Why I'm Not on Discord

[Hybrid1486 577]

I was planning on writing something hockey-related for my first media spot in at least a couple years, but something struck me while I was looking for something to write.

Prior to being drafted into the VHLM, I was contacted for three pre-draft interviews, and I ended up being drafted by a fourth team. Additionally, I’ve talked to quite a few people outside of that process, and the one common thread that seems to keep coming up is Discord.

I have a Discord account that I use for exactly one thing, and even then, it’s just to help a friend with a project of his. Aside from that, I have no interest in using Discord, and here are a few reasons why:

 

Constant Connection

This is my biggest reason for being anti-Discord. When I’ve used Discord in the past, it makes me feel compelled to become a constant presence in the community. Between the mobile app and alerts, I would have my phone blowing up over updates and pings. This isn’t all bad, I guess, but I’m one of those people who can’t stand unread texts and emails and the like, and I’ve found that my desire to immediately read any alert I get outweighs my desire to unplug from certain activities for a while. I can’t enjoy something if I become too immersed in it, and if I’m getting messages and pings on Discord regularly, I’ll keep checking and become too immersed in it. I’ll admit that this was a bigger issue for the Pokemon Go Discords I was in, where people would be blowing up my phone about going to raids and making me feel guilty if I didn’t, but the point applies.

 

Inconvenient Chat Scrolling

I remember seeing someone else mention this as I was leaving last time, and it holds true. In a forum setting, it’s easy to pick up a conversation where you last left off and interjecting on a point that might be a couple hours past isn’t all that awkward. In Discord, I feel like even if you scroll back to the “last unread message” it might still be a ways off from where you actually left the conversation, and if you want to make a point about something that the conversation has moved on from it’s very clunky and inconvenient.

 

Drama

I don’t know how much of an issue drama is these days, but when I left there seemed to be a lot of arguing and drama in the Discord. Even now, I’ve had at least one GM ask me if there are any people I don’t want to be on a team with. Dude, I’m 34 years old. I don’t have any interest in drama, and if keeping out of Discord will help me avoid it in some small way then that’s a no-brainer for me.

 

If You’re Not There, You’re Nobody

This is something that might just be my perspective, but it’s something I’ve definitely needed to move past to rejoin the league. When I was in my personal VHL hey-day, I was able to make a name for myself with well-written media spots, contributions with jobs, and good forum conversation. The last time I was here, I feel like I was putting in the first two, but I wasn’t too present in Discord conversations, and as a result the VHLM GM’s (most of whom weren’t around years ago) had no idea who I was, and even though I was one of the top TPE players in the draft class I was in I think I went in the fourth round just because (I assume) nobody knew who I was. Coming back, I really don’t have any expectations about draft position or playing time, so I don’t feel compelled to “make a name for myself” beyond my contributions as a player.

 

 

As I write these out, it seems kind of small and almost petty to be so anti-Discord over relatively minor reasons. There were also some other reasons I left (largely being unable to compete TPE-wise with heavy recruiters, something I have never been good at). That said, This is where I am in my relationship with the league, and I’m comfortable with that.

 

(708 words)

Edited July 19, 2021 by Hybrid1486

[Victor 10,829]

I would certainly not be on discord if I was just a member, there's no need.

 

That said, I don't find pings to be that frequent and i tend to ignore them until i open discord later in the day.

[bigAL 2,176]

Hey man, you do you and don’t feel bad about that. 
 

I’m a big forum guy for every reason you listed. Discord is great for shooting the shit or solving instant problems instantly. But anything of substance has to be captured and discussed on the forum. It’s not fair to people who weren’t in gen chat at exactly the right time you lose their say in whatever issue is going on. It’s great you get to think before you post, instead of typing as fast as you can to keep up with a synchronous conversation with ten people. 

 

It all depends what you’re here for. I’ve loved hanging out and making friends and cracking jokes and playing games, and that’s all done by purposefully sitting down on discord for a while every few evenings. 
 

Teams, especially VHLM teams, do gauge their success partly on how active their discord locker room is. AGMs are hired pretty much explicitly to keep things rolling on discord. In that sense, it is hard on you and your player to not be able (slash want to) contribute in that way. But, fuck em, it’s their loss if they pass over a max earner in the draft because of stranger danger. 
 

It’s not little or petty to be anti discord. I dunno if you were around, but a few seasons ago we had the great DISCORD VS FORUMS culture war. It got wildly out of hand. The central issue was that we revamped how the VHL Discord bot posted games. Instead of posting the scores in discord, users now had to click a link and go see it on the forum. The horror.  
 

I’ve always been on team “why not both?” It’s not a one or the other, liking one more doesn’t mean you HATE the other and everyone who likes it is STUPID AND BAD. Everyone’s here for a different reason and gets different things out of here. If you’re a forum guy first and foremost, then hell yeah do that. There’s still plenty of forum activity, and you’re not the only forum-only person here. Don’t sweat about the FOMO of discord, be proud you’re able to set healthy boundaries with your social media, and appreciate the GMs that reach out personally by forum PM. 
 

