cosmobeau Posted February 27, 2025 Report Posted February 27, 2025 (edited) Guide: Hosting a Game Server via Discord - The basics of letting the Internet know, "Everyone is Welcome." Discord Servers help your gamer server thrive by allowing the community to discuss the game outside of the client, share pictures and videos, & voicechat with each other while playing the game. A lot of servers run into the issue of not growing past a group of friends or similar acquaintances, with not much diversity going on with the playerbase or their online community. This is usually because a server has not stated that they are inclusive of others. Most people wouldn't think to mention this, be hesitant because it may seem political or get negative reception. However, being aware that being different may garner negative behavior is the reason why it's important to state somewhere in your server description that you are inclusive of all people. Being a person of color, trans, disabled, neurodivergent or different should not be political, unfortunately it has been made to be political and many people who are marginalized will avoid places that don't show in any way that they care about moderating bigoted behavior. You may think this is common sense, or, goes without mention- however unfortunately many queer, black, and trans people face casual to blatant hate on most online spaces, which is the reason why there are servers that explicitly state they are "LGBTQ+ Friendly," POC friendly, disability friendly, etc. Make your rules reflect your inclusivity to attract more players and avoid simple moderation issues. Simply by saying "we do not tolerate bigotry" attracts lots of people and makes a community feel more safe. It sets a tone to avoid toxic behavior and arguments that don't belong in your server's space. No one has time for people who bad mouth others over racist, transphobic, or sexist reasons- let alone for anything. Make it clear in your rules you won't tolerate hateful, exclusionary behavior and a diversity of people will be way more interested in joining, knowing that there's nothing hurtful ruining the fun. Back up with action- timeout and ban users spreading hate speech or subtly suggesting someone is less than or shouldn't play because they're different then them. Welcome new users when possible with a link to the server information. Starting off friendly nurtures a positive attitude from the start. Being helpful, you'll see others follow suit- not just in discord, but in game. The whole point of a survival game like Vintage Story is for people to interact in game. Trade, dungeon delve together, and build wondrous things with roads stretching chunks and chunks. The player experience you want is made by how you behave with others online. I will tell you now, being friendly and cooperative is very infectious and people get a lot of fun out a server owner and mod staff that actively gets to know their community. Nurture an Active Community by Building Lore/Organizing In-Game Groups Make buildings, write books, place scrolls, post stories, and encourage others to take on difficulties together in-game and on the server. Make sure people know what the server is for, where traders or points of interests are, and WORLDBUILD! Insert easter eggs, make your own lorebooks mentioning coordinates to some cool place or another place to find out more about the world. Watch people search for, and bump into each other on the world's meeting areas. Color-accurate map makes things easier for players to spot, you must set this before world gen. Don't forget to add a channel or thread/forum for your players to post stories, pics, and theories in your Discord Server. Encourage roleplay by doing it yourself. Make trade offers, deliver them with a letter in a basket while they're away. Leave candles out by a trader caravan with a book describing your travels. Speak to players in game! and GREET THEM WHEN THEY COME ONLINE! Tell others when you need help and actually go help that person who keeps dying in that dungeon. Make update posts, take in user feedback, and most of all just have fun with it as if it was DnD. Make a Suggestion Box for Mods & Events Make it clear to your server that you will take in suggestions for stable, up-to-date mods & ideas for events or in-game activities.Your community will know that their input or their server experience matters, the server can improve and add more content (within reason), & the community will come up with fun ways to play the game together. Make your server limits and desired play experience to be like from the start to avoid conflicting mods. This also ties into nurturing cooperative gameplay, as it drives up interactions on the game by people testing out mods or hosting an activity they themselves suggested for the server. Summary - a fun server is diverse, welcoming & encouraging. - Ensure all people are aware they are welcome so they'll actually want to join, - Being friendly and welcoming makes people want to interact more, - People who feel welcome & encouraged to provide their input will want to participate with others more often, - People who participate more often & have a active place in the community is how people actually start making an in-server culture with cities, dungeon runners, roleplayers, and an active cooperative community. How to make a Dedicated Server: https://wiki.vintagestory.at/Guide:Dedicated_Server Mods: https://mods.vintagestory.at/ Edited February 27, 2025 by cosmobeau
cosmobeau Posted March 30, 2025 Author Report Posted March 30, 2025 First server wide, group multiplayer story location cleared! 15 people showed up and defeated the Resonance Archives together as a community. Come join us or make your own community to enjoy this kind of experience, we had an amazing time and all the gameplay together leading up to our first group event was so fun along the way.
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