shmups.system11.org

This is an official announcement to bring attention to the existence of the Shmups Discord: http://discord.me/shmups

I made this server a couple of years ago when Discord was picking up and I noticed a decline in IRC usage and an increase in Discord usage. It currently has around 1,500 users (with something like 50+ game developers, yes there's actual gamedev discussion in this thing) and is by far the most active server in the genre, with anywhere from 1000 - 2000 messages per day.

Channels are:



If it's not your thing, that's cool. But if it be, feel free to join. There's avenues such as perks for game developers to promote their own stuff without having to go through me personally (which by extension means I'll check it out and likely tweet about it), as well as perks for composers, publishers, and artists.

The server is safe for work. There's rules in place so people aren't shitting it up constantly. There are already a fair amount of forum users using the server. I'm not super active on the forum itself any more but I'm checking the server daily.

It might seem like advertising, but I really don't need to, the server is already independent. I know these threads have a discourse for forum enthusiasts to talk about Discord's actual worth (judging by these threads in the past), and that's understandable as I've been using forums myself dating as far back as 1999, but this is more of an announcement than anything else. I'm just here to draw people's attention that this is a thing that exists.

More of a forum fan myself, but I've been hanging around that discord for the past year or so, and it's generally a nice place with a lot of nice people. I agree on the dev section especially being very strong.

Friendly reminder that Discord is commercial (you're the product) spyware and alternatives to it exist now which are fully featured. The Matrix protocol is robust and clients such as Riot.im are mature. There is no such thing as an "independent" Discord server. All of your communications are subject to collection by Discord's owners and they reserve the right to sell that information in the event of a buy out (it's in the TOS). There is no way to opt out of this due to the proprietary, centralized nature of the software. But with Matrix (much like IRC), however, you can actually have an independent, surveillance-free server of your own.

There is no excuse to subject yourself to commercial surveillance anymore except peer pressure. We can rise above our dependency on untrustworthy third parties to provide the services that Discord provides, all it takes is a bit of courage. We have had it for decades with IRC and we can have it again now with VoIP-enabled software.

Don't ever change, MathU

MathU: great and very important post!

So I'll see you there, right?

I’d prefer a non-discord server as well but discord is what we have. Shmups discord is a nice place to pop in every one in a while.

Quoted in appreciation.

Thanks for bringing my attention to Riot.fm, Discord's great to discuss announcements or current events but it sucks for guides or info preservation of any kind. So do forums but in the absence of a wall-maintained shmups wiki, Imma stick with the Strategy subforum for guides and Discord for regular chatting.

Based and redpilled

And?

Like seriously, I don't get it. What would I be talking about on Discord that I'd be afraid of anyone seeing? I'm not putting my social security on there or trafficking in elicit content or information. It's just a silly chat program for playing games.

Oh shit, google is going to steal my tabletop rpg replays - whatever will I do!?

*Illicit >;3

EG "EDMOND DANTES TRAFFICKED IN ILLICIT PORNO TAPES IN WHICH BIL_RZR CORNHOLED HIM MERCILESSLY, AS PER ISLAMIC PRISON RULES"

I'm imagining this third party discount discord shmups chat where the two members, mathu and mathme stare each other out in their tin foil hats, occasionally sharing strats on some third rate DRM free itch.io shmup, waiting for the other to flinch and reveal secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions.

I know it's an old cliche "if you've nothing to hide", but seriously, we'll all be dead soon, what's the big deal?
If you're not mentally ill or taking too many drugs, it's really not something you should be worrying about. You're a good person, mathu, don't waste your life worrying.

It sure is. In fact, among the historical figures who have supposedly uttered this phrase we usually include Nazi Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Saying "why care about privacy if you have nothing to hide" is a bit like saying "why care about free speech if you have nothing to say". Do you leave the door open when you're on the toilet and people are around because, after all, you've got nothing to hide? Of course you don't. Privacy isn't about whether or not you have something to hide, and life should not be about living in constant fear of mis-speaking or whether or not some piece of information about yourself that you don't currently care about can be used to hurt you later. The best practice is to avoid deliberately putting yourself in situations where private businesses are freely collecting communications and personal information about your life in the first place.