Forum activity is great for a forum league. 

[Gustav 6,322]

A good team locker room is where it's at imo. I still have fun in the league server from time to time but I used to live there and after I decided I didn't want to do that I found out that I didn't miss it.

 

I think most of what you've said here is valid and I can agree with it on some level. If you ever do want to give it a chance, I'd personally start with a team server. A good small community gives you a lot less of the issues you brought up than a massive public one.

[CowboyinAmerica 2,840]

1 hour ago, Hybrid1486 said:

 

If You’re Not There, You’re Nobody

This is something that might just be my perspective, but it’s something I’ve definitely needed to move past to rejoin the league. When I was in my personal VHL hey-day, I was able to make a name for myself with well-written media spots, contributions with jobs, and good forum conversation. The last time I was here, I feel like I was putting in the first two, but I wasn’t too present in Discord conversations, and as a result the VHLM GM’s (most of whom weren’t around years ago) had no idea who I was, and even though I was one of the top TPE players in the draft class I was in I think I went in the fourth round just because (I assume) nobody knew who I was. Coming back, I really don’t have any expectations about draft position or playing time, so I don’t feel compelled to “make a name for myself” beyond my contributions as a player.

 

I've given some thought about this one, as somebody who periodically checks Discord LRs and is never on the main channel. I definitely do think it's more of a thing in the VHLM than more established VHL GMs, but even more than that I think it depends what you're looking for out of the experience. If you're somebody who historically liked the forum conversations and was here for the community, then yeah, you're going to be missing out a lot in the current VHL. But if you're like me who is more for the competitive/role playing aspect of things focused on player outcomes, I haven't really found it to be an issue. Nobody's going to pass up a player with TPE who can help out, and as long as you're up front about what you want out of the experience, I've found GMs and management to be pretty accommodating. And to Al's point, games are still here on the forum, as are all PTs, so it's pretty easy to not have to wander elsewhere.

Edited July 19, 2021 by CowboyinAmerica

[diacope 2 764]

1 hour ago, Hybrid1486 said:

If You’re Not There, You’re Nobody

Not true, just ask @GrittyIsKing09

[diacope 2 764]

You make a few valid points, but I think that the pros of discord outweigh the cons (For team locker rooms anyway, VHL general can be a jungle). Choosing to not be on discord is also valid, and could actually be a good thing in my eyes. For instance, some GMs value discord LR activity over everything and this could make you fall in the draft, but a good GM will check for forum activity as well. The GM who does end up selecting you will end up being someone who did their homework and realizes you're active on the forums. Like I mentioned before, I don't think not being on discord makes you irrelevant either. Grittyisking doesn't use discord and I feel he's a pretty prominent member of the community.

 

10/10 article, really puts into perspective how discord has changed the way the league functions.

[Devise 4,475]

Adding my to the boomer takes of Discord not being something I would use much of if (I don't as it is now) if I wasn't already staff/simming. I don't mind catching up on LR's there and doing the odd ping or chat with someone off and on but the "general chat room" nature of Discord has always reminded me of the early days of internet socializing in the 90's that I tended to avoid growing up. I hated "free open" chat room spaces, and much preferred intimate controlled individual one one one or party chat systems. So absolutely Hybrid, post here, avoid the Discord to your hearts content.

 

For those who get value out of the Discord, not just the team LR's but also the genchat type stuff as well, it's not meant to be a knock on you expressing these thoughts. It's just not the nature of how some of us historically have enjoyed engaging with others on the internet, and I feel like there can be a peaceful coexistence between users who enjoy/prefer Discord and those who would rather keep the bulk of their activity here on the forum. 

[bigAL 2,176]

26 minutes ago, a_Ferk said:

Not true, just ask @GrittyIsKing09

rip @GrittyIsKing09, the school took back his laptop and he won’t let strange adults he met on the internet mail him tech  

[diacope 2 764]

2 minutes ago, bigAL said:

rip @GrittyIsKing09, the school took back his laptop and he won’t let strange adults he met on the internet mail him tech  

I saw that. I hovered over his profile and it said he was online 5 hours ago though

[Banackock 7,974]

Idk if someone mentioned it, but turn off notifications if you like. I only have it set to “@“ mentions or whatever for anything and everything I’m in. 
 

If you don’t want to, no harm. Plenty aren’t in it and do it just fine. Whatever makes you happy on here. 

[Hybrid1486 577]

I'm not anti-Discord in the sense that I think it's a bad thing by any means, I just noticed that a lot of people who reached out to me brought it up so I figured it was worth explaining why I'm not on it.

[Beketov 8,939]

1 hour ago, Banackock said:

I only have it set to “@“ mentions or whatever for anything and everything I’m in. 

The fact that isn’t discord’s default is ridiculous. The most annoying thing about joining any new server is immediately having to change notifications settings to not have every damn message push to my phone.

