DevTalk town hall

The DevTalk community of visual novel developers regularly hosts town halls where community members can learn about DevTalk's activities, provide feedback and suggestions, or raise concerns about the community. They typically occur twice each year - once in early January, and once in June or July.

Purpose and Structure

The main purpose of DevTalk town halls is to provide a forum for the community to connect, learn about current events and initiatives in DevTalk, and give feedback on upcoming decisions or concerns related to the community. They occur in voice calls in the DevTalk Discord server, though as of February 2025, the moderation team is testing out using Discord Stages instead.

Users are not required to use microphones, but being able to listen to the voice channel is recommended. During the open floor, any questions, ideas, or suggestions about the community or things involving the community are welcomed.

Notes from past town halls

Please note that these meeting notes are largely unedited from their original state. Individuals' opinions, affiliations, usernames, and pronouns may have changed since these notes were taken.

#11: February 1st, 2025

Notes taken by amara (amarvelous) and Ironnori

We are DevTalk, we stand for truth, justice, and doing good stuff :) We support the business of visual novels - and we do mean business. (New catchphrase??)

Upcoming Jams

• SWAK just ended! Good jorb everyone, good jorb
• Trans Joy Jam! Currently running. For anything that inspires Trans Joy, not just for VNs.
  • Deadline was extended another week!
• MVNA also currently running. "Make Visual Novel Assets" - create things folks can use to create their own visual novels!
• NaNo starts next month, first Meet and Greet likely mid-Feb
• O2A2 comes up after that, great for beginners!
• Otojam/Josei Jam is ran by Arimia and the Otome Development server, but supported by DevTalk
• SPOOKTOBER IS OUR BIG EVENT!! Sponsored event with prizes!! It's in September, not October.
  • The goal is to make games to be played in October by streamers/gamers, so the games must be completed by the end of September
• Winter Jam is just a chill jam to cool down at the end of the year :)

Community Events

• Meet and Greets–we run one/two for pretty much every jam we support, which is a great way to find teams/delve more into the community
• Town Halls (this is one, waow).
• Using the speaker feature, people can now request to speak and not unmute themselves, wahoo!
• Wiki Drives haven't been happening recently, but we may restart them soon
  • https://vndev.wiki/
  • Aims to be a comprehensive resource for VN developers - cataloging types of assets, development processes, roles on teams, VN jams, and more!
• Fundraisers are run occasionally to support the community
  • Historically: smart barks, upcoming conference (see below)
  • Because of the fundraisers, we can run our own conference! Wahoo!

Weekly Questions

• Pre-written ~50 questions already this year, so probably good for 2025
• Considering releasing them in themed blocks
• Always open to suggestions! They get posted in Announcements and then reposted on Tumblr/Bsky
• Considering getting new graphics–might be a paid opportunity for artist (sprite rates), keep an eye on the paid jobs channel

Integrations with Bsky, Tumblr, and Twitch

• There is a repost channel in community services, can post Bsky links there and Lemon will repost it on Bsky!
  • Great for getting visibility on posts
  • This also adds you to a feed of developers from our community
• Tumblr integration works the same way as Bsky, but it isn't as robust
  • If you have suggestions, please send them Stella's way
• Twitch integration is mostly the streamer-notifications channel, which sends a notification whenever a verified streamer goes live (or when someone streamed a Spooktober game)
  • Want to be verified? Become a DevTalk supporter!

New Business

• Cody has created a roster of trans voice actors for Trans Joy Jam! It's specifically voice actors who have come into DevTalk to advertise their services, so they're members of our community.
  • If you're a VA and want your info added/updated/removed, reach out to MAHO! Cody (donny.q) on Discord.
  • If you want to be added, make sure to post in voice-recruitment including a demo reel, then message Cody.
  • The roster isn't just for trans VAs - there are 100+ VAs interested in doing visual novel work!
  • Cody is also offering free direction slots for Trans Joy Jam games.
• 2025 budget:
  • Budget comes through Patreon and server submissions, currently working with about $2000 for the year
  • Half of that is going to the conference
  • About $800 will be going to banners/improvements
  • Kat is the official artist for the DevTalk mascot girls, she's great
  • Money might be tight, but we should be good for the year!
• VN;Conf 2025
  • It already happened, oops
  • Agi's currently working on putting the videos up on Youtube, should be up soon!
• Visual Novel Developer Conference
  • There's a design document that you're free to comment on, but please note that the name of whatever google account you're using will be displayed!
  • We're being pretty open with the design of the conference, how long the talks are, how they're chosen, etc.
  • Choosing a theme: current thought is "wow factor"/"wow your audience"
  • Talk process will go:
    • 5 minute Prep & Break
    • 30 minute talk
    • 5 minute Q/A.
• Narrative Game Inclusion
  • We're typically referred to only as a VN community, but that will probably be changing soon
  • Jams will likely be moving to encompass other types of narrative games (i.e. walking submissions, interactive fiction, CYOA, etc.)
  • We'll still be focusing on VNs, but we want to cover a wider audience
  • Many things in the server won't change (i.e. writing channel won't be split into multiple types of writing)

Old Business

• Wiki Progress
  • Anyone want to contribute? Please do!
  • There is a wishlist for wanted articles! Check it out if you want to contribute but don't know what to write
  • Iron's been working HARD to get jam statistics integrated on the wiki, and now you can view pretty much everything you'd want re: VN jams!

