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To use or not to use Discord


Elena
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I like Discord. @Morrigan taught me to like it. I would like to implement it on my site too, but I wonder if I should do it or not, when neither the c-box is active enough on certain days.

 

Strangely our members aren't very keen on communicating. Some because they aren't online at the same time with the others, and in the rare occasions when it happens, they are talking. Some are talking with me in e-mails or on FB messenger but not with the others.

 

Some others even might have never talked in the c-box and they post on invisible - and not because they had any quarrell or bad experience with communicating with the other members here (on previous sites they had been on, I can't know). They are simply and obviously here to write and not to socialize at all. When in need of a PM to clarify something about a thread, they can talk, of course.

 

Of course I would like it to be different, to encourage the members to talk more together, about the site, plot and characters but about life in general too... however I think in my particular case Discord is not a solution. It won't change anything and it will remain unused. I don't know how to encourage them to talk more even in the c-box, because I guess this has to come from inside, and no outside incentive can work.

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Well, I was about to answer with something witty and intellectual but you pretty much just answered your own question at the bottom.

When it comes to communication - only the members can decide if they really want to, and adding an extra way to do so when they don't use the ones already there might be putting a bit too much pressure on them.

 

I know that sometimes I feel more welcomed to speak in a chat box when someone's in there initiating a conversation with me (the guest) in a non-overzealous way, meaning no "GUEST COME CONVERT TO US!" or "Hi guest! Need anything!?"

 

Just simple, "How are you guys doing today?" or posting a funny video to comment on. You know, actual things that could form lasting conversation topics. I'm sure you've probably done all this and more by now, but that's just what's worked with me and a few others I've seen in the past who weren't too keen on using cbox. They need an extra nudge sometimes to feel wanted. This works with both members and new guests as well, in my short experience.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Discord and slack are huge trends right now. They are great for fostering a sense of community.

 

They are terrible for encouraging forum activity and in some cases actively hinder activity as slack/discord chat isn't seen on the forum.

 

It's awesome that your forum knows what it is about! That is a place to be proud.

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A relaxed, dark and gritty roleplay based on Disney's Zootopia. 

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Not every site needs Discord or Slack. (I'd say even cbox isn't necessary.) It really depends on the community itself. Trying to add in Slack or Discord may not even go over so well. First they require an extra account (which to some is no big deal... but for others they might not want another account to deal with). Then it means checking on that external service. And even then if they do check/use them it doesn't guarantee that people will even get along. (On the downside, like Xexes mentioned, it could negatively affect the community too by having activity that would otherwise be on site happen in the chatbox. Especially if people start chat rping... It's why a lot of sites don't have IC chatboxes or tolerate any amount of IC stuff in their chatbox.)

 

If a community is either happy with the cbox or doesn't even use it already then I wouldn't bother trying to add something else. In either case this new thing wouldn't likely be used so it's just a waste of time and effort.

 

I know personally I wouldn't bother adding Slack or Discord because we're already on either Curse or Skype.

 

Spoiler

Admittedly I like Curse better than Skype because:

- it's call quality seems better even on weaker connections, 

- the system resources used seem lower, 

- the group chat on Curse seems easier to use (add a user then they can come and go as they please), 

- the interface is not plastered with ads, 

- if you have Steam/Battle.net/Skype open and you start Curse it can sync with them and allow you to find users that way. 

 

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"There are three sides to every story... Your side, their side, and then somewhere in the middle is the truth."
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I also want to emphasize what VirusZero said about accounts. It's really an unforseen pain in the neck:

 

Slack & Discord:

 - If the user has an account already, it probably doesn't match their forum account, which leads to confusion from everyone else

 - Yay, yet another app to install on your mobile phone

Discord:

 - Joining the right community involves finding the user and sending them a personal message in Discord, something that sounds easy but is SUPER awful

Slack:

 - Switching communities on Slack is SUPER awful

 - To get a user on Slack, you have to send them an email address. This can be too daunting for shy people to ask, too invasive for those concerned about privacy, and in general, is an utter pain in the butt because for many email services, said email never actually arrives in your inbox. Hotmail/Live/MSN/Outlook mail is famous for this. Which means you now have to use a disposable email, another email, or open a new account just to join some stupid Slack community.

