Use of Discord by Older Members

I signed in yesterday at 7:19 a.m. PDT.

My welcoming robotic message included this sentence, "The best relationships in our lives were built around playing games. Memories of staying up late playing Warcraft 3 with friends or sharing creations in The Sims mean so much to us."

I am just about to turn 75 and have no "memories of staying up late playing Warcraft 3 or sharing creations in The Sims (What?)." I don't need this connection to want to participate in the very sensible mission of RepresentUS. What I do need is a website that is more accessible to someone with my lack of aptitude and appetite for the many bells and whistles provide on the Discord dashboard; I am interested in participating as a volunteer sharer of ideas and am willing to work on spreading the word about local engagement in a process to make our political system less corrupted.

The dashboard as presented reveals a dazzling array of uses and dancing icons that may well effectively capture and fit the eye of a Warcraft 3 user or even an early Fortnight (I have grandkids) user but it does not clearly show me how to get answers to my most fundamental questions: What are the Rules that I am supposed to read? Do I have to establish a server account to "play." Can I change my name for Carlos Brazil - not my name to Charlie Johnson - my real name? What is the CarlosBrazil# all about? (N.B. I am someone with nearly zero social media experience - a friend signed me up with WhatsApp but I don't really know how this has improved my life.) How do I communicate (ideas, questions, complaints, constructive criticism, etc.) with HQ designated staff? I typed three notes/messages to Xiaoxi yesterday but don't really know if I sent them or not; there was no "send" button that I could find and no acknowledgement of any receipt.

I am of a generation that is reluctant to create APPS and resulting desktop icons but will if that is what I must do to make an effective connection with RepresentUS.

Why isn't is a help phone line available (maybe it is) for folks like me to get answers so that i can understand what is required, expected and or hoped for of the 11,000,000?

I remain very interested but hobbled in my pursuit of engagement.

You have my email address. Have a person answer this and I will give that person my phone number. I am generally able to grasp new ideas and manage new implements but would appreciate expert help.

Regards,

Charlie Johnson

passTheKetchup

19. Juli 2020 06:05

Hi Charlie,

It's been a year since your post, with no comments, but hey, better late than never, and other people might read this and get some useful information.

In 2020, I think you'd be better off ignoring Discord for now, and just checking out AltspaceVR. It is a 3D platform build around user (and some corporate) events that are attended by users, and encourages user information sharing and interpersonal interactions. You don't have to use a Virtual Reality (VR) headset if you don't have one, but I think you have to be running something like Windows 10. There is a lot more user-centric help in getting started, and less "assumed" knowledge. There are real human volunteers wandering around "in world" to answer your questions in real time. If you're more into reading, they have a pretty extensive set of web Help pages. See https://altvr.com/ and https://help.altvr.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000364473-AltspaceVR-Help-Center

Discord is a more succinct communication and feedback channel used by platforms and users, and if you don't understand the implied de facto standards, you'll either have to learn from example by scrolling thru existing chats or doing a lot of Googling. AltspaceVR itself relies on Discord for company-to-user communications, but isn't required for you. Wait until you get you "sea legs" before diving into Discord.

Disclaimer: I am not employed or volunteer for either Discord or AltspaceVR :)

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