Forum/discord discussion

[malefactus]

I think it would have caused less or, possibly, no anxiety if Reaper had merely put the Discord icon up with the FaceBook , Twitter, et al icons rather than have a separate, more obvious link.

[buglips*the*goblin]

51 minutes ago, malefactus said:

I think it would have caused less or, possibly, no anxiety if Reaper had merely put the Discord icon up with the FaceBook , Twitter, et al icons rather than have a separate, more obvious link.

 

Discord is different from those other socials, though.  The Reaper discord is a community hub using Discord software like this place is a community hub using Invision software, more suitable to customization and unique attributes.  Essentially the discord and the forum are co-equal and, ideally, most people would like to be a part of both because they each do different things well.  But Reaper recognizes that it is important for people to decide where they want to hang out and what level of participation they desire.  Given all of those parameters then it is best served not only by making them integrate better but for the discord to be more prominently displayed as a community option than the other socials.  So for anyone who wants in, it's easy to do and for anyone who doesn't then it's easy to opt out of.  

[ttuckerman]

The other forum that I followed has disappeared with a software upgrade.  They have kept Facepalm and discordant platforms.  No longer following them.  Hope it does not happen here.

[malefactus]

4 hours ago, buglips*the*goblin said:

 

Discord is different from those other socials, though.  The Reaper discord is a community hub using Discord software like this place is a community hub using Invision software, more suitable to customization and unique attributes.  Essentially the discord and the forum are co-equal and, ideally, most people would like to be a part of both because they each do different things well.  But Reaper recognizes that it is important for people to decide where they want to hang out and what level of participation they desire.  Given all of those parameters then it is best served not only by making them integrate better but for the discord to be more prominently displayed as a community option than the other socials.  So for anyone who wants in, it's easy to do and for anyone who doesn't then it's easy to opt out of.  

 

Thank you for the explanation. However, TBMF conforms to the description that you gave for the Reaper Forum & they use a Discord icon for a link.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Well, as a general reply I'd like to point out that while a number of people seem to interpret the addition of new things to this board as a sign of unwelcome changes designed to reduce or eliminate this forum - it is in fact all the opposite.  It demonstrates effort being made to keep the forum alive, vital, and an integral part of things.  This forum is pushing 20 years old, which is practically ancient in internet terms.  Even as other places may feel assorted forums have had their day, this one has been deemed to still have use and a role to play in the Reaper ecosystem.  I should think everyone here would welcome these efforts to keep the board relevant instead of griping every time there's a change.  Things are going to change on the internet over time, the places people use are going to change on the internet over time, but this place is still here because somebody still thinks it's worth keeping the lights on.  Give them a little credit for doing that, they're not under any obligation to keep paying for the place and a lot of other companies simply wouldn't.

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2021 by buglips*the*goblin

[Sylverthorne]

As much as I don't like the crowd density on the official Discord, I do appreciate having the option to participate there.

 

I do not think that having Discord and the Forums more closely tied together is a bad thing; on the contrary, I think it's a good thing, it keeps our collective options open, as well as giving us someplace to go when one or the other is down.

The swelling Discord banner was concerning, but.. heh. I've done web design. Getting something /right/ often takes a couple of tries, some prodding and a lot of prayer (and occasionally, the odd bout of fetish-shaking and incense-waving, because dog knows, everything else has been tried!), I figured that would get straightened out and integrated a little better, as it has been. 

I admit, I give it even odds we'll eventually see a custom banner, because the blue doesn't /quite/ match the rest of the colour scheme, but I think the layout has been nicely settled. 

[redambrosia]

1 hour ago, buglips*the*goblin said:

I should think everyone here would welcome these efforts to keep the board relevant instead of griping every time there's a change. 

