etc.?

And come on, the 'It's open to everyone' problem falls to pieces because again: If that wasn't worth it, why do we have a Forum?

If they are Redundant, you can't say they are then also different things. They are either the same, or not. I'm more inclined to go with First Paragraph you, that they will fill different roles. I compare them because we have the one, which has caused endless drama... and we don't have the other. If it were a car, we'd have pulled the part causing problems Out by now, but in this rhetorical game of ring around the rosie, we're propping it up because it's tradition. So this resistance to discord has nothing to do with what it's worth, it's place, it's impact on revenue, it's impact on the level of drama, etc. etc.

Likewise, it is fine to say it may be a bad idea without it being a thing to know, but the equally as relevant and supportable statement is that it's the greatest idea in the world, it'll unite the whole community, and solve Russ Pitt's Male Pattern Baldness.

I mean I Run a discord community for a gaming group. It's open to everyone and we've Grown because of the platform. I belong to a few other discords where it's the same. Open groups, anyone can join, and a good and dedicated mod team takes care of all the issues Just Like a Forum.

 

[Samos205]

Well that works, except that it wouldn't necessarily exist "because it can" but rather as a means of being a hub where The Escapist can promote it's material.

How do you intend to bring poeple to the discord then? If they have to come to the site to get to the discord then they've already seen everything the site has to offer, which leaves no-reason to visit the discord

anyone can join, and a good and dedicated mod team takes care of all the issues Just Like a Forum.

If its just like the forum, why would i bother to use it when i could just use the forum?
It might be fine in the beginning, but i can guarantee people will start shitposting (like the wild west) and mods will start abusing their power, like mods have allegedly done here in the past.

I mean, multiple of the sub-communities here have set up Discords already, some of which are quite active. Doesn't really seem to be a need for it.

Why have sub-communities, but no main? I get that the old ones were set-up before, but then The Escapist went through it's own dark age here for a bit (That being the obvious "Why"). We've got a new start here though, so... Isn't it kind of time? The fact that there are those Sub-communities says to me that there would be Some demand.

Not really. I would say there is a reason those sub communities are sub communities, and not the community at large: because they want to talk to each other, not everyone.

Eaxcatly what BreakfastMan said, do you think the people in Gaming Discussion want to talk to the people in Religion and Politics, or the people in Tech Discussion to people in Roleplaying?

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I dont see the point of Discord communities with hundreds of members. I feel they work best with a population of a couple dozen, where the conversation will move at a manageable pace and are personal enough to form relationships. Whoever formed a friendship with another rando in a Twitch comment box?

Forums, which we have, are more ideal for the larger community this site will strive for. Compartmentalization of threads within topics, a (albeit currently dysfunctional) reply notification system, and a slower and more deliberate means of communication.

Discord works well as a chat house for forum groups, over this forum's current functionality for them. I highly recommend its private use among those groups. However, there's no need for an overall Escapist discord.

As a mod of a discord with over 10000 people on it, I'll let you know that you do form those communities either way as long as there's enough different chats and not just one big general chat that everyone's in. Mine's a fighting game chat so you have over 50 different chats, one for each char and then all the usual genera/off-topic/game advice ones and so on, and you have sub-communities form in each chat. The trick is that it just takes longer and you need to stick at it for a while.

 

[ash12181987]

How do you intend to bring poeple to the discord then? If they have to come to the site to get to the discord then they've already seen everything the site has to offer, which leaves no-reason to visit the discord

For that to be a genuine issue, how do Discords work when they are used by other communities? Every discord I have joined bar 1, have been me following a link from material I otherwise followed. I mean, we don't exist in an information vacuum. At least I don't.

If its just like the forum, why would i bother to use it when i could just use the forum?
It might be fine in the beginning, but i can guarantee people will start shitposting (like the wild west) and mods will start abusing their power, like mods have allegedly done here in the past.

I mean, you're planning for problems here that are a distinct possibility without equal distribution of the same level of scrutiny towards an existing platform here. Okay, so... There are going to be mods that abuse their power and people shitposting on this forum. We've seen major shitposting in the last month, that I wont directly reference because it was so nasty (Just look at the thread where Russ Pitts said he was returning). Do we pack it in for the forum then? And if the mods are abusing their power... then... Get rid of them. I mean, the point of all of this, was that it'd be an official Discord. That means the power to control it would be in the hands of the escapist. There are multiple subcommunity discords run by private individuals and you pushed for private people to run one if they wanted it... Isn't that like a million times more likely to produce shitposts and power abuse, then a discord Run by the actual site, that can just drop people if there are enough complaints leveled against them?

Eaxcatly what BreakfastMan said, do you think the people in Gaming Discussion want to talk to the people in Religion and Politics, or the people in Tech Discussion to people in Roleplaying?

I mean I just hopped between the Gaming discussion and Religion and Politics area and there are posts written by people who use both. So if there is mixing here, and not totally separate communities, I don't really see a disconnect that exists to support your statement. Moreover, you can have different discord Channels. Just make one about X, one about Y... Problem solved. I mean I'm posting this in Offtopic, but I don't mind talking to people about whatever.

 

[czfjrod]

I'm quite intrigued in the different opinions here. The last Escapist server tied with the Twitch channel (belonging to John, who since rebranded it for his own things) was quite packed and created a different sort of conversation than I've seen around these forums. Because of the streams, there was quite a sustained interaction on that front. Whether it could continue with just Yahtzee and whoever else new wants, that's another thing.

But I will say this. I've taken the initiative before myself, with Extra Credits and Dan's spinoff New Frame Plus. The EC server is hovering around 1000 members, because the interest was there. Making these kind of servers de facto is just a matter of matching the standards of the parent entity and being nice with the people at the top.

As far as The Escapist is concerned, I'll throw my hat in the ring for a shot at revival.

Ideally if it were official, it would have to be linked closely with the framework of the new site, including Publisher's Club (if it stays) and Twitch subscriptions. Sounds like a lot, but Discord's bot API is pretty simple. Plus, if anyone wants to use it to extend events from the forums into voice chat, that's a good reason to have it.