Ability to link social-media platforms to groups, including Discord

Feature Requests Website Features
, , ,
#1

Due to the recent reminders regarding offsite links, found here: Reminder Regarding Permissible Links.

ROBLOX stated that:

Linking of Discord servers and references to Discord on the Roblox website are not allowed. Since Discord’s Terms of Service only allows people aged 13 or older to use their platform and Roblox is a platform for all ages, we cannot risk unfairly exposing underage users to platforms such as Discord. In light of this, we will continue to ban the advertisement of discord servers, any references to Discord will not be permitted through our chat systems. We understand the argument can be made that YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch all have similar policies regarding users under 13, but these platforms also allow users to browse without logging in, while Discord requires you to have an account so people aged 12 and under cannot see the information you are linking. This is the primary reason we are not able to allow it.

We can currently link our social-media accounts to our profiles, but we can’t link them to our groups. I propose a new tab, such as a social tab, or even display the icons on the group page (like the photos below) which can include the following:

The normal platforms (Youtube, Twitter, Twitch, etc…) with the additon of being able to link your DISCORD SERVER (to your group) and only have the Discord link/code visible to those who are above the age of 13. I believe this would fix a lot of issues that we developers are facing with this current situtation.

I do believe their should be some restrictions on this though. Such as if the discord server is known to contain inappropriate content, then that server should be blocked from be able to link it to their group and moderatered if they post anywhere else in the group (such as the group shout, description, wall, etc…)

It’s extremely unfair that us developers can’t use our only solid way of communicating with our fellow community and fans.

EDIT: Here is a few photos I made real quick about how this could look:

OVER 13:

over18
over18692×655 68.1 KB

UNDER 13:

below18
below18692×655 66.4 KB

This is just a random idea that I came up with, even if the ability to link your Discord server is a bad idea, I still believe the addition of being able to link your Twitter, Youtube, Twitch, and etc to your group is a good idea.

Please let me know what you think of this. :slight_smile:

186 Likes
Reminder Regarding Permissible Links
See What's Coming in 2018: This Year's Developer Roadmap
Requesting developer feedback for social features
#2

Huge Support; I smashed that like button

13 Likes
#3

Actually, if you open up a new browser tab and go to Discord’s website and click, “Open discord in your browser” all it asks you for is a username. Users on discord can continue on, join servers, make friends and many other things. They don’t have to have an account on discord. They can however go and claim the account if they want to continue using it in the future, however they are not require to have a discord account (unless the discord server owner has changed the security settings, requesting that users have a verified email.)

Just thought you’d like to know.

14 Likes
#4

Support! There needs to be a more official way of communicating with players.

I think the actual best course of action in this case is to have them pre-approved.

9 Likes
#5

I’m obviously for this, but I doubt it will ever be a thing. The amount of moderation and trust that would go into this just isn’t worth the risk, from a company standpoint.

#6

Thanks!

1 Like
#7

It’s a better idea than just completely banning Discord off the site which is what they want to do technically. :frowning:

7 Likes
#8

I don’t understand why there needs to be moderation? There isn’t any for the other social media links and anybody could link a page with inappropriate content. This would require just as much trust as Roblox has now to let us link all the other social medias.

6 Likes
#9

It’s usually fairly easy to tell if a Twitter account is being used for something illicit, but there’s no way to tell that about a Discord for certain.

2 Likes
#10

Do they actually moderate those links?

1 Like
#11

And in addition to this, groups can link their group twitters, facebooks, etc. along with their Discord servers.

3 Likes
#12

Yeah, but the link won’t be visible to <13 users in the first place.

If they get the link, then, it would have nothing to do with Roblox.

1 Like
#13

I think they will be - that’s what they said in the announcement post.

#14

Honestly, ROBLOX could of pulled this off by doing something like this, causing little damage to communities.

Smacked that like button, this has my full support.

3 Likes
#15

Updated the post with some pictures of how this could work! :smiley:

1 Like
#16

You Ninja’d me, was about to post the exact same thing. If roblox has issues with <13 users, then we can easily limit it to 13>. That easy. That simple. We can even implement that in our games by checking for the player’s age and displayign the discord link accordingly.

I’m wondering what @berezaa plans to do with the special prizes available to discord members he has used for Miner’s Haven. We’ve obviosly spent time and energy into sewing dsicord and roblox together with bots and maintaining large communities…

Huge Support. (And pressed that 40th like because I’m special) lol.

2 Likes
#17

Definite support.

Discord is one of the few(if not the only) safest/easiest way for both developers and fans to communicate with eachother.
I use it to receive post-update feedbacks and it has worked way much better than what the ROBLOX platform offers.

A good alternative would be to create a similar chat system inside ROBLOX(group chats) but even so i don’t know how reliable will it be due of the hashtags.

I think the problem is that the current platform does not provide enough tools for the developers to get their feedbacks from the fans, making other platforms way much more reliable.

2 Likes
#18

I support this feature. As much as I dislike the fact that ROBLOX is moderating the usage of Discord on ROBLOX to such an extent, I feel that this would be an applicable solution to all the problems faced, which were quite evident as of yesterday. If ROBLOX does keep the ban up on the links, I hope this may outcome as a feature as well so we can have a resolution for both sides (those who want to keep discord and those who want to ban its links).

#19

Even if Roblox adds more social and chat features to the site, I don’t think it will be enough.

Compare Roblox to Steam: both try to create a whole social system for users and developers to take advantage of, with forums and chat included for every game on Steam.

Despite this, most of the activity and fanbase of games goes to Discord.

Discord is a powerful tool with lots of features that make it easy to use for both players and moderators. Discord is accessible and easy to use on any device. Having Roblox Discord servers makes Roblox seem on-par with every other game (i.e. the games are legitimate games with legitimate fanbases).

Using a system by Roblox would lose moderation tools (i.e. mod bots), the massive amount of development for such tools, the ease-of-use of Discord, and remove the legitimacy that is part of having a fanbase on one of the most widely-used gaming platforms. Trying to be on-par with Discord will be difficult because Discord focuses entirely on the Discord product – features are constantly being added and the product is constantly being refined to suit users. For example, I doubt a Roblox equivalent would have a built in dark theme, and it probably would not have as-easy-to-use server browsing and customization. It would likely lack a bot API necessary for mass moderation, too, which is almost essential.

Rather than hold Roblox back from being part of what seems to be a standard part of gaming communities, perhaps it would be better if Roblox gave official channels with which developers can communicate links to Discord servers. Make it clear that developers are not to mention Discord, but show Discord links to 13+ users – allowing developers to curate a community around their game on the same platform that every other game uses.

8 Likes
#20

I support this.

4 Likes