At Stonemaier Games, we primarily use game-specific Facebook groups to hang out with fans of those games, answer questions, and share news. However, it’s occurred to me several times that a remotely playable game like Rolling Realms–particularly given its proclivity for fan-created realms–could thrive on Discord.
I’ve used Discord for a few years now for shareholder discussions, virtual game nights, and an in-development game that requires multiple artists. But because of our focus on Facebook groups, I haven’t used this channel-driven platform for any of our games.
I informally surveyed our ambassadors and those who tuned in for a recent live chat for their picks of the best tabletop game (or game publisher) Discord servers, and among those mentioned were Birdwood, Button Shy, Capstone, IV Games, Wehrlegig, Cypher Unlimited RPG, Leder Games, Vital Lacerda, and Cardboard Alchemy, Restoration Games (Unmatched).
One name came up more than all others: Garphill Games. So I reached out to Shem to see if he had any insights about running a great Discord server, and he generously provided a detailed response. I joined the server–it’s accessible to anyone–to better understand his answers, and I’m really impressed by the community of over 2000 people.
Here’s Shem sharing some of the key positives from the Garphill Discord:
- We can schedule online playtests. The bot we use (Apollo) can assign a role to any member than signs up to a testing event. This new role gives them automatic access to private channels with teaching videos. A few hours after the event closes (the playtest ends), that role is removed.
- Solo testing – To add to the point above, we have also done this for solo testing – people than sign up (one click of an emoji) get access to our solo channels where there teaching videos and links to TTS mods.
- Playertesters – It’s helped us to grow a solid group of key playtesters. From our initial tests we highlighted a few people that were good to work with. We’ve given them a special role that has access to a private chat where we can organize more impromptu tests and more in-depth discussions around development.
- Rulebook proofing – much like the above points, we have assigned a role to those who are interested in proofing. This is been really useful for getting quick and thorough feedback from a variety of people.
- Community – people have actually become friends through our Discord server! We have a lot of open discussion, with plenty of engagement – “what games have to you played lately”, “anyone else backing x on Kickstarter”, etc.
- Private testing and discussions – we also have other channels limited to certain people or groups. For example, Sam and I have our own channel. We have another with two people involved in testing Chaos Order. I also have a Monday night testing group, made up mainly of people from NZ and AU.
- Fan appreciation – The roles are also a nice way of honouring certain people. All designers that we have worked with are “Champions”, our main testers are “Warriors”. The others ones I’ve already mentioned above include “Scribes” and “Rogues”. We even have “Herald” for all reviewers that are in the server. We encourage them to post in our media channel for any content regarding our games.
I followed up with Shem to ask him how people actually join the channel, which is when I learned that Garphill openly shares the invitation link. When you join their server, you’re automatically given the role of “Scout,” which only gives you access to public channels. Shem said they’ve only had a few instances of spam bots or rule violators.
Also, one of the reasons I’m particularly curious about Discord is to help fans connect with each other if they want to play a game, whether it’s a remotely playable game like Rolling Realms or a digital port. Shem has a channel devoted to that called “looking for players.”
I love what Garphill has done with their Discord server, and it’s really tempted me to test the waters for Stonemaier Games. My only hesitation at this point is my social media attention is already divided between the Facebook groups, Facebook in general, Board Game Geek, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and this blog–every additional platform is exponentially harder for me to buy into. But I’m intrigued, and Shem’s words of wisdom have greatly opened me to the possibility.
What do you think about Discords used for games or game publishers? Do you have a favorite Discord server and why do you love it?
Also, out of appreciation for Shem, I wanted to share a link to his Wayfarers of the South Tigris campaign, which is live on Kickstarter now. I’m a backer.
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Also read:
- How I Run Our Facebook Groups
- Finding Your Style and Growing as an Instagram Board Game Content Creator
- 20 Instagram Strategies and My Recommendations
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16 Comments on “How the Best Discords Are Run”
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[…] Inspired by Garphill Games to better serve Stonemaier fans who prefer Discord for Stonemaier-related discussions, we started a […]
hi, is there a discord for board game self-publishers, developers, etc?
I am looking for a place to discuss game production, starting companies, which country, transit routes, etc. Pretty much your entire blog, but in real time communication to bounce ideas off each other.
I’m not aware of any, but it seems likely there’s at least one Discord server focused on that.
What do you think about Discords used for games or game publishers?
I think it’s a great idea! I joined a Discord server last year for an RPG playtest with friends. The Discord had a lot of great information as the playtest evolved, and I even watched an archived session to get an idea for the system when it came to be my turn to GM. Conversely, I playtested a solo game that is just coming out where I had no clue how to beat some of the tough scenarios. The designers even mentioned other playtesters asking for a playtest channel to share tips and ideas. I would have loved that kind of access and information sharing
Do you have a favorite Discord server and why do you love it?
