ExoTerra Discord Server

Discord is a free online communication platform based around practicality, like a much more refined version of Skype, but with more capacity for text discussion and a comprehensive archive that keeps all text conversation in one place. It is similar to Slack in many ways, but optimized for gaming. Discord lets users use text, image, video and audio communication all in one place in a private, invitation only server, effectively combining the conferencing capacities of Zoom with the text discussion capacities of Canvas. Participants in ExoTerra will be given an invitation link to join the server; if you do not already have a Discord account, you can create one for free through the invite link, or by registering for an account online. (Discord offers a paid account called Nitro, but this is not needed for ExoTerra).

We will send all participants detailed instructions on how to set up Discord, and offer optional Discord training sessions.

The ExoTerra Discord server consists of a central area where multiple text channels and voice/video channels appear in one easy-to-use screen, which can be accessed via a phone app, web browser, or a program installed on a computer (downloadable from their website or the app store). The server will contain several text channels which are open to everyone: a main area for announcements, introducing yourself, or asking administrators questions, various role-play chat areas for you to talk in character with other participants, committee chat areas where you will share your committee proposals with the community, and out-of-character social areas so you can share silly memes, find other people in your major, and talk about your lives outside ExoTerra. There will also be voice channels (which can also accommodate video chat and screen sharing) which make it possible to start voice or voice/video conversations with friends and classmates with a single click (and without a need for a special link or password as Zoom require). Thus if you are in the text chat discussing an idea for which predators to introduce into an ocean, or talking about the week’s reading, you can suddenly suggest “want to continue on voice?” and you and your friends can jump into the voice chat instantly without changing programs, while the chat will remain open so you can still share links and images while speaking on voice, or even activating video. Another particularly useful feature of Discord voice channels is that they give you the ability to control the volume of each individual in the call, which can help even out everyone’s volume so no one microphone is dominating the conversation.

There will also be private chat areas where you can talk with specific groups of people, so your committee can discuss things amongst yourselves privately before presenting your proposals to everyone, and a private chat for council deliberations, but these are accessed the same way the whole-game channels are, so, unlike with Canvas, you can speak just to your class and then to the whole group with a single click to switch from one text thread to another. You can also ask us to create new private chat areas for you as needed, if you want a discussion area for your RSO, your dorm group, the team working to solve a particular puzzle, or even just for fans of a TV show to discuss it together out-of-character, we can set that up. 

There will also be specific chats for both first year students and students who will be graduating soon, so players with the most stressful college years can form connections and communicate easily despite the quarantine. Unlike with Zoom, Discord does not require a host for a voice chat to function, so entering calls with other students is a breeze after you’re invited to the server.

Orchestrators playing non-player-characters, and guest stars including experts from many fields, from astrophysics to urban planning to science fiction novelists, will come to the Discord channels at pre-scheduled times to talk both in-character about problems in the game world, and out-of-character doing Q&As about career paths, etc.

If you would like to learn more about Discord now, you can visit their page, but we will send further instructions to everyone as autumn approaches. If you have questions about role-playing, see our page on Role-Playing in ExoTerra.