Gearbox has introduced that it is going to be closing down its boards, and has as an alternative referred customers to the group Discord for the writer and its titles. Evidently, not many individuals are comfortable about it, myself included.
In an announcement that was posted on to the boards, Gearbox explains that its boards will turning into read-only as of July 19, 2022, for 30 days. Following this timeframe, the boards will probably be taken down completely.
As an alternative, Gearbox have stated customers ought to look out for a brand new Gearbox web site, report issues to its assist group, and have referred current customers to its group Discord.
To not sound like a damaged document, however Discord isn’t an acceptable substitute for boards. Admittedly, Discord is a incredible software for voice calls and real-time conversations about matters of curiosity, sometimes in categorised channels. Nevertheless, Discord’s performance in comparison with that of a discussion board is wildly totally different.
As an illustration, whereas Discord has tried to introduce ‘threads’, they’ve not caught on. These are about as much like discussion board threads as you’d get throughout the communication service, however they nonetheless do not examine to what discussion board customers anticipate from the performance of specifically-designed message boards.
With Discord being the personal platform that it’s, you additionally will not discover customers’ discussions with a Google search. In actual fact, you are not assured to search out what you want even when looking out by way of Discord chats both. Boards are an simply accessible imprint on the internet: communities come collectively to debate factors of curiosity or resolve points, and months or years later down the road, somebody like me can Google that question and get my reply – with out having to trawl by way of Discord messages or be part of a brand new server.
Moreover, there’s little consideration of the truth that lots of people merely do not need to be part of a Discord server for group engagement. We reside in a local weather the place notifications are overwhelming, and a few folks do not essentially need to have interaction in these real-time conversations; they could simply need a solution to their question and to play their recreation. Boards do a a lot better job of preserving these solutions and essential discussions.
That stated, Gearbox already has the cogs turning on this one. So, be sure you take a look at the boards and save something you want to preserve earlier than they’re gone perpetually.
Boards are, certainly not, good. Nevertheless, they’re an unlimited assist to many, and Discord isn’t an acceptable substitute for them. Here is to hoping extra corporations will give attention to preserving boards, and discovering extra appropriate replacements for them if essential.