Discord!

LaFayette

There's an unofficial TripleA server discord that has been floating around for some years. Let's use it? I recently hopped on there and started a conversation to make that server "official".

Here is an invite link: https://discord.gg/PRtexuSprq

I don't see Discord as a replacement for the lobby or forums, but as a complement. Think of it as a 'water-cooler' area perhaps. Good for near-real-time conversations, voice chat, and random unofficial bantering =D

I see forum threads as staying useful for discussing specific topics in depth. Discord channels do not do well when multiple topics are raised, so it's good for talking about quick, time-dependent topics. Discord might be particularly helpful for arranging games, game discussions, maybe more!

FWIW, we had some previous threads toying with the idea of using Discord more heavily:

At this juncture, I see a lot of potential and that Discord has so far survived the "test of time". There's potential for automation and much deeper game integration with Discord. So, if we adopt an official server, there's a lot of potential.

To boot, (with big props) the existing community and moderation of this discord server is quite solid. One concern we had was about running the server & moderating it. Those seem to be solved problems at this point. Hence, introducing the communities and having everyone mingle seems like the next steps!

ubernaut

@lafayette joined we should try to organize dev chats there maybe at some point?

TheDog

@ubernaut
go here
https://discord.com/channels/998917489910108180/1363451816053964810

Panther

@lafayette Joined, thanks.

ubernaut

@thedog 🫡

beelee

So I don't really know what a discord is.

Is it just like one giant topic where everyone says whatever they want ? and if you want a more detailed conversation you move it to the forum ?

So kinda like being in the lobby ?

Is there any downside or maintance aspect for joining ?

Black_Elk

@beelee I hopped on Discord back when A&AO came out, and stuck around for the Baldur's Gate revival era hehe. It's like a hybrid between a chat and a forum I guess, with a messaging app component I would say, but for like whatever game or subject. I saw that tripleA had one a few months back and kicked around for a second, but wasn't sure who was running it. I don't think it wasn't super active at that time. Most games have migrated in some way to discord, since it's pretty well integrated with the socials and things like twitch or youtube. Pretty easy to share things like images or video clips or to emote in creative ways with pixel art. But you have to sorta choose what you want to tune-in for there, or to ignore I suppose, it's similar to TV on Cable in that way hehe.

I think a discord server is pretty good for in-the-moment stuff, rapid fire Q/A or things like announcements, random stuff since there can be many channels. It's less useful as an archive, unless someone is johnny on the spot with the pins. I think a channel is only as good as it's moderators or the community that shows up and sticks around, but it's also pretty fast moving and scales up rather quickly. I always feel like by the time I show up for anything, it's probably past it's prime lol, but discord seems to have some endurance, cause it's been around for like a decade or so. I think it's similar to things like Facebook though, where the communities tend to splinter around, and you get random crossover vibes, or where it seems ok or even a necessity for some stuff, but then also can't do everything in a satisfying way. I like the idea of having some reg boards around for archival stuff too. Discord I look to for whatever is happening right now, or to try and solve a problem if it's tech/bug related for whatever modding, but if it's like trying to figure out what happened last week or last month, last year etc then discord can be harder to navigate for me, probably cause it's so frenetic. But then that's sorta what one wants around the water cooler probably. Like for the good gossip and the latest, or the quality memes haha

Prob good to have something since it's often that's how I hear about new games and such, just sorta randomly knocking around twitch and discord to see what people are playing or what's out.

beelee

@black_elk

right arm. Probably something that I won't do then but sounds good for triplea members to have the option and might help communication wise as well as grow the game.

I guess I should be adventurous and at least check it out Idk. I have a hard enough time without saying the wrong thing here or on github lol

Never had a water cooler job. Bonfires and keg parties is how we rolled

Nothing wrong with a water cooler.

When you're deep in the woods waiting for the pan to boil because you didn't top off at the spring, you'd be happy to have one

beelee

hmm says invalid link expired

Screenshot from 2025-04-28 04-00-22.png

I hit continue and it wants a phone number and all sorts of shit. This isn't happening

TheDog

@beelee
use this
https://discord.com/
your cookies should do the rest, I put an email address in.

LaFayette

@Black_Elk really hit the nail on the head. Discord is basically a really well done chat room with voice & screen sharing. Good for getting a 'pulse', but not for reference.

It's often used instead of 'team speak', even for games that have in-game voice capability. This could be quite big for players. What's more, discord has some good modern automation stuff available (notably like sending messages to Discord).

So, discord is great for "anyone want to start a game tonight?", or "I have this problem.." - and if nobody answers, then it goes to a forum post. Discord is not great for having many different topics at once, so it is a bit glove and hand with forums and not really quite an alternative. I could see map makers using Discord to a lot of discussion in addition to having a forum posting to formally introduce the map.

LaFayette

@ubernaut said in Discord!:

@lafayette joined we should try to organize dev chats there maybe at some point?

FWIW: There is already a #developer channel setup!

I'm not sure if we'll need formalized chat meetups. Maybe for the larger community. It makes sense. But let's see how things go first? Discord certainly would be the platform for hosting such a thing.

ubernaut

@lafayette i noticed that

Getembees

Hey there, GetEmBees here,

Been playing A&A in various forms since 1998. Used to the Big Board for official A&A, switched to TripleA about 2016. I play the AI alot and want to try some games against people.

I tried the link via Discord App but get this error.

Let me know if this server is active. My discord is GetEmBees

Disc Error.png