Yes, but we’re all old and curmudgeonly, so get off our lawn with that new fangled modern stuff :shakes cane:

[Cygnwulf]

I think one reason for the discord Box versus the normal social buttons is the fact that it's not a static link, it's an active element that actually shows the number of people online in the discord right now. (there's possibilities for it to show other things later on too I'm sure).
And, as others have said, the Facepalm page and Instabox accounts are more one way communication. It's a presence but it's not a community.  the facbook group is subject to all the problems that facebook groups usually do, not the least of which is the difficulty of even seeing everything that happens even if you watch for it constantly (thank you dumb facebook sorting algorithym), and feels both less moderated and way mor chaotic than either the discord or the forum.

 

And as for the color - yeah, it's very jarring in the dark scheme in particular (and still out of place in the light scheme).  Unfortunately it is the official discord color, and there may some restrictions on branding that discord partners have to conform to. (which if Reaper isn't already on their way to that I'd be surprised)

 

[Arc 724]

Discord is a 100% real time activity data as compared to a forum which has a delay in it's metrics. Not much delay but the elements of discord, especially at the community level and discoverability that Reapers is at, allow you to have an almost pin point vibe of the community and it's activity level. I don't see much changing in there media as this forum and discord are outlets that help the entire brand. The only way any element of their brand gets changed, delete, transform is if the it has little to no activity and does not contribute to the whole that is Reaper. But I'm sure we all understand that. 

I personally have enjoyed these forums since I started painting in 2013. As the past 3 years I have become less and less (significantly less) active but I have encouraged painters I know to touch the forums. I'm a member of their discord and I will stay a member but I don't really pay attention to it. The activity level is to high for me to pay attention with all the other discords I own, manage or am a staff member of, but I am not your average discord user. 

Discord's metric's, at Reapers level, is freakin sick! Not to mention user friendly to both the users and the managers. As well as allowing members to pay-to-play for more personality in their experience. To be honest that element alone brings people in. I didn't believe it myself cause why would you by $5, 10$, etc a month for gif emoji's, wall papers, and gif avatars? I haven't bought on to that train yet but I certainly will once my gaming/painting outlets gain more steam and I can use emoji's of my own making on others discords. 

And lets remember this forum topic is a discussion so the topic of them potentially closing the forum down is a aspect of said discussion. Any one that reads this, panics and starts a rumor mill of that sort is just plain silly. I would hate to know this community has turned into a place where discussions of all sort can't happen. And a person or group are shut down in a discussion forum about a subject simply because "[reaper didn't say that]". 

I truly do not believe that is even a possibility in the minds of reaper. I typed that but that would be wrong. A business owner would consider it as I've detailed above about metrics. I Certainly would eliminate any of my outlets if they are not performing. Loyalty be damned.

Marketing is going the way of the Tiktok/Reel/shorts... snap snap snap to attention spans that last less than 10 seconds. You can see by the amount I've typed here that the average person might read the first sentence of this post then stop. Whereas you all, forumnite veterans, will read the whole thing. To that end, please type bamboozled in your reply to let me know you read this far. 😉 

[TripleH]

34 minutes ago, Arc 724 said:

To that end, please type bamboozled in your reply to let me know you read this far. 😉 

[Cygnwulf]

1 hour ago, Arc 724 said:

please type

I refuse to type the word bamboozled.  So I copied and pasted instead  

Edited December 8, 2021 by Cygnwulf

[Guindyloo]

2 hours ago, Cygnwulf said:

I think one reason for the discord Box versus the normal social buttons is the fact that it's not a static link, it's an active element that actually shows the number of people online in the discord right now. (there's possibilities for it to show other things later on too I'm sure).
And, as others have said, the Facepalm page and Instabox accounts are more one way communication. It's a presence but it's not a community.  the facbook group is subject to all the problems that facebook groups usually do, not the least of which is the difficulty of even seeing everything that happens even if you watch for it constantly (thank you dumb facebook sorting algorithym), and feels both less moderated and way mor chaotic than either the discord or the forum.

 

And as for the color - yeah, it's very jarring in the dark scheme in particular (and still out of place in the light scheme).  Unfortunately it is the official discord color, and there may some restrictions on branding that discord partners have to conform to. (which if Reaper isn't already on their way to that I'd be surprised)

 

 

 I keep coming here to say things only to discover that you've said them already. ⭐

 

This is correct, the active element button can only be modified to a certain extent. Directly based on feedback, it has been made as small as possible and moved. The colour cannot be changed at this time.