This line of argument is all beside the point though because as I've pointed out we actually have a privacy-respecting alternative to Discord that's mature with feature parity now. It is plainly and objectively Discord But Better. The only excuse for subjecting others to forms of mass surveillance in this particular instance is peer pressure from the network effect, trying to convince people that there is no choice. Well we do have a choice. There is an alternative.

Have you actually started something like the shmups discord, but on matrix? I would be interested in it (even though the shmups discord has a lot of important people)

The discord privacy concern seems extremely superstitious and unreasonable and will maintain such an appearance until you suddenly get a massive influx of targeted ads or emails, start getting dm'd by salesmen who know what you want, and get sent fines for mentioning something edgy once.

We can't know what will happen. No one's saying Discord is evil, but the risk is there, so why take it?

I plan to switch as soon as popularity of the alternative services rises a bit. Keep spreading the word until then.

I feel like this proves my point more than anything.

Yeah, I'm not going to talk about private sensitive shit on a discord server, just like I'm not going to talk about it in a coffee shop in broad daylight while a gossiping waitress listens in intently.

Yes, discord isn't private. The real question is "why would I be doing anything private on a public chat program designed for video games?"



Yes, because the entire point of a chat system is to conveniently talk to people. For a device like this the very fact that everyone has it is a point in its favor (much like say, a particular forum). Of course I'm going to use the one that everyone has and uses instead of badgering all my friends to sign up for some obscure other piece of software because I'm afraid google might steal our chatlogs about anime.

Maybe it's because I'm old but discord is a bloody awful user experience. Even getting an account claimed is a rigmarole.

It looks awful and is counter intuitive. I have an account because the tetris forums and n64 forums have moved there but I don't find it an attractive place to go for info.

Probably just me.

Underrated joke here. It made me laugh anyway.

Yeah, it's 'orrible. I think I'm getting used to it but I much prefer forums. I like how you can take your time and make a considered response and reply to things from a week ago. Discord seems to be more about the present moment and keeping things moving along, much more like a chat room. Not a bad thing, maybe it's just not what I'm used to.

Weird because I was in the shmups IRC on Efnet from 2007 until at least 2016 and didn't see you once.

So which platform are you on? If there's a shmups related platform I'm unaware of, I'd love to join.

Well first off, you presume everyone uses the same nick everywhere so that their identity follows them around the internet. I don't do this and I don't recommend others do it. Second, I've been in there a number of times and there were some rather rude people entirely hostile to the interests that made me pop in the channel. I actually do spend a fair amount of my time hanging out with IRC friends, just not in your special channel. Finally, when I say "we", I mean everyone on the internet with an interest in privacy-respecting communication, not just the people in your clubhouse. Now do you have anything to address my arguments or are passive-aggressive character attacks your only defense?

I swear for half-a-second I read 'nude'.

Honest; once I logged in an there were those dudes saying like:

<somedude> the best ones are long
<anotherdude> and hard!
<randomdude> oh yeah

So I quietly logged out thinking I got the wrong channel or something.

No because that's not what this thread is about.

Most of the replies to what you've written in this thread are from people just taking the piss out of you, but you don't seem to see it. It really rather says something about your presence on this site as a whole. Is "that one guy who complained about DRM a lot" really the hill you want to die on?

Seems a better one than "angry twitter guy".

Right. I've done shmup news for over 10 years, literally selling thousands of them. What have you done for the genre?

I'm not angry, the server was a success before I decided to make this thread on a whim. I could've easily not, and just left the forum behind. Developers and publishers using me for exposure is fine but I need my own exposure too. I disproportionately undersell myself, all I have is a silly $1 meme Patreon and that's only because people kept asking for it.

Anyway I'm not out here trying to get everyone loving modern platforms or whatever. That's not it, people can do what they like. Fact is though, this genre is transformative, and it doesn't revolve around the shmups forum any more. There was a time where I'd say it did, but I'm also willing to claim I broke that trend.

so you're basically a merchant profiting from all this
why should I trust someone who's trying to sell me shit?


discord is filth, you can't even check game guides anymore without someone telling you JOIN THE DISCORD and then you have to wade through a sewer of anime avatars and HEY YOU CAN DONATE IF YOU WANT
I just wanted to check basic shit that would take 2 lines of text, now you can't do that anymore without people trying to make money off you while you desperately search the horribly disorganized info channels

just host the shit online like back in the day, maybe on gamefaqs in a text file