The Game Dev League is a Discord server for anyone interested in game development. It is open to the public, and currently hosts a few thousand members who describe themselves as coders, artists, game designers, sound designers, or simply students. Membership is free and open to anyone after a simple account verification, and the server is supported by optional donations and profit from associate web links.
Looking through the #introductions channel of the server, one can see a generally young audience – predominantly teens and students. There are also children – some as young as 11 years old, as well as experienced professionals – game development lecturers and industry practitioners. The tone is polite but entirely informal, with room for small segues and chit-chat, although off-topic discussion is reserved for channels created especially for that purpose.
In general, there is a high level of organization within the server which dictates the tone and language – for example, on the #social channel, the mood very relaxed with sharing of memes and GIFs, whereas on -dev channels members are expected to follow a (loose) question format and stay on topic.
The server provides a dedicated space for sharing external events, talks and meetups. Recommended books are compiled and shared on the #welcome channel. There are also internal events hosted – notably a regular game jam for members, as well as weekly art jams.
The primary mode of interaction is via chat – in the usual Discord way, supported by emoji reactions, inline display of images and GIFs, and @mentions for individuals and groups. Between the web, desktop and mobile apps, and the ability to fine tune notifications per channel, members are free to engage as closely as they feel like. Voice channels also exist.
For development related talk, channels are grouped per game engine, and are broken further down by the type of conversation e.g. for Unity, there is a #faq (including tips on how to ask an efficient question), #tutorials for sharing between members, #unity-dev for technical assistance, #advanced-unity-dev that covers certain complex aspects of development like networking, and #unity-chat for general small talk and chat around the engine.
This format is more or less copied for other engines: Unreal, GameMaker Studio, Godot. Less popular open source and proprietary engines may get a single channel for discussion.
There are a few general chat channels, including the aforementioned #social for off-topic chat and socializing. There are also groups for artists to discuss creative arts and share work. Channels for brainstorming exist which invite discussion for game designers. Finally, there are spaces for freelancers looking to employ and be employed, and to share legal and marketing advice in the context of the game industry.
As with many other public Discord servers, there are rules enforced by a small number of moderators. Although the mood seems generally relaxed when it comes to informal talk and tangents, certain behaviours would result in removal from the server with no prior warning – especially for harassment, spam and unsolicited private messages. Discussing politics and social issues are also in breach of rules. Bots exist that help with common tasks, such as assigning roles or citing rules.
Interestingly, the community can also be divided up by roles such as Coders, Designers, Artists etc.. This is displayed using different coloured usernames. Members are free to assign themselves those roles to show their specialisms. There is a Student role to denote a willingness to learn rather than possession of a particular skillset. Having a role is a requirement to use voice channels.
Members are predominantly Coders (2000+), followed by a smaller number of artists (~650), designers (~300), students (700+) and sound designers (~100). There are also a few thousand members with no group assigned.
References
GAME DEV LEAGUE. 2015. “Join the Game Dev League Discord Server!” Discord [online]. Available at: https://discord.com/invite/gamedev [accessed 25 Nov 2020].
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