As a lot of you probably know we've been considering alternatives to AIM for a while, since they changed the amount of information you need to provide to sign up for an account. Most things have just been alternatives, we use Skype although it lacks group chat features, and IRC was fairly poorly adopted.
Discord not only offers everything that AIM does - it's honestly better
- An invite to the server gives you access to all public channels. There's no need to invite people to every separate chat like we do with AIM Blast chats.
- The interface is smooth, modern and intuitive, unlike a lot of IRC clients.
- Incredibly easy to sign up for.
- Doesn't lag like Skype, and messages are server-side. Not that messy client-to-client system Skype uses.
- Supports Voice Chat channels for anyone that wants to use them. These are opt-in, you won't have to hear people if you're only in the text channels.
- Discord has a browser-based and a downloadable client, with almost identical and fully functional interfaces. It also has excellent mobile apps.
- I've already coded a dicebot, so everything is ready for URPG action.
- You can mention people in chat to send them a notification. Clicking a tag opens a PM with the user.
- You can tag a channel to link to it, example "Lets go to #battle2". Clicking the link switches to the channel.
- Moderator names appear red in the member list and chat interface. Officials are orange, and the dicebot is blue.
- The URPG server already has channels for general, battle 1/2/3, contest and ffa. Any moderator can make more if needed.
As mentioned earlier, I've already coded a dicebot. It responds publicly in chat, and can also respond via PM if you need a private dice roll. The command is !d, followed by a number, eg !d100, !d6 etc. As this bot is written by me, we can add additional automated chat interactions as we think of them.
Other commands include !calc to provide a link to the battle calc, and !dex for a link to the Ultradex. I'm sure more are on the way.
At this stage, Discord should be considered an open trial, much like we attempted with IRC. I personally think this has the potential to be much more successful, and I'd love to shift our main focus away from AIM towards the new platform.
If you'd like to try it, and I encourage everyone to, please go to Discord - Free voice and text chat for gamers and sign up. Then post your username below and a staff member will send you an invite link.
Feel free to post questions and thoughts below also.
Originally Posted by Jack of Clovers
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