So I have an interesting question. Who here on SSRG would mind to join in on the fun of having a Discord where we can meet and greet. Talk and Discuss. Or just be assholes and spam talk to speech? (Don't do the last one plz.) So if there is some interest I may create one for SSRG. It's a free software to download and is available on mobile for those who want to. It's also a hybrid between IRC and TeamSpeak.
Additionally, It's still in alpha and is constantly updating. It's also got a lot of freedom and it's easy to program your own bot (that is, if you know coding). You can disable TTS in your server settings if you like, plus it's usable just via browser. https://discordapp.com
I've never heard of "Discord". IRC is the primary medium through which the scene communicates and has been for the past 15 years (we did message boards ane emails for the two years before that). This isn't to say that we should be ignoring a medium that is popular for younger, newer members of this community. "Hybrid between IRC and teamspeak" is surprisingly vague unless this is actually a literal description of what it is. If so, this could also be called "Skype" which is also chat with not only voice but also video. Mobile support is one advantage this has over skype. Voice would be an advantage / disadvantage (I hate talking on the phone and prefer text personally) over IRC. What are other features of this service?
It's basically like Skype or IRC as it has text chat. Plus it has voice chat at the same time without having to make calls or anything.
Let me state what I'm thinking this is just to understand. Essentially, you would have a channel like in IRC, but the individuals in this channel could communicate by text or speech -- whichever they desire? Is there video conferencing at all or is it more like teamspeak where you can talk, but there is an area to type in text as well? EDIT: https://discordapp.com/ It appears to be a Skype competitor for those of you that are old like me.
Personally, I would not be against something like Discord if there's enough interest. However, if such a thing as an "official" SSRG Discord server is to be, it would have to be staff-run, for somewhat obvious reasons.
I suppose it's down to purpose. Since the purpose you're proposing is to "meet and greet" and "Talk and Discuss", this would technically need to "replace" IRC, since IRC already provides the very purpose being proposed (with exception to the definition of "Talk" of course). I would suggest giving this a trial run, and if it proves itself worth the trouble, we should move away from IRC, and onto Discord. I suggest a trial run simply on the grounds of "popularity", not "functionality". Discord might be as functional as IRC, but will it prove to be popular enough to drag the 40 approx members we currently have over? (<- rhetorical question by the way).
I fully agree with what Markey says. A trial period could be given a month or something like that. (30 days) or something like that.
I doubt Discord is ever going to be as useful (and by extension popular), simply for the reason of ease of use, and minimal requirements. I mean you can use IRC even when your connection can barely reach 1Kbps. You can run IRC even on DOS if you feel like it. Plus there are great clients, which almost anyone who knows a programming language can write. I think thats why IRC is still as popular and I doubt Discord can outbenefit it, even given you can speak in there.
IRC has it's uses. Tho as of the latest move. I wanted to bring this up again! Would people like to have a discord server for a quick spin into 1 month or less?
I think this is a good idea, it would give a chance to attract some people, and give a chance for a new experience for those who never used Discord before. In fact, since the release, Discord have received several updates, bug fixes and has improving a lot, so I'd say it would be a good encouragement for people to start using it.
Really, I dislike using IRC. This place is the only place I'd ever bother using IRC for, and I hate online clients but I can't find any good ones to download. Meanwhile, I have Discord open at all times since I'm a member of many large communities. With IRC, I'd have it open purely to check on a single server every few minutes and have a slight chance of actually talking while I always have Discord open anyways so... (also note this is a personal opinion, i see why people like IRC. I just use discord much more)
I personally use and would recommend HexChat. Out of all of the clients, it's the one I found to be the most bearable.