Post2Post Discord server shutting down Sept. 5, 2021
Written by Neil with an excerpt from Jason.
The Bad News
Today is a day that I had hoped would never come, but here we are. I unfortunately must announce that our community Discord server will be shutting down on Sunday, September 5th. (one week from today).
If I’m being honest, the decision didn’t feel like a decision, it felt like the only option we have. Jason and I both work full-time jobs and simply do not have the time to oversee the server anymore. Jason and his wife welcomed their first child this year and that obviously takes priority over Discord. I dedicate 80% of my free time to making videos for the channel (which is basically my 2nd job), and with that last 20% I try and stay away from technology and enjoy going outdoors and relaxing.
I want to personally and publicly thank Jason individually for all his incredible work on the BOT. It has taken literal MONTHS of his life in collective working time to create the BOT as it is today, and even a future version which unfortunately will now not see the light of day. He has received zero reward for his work, which is a shame because it’s the brightest point of the server in my opinion. The prediction system alone is without a doubt the most popular thing in the server. I want to thank Jason for all his hard work on that specifically. I also want to thank everyone who took part in the prediction system as well.
p2pBot
While on the subject of our bot, p2pBot, I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has shared kind words, encouraged me to continue expanding ‘his’ capabilities, and just enjoyed what he has had to offer in general, specifically our NHL Prediction system over the past 4 years.
What started in 2017 as a very simple custom-made moderation bot has evolved over the past four years to what we have today, and a future version that was in development that greatly expanded the Prediction System with new game modes and ways to shake up the scoring system.I didn’t always give the bot all of the time it needed, while most of its systems are fully functional there are some areas (such as our website mods/admins use to moderate our Discord server from) that didn’t get as flushed out as quickly as I hoped. My passion for the project has kind of dwindled as my activity on our Discord server also fell.
The live version of p2pBot is written in Python, currently spread across 38 files with 6138 lines of code, a much reduced number from where it used to be before our website where mods had to use !commands. Speaking of the website, many people are not aware of this but a lot of work went into creating a website/webapp to simplify common tasks for those who volunteer to mod for us. For the most part the only people who have seen the interface have been mods, so I may as well share a picture or two just to show what’s behind the curtain before the system is taken offline.
I know I’m starting to ramble a bit here so I will finish up. I’m extremely proud of p2pBot. As Neil said I cannot tell you how much time I have spent developing ‘him’, but it for sure is over the 800+ hour range now. It is a bit emotional to know that the bot’s time is ending, no not crying emotional, but when you spend that much time working on something it becomes important to you, and while p2pBot served his purpose well I am still a bit saddening knowing that his time has come to and end.
Even if we had decided not to shut down the Post2Post Discord server, p2pBot’s days would still be limited. On August 27, 2021, the lead and sole developer of the Discord Python library (in which p2pBot is written) has decided to end development of the project due to his disagreements with the direction Discord staff are going with API changes. In 2022 all Discord bots must use /slash commands instead of using message contents, and this change will not be added to the Discord Python library, so p2pBot would have eventually stopped working once the new /slash command policies were enforced on Discord’s end.
Again, thank you everyone who helped me test, debug, suggest new ideas, etc.
Jason
Our Moderators
That brings us to the Mods. The Mods have always contributed an incredible amount of time to this sever with zero rewards. It’s all on a volunteer basis, and I want to thank them for their efforts and time. Over the past 8 months specifically, the mods have had to deal with ongoing issues and recently it’s seemed like every single week there is something new to deal with. Regardless of any decision one of our Mods takes, it is hit with extreme criticism, and they are mocked endlessly when all they are trying to do is keep the peace and have this be a respectful place to come and chat. It’s no longer that place like it used to be.
We’ve had multiple mods leave in the past few months for this reason. They are tired of the drama, Jason is tired of the drama, and I am tried of the drama.
Toxicity & Problems
There is a popular narrative on the server that the ‘problem’ is 1 or 2 people that complain all the time. The truth is there are countless individuals that have complained about situations in the last 8 months. Some of whom talk a lot in chat, some of whom never talk because they don’t feel welcome or are afraid of the mob mentality. The context of the problems no longer matter, because we can no longer manage it mentally and due to available time.
When Jason and I created this server in 2017, the entire intention of it was to be a safe place for Hockey fans to talk and get to know each other. Now we have new members who come in, see the bickering, bullying and immaturity and then leave. We can physically see this happening in the server logs, people join and then leave shortly after. This has happened HUNDREDS of times just in 2021 alone. Others who have been in the server for a long time have decided to leave. Hearing that this server doesn’t seem like a great place to talk, make friends, or that it isn’t what it used to be is crushing, because it’s the exact opposite of the entire purpose of the server.
However, the fault is our own. We never imagined the server would grow to the size it did, and because we no longer have the available time to manage it properly, we are the ones that failed you. We haven’t been able to interact as much in the chats and be there when the mods needed us. We also haven’t been able to put the time into recruiting new mods, and now we are at the point where we basically have 2 mods left who are hanging on by a string and if I am honest, I don’t know how they managed to last this long.
Closing
Although there has been some rough roads these past 8 months, I want to genuinely thank everyone for being here and contributing to this community. We are going to leave the server open for the next week and allow people to exchange contact info (privately) so you can stay in contact with the friends you have made on this server.
Obviously this decision will upset some people and disappoint many others. I respectfully ask that even if you disagree with our decision that you please be respectful with your opinions in response to this. The server rules still apply, and I don’t feel this warrants any disrespectful or hateful responses. If you disagree with us, please do it respectfully.
If you have any questions about any of this, please DM me and I will respond to you as soon as I can, but it may take a couple of hours at least depending on how many questions there are.
In closing, we have no intentions of ever opening this server up publicly again. If we ever do I will announce it in a video on the channel, although it is extremely unlikely. When I have had the free time to interact with all of you on here, I really enjoy it and I hope to see you in the comment section of my videos moving forward if you do watch them. If you don’t wish to, I understand and I wish you all the best! Hopefully we can interact at some point in the future.
Contacting Us
After the server closes in a week, if you’d like to contact me the best way to do it is:
1. Tweet @Post2PostShow on Twitter. I don’t have notifications on for DM’s, so if you DM me I may not see it for months. Tweeting @ me is definitely the best way to get my attention.
2. Email me at productions@post2postshow.com. I monitor this email daily, but due to the volume of emails coming in, sometimes it literally takes me months to respond, depending on how busy I am.
3. If you want to contact Jason, the best way to do it is email him at podcast@post2postshow.com.