Open Floor

• shoulda been there, sowwy
• ok no wait this is important: reach out to your communities. Cody mentions that this community depends on an independent website like itch.io, and we should do whatever we can to preserve those communities in light of uhhhh recent interesting times.
• General guidance on prices for various types of assets are available in the discord Server Guide.
• Stella will make the server's stance on AI its own bullet point in the welcome/rules channel.

#10: June 15th, 2024

Notes taken by Shino (4noki)

DevTalk General

• Paid & Volunteer Opportunities
  • Volunteer
    • Please contribute to the wiki :saber: (also accepting guides now too)
  • Paid
    • Art banners several times a year (likely looking for a summer banner artist soon)
    • Recently hired someone to do interviews
    • SWAK Jam related opportunities
    • May be other opportunities (TBD by Nai)
• DevTalk UX & Demographics Survey
  • Please fill out the survey (it's pretty short): https://forms.gle/PsqTdCDQFCEFYk8b6
  • We want to make a community where it's easier for people to make visual novels :saber:

Events

• Jams
  • Otome/Josei
    • Currently ongoing.
    • https://itch.io/jam/otome-jam-2024
    • https://itch.io/jam/josei-jam-2024
  • O2A2
    • Upcoming week long jam. Keep an eye out for the Meet & Greets scheduled on June 29
  • SWAK
    • Intended to be a competitive jam somewhat like Spooktober. This is currently a still in progress plan but is likely to be held in January.
    • Theme: fantasy & romance
    • Keep an eye out!
  • Spooktober
    • Upcoming. Still looking for:
      • Judges
      • Sponsors
    • If you're are interested in donating and unable to sponsor (such as due to wanting to participate as a dev), you can do so by getting the DevTalk asset packs.
    • Meet & Greets in August. Keep an eye out and send interested sponsor/judge parties Nai's way!
  • Winter Jam
    • Coming up in December as usual. Most likely.

DevTalks - Paid Talk Series

• Currently scouting for 3-4 people for another live talk series. Feel free to run your idea by Nai if you're interesting! (Paid)
• Nai tried to buy VNConf from Agi as it's largely DevTalk folks giving talks and being part of the audience. This is currently under discussion.

VNDev Wiki

• Contribute to the wiki :saber:
  • If anyone knows how to set up better analytics with the wiki, reach out to Nai. Suggestions for making the wiki more accessible, useful, etc. etc. welcome.
  • Suggestions:
    • Put guides into daily/weekly rotation
    • Provide more guidance on sign-up and wiki use

Follow up on Old Items

• Lime
  • Turning Lime into a service bot. For tasks like:
    • File manipulation
    • File processing
  • Bulk processing may be a paid feature.
  • If you have any suggestions for features, feel free to mention to Nai.
• To-Do-Lists
  • Some feedback:
    • Initially used it but felt odd chronicling daily tasks publicly
    • Have other preferred ways to track to-dos outside of channel
    • Forget to update when done
    • Not really feeling a personal need for it
    • Used it for a while but tasks felt non-related to server
  • The channel hasn't been used in like 2 weeks. The channel might end up being phased out since it seems pretty inactive.
  • Nai may give it another 2 weeks. Otherwise... :knife:

New Server Items Channel reorganization

• Specifically the current events category as we always have a game jam going on. There are no actual unique current events because there is always a jam (current event).
• Current events may get phased out. Game jams may get moved down.
• Suggestion: Move game-jams to discussions rather than services due to it being a highly active channel.

