this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Linux Gaming

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Starting today, Heroic Games Launcher is indexing their Discord server (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
25 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Starting today, new support threads that are created on discord will be indexed and be easily findable with search engines thanks to Answer Overflow. Right now, existing threads are being indexed.

The dedicated community link is here: https://www.answeroverflow.com/c/812703221789097985

I think this is crazily important. My biggest issue with Discord is that they have become the default hubs for issues and fixes. Over days, weeks, months and years those fixes get buried and harder to find, but the worst offender is that they are unindexable by default.

Its lovely to see someone doing this. I wish everyone would do this.

As ever, if you don't know Heroic, you can find their website with this link here

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[–] [email protected] 105 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

> Create massive problem by using proprietary shit platform
> Try to solve problem by hacking around it

Not like source forges have whole integrated systems just for the purpose of filing, debugging and fixing issues. That are naturally indexed of course.

It would be lovely if "open source" projects just didn't use discord.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

To be fair, Heroic already use their GitHub repo to track issues.
I agree with you that Discord shouldn't even part of the equation to begin with, but it's become so prevalent everywhere that I imagine it's hard for devs to fully bypass.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I imagine it’s hard for devs to fully bypass.

Why do you imagine that? All a developer needs to do is choose a platform other than Discord. I have never found that to be hard.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 7 points 3 weeks ago

And I have never used Discord for getting tech support.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

It seems like Matrix would be the go to, but Element still lacks many of the conveniences & some of the functionality of Discord.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And it also doesn't publicly index. Is it at least possible to look at convos without an account?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

Not if the server you are trying to view it from has guest viewing disabled such as matrix.org.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 3 points 3 weeks ago

Both are terrible for this purpose. You don't need fancy features for a Q&A.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Well it increases access to the issue tracker to people who have a discord account but not a GitHub or whatever account

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

And it takes away the ability to read issues and resolutions, which is probably 95% of what at least I have to do, from anyone and only grants it to the ones with a discord account

And, though I don't know how good forge fed will be, if it supports writing issues, you may be able to only have a codeberg or gitlab account (or your own instance(s)), and write issues everywhere (except GitHub ofc).

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 weeks ago

This is why you don’t use live chat as a ticketing system.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I mean, don't use walled gardens as your primary community base in the first place right? This is a 'solution' to a problem that doesn't need to exist.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

So you'd prefer no solution?

I get the hatred, no one loathes Discord more than me, but on their own time and dime they're giving an option for those who avoid Discord. I can't understand why your first, and only thought, is to shit on it.

Discord's pervasive, and has become the default option for too many projects, but I can see why - it is free, and everyone uses it. Easy for us, who haven't built a fucking giant program and community to sit back and sneer at how they offer support, but this is it. It's all done now.

Just be glad they're giving people an option. This isn't even a 'solution' quote-unquote. It is a solution, that will take time and care and effort. Which they're doing.

Jesus.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

FOSS enthusiasts - "we need more open access to information! Stop locking information up in walled gardens!" -based, valid

Developer - replants all their best stuff outside the walls of their walled garden

FOSS overenthusiasts - "Not like that!"

Seriously, if a developer wants feedback and to foster community, they have to go to the players. They can't expect players to come to them. I think this is exactly the type of solution that helps us move away from walled gardens. Letting your project die because you refused to enter the walled garden on principle... that isn't going to break down any walls.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

I didn't say that. I said why pick Discord from the myriad of other solutions?

What's wrong with a tried and tested open forum? Hell, a lemmy server or even subreddit would suffice.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

because of the numbers of users (most likely gamers who have friends already on the platform as well) who already have discord? idk

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Would you use Windows just because all your friends do? (aka. would you jump out of a window if all your cool gamer friends did?)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago

If Discord was not available in Linux or browser then yes, I would use Windows because all my friends do.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

i just started with linux, and have noticed right off the bat that a lot of linux users are either just plain angry or take themselves very seriously lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's exhausting!!!

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 weeks ago

don't let bad attituded children wreck your flow just because they want the world to be as mad as they are

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Just be glad they’re giving people an option.

No. If the discord channels/rooms (often called a 'discord server' where the head moderators are called 'admins') is the main support channel, I don't take the product serious. And I don't want joke software on my systems.

I'm not glad they're giving people an option, I'm angry that their foundational principles are askew and they're working towards continuing to use Discord as the main support channel.

[–] AngryPancake 9 points 3 weeks ago

I want to go back to IRC and public IRC logs, which are naturally indexed. Discord is just so... much.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Not a single one of the discord indexers works. That's not even a controversial opinion, it is trying to stop a flood with a towel. It's literally useless. Indexes don't work, you can't find anything relevant there, just a bunch of disjointed and context void remarks without any form of logical connection that obscure real information. This is not a good thing.

If a project wants to use discord to get popular with a particular audience, that's fine, but we have to be aware of the limitations. Anyone asking for tech support in a live chat should be redirected to the documentation explaining the use of the relevant feature and a proper issue tracker if it needs a bug filed or looked at by the devs.