"Official Arelith Discord Server"

[MissEvelyn]

I'd rather be in an official discord myself.
Granted fairly, I'm not often on discord. But it's nice for when you have questions =)

As for RP taking place on the Discord server... That's not actually something that happens, is it?

[Spyre]

Official discord is thoroughly organized, and yet has no #art channel. I give it a 2 out of 10.

Good point. It exists now.

[Orian_666]

Why not both?!?

I can absolutely see the reason and logic behind the team and admins starting an official one, it just makes sense, it's not complicated nor is it a massive deal.

At the same time as much "bad" as there is with 3.0 there is far more good to it, sure there's been toxicity, and sure there's been certain attitudes and behavior that frankly i'm not a huge fan of but that's only a tiny fraction of the whole.

And even though I do think that making a new, separate, Official Discord was the right call I know that i'll be both joining the new one and staying in 3.0 too.

This is a lot of fuss over something that's genuinely not a big deal. Use both, one, or neither. It's only a Discord channel at the end of the day...

[Cagus]

Unnecessary, confusing, redundant.

Mentioned toxicity is in the players and no level of censorship will change that.

Imho the team of 3.0 should have been approached first, to propose some changes and 'hire' them as moderators. Making 3.0 the official.
I see the only improvement of Qo-My-L in the calendar channel, which was already disputed/attacked here.
Other than that, I see not a single point, how a new discord server would improve the life of mine or of other players.

[Aurian]

I wish Discord wasn't even needed. If there were moderated forums for factions, people could post events, their playtimes and faction rumors there. And that's all that's really needed.

Then we'd have no issues with toxicity (toxic posts could be deleted by mods), people who just plain dislike / don't use discord would not be at a disadvantage, and roleplay happening outside of the game would at least be less of an issue if that kind of thing does indeed happen now.

(I wouldn't know because I'm one of those folks who don't use Discord - I really don't have the time for it. If I have time, I'd rather spend it playing instead of chatting or reading through chats.)

[Peppermint]

3.0 moderator here. Former administrator and co-founder (alongside Snow).

(And shameless link!: https://discord.gg/s5wJYFP)

A little known fact is that 3.0's admin and moderator team has historically been populated by a huge, huge number of DMs and developers. I'd go so far as to say that 3.0 staff members that haven't also been a part of Arelith's official team have numbered in the minority. Arelith 3.0 really is a passion project that we created and continue to support because we love the community every bit as much as you do.

When we created 3.0, there weren't any official channels to go to. I couldn't tell you how 3.0's administration would feel about working with Arelith's admins now; I stepped down from that role over a year ago. However, we did previously approach the administration and other community leaders in order to foster a sense of cooperation (and were rebuffed every time). Even so, we aimed to create a Discord that could feel "as official* as possible", from the quality of its moderation to our eagerness to work with and support any official staff members wanting to connect with the community through at large.

(* It's been proposed that players banned from Arelith proper should also be banned from the official Discord. Did you know that's how we managed 3.0 at the start?)

I do feel it's kind of a shame that the administration didn't reach out here. During a time when the playerbase is already pretty divided, I feel this would have been an excellent opportunity to foster a sense of community and mend old wounds; and internal 3.0 sentiment seems pretty similar. However, I don't regard the "official" admins with any ill will and I do wish them the best. If nothing else, it's a good sign that the team is at least interested in communicating with its players. Perhaps we'll see a greater sense of transparency and a better relationship with the community moving forward, even if things do feel divided in the interim.

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

I wish Discord wasn't even needed. If there were moderated forums for factions, people could post events, their playtimes and faction rumors there. And that's all that's really needed.

Then we'd have no issues with toxicity (toxic posts could be deleted by mods), people who just plain dislike / don't use discord would not be at a disadvantage, and roleplay happening outside of the game would at least be less of an issue if that kind of thing does indeed happen now.