That would be the ones that my friends and I used to play games once a week and to get together on a separate night once a week that helped us get through the first year and a half of the pandemic.
Discord is Ok for real-time communication, but the archives are too chaotic to be used for more structured content. There ought to be a platform that spans the space from discord to forum to blog.
I have abandoned completely Twitter and Facebook is on its way. Discord is now the only place otherv than BGG to discuss boardgames and the fact that you can limit your interaction pretty easily has made it my go to place.
From all board game related Discords I like the unofficial Scythe Discord the most. It has a great and active community, hosts league and tournament events (mostly DE nowadays), has good discussions and is very welcoming to new players.
I mainly use Discord for board game related discussions and am a member of several servers. However I think I interact with them less as they grow in size. There’s just too many messages to catch up on, but they can be a good source for rules questions and being able to search if a similar question has been asked in the past.
With the possible threat of spoiling it, my favourite server would be the ThinkerThemer discord for several reasons:
– Amy and Maggie are awesome
– It’s small (ish) so we get to know everyone.
– It’s so friendly and welcoming.
– It does have a gate to entry which probably helps (ThinkerThemer channel membership).
– We fairly regularly play online together across the world on BGA, and there have been real friendships made there… and a large group at Dice Tower West
Other ones I’m currently in: Chip Theory Games, Postmark Games (Voyages PnP), Orange Nebula (Vindication, Unsettled) and a few others.
It kinda sounds like Discord would be a big benefit to games that can be played online (which isnt surprising since Discord was founded as a video game voice chat service).
But I am curious how servers handle games that cannot be played online? Or maybe games that aren’t as fun played online (like party games for example)
Discord has been a game changer for me regarding one of my favorite game (Ashes Reborn by Plaid Hat Games). The server is community driven but PHG interact with it regularly. You can find people to play with, discuss strategy or deck ideas. It’s a great place for rule questions and, of course, friendly banter. For now, i’ll say it is the #1 place to go for Ashes players.
I love discord and use it for nearly 100% of all my social interactions online now. I have completely strayed away from Facebook and Twitter and any other social media because how much better discord is a connecting me with people. This is how North Star Games has organized its play testing and its been a great tool. I’d love to see a discord for Stonemaier. I’d join in a heartbeat!
But I totally understand where you’re coming from Jamey, regarding social media time commitment. The other reason I’ve turned almost exclusively to discord is because I just don’t have the time to spend on multiple social media platforms. So I made a conscious decision to focus on just one, discord. There is just too many ways our attention can be pulled, and I understand we can’t get to them all.
I’m really curious about what people see as the benefit of Discord vs Slack in these contexts. I use Slack for work extensively, and I also use it for several personal friend groups. Every time I’ve joined a Discord like this, I’ve found it harder to use and navigate, but it’s possible (probable) that’s because I’m just used to Slack.
Does anyone have extensive experience with both platforms who can speak to the differences and the pros and cons of each in relation to each other?
A couple big differences are:
1. Discord has a built-in audience of gamers. It’s build for gamers, so many already use it and are used to using it.
2. To that end, it has integrations with many popular gaming platforms including Steam, Tabletop Simulator, Twitch, and others.
3. Slack has become a platform for “work”. Discord has become a platform for “play”, (even though for game designers and publishers those things are one in the same). But for me, it’s nice to have a separate platform that I can interact with games and gamers that’s not Facebook or Slack or any of the other platforms I use for other things in my life.
I use both. Slack for my local gaming group chat, and discord more specifically for publisher or specialised game groups.
As far as text channels go, they’re both pretty equal and straightforward. Slack looks to have better 3rd party app integration, but Discord looks to have better auto administration function (bots).
Slack wins for attachments. As a free licence it offers a total size limit for the group, where Discord puts a size limit on a single upload. I find the latter way more prohibitive and annoying.
Discord wins in the voice department (and why it’s overall more popular for gamers). The ability to create voice channels that people can pop in and out of with ease is great. I’m unsure if Slack offers any voice capability at all. Possibly direct voice calling.
That’s very helpful. Slack has recently added a “Huddle” feature that I’m pretty sure is meant to rival the Discord voice channels, but instead of being a channel by itself, it’s a voice chat on top of an existing channel. You turn it on and anybody else in the channel can join or leave as desired.
I work in corpo and Slack has been a massive game changer since we introduced it. It completely replaced most of our other ways of communication, number of emails dropped significantly. Just joined discord and first impression I have it is too chaotic. Slack is just side list of contacts and channels, main screen with the chat and you can open threads and contact info as a 3rd panel. Very clean.