Closure of Discord and IRC Servers

[Naia]

Our Discord server is not going away, but will be featured less prominently throughout the site. Please click here to associate your Kinmunity account with your Discord account, as associations were lost when we changed bridge systems.

Due to both lack of use and an effort to consolidate live chat services, we will be closing our Discord server and IRC Server. This is also in response to a security issue found in our Discord <-> Site bridge plugin.

Kinmunity has its own on-site chat system that requires no browser plugins to work, and it even works great on mobile. Additionally, with this system, club owners are able to create rooms specifically for their club members. You can access the chat lobby here. New users cannot join Discord and will be directed to our on-site chat from here on out.

On 06/19/2019, our Discord server will become read only. On 07/19/2019, it will be deleted and re-purposed for staff-only communication.

You can get news about our site on our official blog at https://blog.kinmunity.com (backup url is https://kinmunity.tumblr.com)

Thank you!

 

[LunastreDraconis]

It’s sad that the discord server has to be closed, however I trust in the staff team that they are doing what is best for the Kinmunity! ^.=.^

 

[TundraDragon]

I can't say I agree with this choice. Discord is much more convinet to use, and I'm sure activity could be increased if a join link was made more clear somewhere on kinmunity. Plus, this poll ran back in April showed that most people wanted it to be kept... so I'm not sure why such a community choice would be over-turned so soon. While I understand the want for keeping the community all under one single sight, the fact is that the chat service provided here is simply inferior, and from what I can tell not really active itself. Plus, certain reasons for ditching the discord as outlined in the poll are not really right? (not the best word for it, but it's the best way I thought of). However, I'm not sure if those reasons still stand and if it's now really just because of inactivity + a want to stay in one place so I won't go much into that.  

While I think this is a bad move on the admins' part, I can still understand not wanting an inactive server. While I think there's a better way to handle it, I know this is the choice the admins thought best for the community. All I can do is trust that this will be for the best of the community and that KM will only continue to improve in the future. 

 

[Jethero]

I can't say I agree with this choice. Discord is much more convinet to use, and I'm sure activity could be increased if a join link was made more clear somewhere on kinmunity. Plus, this poll ran back in April showed that most people wanted it to be kept... so I'm not sure why such a community choice would be over-turned so soon. While I understand the want for keeping the community all under one single sight, the fact is that the chat service provided here is simply inferior, and from what I can tell not really active itself. Plus, certain reasons for ditching the discord as outlined in the poll are not really right? (not the best word for it, but it's the best way I thought of). However, I'm not sure if those reasons still stand and if it's now really just because of inactivity + a want to stay in one place so I won't go much into that.  

While I think this is a bad move on the admins' part, I can still understand not wanting an inactive server. While I think there's a better way to handle it, I know this is the choice the admins thought best for the community. All I can do is trust that this will be for the best of the community and that KM will only continue to improve in the future. 

This is unrelated to popular opinion. There was an actual security issue found in the plugin used to link the Discord and KM. So while a lot of people (myself included) like using Discord, this is due to an actual security risk, not anyone's personal preference.

Fortunately, we at least have the on-site chat for chatting purposes, which is about as active as the Discord was.

 

[TundraDragon]

This is unrelated to popular opinion. There was an actual security issue found in the plugin used to link the Discord and KM. So while a lot of people (myself included) like using Discord, this is due to an actual security risk, not anyone's personal preference.

OH I see! I hadn't read anything about the plug-in here, and all talk about the choice I could find were related to various personal opinions regarding the topic. That... makes a lot more sense actually. 

Thanks for the explanation! 

 

[Jethero]

OH I see! I hadn't read anything about the plug-in here, and all talk about the choice I could find were related to various personal opinions regarding the topic. That... makes a lot more sense actually. 

Thanks for the explanation! 

Yeah definitely! It was mentioned on the Discord itself, but is actually at the top of Naia's post here:

Due to both lack of use and an effort to consolidate live chat services, we will be closing our Discord server and IRC Server. This is also in response to a security issue found in our Discord <-> Site bridge plugin.

 

[Effervescent-Daydream]

This is unrelated to popular opinion. There was an actual security issue found in the plugin used to link the Discord and KM. So while a lot of people (myself included) like using Discord, this is due to an actual security risk, not anyone's personal preference.

