This message accompanies the one left on the Discord server, but this thread is to discuss this move and it's details. Keep it nice and productive, please!
Announcement left on Discord:
@everyone I try not to ping all to often here, but this announcement is well worth it IMO. Due to the recent announcements by Discord, we will be migrating away from this as the primary community platform. I do not agree with the decision to require identity verification for any purpose just to have a community where folks can meet up and chat - and I don't trust their ability to keep it secure, as they've been hacked and leaked data numerous times in the past.
Discord is going to be replaced by 2 things:
- The newly-setup forum, located here: https://forum.kohiengine.com/
- A newly-setup IRC channel: (server: `irc.libera.chat`, port: `6697`, channel: `#kohi`.
They serve 2 distinct purposes:
The forum should contain anything that should maintain a historical record and be searchable/re-visitable in the future - topics such as support and questions that others might need, or discussions that need additional context like links or images. The forum will serve as the primary resource for the community, and the central source of truth for all discussions around Kohi and Shadows of Illumina.
The IRC chat is really an extension of the forum, and is really only to be used for casual conversation in a more immediate environment. Note that, due to the nature of how IRC works, chat history there is not saved. This is why I say to prefer the forum.
This change accomplishes a few things. First, it dispenses with the "walled garden" that is Discord (i.e. it isn't searchable via the web or without having a login, etc.). This is a huge point, and honestly one I was considering anyway long before Discord made these announcements. Second, sometimes old school and simple is best. Communities switching from using forums to using these centralized and walled gardens was a mistake, and afforded these companies far too much power over its users and communities in ways that almost always winds up being abused. This is an attempt to right that wrong in our own way. Third, there won't be any advertising in our forums or IRC channel like there is on Discord. I get they are out to make money, but it's constant - with no signs of lightening up. This way, the only person bearing cost to run these things is me (although you all do help, and that is greatly appreciated), and I am okay with that.
So what's the plan? Discord plans to roll out these changes sometime next month, so we'll be transitioning most things that need saving out of the Discord server and into the forums between now and then. This has already been started, in fact. Log anything that you think should be saved into the #server-suggestions channel or, better yet, go and post that thing on the forums yourself! It would help out immensely. Anyway, we will slowly begin locking down channels and marking them as read-only as time continues. Note that the server will never be completely shut down, but there will be messages left for anyone coming in to go to the forums instead. The only channel I plan to leave open long-term will be #general, purely so that there's somewhere for new folks to land before being directed back out of Discord. As for chat, IRC is something we are trying as an experiment. Maybe we'll stick with it if it works, maybe try something else if not, but I don't want to trade one walled garden for another.
That's all there is for now. In the coming weeks, announcements will instead be made over at the forums instead of in Discord.
Edit: One more thing, if voice chat ever becomes something widely requested (it wasn't used all that much on Discord) I will setup a TeamSpeak server.