That also means if you join dozens of Slack teams (the way a player might join communities for several games), it can become tedious to manage.Īlso, keep in mind that while Discord is built with social use in mind, Slack is built more like Skype-as a digital workplace. Consistency is a major issue with anything nontext related. While it’s easy to chat on the platform, using other features like calls is spotty. Unfortunately, Slack didn’t start off with online gaming communities in mind, and it shows. those who currently pay for Mumble or another service), the paid version of Slack includes archives and other small features. You can use the free version, but it’s the paid version that may be more to your liking. People can all join one solid chat board, or you can create one for each topic (issues, bugs, Easter egg finds, likes). There’s animated gifs, direct tagging, and more importantly, more than enough room for moderators and players alike. On the other hand, for a gaming community, Slack features an invite process that makes people feel included, all with an easy signup. Slack basically provides everything that Skype does, for free, but on a newer, cleaner platform. In other words, it can save you countless emails! Submit files, join in Slack calls, tag someone specifically to make sure they get a much-needed memo, etc. It is a great way to post schedules, talk about the development process, and even supports one-on-one conversations. The thing about Slack is you can use it both for your community, and your development process.įor instance, you can create a board specifically for your team, as a whole, and then several others to focus on each “department.” One for artists, one for programmers, another for music, and so on. So which is better for gaming communities? Let’s weigh the pros and cons. These days, it’s all about Discord-but there’s also talk of communities being built on Slack, which has grown substantially in a short amount of time. Sure, there’s Ventrillo and Mumble, or even IRC, but they’re paid and, to be honest, a little dated. There’s a lot of trial and error involved, but what if we told you there are two main options to host a dedicated server these days? You have to establish moderators, secure and reliable servers, as well as plenty of rewards for players who are highly active.

Building a game community involves plenty of work.

Slack v discord