I feel like I've written this like four times already, but I just realised those blogs were for a different website, so I'm just going to say it one more time so I can be on record for this website: stop closing forums and moving people to Discord, they are not the same thing.
They're not even close! A forum is an everlasting repository of knowledge, a place where questions can be asked and their answers enshrined forever, the solutions to someone's problem just a google search away. It's also a place where conversations are turn-based, and afforded all the nuance and contemplation the platform allows.
Discord, meanwhile, is a river that never stops running. It has some forum-like features, sure, and a search bar, but its conversations are supposed to take place in real time, which is fantastic for people who are around and talking at the same time, but far less useful for anyone coming around later. Like, say, those with tech support issues, which make up a huge percentage of video game community posts.
And yet! Companies just keep on making the move anyway. The latest example: DECA, a studio owned by Embracer that now runs games like Star Trek Online, Champions Online, and Neverwinter, will be moving all three of their communities in the coming months.
Via MassivelyOP, a boilerplate message left on all three forums reads:
After many years of community discussion on the forums, we've made the decision to migrate our resources to where most players are now actively communicating. We will be migrating our official...community discussions to an Official Discord this summer. We want to thank everyone for your feedback, creativity, and passion that have helped shape the forums all these years. Stay tuned for more info and an invite to the official Discord. We look forward to seeing you on Discord!
Nobody actually affected by this would ever be that enthusiastic.