Channel revitalization

• Some channels are struggling. What do we do with some of them?
• Crowdfunding
  • It's gone into a state of disrepair. :pensivecowboy:
  • Arimia's crowdfunding history:
    • Crowdfunding is a sister channel of business and marketing. People used to be more willing to provide more information/facts/discussion, but emotions tended to run high because... crowdfunding.
    • Recently the amount of people who appear to be actively discussing crowdfunding or doing it has gone down. Specifically, there are KS going on, but they're largely not by active members. This may be related to the focus on jams, changing the demographic of DevTalk away from commercial devs.
    • Intention: Maintain a separation between crowdfunding and the marketing/business channels as the topics are broad enough to need their separate channels.
    • Goal: How do we rekindle activity in the crowdfunding channel?
    • Past issues:
      • Devs may have difficulty differentiating critique and badmouthing
      • We also had a cultural problem of people tearing apart KS too aggressively. Once one person gets overly negative, more people do. Dogpiling on a KS/punching down :pensivecowboy:
      • Just because they're trying to commercialize a game doesn't mean it's free game!
  • Concerns about the above are why the bot KS feature was turned off. Nai is considering turning it back on but moderating more aggressively.
  • Current activity:
    • People asking for general advice <- good
    • People dropping link and dipping without asking for any advice (spam) <- bad
  • Let the mods know if you have any feedback!
• VnDev-Wiki
  • Planned to be kept around. More active wiki will hopefully encourage more activity.
  • Suggestion: have the channels separate but move them next to each other.
    • Wiki updates isn't a discussion channel
    • Why have them separate? The current number of updates is not that large, but it can drown out discussion.
    • Current API doesn't allow batch digest update messages. To be considered, maybe. Probably not any time soon
• Productivity and Motivation
  • Concerns about publicly venting on mental health, which DevTalk is not equipped to handle. We do not want to encourage a negative feedback loop and arm-chair psychology-ing as it is not useful at best, depressing at worst.
  • mikey used to be driving the channel, keeping the conversation productive. Without him, the channel has deteriorated.
  • That is to say: The channel needs a dedicated person to keep it on topic.
    • If someone is to take charge of the channel, it would ideally not be a moderator.
    • Ideally also not officially on behalf of moderation, best if it happens naturally.
  • In a few weeks, if things don't improve, the channel is likely to be closed.
• On Topic Discussions in Off Topic Channels
  • Many people mute the off topic channels and miss the on topic conversation. Too much on topic conversation in off topic channels diminishes value of other channels.
  • Unfortunately, devclub.
  • Burning causes a loss of resources, but Nai may consider disabling the burn because of this issue.
  • How can we encourage moving useful convos out of devclub?
  • (I got too involved in the conversation to take notes but you get the gist)

Open Floor

• Questions? Suggestions?

#9: January 13th, 2024

Notes taken by amara (amarvelous)

AMARA HAS THE POWER, MUAHAHAHA :burnitall: Town Hall Agenda

• Welcome to DevTalk and the Town Hall
• Paid & Volunteer Opportunities to help DevTalk
  • Seeking BlueSky Codes for Mass Invite Event
  • Banners planned for the year
  • Spooktober VN Jam, The Advergame
  • Server-Wide Minimum Commission Rates?
• Ongoing and Upcoming Events
  • Visual;Conference on the 27th
  • NaNoRenO in March.
  • New Competitive Jam this Summer
• The VNDev Wiki Check in
  • A more informal/casual method of documenting resources
  • Encouraging participation
  • Potential for paid seeding of articles
• Upcoming Skits
  • Chemistry (Starting January 23rd)
  • Lime's New Features (Starting ?)
• Server Discussion
  • DevClub, The Burn, & The Burn Minigame
  • Server Offerings & Upcoming efforts
• Open Floor for Questions & Concerns

Welcome to DevTalk, we're cool here

• We do lots of community events, jams, etc.!

Paid and Volunteer Opportunities

• There are opportunities to support DevTalk through paid and volunteer roles, keep an eye out on the appropriate channels (paid-jobs and recruitment)
  • They will have the DevTalk Approved tag
• Seeking BlueSky codes! DM them to Nai if you have any
  • We want to blot out the sun with our visual novel developers
  • Some codes are available in #marketing-and-business, check the pins!
  • Other social medias we're considering? There are so many. Bluesky is our primary target
  • DevTalk's BlueSky if you wanna interact with it: https://bsky.app/profile/vndev.bsky.social
• Banners planned for next year
  • Standard prices for banners is $80, paid out of community funds (through subscriptions on Discord or via Patreon)
  • NaNoRenO banner is already planned and will come out soon
    • (skit coming with it, more about that below)
  • Banners for upcoming jams:
    • Otomejam (banner already acquired), o2a2 (BáiYù might be covering that one), NEW UPCOMING JAM?, potentially more announced during Q3 town hall
    • Maybe banners for April Fool's and summer? Fall banner
• DevTalk is producing an advergame VN for Spooktober?? WHOA
  • Part of an advertisement and promotional effort
  • Expand information for developers
  • Will also allow us to have an official Spooktober VN Game channel on Twitch!
  • Already hired a writer
  • May be looking for UI support
  • Most likely in Naninovel, may be looking for a programmer. Keep an eye out if that's your wheelhouse
  • Will also be looking for people to create content
  • Will likely be using Live2D for character art, so artists would need to be experienced with that
• Server-Wide Minimum Commission Rates?
  • Implementing a type of minimum might "demand" a "quality" of work
  • There have been posts that have greatly underoffered pay (i.e. high-quality, complicated work requesting $10)
  • Maybe pinning an "industry standard" message to inform newer artists of what they should be seeking out
  • Because DevTalk is an international community, the "value" might be hard to pin down (and Nai doesn't feel comfortable making that decision on her own)
  • Will collect more thoughts on this in future discussions
  • Revshare is tricky and is banned in DevTalk because it's an easy way to scam people out of their work
  • The general consensus seems to be guidelines and education versus rules and enforcements

