While it’s possible to establish a community at any stage of game development, it’s best to start the journey as early as possible. The beginning stages of development offer the opportunity to nurture a small group of individuals within your Discord community who could end up becoming your biggest supporters, advocates, and trusted insiders.
Discord was originally built for private conversations between small groups of people, making it a fantastic tool for developing community relationships. You’ll be able to create space where you can schedule and monitor playtests, gather feedback, gain insights and have conversations with players within your community who want to be part of your game’s success.
Getting Started
Before getting into the how-to’s, we recommend having a basic understanding of the following aspects of using Discord:
We’ve also created a “Playtest Server” Template you can use to get a head-start on your future playtest server’s structure. Use the following link to quickly get your server set up: Discord Playtest Server.
Playtest Community Basics
The guiding principles of a playtest community should always be simple and straightforward. You may have a few other objectives in addition to observing user tests, but keep the server’s scope as focused as possible. This includes role structures, categories, channels, and how members should engage with the server.
The “Playtest Server” template provided above establishes the framework for your future community based on these objectives, enabling you to share info, communicate with your audience, and observe test build playthroughs using screenshare.
We’ll be guiding you through how we set up this starting server. You’re always welcome to expand upon our template as your needs evolve over time.
Categories
Our starter server template is set up between read-only info, two-way discussion, staff-only communication, and individual voice channels for voice, video, and screensharing for playtests.
We recommend you keep this basic order throughout all stages of your server’s life so members can clearly understand what’s most important info, such as rules, announcements, and updates, and then discuss them in chat.
Roles and Permissions
Our server template has two primary roles: @admin and @playtest. It’s set up in an invite-only style, where those without a role won’t be able to do anything until they’re at least given the ”@playtest” role.
The purpose of the two roles is relatively straightforward. Your GameDev Team (@admin) should have access to every channel so they can see all activity, while your testers (@playtest) will have access to all channels except for the Admin-only category.
A user without a role, aka @everyone else, has no permissions won’t be able to see the contents of your community. Even if someone uninvited gains access to your community, they would see an empty server until an @admin assigned access via the two roles.
Tip: Use the View Server As feature to see what your roles see and have access to
Channels
Each channel has a core function. When naming your channels, make sure the title is descriptive enough to know what’s in it at a glance.
Your read-only channels should have a consistent format and make use of emotes and markdown so readers can immediately identify important information and act on that info.
To give you some inspiration, here’s an explanation of how our server template is set up.
Note: Read-only channels = general roles that do not have Send Message permissions.
- #rules-and-info — A read-only channel holding all the rules and guidelines for members of the server. Learn more about developing your community rules here.
- #announcements — A read-only channel that’s the source of news on the latest updates and announcements as it relates to your game or playtest group.
- #patch-notes — We assume you know what patch notes are, so won’t go into too much detail — just remember to make it read-only!
- #dev-updates — A subset from announcements for more tactical information, such as when servers are down or milestone scheduling has shifted.
- #game-discussion — A channel open to general conversation specific to your game.
- #build-feedback — Members should focus on feedback, observations, and critiques here for the dev team to observe and ideally have a conversation around.
- #report-issue — Form rules around how bugs and issues are reported using specific formatting, or offer a form.
- #admin-chat — A private channel for the studio to talk amongst themselves.
- #admin-log — Report info on the server for admins to see. This is an early stage of moderation. Perhaps there are bad actors forming within the server that should be monitored or changes were made to the structure of the server and notes on why that happened
- Admin Voice — A private voice channel, accessible by admins only
- Playtest Room -A series of voice channels to perform user testing via screen sharing, hosting demos, or have a member of the dev team talk with the community.
- (Optional) #off-topic — If your server is intentionally scaling, consider adding new channels that members can use to socialize so they don’t have to move away from your server. This helps support member retention.
Remember, having more channels isn’t always better. It’s best to stay lean until there is a specific need to fulfill, otherwise newer members entering your community will suffer from information overload. This principle remains true for all stages of game communities.
No matter what stage you’re in, there is no one way to set up the perfect server. We encourage you to look at other like-minded communities on Discord for inspiration and find the right format that works for you and your community.
Enable Community
While most game testing servers are intended for smaller, private communities, we still recommend flipping the Enable Community switch in Server Settings. It provides access to features like Announcement Channels, Server Insights, Welcome Screen, and walks you through some baseline requirements and minimum moderation settings. We’ll go into detail on these options below.
Steps to Secure Your Server and Content
You have your roles, channels, and general playbook for how you want to engage with your testing group. There are several options available to you that ensure it’s a secure space where only your most trusted members can communicate.
Roles and Permissions
We went into this earlier, but as a reminder, make sure your roles and permissions are set up in a way that is easy for admins to assign roles to new members you’ve invited. Invite leaks can happen, but if your server is set up correctly, uninvited guests will not be able to access sensitive information.
Double-check through Server Settings > Roles > View Server As Role to make sure everything works as it should.
Establish Clear Terms and Conditions
Prior to inviting new members to your playtest server, willing participants should understand that what goes on in this server stays in the server. This can be in the form of an NDA or terms when they receive a server invite. There’s always a degree of trust, so make sure you’ve vetted new members appropriately.
Game Detection
Discord’s Game Detection is awesome — we’d normally never suggest turning it off. However, if you’ve already added Discord’s Game SDK or the application name is confidential, you should keep in mind that your members’ connections outside of your server will also be able to see that information.
Note: Discord’s game detection will intentionally ignore a player’s status if they are marked as Invisible or Offline on Steam.
Moderation Settings
Selecting a verification level is a good idea to safeguard your community from unwanted parties or spammers. When these are enabled, the newest members will have to reach certain platform requirements before participating, such as having a verified email or phone number.