(I wouldn't know because I'm one of those folks who don't use Discord - I really don't have the time for it. If I have time, I'd rather spend it playing instead of chatting or reading through chats.)

I wish people would stop staring at their phones all the time on the street. I'm still a pretty good looking dude even though I'm getting older and the head turns used to be a huge ego boost. Now the only time I can get someone to look at me is by slapping their phone out of their hands, which I don't recommend doing.

The point I am trying to make is, this is the world we live in like it or not, might as well make the best of it.

[Aurian]

The point I am trying to make is, this is the world we live in like it or not, might as well make the best of it.

The real world is a different subject altogether, we're talking about a gaming community here.

I've played other online roleplaying games that used clan or faction forums, meaning that Discord wasn't a necessity for faction coordination. I'm not demanding that the devs add faction forums here, but since this is the feedback forum, I wanted to offer some food for thought.

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

I like the idea of faction forums too, but over the past few years of playing here I get the sense that the fear is it will become a substitute for in game rp. Its likely a legitimate concern, and it would likely be a slow drip which would make it very hard to moderate.

[Aurian]

It would be far less tempting to roleplay on a faction forum (ideally, an extension to this one) where every post made is immediately visible to DMs. The risk of 'hidden' roleplay is much higher on Discord.

[Arienette]

It seems to me that some of the people who run the unofficial 3.0 Discord are the same people who have, in the last couple of months, publicly stated their intention to quit playing Arelith.

I could be wrong but thats my imperssion.

Also, i use the 3.0 and contribute to it. I answer questions in mentor-ama. I have been helped a lot and (hopefully) helped others on buildsnmechanics.

But some of the stuff that goes on there flies in the face of what Arelith is (or should be).

For those reasond alone, I think it was wise fot the Team to make a new discord rather than legitimize 3.0

[Aelryn Bloodmoon]

Unfortunately inevitable (from the server's design perspective) and long overdue (from my own perspective).

Here's the thing. Whether the relationship was complete roses and sunshine or not, it's a conflict of interest to have an "official" presence in an "unofficial" discord that's technically not at the mercy of Arelith's rules if at any time it chooses not to be, for any reason, on any side, perceived for good or ill.

No matter how good anyone's intentions, the possibility exists that someone on some side of the equation could be put in an uncomfortable or upsetting position.

The atmosphere and general welcome has improved by leaps and bounds over the years and I'm not taking away from that- but I personally feel that at times the 3.0 Discord has a very laissez-faire approach to moderation, depending on who the prospective moderated individual is.

While I have often lambasted the sometimes toxic nature that occurs there and left several times, I have also posted walls of texts in favor of its right to continue existing as something that is not within Arelith Staff's purview to control.

This changes that in a number of ways that are honestly just good common sense.

[Kenji]

It'd be nice if there's a Lore channel to discuss anything pertaining to the setting of Arelith.

Deity choices, Sword Coast Cities for character backgrounds, Faerun regions, Factions from the Mainland, etc.

[Saso47]

It seems to me that some of the people who run the unofficial 3.0 Discord are the same people who have, in the last couple of months, publicly stated their intention to quit playing Arelith.

I could be wrong but thats my imperssion.

Also, i use the 3.0 and contribute to it. I answer questions in mentor-ama. I have been helped a lot and (hopefully) helped others on buildsnmechanics.

But some of the stuff that goes on there flies in the face of what Arelith is (or should be).

For those reasond alone, I think it was wise fot the Team to make a new discord rather than legitimize 3.0

You are wrong. One look at it was sufficient to know it. Of everyone online at the time I took that, only one moderator admitted to not be playing it, not that it requires them to be active in Arelith to moderate a chat. The server is so "milquetoast" that the only difference between it and the official one is that one has Irongron in it and the other has cj emotes.

[Peppermint]

I don't "run" 3.0; I'm just a moderator. Those that do run it still play the server actively. Even so, this topic actually came up in moderator chat recently. I even offered to step down.

