Altar of stone may benefit from Discord's mistake

[N0t_mine]

Hello. If Discord does go through with manditory facial recognition, will more traditional gathering places such as altar of stone/ transfusion reap the benefits, or will people adapt to the nonsense?


I certainly hope the older styles of Fandom gathering sites see a resurgence .

[Daedalus]

Hello and welcome.

I've been reflecting on this for a time, but, of course, nobody can be fully sure what the future holds.

It's strange in a way. When I created the site, I did so out of a desire for Blood to have a dedicated space that honoured the game and fans. Traditional forums were already antiquated when I made the site, and I knew that I was swimming against the tide, and that while it was a nice thing to aspire for, I didn't and still don't expect Altar of Stone to ever have a large amount of activity. What I didn't foresee at the time was just how much further online spaces would degrade, and I am now very grateful that I've taken the steps I have.

I personally have always thought that placing a large amount of information on Discord and pretending that it's a forum is wrong-headed. Everything can be lost at a moment's notice, and Discord is beholden only to its shareholders, so from what I can determine, there is extremely little in the way of security. I am generally disturbed at the strict control in place for any of the larger, modern, social media-style sites that exist, and speaking only for myself, I have no idea why a person would freely give their personal information, control of their thinking and, very likely, rights to their shared creations over to megacorporations so readily.

All that said, we now live in a time where younger people on the Internet have only ever known social media, and traditional forums might not be appealing to a generation that is geared toward the rapid, disposable response style that is cultivated through social media. Young people, too, never knew the skepticism that was encouraged when approaching the Internet in the 90s and early 2000s, and freely offer up personal information when "necessary". I regret to think it, but based on my observations, I think that modern people in general are willing to surrender all their agency in exchange for a sliver of convenience. The usual defence of having "nothing to hide" is usually cited in these cases.

When it comes to Discord, I predict that the site/application will become substantially worse with regards to privacy, and I suspect it will become riddled with adverts by 2030. For now, luckily, the worst we have to deal with here are the AI scraper-bots, but that's another conversation entirely.

The only guarantees I can offer are that I will try to keep this site going for as long as I'm reasonably able to and that I'll never compromise with regards to keeping the site as free as I can for users when it comes to expression and respecting users' privacy and anonymity (if desired). General culture has shifted a bit, but at its core, Blood is a mature game for adults, and I try to treat everyone involved here as an individual adult with dignity and the capacity for rational thought.

I share your hope, even if I feel a bit pessimistic about it. Here's to fresh initiates to the cult.