Separation of Pack and Disco?

Is it at all possible to get rid of a pack channel, or pack channels entirely, on Disco?

I appreciate a quicker way to communicate between packmates, and a place to chat about WOLF in general, but as a PM, I also find it a little taxing to attend to pack needs and discussions in two different locations (on site, and in chat).

I do understand that being on Disco isn't mandatory, and that I can dictate my preferences for contact, but I also feel a tiny bit obligated to participate. I mean, an entire channel dedicated to a pack I made exists there. I didn't create that channel myself, ask for it, or even realize that it was part of the deal of making a pack since that wasn't always the case... but I'd feel bad trying to ignore it anyway.

Because as a PM, I'm expected to "manage" all sources of information pertained to the pack, and also be able to communicate with my members the way they're most comfortable with. Then, as a member of other packs, I feel like I should be participating in their OOC discussions as well, if I want to keep my own character informed. It starts to get pretty taxing when all of these conversations can happen in two or three separate places for the same groups, and I think it's easy for others to forget that this isn't the preferred way to communicate or stay organized for some people.  

As things stand, between the drafting table, each of the onsite MO forums, the individual pack channels, and personal messages from here and Disco: it can often seem as if I'm getting double, or triple the notifications about the same subject, and I'm spending a lot of time scrolling— trying to stay up on important details, inquiries, or goings on, while trying to remember the things I see; all at the irregular pace that Disco and this site moves.

In my opinion, any questions or pack-wide exchanges should be done in the pack MO forums, which I think sometimes get underused because of the ease of Disco— despite MO forums being a better place to record OOC pack ideas, interactions, etc. I don't think both forums of pack exchanges are necessary, and if we can do away with one, I'd prefer it be Disco so that "official" pack business would necessarily occur on site instead of in chat.

I know you already know this -- but I want to to repeat this for the people in the back:

There is definitely no obligation to be participate in Discord, even if you are a PM. Discord will always be voluntary, never mandatory. It is in no way meant to replace the MO forum, nor are PMs required to be involved.

If PMs want to see their MOs utilized more often, I suggest putting a blurb in the MO forum about prioritizing communication in the MO Forum over Discord. In addition, maybe in the Discord pack channel (or asking someone in the Discord channel to do so if you are not part of it) to give people a heads up communication should be done in MO forums only. If you tag me, I can pin these messages for you, or edit the channel description with that heads' up. That should help mitigate traffic-flow to the desired forum. :)

We have a few channels where this preference is already the case.

That being said, I'll let the others weigh in about whether or not a channel can be removed. As it stands, I'd prefer to keep channels up even if they are not used actively; the channels provide players with 'roles' that are helpful for knowing who is who, and what packs they are in.  It also gives accurate feedback on Discord of all the packs available, similar to the pack stats on forum.

Even if the channel is not actively used, or even if the players have an off-server server for their packs, I think having all packs accurately reflected on the Discord makes it seem less exclusionary.

Personal preference from a player standpoint and otherwise is similar!

I'd be down personally if the team wanted to allow pack channels to be optional for PMs who do not want them, but I don't want to eliminate them across the board because that is unfair to the packs that do use them!  I don't like the idea myself of moving towards private pack servers just because being in a space where not all membership has access makes me uncomfortable from a personal, staff standpoint.  So allowing packs to have rooms to discuss outside the general wolf discord noise makes the most sense to me.

Discord is definitely 100% optional.  I mute everything always, and definitely understand wanting to prioritize important conversations happening on the forums!  

But, like I said - I have no issues with having less channels to moderate.  Not sure if the rest of staff feels the same <3 but my opinion!

I like the idea of having pack channels be optional. Some PMs utilize them, some do not, and it's definitely possible for things to get lost in the shuffle there. I've taken breaks from WOLF Discord and have missed PPC requests, questions, etc. because I couldn't see them and they weren't placed in the MO forum. I do think, though, that they have some value and should still stay if PMs want to use them for their pack.

Additionally, I think continuing to stress that things should go in MO forums & utilizing MO forums yourself as a PM can help shift the important conversations to on-site from Discord. It doesn't work all the time, but stressing that the MO forum is the one-stop shop for pack-related things can help to eliminate some of the problems listed above.

Here's my take:

I love the idea of directing important and official correspondence to the pack's MO forums, even gently insisting upon it -- at the very least, cross-posting critical information. I totally welcome PMs to enforce this with their membership. I call on the overall community to pitch in and push for a shift toward utilizing our MO forums more and trying to be inclusive of those who can't or don't want to stay on top of chat.

But I am not willing to do away with pack channels altogether. No one, player or PM, should feel obligated to participate in Discord. With that said, a majority of members do enjoy having them and I wouldn't want to take that away from them.