[RomanesEuntDomus 442]

Tagging @der meister because reasons

[JardyB10 4,858]

I agree with probably everything in this thread and I'm here to echo the sentiments! Discord genchat is in fact dogshit if you're wanting the classic sim league interpersonal experience. I was definitely like you in feeling compelled to check all unreads at all times, but my work schedule makes that truly impossible. I've been able to get some enjoyment out of Discord through the following means:

 

1. Mute EVERYTHING, no push notifications. It's handy enough to have the channels let you know there's unread messages, but if there's 25-50+ unread messages in that channel, it's done-zo. And that's okay. If I do get pinged, it gets to wait just as much as a ping on the forum does. I've recently found that even if I get pinged in a buried genchat or something, the search function is handy enough that I can search for my pings and address them accordingly. For me, it's responding to the pinger by calling them a fuckface or something like that, even though it's a long dead topic. No regrets.

 

2. Stick to smaller channels or servers. Like everyone else said, team LRs are WAY more manageable, and are a bit more akin to classic forum LRs. As for the main VHL server, I get my kicks being able to keep up with only the Gaming and Puppy channels, because those ones don't get 1000s of messages every hour. Moreover, I'm probably going to purge my older servers soon to keep things clean. I'm still in Houston and San Diego's LRs, and while the people there are lovely, I can't make time for their stupid bullshit so they have to die. I'll stick around Miami for a bit, maybe even the whole season, since I'm curious how they'll do this season, but they'll be cut too.

 

3. Foray into the shittier channels at your own leisure. I'll always poopoo on genchat, but there has been a couple occasions I've enjoyed myself there during degenerate hours while I'm playing CK3 or something. Once again, it gives me the opportunity to bully @Dil, @a_Ferk , and @rory while keeping it very low committal, much like my relationships with women.

 

I'm pleased with my balance of forum and Discord since my return, but it was definitely a slow process to integrate myself into Discord. It's nice for what it is if you manage it to your very own specific desires. Which for you may well be not using it at all, and that's totally valid.

 

...

 

As a side tangent at Albert mentioning culture wars, I can see why that would be, as there are some Discord behaviours I find a bit sickening to be very over-dramatic about it. As you probably realized, the VHL has a pretty substantial populations of users who don't use the forums nearly whatsoever, or enough to claim free or easy TPE now and then. I'll notice some or perhaps many of these users on Discord in their respective LRs. In these LRs there's always this neat channel where you can type ".player" or whatever and a bot will pull up your stats for the season and TPE levels and whathaveyou. However, it's insane to me that some users will use these functions as the ONLY way they're keeping up with their knowledge of their own player and the league. Once the off-season hit, I would still observe people checking their player's stats as though they'd expect them to change, and it was as if they didn't even know we were in the off-season. I know it's different strokes for different folks, but it baffles me that one could get ANY enjoyment out of the league with such minimal engagement. I'd almost feel bad for going off on members who very fairly choose to be less active like that, but I know there's no chance they'll ever see this.

 

Anyway, I'm a boomer forum elitist, so I approve this message!

[Dom 1,445]

I hear the argument of the ping so often but its so easy to disable discord notifications… mines are disabled, you ping me, I’ll see it when I decide to open discord, but I do open it really often

[der meister 3,122]

[BOOM 8,647]

This has convinced me. Farewell genchat....again.

[RomanesEuntDomus 442]

Review

 

Very interesting read. I would say I stand somewhere in the middle of the Discord vs Forum debate, I'm not as negative towards Discord as you, GoB or some others seem to be, but also think that a lot of channels and servers on there aren't particularly useful and actually add unnecessary noise and stress to your sim league experience which can become quite overwhelming. The smaller, more private Discord servers like team channels however can be a real treat however which I think don't really take a lot away from the site, because the things they provide are often stuff that the forums aren't able to offer, no matter if Discord existed or not.

 

Formatting is very neat and clean and I didn't find any errors that had an impact on readability.

 

9/10

[mediocrepony 1,216]

On 7/19/2021 at 1:16 PM, a_Ferk said:

You make a few valid points, but I think that the pros of discord outweigh the cons (For team locker rooms anyway, VHL general can be a jungle). Choosing to not be on discord is also valid, and could actually be a good thing in my eyes. For instance, some GMs value discord LR activity over everything and this could make you fall in the draft, but a good GM will check for forum activity as well. The GM who does end up selecting you will end up being someone who did their homework and realizes you're active on the forums. Like I mentioned before, I don't think not being on discord makes you irrelevant either. Grittyisking doesn't use discord and I feel he's a pretty prominent member of the community.

 

10/10 article, really puts into perspective how discord has changed the way the league functions.

“He’s a pretty prominent member of the community”

leaves for almost a month

[bigAL 2,176]

1 hour ago, GrittyIsKing09 said:

“He’s a pretty prominent member of the community”

leaves for almost a month