Note: This document is OUTDATED! As of June 2024, we are no longer on Guilded. See: We need another new home?
MG Says “Goodbye” to Discord…
MG joined Discord on January 2016, after departing our previous platforms, Slack, Google Hangouts before that, and originally, Internet Relay Chat (IRC). After a great 5 1/2 years on Discord, it’s time for a change.
Discord has been a fantastic chat platform for us. We’ve been able to integrate Discord with Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, the MG Wiki & Forums, Teamspeak (for our Arma 3 Team), GitLab (our Arma 3 mods), and mgbot, our faithful friend who has been with us in various forms ever since IRC. All of these integrations just “make things work” behind the scenes. Unfortunately, all of these integrations come at a cost - not necessarily a monetary cost, but a cost nonetheless. It takes time. Lots and lots of time - time writing code, adapting to API changes across all the platforms, fixing one thing only to break another, etc. Time Funar would rather spend on the actual gaming part of the community.
We became aware of Guilded in June 2021. Even though the service had already been around for nearly 2 full years, it was new to us. Similar to Discord, it’s a “chat service” at its core, just like the other platforms we’ve used over the years, but it’s so much more than that.
- FREE - Free, as in REALLY FREE! Discord is “free,” but premium services are hidden beind the “Nitro Paywall.” Guilded has no paywall. Everything is available everyone all the time. Guilded makes revenue by allowing Guilded servers (like ours) offer subscription levels (which we do) similiar to subscribing to Twitch or YouTube. If a member subscribes to a Guilded server, a percentage of that subscription fee is given to Guilded. It’s a fair system which, inevitably, will be a great model for everyone involved.
- Documentation/Wiki - This document is hosted on the main section of our Guilded server. We can store guides, notes, logs, or anything else in a simplified Wiki library using Markdown for formatting.
- Forums/Discussion Groups - We’ll be brutally honest, nobody used the MG Forums anymore, aside from the Arma 3 Team’s officers to track recruit and member information (which we can do in “Documentation” on Guilded now. On Guilded, we have the ability to mix chat and forums/discussions together in a familiar format all in one place.
- Public, Private, Groups, and more - We are able to host a public section of our Guilded server without users needing to register. This documment, for example, is an public document open to everyone. Additionally, we can have public Groups of chats/docs/forums/etc. for private or invite-only groups such as our Arma 3 Team.
- Voice Channels - Like Discord, voice is available on Guilded, but we’re able to create sub-voice channels, breakout rooms, and announce-only channels. This is coming in handy for our RPG and Tabletop groups already.
- Streaming Services - We have a mini twitch.tv too!
- Much, much more - Leaderboards, Tournaments, Brackets, Calendars, Event Registrartion. There’s so much to list here. Simply put, most of what we are able to do on our web site can be done in one place, accessible to all MG’ers, here on Guilded.
- Continued Development - Guilded is under heavy, active development of new features and abilities. New stuff is coming out all the time. We’re jazzed about what we already have.
So, moving away from Discord to Guilded just makes sense for our community. We have some exciting things planned, using Guilded as our base. We hope you’ll join us here on Guilded. We also hope you get as excited about the platform as we are with everything we are already doing with it, and what’s to come. To join as an official member of the MG Guilded Server, use our quicklink: Guilded - Chat for Gaming Communities (feel free to share this with all of your friends!)