 

 

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A relaxed, dark and gritty roleplay based on Disney's Zootopia. 

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@xexes with Discord there's also the option for a join link, so a person doesn't have to be sent an invitation. If they just click the join link, then they're in.

 

A module exists as well that you can encode onto your forum which shows who's currently on the Discord server. @Kit the Human might have more to say about it.

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Thank you all for your replies. I agree that it might not be what my site needs, no matter how much I like it.

 

@VirusZero: I have no skype, and I haven't heard of Curse. Discord is the only thing which interests me, but I agree with you that I feel in my concrete case this new thing wouldn't likely be used so it's just a waste of time and effort.

 

@xexes, @Gothams Reckoning is right. You need just a link to click, and no application to install on your computer and be bothered with. Just a link to bookmark. I am talking every day on Discord, but it is just a link in the bar above to click. So it is handy. And as far as I noticed, people do taylor their Discord names to their site names. In my case, it's no need because my name is Elena everywhere, including in the ID card :P

Edited by Elena
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For future reference, you can find widget stuff over here.

 

When enable your widget you can grab an iframe code and just drop it onto your site. It comes with a connect button so people can literally just click the button and they get to chat. Like @Gothams Reckoning said, the widget also shows you who's online at the time. You can also customise it so that it gels with your site's theme (I haven't looked into that all.)

 

But to reiterate what has been said before, I don't think off-forum chat is necessary for the success of a forum. I find it a positive influence on my forum because we can encourage and express excitement or admiration over what other people are doing. But there's more than one way to skin that particular cat.

 

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PSI: an Occult Investigations RP

Roleplay Architects: Grab a friend (or many friends!) and just write.

You can also find me at:

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I am not sure what you are talking about, @Kit the Human, as you use technical words I can't understand. But I have started using Discord here on RPG Initiative, @Morrigan showed me and I love it. I know it is possible, and it is just a bookmark on my computer :) Nothing to add and to install.

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55 minutes ago, Elena said:

I am not sure what you are talking about, @Kit the Human, as you use technical words I can't understand. But I have started using Discord here on RPG Initiative, @Morrigan showed me and I love it. I know it is possible, and it is just a bookmark on my computer :) Nothing to add and to install.

 

It's not really relevant to you since you're not interested in having Discord for your community. It was for people who might be interested in using Discord for their community and are browsing this thread.

 

They can, if they want, create a discord chat and enable a widget (steps laid out in this link.) The widget will spit out a code that they can paste into their site. That widget displays people who are currently online in discord as well as a button to click to join the discord chat.

 

As you have noted, the users do not need to add or install anything. It's simply something an admin can do to make the discord chat easier to access.

 

You can see what I am talking about at the bottom of my site. The link is in the signature.

 

I hope that is clearer, my post was really only relevant to admins who might be looking for ways to make it easier for users to access the Discord chat.

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sig.png.30b42565d04d922988370bf14e1447bc.png

PSI: an Occult Investigations RP

Roleplay Architects: Grab a friend (or many friends!) and just write.

You can also find me at:

static-historicalrp.jpg  B8CB4x.png rpabutton.png

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I can say that I love love love Discord. We went from Skype to Slack, and when I found Discord I mentioned moving to it and had one member who was always upset at something just freaking lose her damn mind when I moved to it. The board that we were all on never did, though I did make a chat for some of the players just to stick together and talk, but I am glad we did.

 

I like the way you don't have to install things, but most of all I like the way I can be in many groups at once (as I'm a social butterfly) and not have to switch between teams. To me, using these apps like this is very important to keep the community close. I can talk to them from my phone easier while I'm at work. I can shut it down when I need to post. I can also just talk to the admin team when I am busy enough I can't say hi to the chat.

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"Everyone has been doing so much soul searching during all of this,

and I'm just over here drawing pics of my character's dicks."

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