Thanks for tagging me @rfindley.
You’re all welcome to create and partake in third-party chatting services like LINE, Slack, and Discord. We simply ask that you do not create threads within our forums promoting them.
We initially had no problem with a bit of advertising for these chat rooms. However, issues that occurred in an unofficial WaniKani Discord spilled into our forums. Because we have no access or affiliation with these chat rooms it is impossible for us to respond to issues that exist in them. So when multiple emails, complaints, and threads are made because of drama occurring outside of our reach, our only option is to close those threads to stop the bleeding.
It is unfortunate, but the reason we did this, as well as why we don’t allow private messaging, is because:
- We can’t protect you from harassment on LINE, Slack, or Discord.
- It isn’t fair for us to punish people based on he said she said, which is all we are left with.
- Discourse allows us to see all of your PMs. We feel this is a creepy breach in privacy and we don’t want to do that to you guys. And if someone does harass you through PMs, we would be forced to read them to check the validity of your claims. Again, creepy.
That’s about it. Blocking the advertisement of third-party chatting services (specifically Discord in this case) is the safest option from our point of view. And it’s a bit like a couple bad kids ruining it for everyone, but that’s where we’re at.