 

Best I can do here is assure y'all that the button was not added with any malicious intent, I'm sorry that it upset people, but it is still just a button. We try to cross-promote all of the different socials all the time. So because no one on twitch, for instance, thinks that us encouraging them to join the discord is us trying to get them to permanently leave the twitch in favour of the discord, no one thought that would be incorrectly inferred here. Incidentally, not a single week goes by where I don't link to the forum on one of Reaper's other socials. No one is telling anyone that they should or must migrate to a platform that they don't like, the content is just there for people who do like it there. The Reaper discord is coming up on its 2 year anniversary, it's not a new thing, it's just another place to go, not a replacement.

 

Discussion on this topic is not being discouraged, but I'm feeling a bit bamboozled  (there, I worked it into my post, @Arc 724 😛) by the topic change from "this button is big and ugly" to "Reaper's trying to force us all to move to discord and shut down the forum." So both in the name of not devolving into rumour and in an attempt to reassure people who may have been upset, I am telling you all in no uncertain terms and with 100% certainty, the addition of the button was not done with any ill intent or any hidden meaning. It was not put there to upset anyone or make anyone worry about the future of the forum.

 

If you are still worried that people will be drawn away from the forum in favour of other platforms, then I would advise you to follow Chaoswolf's advice:

 

On 12/5/2021 at 9:02 AM, Chaoswolf said:

The best way to ensure the Forums remain is to be active here. POST PICTURES, everybody loves seeing pictures of the figures that people are working on. Take part in conversations, ask questions, offer advice, that sort of thing. Basically, show Reaper that this an active, useful, vital part of the internet worth the time and money that they have invested/continue to invest in it.

 

Keep the arguing, unpleasantness, political garbage, and real life drama off the boards. ( You're all generally really good at this anyway, but it bears repeating. Those are the sorts of things that might make Reaper decide this place isn't worth the effort, after all. )

 

Ultimately people are here on the forum because of the community that it provides. Reaper is not going to refrain from having a presence on any platform where it makes sense for them to have a presence and every new presence helps Reaper and helps expand the community. That's a good thing all around, even if you personally don't intend on participating in every new platform. 

[CashWiley]

An adjunct Discord makes a lot of sense here, since it's how an active segment of the forum was already using it, and forums aren't great for that (the random discussion stuff).

 

My old primary forum (since 2004, community since 1997) put up a Discord and it basically killed off the remaining members who weren't into chat and tribalized the chatters from the folks who prefer forums. I personally hate chat and like having a slower conversation that I can easily follow and keep up with, so it's left a sour taste in my mouth as far as Discord goes (I stopped Internet chatting in...1998 or so, remember ICQ?).

 

Anyway, as I said, it makes a lot more sense here but it's also understandable why some people reacted this way, as it's a fairly divisive piece of software in general, and has killed off a lot of great forum communities in pretty short order.

 

Also, I had to use it for work last year because the younger librarians stepped in with their favorite remote tools. And it basically doxxed me one day (software kept trying to use my creative account rather than my work one) so I don't even post much on forums anymore. I really don't like Discord (which is fine, people should use what they prefer!), though I'd say it's well-titled.

[Glitterwolf]

One of the benefits of this forum to me is the International aspect.

I'm in Europe a lot of you are in the USA, I believe Discord is more real time.

Here I can post something, you guys read and respond later and so on.

In discord this would probably get lost.

 

I can't emphasize enough that I really appreciate both Reaper and the Forumites here for keeping this such a cool and friendly place.

 

My apologies if my fear of losing this Forum rubbed someone the wrong way.

That was not my intent.

It's just that a lot of things nowadays tend to get thrown away to be replaced by newer stuff which is sometimes better but certainly not always.

I'm happy to hear that's not the plan here.

 

Again, a big thank you to @Guindyloo and @buglips*the*goblin 

[Arc 724]

That is a excellent point about the forums vs discord @Glitterwolf . It's one of my favorite features.