Fortunately, we at least have the on-site chat for chatting purposes, which is about as active as the Discord was.

Is there not another way that the security issue could be fixed or addressed that wouldn't require the discontinuation of the entire discord?

 

[Jethero]

Is there not another way that the security issue could be fixed or addressed that wouldn't require the discontinuation of the entire discord?

That's a question for @Naia more so, but I will say that the onsite chat is going to become more robust (and ideally also be like a shoutbox, so it's on like a main forum page and not just isolated to its own page), which will likely encourage more activity than the Discord ever got.

I mean even me, someone who prefers Discord to an IRC (which was also closed too), I only really used the Discord for new posts more so than chatting. I think what most people want is just a casual, easy way to chat, which is what turned a lot of people off of the IRC, but especially with the Discord feeling dead, it didn't encourage anyone to talk in there either. I like the onsite chat, though I'll use it more once it's more integrated, and would prefer it to Discord, honestly, mostly because as Discord is a hub for other servers and whatnot, chatting on there didn't feel like I was chatting as a member of KM. I felt like it was the person I am on Discord, who also happened to be in that server, if that makes sense. And that person doesn't like chatting in servers unless they're with friends lmao.

Anyway, this is kind of a long ramble, but my point is that the Discord got very little activity, and the onsite chat will do what it was trying to accomplish but better. I mean, ask yourself how many times you viewed the Discord vs actually posted in it. Chat should be for casual chatter, by and large. If the site grows enough that people want to have deeper discussion in chat form, we can make channels for that, but right now, we really don't need the Discord, honestly.

Edit: My earlier reluctance to get rid of the Discord was a direct response to the idea of shutting down the Discord and moving all forms of chat to the IRC, which I didn't want to use. The onsite chat is different, and is more of what I want to use, and it's going to be improved upon too, so I have no issue with not having Discord and instead using onsite chat.

 

[Effervescent-Daydream]

That's a question for @Naia more so, but I will say that the onsite chat is going to become more robust (and ideally also be like a shoutbox, so it's on like a main forum page and not just isolated to its own page), which will likely encourage more activity than the Discord ever got.

I mean even me, someone who prefers Discord to an IRC (which was also closed too), I only really used the Discord for new posts more so than chatting. I think what most people want is just a casual, easy way to chat, which is what turned a lot of people off of the IRC, but especially with the Discord feeling dead, it didn't encourage anyone to talk in there either. I like the onsite chat, though I'll use it more once it's more integrated, and would prefer it to Discord, honestly, mostly because as Discord is a hub for other servers and whatnot, chatting on there didn't feel like I was chatting as a member of KM. I felt like it was the person I am on Discord, who also happened to be in that server, if that makes sense. And that person doesn't like chatting in servers unless they're with friends lmao.

Anyway, this is kind of a long ramble, but my point is that the Discord got very little activity, and the onsite chat will do what it was trying to accomplish but better. I mean, ask yourself how many times you viewed the Discord vs actually posted in it. Chat should be for casual chatter, by and large. If the site grows enough that people want to have deeper discussion in chat form, we can make channels for that, but right now, we really don't need the Discord, honestly.

Edit: My earlier reluctance to get rid of the Discord was a direct response to the idea of shutting down the Discord and moving all forms of chat to the IRC, which I didn't want to use. The onsite chat is different, and is more of what I want to use, and it's going to be improved upon too, so I have no issue with not having Discord and instead using onsite chat.

Well I suppose that might not be so bad. ^-^ Thanks!

 

[Naia]

this poll ran back in April showed that most people wanted it to be kept... so I'm not sure why such a community choice would be over-turned so soon.

Is there not another way that the security issue could be fixed or addressed that wouldn't require the discontinuation of the entire discord?

There was a security vulnerability in the system that we use to link Discord accounts to Kinmunity accounts. We engaged the developer of this system on June 4th with a bug report, which they have read on June 6th but have not responded to as of this date. I am looking into another bridge option currently, and will keep you all posted, but the old bridge needed to be disabled immediately so that the vulnerability could not be exploited. In other words, we are looking into options that will allow us to keep the Discord up, but we could not leave a vulnerable plugin on the site while we do this. Thank you.