This does not mean you will have access to their personal information once they verify it. This simply means that a unique email or phone number has been verified on the user’s account, whatever it may be.
You’ll find the option in Server Settings > Moderation.
Use Discord API to Add New Members at Scale
A common question that comes up within game dev communities is how can a server admit and assign roles at scale if you’re planning to invite hundreds, or thousands, at a time. Our OAuth2 and bot creation tools give you the option to create a solution that works best for you.
We’ve created a guide that is targeted towards events, but in principle, the solution is the same. When a new member joins the server, they are asked to verify their credentials against a database via OAuth. If the linked Discord account meets the requirements, they’re assigned a role. If they don’t qualify, they’re kicked from the server.
Managing Your Playtest Community
You’ve checked out how the roles are set up and which permissions they have access to and have an understanding of why these categories and channels exist.
Now, here are some ways you can put all of those components to use.
Establishing Community Guidelines & Rules
Your community should run through an established rule set before being able to participate in your server, even at the earliest stage in its life.
Your rules should cover a few basic principles in stage one. Here are a few basic rules you’re welcome to utilize:
- No racism, derogatory comments, disruptive behavior, spam, hate speech, harassment, witch hunting, etc.
- Avoid off-topic discussions that focus on gender, sexuality, religion, politics, or race.
- Channel usage should be appropriate. For example, there shouldn’t be a discussion about the latest TV series in your #build-feedback channel.
- NSFW, Scams and other explicit content should be clearly stated as bannable offenses in your server and strictly enforced.
Playtesting & Feedback
Playtesting is an integral part of running your Discord server in the early phases of your game’s lifecycle. With Discord, you’re able to schedule playtest events with your community to gather tests and have them stream their gameplay within Voice channels.
- Schedule: Use #announcement channels to coordinate playtests with your members. Make sure to clarify time zones so it’s easy for people to keep everyone in-sync. Discord is a platform where everyone in the world can come together, so you’ll likely have users from more than one time zone on your server.
- Stream: Use Screenshare within a Voice channel to stream your game or screen at up to 60fps. This can be a handy tool to observe user interaction and intent in real-time.
- Feedback: Your server is a valuable tool for gathering feedback using a variation of the channels we listed above. Depending on your setup, playtesters can share reports based on specific topics or have an open conversation with the development team.
Consider establishing a reporting template that all members should follow (remember to pin it!). Not only does this make your lives easier, it becomes readily apparent for new members to follow.
Name: Username#0000
Type: Bug
What happens/Repro Steps:
What should happen:
- Listen: A two-way conversation is critical to success on Discord. Listen to what members have to say about your game, take notes, and acknowledge or even highlight their participation.
Engage with your Community
Success on Discord is a thriving community where members can talk and find belonging. This is why continued engagement outside of playtests and updates with your community is critical. We’ll expand on these topics in the next Part 2 and 3 of this guide but consider the following.
- Hangout: Depending on how your server has grown, consider off-topic channels for people to talk amongst themselves outside of your game. Users like to talk about what’s happening in their lives, other games, and around the world.
- Events: Run community events on your Discord server to connect directly with your fans and testers. AMAs (Ask me Anything), Trivia, Dev Q&As, and fan art contests are few ideas to start with.
- Play: Scheduling playtime with other games outside of your playtests is another great way to engage with your small community. Consider a few pick-up games of Rocket League, Overwatch, or Among Us to show your community that you’re more than just an employee — you like to play games and have fun, too!
Communicate Game Updates, Patch Notes, & Events
As a general rule, treat your Discord’s announcement channels as you would social media channels like Twitter and Facebook. When posting updates on your server, it’s important you check off a few checkboxes before hitting send.
- Clarity: Does a message intended for other social platforms also make sense for Discord? Avoid depending on links to external info and instead post or summarize the information natively within the text channel.
- Emphasis: Your message should be posted in a way that highlights what you want the reader to see as most important such as balance changes, new characters, or other new content. Use bolding when necessary.
- Enhance: A benefit of Discord is being able to add images, emoji, and flair to your announcements. Take a look through server Discovery and see how other Discord servers format their news for ideas on the best ways to add images and emojis to make your posts shine.
Below, you’ll see some of these principles put to use in some Verified Servers:
Moderation
This is an excellent stage to acquaint yourself with the fundamentals of moderation on Discord. We recommend taking some time to familiarize yourself with our Mod Academy curriculum, specifically the 100 and 200 level topics.
- Moderation Settings: If you’ve set your server as a Community, it will already set your moderation settings to Low. Depending on your needs you can adjust them at Server Settings > Moderation. Regardless, it’s always recommended you have some sort of Verification Level enabled and the Explicit Media Content Filter set to “Scan media from all members”.
- Bot Setup: Adding new bots to your server may sound intimidating, but they’re relatively easy to set up. Each bot likely has its own help documentation, so make sure you ready up on the bot you’re adding. It’s ultimately up to you if you’d like to add a bot this early in your Discord’s life cycle, but here are a few general moderation bot recommendations for your server:
- DynoBot: https://dyno.gg/bot
- Tatsumaki: https://tatsu.gg/
- Ticket Tool: https://tickettool.xyz/
We aren’t done yet — we encourage you to check out Parts 2 and 3 of our GameDevs Playbook to know what the next steps for your community are.
Launch Checklist
Before you launch, walk through the list below to make sure you’re ready to open the doors to your community:
- Use or modify our Playtest template
- Setup your rules channel for new members
- Confirm roles are set up to your needs (make use of View Server As)
- Designate your server as a Community
- Walkthrough privacy steps
- Review your Moderation Settings
- Develop a consistent format for announcements and updates
- Think through the schedule and activities for your server in advance
- Launch!
