What do you guys think about having a WritingForums Discord server? I'm not sure how many people on here use Discord, but I though I'd suggest it anyway. It would mainly be used as a secondary form of communication between members, and is more direct than forums posts (it is much more like direct messaging). I'm not suggesting it replace the forums, I just think it would be nice to have a back up place for the members to use to communicate if the site goes down etc. I honestly haven't put much thought into this at all, just throwing it out there to see what people think.
I was considering this for behind-the-scenes stuff, we will consider it for public-sided stuff as well. I could see it be good for downtime, quick support/questions using the site, and general chat.
It's funny because a Discord sever for a forum almost invariably causes a massive slowdown in activity for the forum itself. Forums are kind of a dying breed, really. But for this site, where forum-length posts and stuff like that are important, plus many users here are older or beyond the whole "Discord era" stuff, it could be pretty useful and not self-competition like it is with so many other forum communities.
I think it would be fun... I original wanted to suggest this but was sy about it... I Have my own private discord server called Wolfe_Den. I don't do anything with it.
I think it's kind of an interesting idea in general, but especially for BTS discussions among staff. It could be set up to have both a public part and some hidden staff-only channels (in the same server).
I didn't really think it would, especially since there's no way to do any kind of workshop or anything on a Discord server. It also wouldn't be good for long discussions, just little question and stuff.
But really though, I'll mention it to the rest of the staff and see what they think. @Komposten I know it'll help behind-the-scene communication if we all use it. As for impact on the forum, I think it'll move most of the chatter to the chat room, and hopefully concentrate quality posts on the forum.
It'll mean I'll have to learn WTF a Discord server is, and how that's different from the gladiator academy that is the Debate Room
@Iain Aschendale it's another type of ring fighting. It's a live chatroom with hashtag-based channels. There's also the option for a voice server. Active discords can get quite lively.
My experience is that chat rooms take a lot of traffic off site leaving the actual forum quite sterile, also they are a bitch to moderate. I could see it for staff, and staff and volunteers, and maybe for discrete groups but I'm not sure it's a good idea for all
Yes, this was a concern of mine as well. Although, I don't think it would move most of the writing discussion, probably just the general chit-chat and such. I definitely don't want it to take away activity from the forums, however, so if people think it's going to do so then I'd be against my own suggestion!
Thing is if people aren't logged on to the site because they are chatting elsewhere it makes the writing side of things less responsive, and you wind up as one of those forums where days can pass between post and response
Mmm.... I don't mean to sound all Minerva McGonagall, but "lively" sounds like code for disorderly and aggressive.
Yeah... and one of the main things I love about this place is that it's NOT one of those kinds of forums
Discord is possibly the best type of chat room you could have. It allows you a ton of customization, and lets you create a seemingly infinite number of text and voice channels, and lets you assign roles that dictate where specific users can chat. It may not be good for the entire forums, but if the administrative staff wanted to communicate it's good for that, or it could be used a live help chat sort of thing.
I'm curious if this idea went anywhere, I'm usually too busy to post on the forum proper but I'd love to network with other writers still.
Daniel has set up a Discord server that the Staff uses, but we've decided to keep it closed to the general membership for now.
Coming to this late, I'd say the 'live' chat on discord is very valuable for habius corpus comms. Forums still win on the wider scope, especially when you need to track discussion, receive unchopped responses over time from multiple responders, moderators present, larger community. Forums aren't going away, they will evolve. Discord/WF is an apples/oranges thing.
I'm in a Discord for fans of Paul Shapera's musicals. It's typically a lively place, and not in a bad way. Inside jokes like Zankles, hive mind of the day, 'Gravy Hour', Paul kills NADS (the server), Vadvore, and more are common. There are too many inside jokes to count. Beside all of that, it's also a place where you can be open about serious topics, they have a beef arena that you need to request to post in and, after the debate has ended, your ability to post is revoked until it's needed again. There's a vent channel, as well a Life Guard role where members can be contacted by users who need to talk. It's a great place. For the forums having a Discord, I'm not too sure if it's needed. I'm also concerned on the site becoming inactive should there ever be a server.
In a general term... no. a discord would be to chaotic, but little niche groups may have their own discord, dedicated to their genre and possibly as a sort of reading circle where we can read each other's works in progress and give feed back.
