Over the few months, there's been a number of revelations. Perhaps the most overarching is the fact we've often ran the Wintreath Discord more like a friends server than an actual community.
Nowhere was this more obvious than Hearthrest, which I realize now was an attempt on my part to create an actual friends server within Wintreath itself. As with many things, the idea behind it was well-intentioned: a private place for proven members to chat with each other without hundreds of silent onlookers. But who was a 'proven member'? That was completely up to operators and Jarls to decide, and there's where the problems begin. What if someone felt they were proven but this group disagreed? What if someone actually was a proven member and this group simply didn't like them? And beyond that, how does it feel for everyone else, knowing that most of the community was hunkered down elsewhere away from them? I imagine it could make people feel like outsiders in their own community.
The area didn't last long enough for these eventualities to happen. However, knowing what we know now, I'm sure that each would have contributed to a culture of subjective exclusion in Wintreath. We're moving away from channel/forum restrictions that are based on subjective methods such as membership votes and approvals from the *right* people, and that means we're also closing Hearthrest.
We're also making other changes, all of which are listed below:
- #vent-chat: This channel is being returned to the CW area. Additionally, the channel will be deleted and recreated monthly to make up for the fact that it's now in a more public area. That night of venting you come to regret won't stick with you forever.
- #media and #selfies-and-pics: Both channels have been archived, and a fresh new #media channel in the Wintreath category has taken their place. You can post your pictures of every sort here.
- #spam: Has also moved to the Wintreath category for all to enjoy. Please spam in moderation.
- #tavern and #mental-health-chat: Both channels have been archived. Tavern has been a long-inactive channel, while we've decided that mental-health-chat can be merged into vent-chat.
Hopefully, these changes will continue our community in a better direction for
all of our members, and also make for a Discord that's more open and easier for new and lurking members to understand and take part in.