I am indeed not playing Arelith anymore. However, I do still browse the chat and step in when I feel it's necessary. I'm definitely not a fan of the current team's vision or treatment of its players. However, I do love the community and will absolutely continue to support it every step of the way.

Arelith may not be the server I grew up with anymore, but I love you all, and I want to be here with you. You're all great.

As for toxicity, if you see it, report it. We do try to crack down on that stuff, but just like Arelith's DMs, we sometimes need your help spotting it. If there's something that doesn't belong on the server proper, odds are it doesn't belong on 3.0 either.

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

I think this debate over whether or not 3.0 would have worked as the official discord is silly. If it was everything that the developers and DM's wanted out of a discord server, they wouldn't have made another discord. That's their right just as its the people who run the 3.0's right to run it the way they want. That doesn't mean that the people who run the 3.0 are bad people, in fact I look at that screen shot and see a list that consists of people ranging from those I actively like, to those I don't know, to those that are probably decent folks but took the power they got from moderating the "unofficial official" discord a bit too seriously.

Looking at the new discord as something that is "actively dividing" the community is also wrong, as anyone who pays attention can see that this an effect of the divide and not the cause. It's not like the admin/dms went on a rant about how those in the 3.0 are ruining the game, and need to be removed from power as a result. That would just be nonsense. They just said "keep doing you, we are going to set up our own discord now." Given the last few months, its clear there needed to be an adult in the room. Kudos to the Admins/dms for stepping up and being just that.

[Seekeepeek]

i imagine the official picture of the discord 3.0 being a burning house and crying kid in front of a large bold "Arelith updates" text...
might have been a big push to move over to a new discord. Even if you don't agree with the direction Arelith is going, that was a pretty tasteless move made by one person (the person that uploaded it).

[Anime Sword Fighter]

I don't see the big deal. I think people are perhaps looking for drama in this instance when there just wasn't any- which I understand and empathize with as I, too, love a good trash fire.

So a gaming community makes an official discord. Welcome to 2019!

[Hoodoo]

So a gaming community makes an official discord. Welcome to 2019!

I think this really just sums everything up.

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

So a gaming community makes an official discord. Welcome to 2019!

This made me think "Its almost 2020", which in turn made me think of how cool I thought it was at the turn of the century and we are now two decades in. Then I started to think "wow I'm getting old" which just made me depressed

[DangerDolphin]

You can laugh at this, but I dont discord.

There is a sense that we have to keep migrating chat platforms when we used to have a perfectly serviceable IRC chat on the web page.

There is a sense that, well, its inevitable. If we were chasing fads we wouldn't be playing a ten...fifteen year old game.

We've seen the era of IRC, Skype, 4chan, 8chan, twitch, discord, whatever.

Most of this is not necessary, and honestly, the best I've seen it work was when we used to have our own...right at the top of the page.

#dis_discord.

(That doesn't actually lead to anything, because I don't do that either.)

IRC is just a fad though, I'm using Morse code along telegraph poles and it's working fine.

[Kenji]

The server booster’s pink tag color is similar to the DM’s slightly light purple tag.

Maybe have the staff tags in similar color schemes while the rest of the tags can be the other?

[ReverentBlade]

The forums are absolutely more toxic than the discord. You can hardly voice an opinion here without getting absolutely torn to shreds. There's sour moments on Discord too, but I can reasonable ask a question or voice an opinion without getting nuked from orbit.

[Reallylongunneededplayername]

So, I gave it a bit of time before opening my mouth on it;

A lot of things get lost on discord what should been or also been on the forum.

That's all.

[Kenji]

Regarding #build-guides channel under the -Player Resources- section of the Discord server:

People discussing details or commenting on the builds in that specific channel should be moved to #character-build-advice. Messages will eventually flood the channel and make finding build-related guides difficult.

I would like to suggest locking the #build-guides channel to read-only and have whoever like to post guides in the #build-guides section ask the staff team for their links to be posted there.