I'm aware that some games ask you to Link your Discord account, and provide various social features and rewards for doing so.

This is a potential way to improve attracting users to the game, and retaining them over time (as well as helping new people get started and find other players.. building community and all that). So I'm considering it.

It looks like it may be a little annoying to implement, but hopefully it's a one-and-done thing. Probably not that time consuming, just a bunch of hoops to jump through.

Still, I'm aware that not everyone is a fan of Discord, and some people became upset at them at few different points over the last couple of years, so I wanted to see how people felt about this?

I'm not necessarily going to follow player sentiment on this, but I'm interested in feedback as part of my decision-making process.

I'm not in any rush to implement this either.. we're buried in projects right now. It's just something I'm considering putting on a longer-term TODO list.

I do not like that some are active on their game account, yet communicate through ch. 100 via discord, identified by their main account handle. It disconnects the pilot from the communication. Not sure there is a remedy or if one is even warranted. It's a functional dislike of mine. A pilot's name and their main account's name is not always readily associated. Anybody else?

Just to clarify, when people request the Verified Pilot role on discord (allows using the relay), they specify what character they wish to be identified as. Occasionally something happens where this name gets lost and the relay uses their discord account name, but it's supposed to be using an actual character name that is displayed in-game.

It may be that I was born in the 20th Century, but my brain does absolutely not comprehend the Discord interface. I’m logged in under h.hornblower._03226, I go to # channel-100, I can read it, cannot chat. Now I know I’m supposed to be verified, fish around here and there, wtf? Anyways, my understanding is discord is a platform created by programmers for programmers. Any required uses will need to account for normies like me.

Okay.. this topic has nothing to do with our 100-Discord relay, or even (really) our Discord channel.

This is about integrating Discord friend-list stuff and social integration into the game.

(H.Hornblower: You can try asking Luxen about your Verified status? But, again, not really what this thread is about).

My personal take is that I can separate the usefulness of integrating with a service from my opinion of the company running that service. Guild Software adding optional Discord integration wouldn't read to me as "GS endorses Discord"; it would read as "Discord is where a significant part of the player community already is, and GS is making it easier for those players to connect."

I'd gladly jump ship from some of the platforms I use today if genuinely competitive alternatives appeared that I felt better about supporting. I don't think that means developers should avoid useful integrations with the platforms their users actually use in the meantime. I wouldn't begrudge GS - or really any small developer - for making the practical business decision to meet their users where they already are. I'm clearly still in the Discord myself, even if I've become a lot more hands-off with it lately.

And in VO's particular case, Discord has already been part of the community for quite a while now. This would be less about introducing Discord to the VO community and more about finally connecting the game itself to social infrastructure the community has already been using for years.

As long as the integration is optional, and people who don't want to link a Discord account aren't losing access to normal game functionality (which I assume is already the intent), I'm strongly in favor of it. I'd even say: "It's about time." VO is an MMO. Socializing is kind of the point.

I'm completely in favor of optional integration. One of the biggest challenges for active clans is verifying new members and coordinating them across platforms, just like Discord, and I've already run into problems with it. Automatic role syncing or simple linking via OAuth would significantly reduce the administrative burden for clan leaders and help prevent impersonation. Keeping it optional ensures that traditional players aren't forced into anything, while modernizing the social infrastructure for everyone else.

I believe that optional Discord integration is a huge advantage for player retention and overall organization. In my experience trying to keep people engaged and prevent them from getting lost, having social features or basic account linking makes it much easier to bring new players onboard and connect them with active guilds before they feel lost. I know this from experience, having met many new players. As long as it remains strictly optional and in-game usernames take precedence over Discord usernames to maintain clear identity, it's a very welcome feature that we should all support.

While I also believe players should be free to choose which name to keep, whether their in-game name or their Discord name, I consider it more appropriate that what I'm saying is just an extra.

If it brings more new people to trying VO, I am all for it.
+1
GA

ignore vo-discord forever

ignore vo-discord forever

Like I wrote above:

"Okay.. this topic has nothing to do with our 100-Discord relay, or even (really) our Discord channel."

I don't know how to be clearer. Maybe caps helps: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VO-DISCORD.

To me, yes...

- Discord adds a great communication lawyer.
- Could be the reason or the bridge to discover VO.
- Could help to preserve players active.