Ongoing and Upcoming Events

• Visual;Conference on the 27th
  • Lots of people present in town hall will be giving talks! Not Ari though, she escaped backed out
  • If you haven't gotten tickets yet, go to https://vnconf.com/ and pick one up! They're pretty cheap!
    • $15 for single ticket or $60 for a bundle of 5! That's buy 4, get one free!
• NaNoRenO in March.
  • One of the biggest VN jams in the year! (Spooktober beat it out, hehe)
  • Meet and Greets will start in February if you need to find teams!
• New Competitive Jam this Summer
  • A buy in event! So it would have a prize pool determined by participation
  • Summer this year, but next year it would fall in the January-February range (Nai didn't have enough time to develop it this year)
  • SWAK (Sealed with a Kiss) Jam
    • Summer of Love theme this year!
    • Romantic-themed jam. Love it.
  • Cherry and Plum will likely be the mascots
  • Most likely will be a month-long jam, but may be two weeks (this excites Ari greatly)

The VNDev Wiki Check in

• A more informal/casual method of documenting resources
  • Considering making less formal articles, more informal and how-tos (so more people will write them)
  • The wiki isn't getting the use it needs, and there's a need for a space where information is stored that isn't Discord (not as long-standing) and Lemnasoft forums (not used as much)
  • Someone has been updating it with jam info, we love you very much
• Encouraging participation
  • ANYONE can write an article. There are plenty of blank articles that need to be filled in that can be answered with a quick google (but please don't copy/paste, ty)
• Potential for paid seeding of articles
  • Could use some of the community funds to hire experts to write articles in their field

Upcoming Skits

• There are daily skits in the #daily-message channel! They're so cute, please read them. There are timed events (like the December series) that are delightful!
  • Upcoming skit: Chemistry (Starting January 23rd)
  • Lime's New Features (Starting ?)
    • Will be posting art from the community, collected via commissions!
      • Did you know that there's husbando versions of the bot girls? Amara sure didn't
    • If you'd like your art or writing to be showcased in the #daily-message rotation (with credit of course), either send them to Nai or post it in #artspam (if it's visual)

Server Discussion

• DevClub, The Burn, & The Burn Minigame
  • DevClub is the social channel, typically the most active
    • An old feature was that it would delete all its contents every 24 hours, but this occasionally encouraged content that we didn't necessary want in the community
    • Can shut down the chat/dissuade engagement for hours
  • To steal Ari's summary, our main problem was seeing some users posting:
    • venting, constantly
    • oversharing and TMI content
    • overly negative stuff
  • This is a server of 7k+ users, you never know who is lurking and reading your messages. Please stay safe.
  • DevClub was only being visited by a small group of users, despite being the most active channel, so we wanted to ensure that people would feel comfortable stepping into DevClub
  • Nai kinda wants to bring back the burn! It was a fun minigame
  • Cody reminisces about the Neopets days (when old messages would get deleted, and allow people to just kinda be on the internet without consequences
    • He thinks we may've grown (server-size) past the point of allowing daily burns
  • Could do weekly burn (or maybe random with a warning ahead of time)
  • Or maybe deleting old messages? Might be tricky to code/could break if Plum goes down
  • Deleting/remaking the channel itself would wipe personalized settings (like mute) for the channel (so quarterly isn't really feasible) (Plum can only mass-delete things up to 2 weeks old)
  • I said "I worry that bringing the burn back in any capacity will re-encourage negative behavior"
  • No decision has been made, conversations are still ongoing
• Server Offerings & Upcoming efforts
  • Supporters of the server got free tickets to VNconf!
  • There's also access to the #diamond-lounge that supporters get exclusive access to. It's definitely super popular and isn't just used for pet pics.
    • Wait no it's not a feature, it's just a fun perk!
  • Contributions are used to support various server features
  • Any suggestions on things the server can do/offer, please let Nai know

Open Floor for Questions & Concerns

• Sprinter issues?
  • People are getting assigned the role without wanting it, which is bad! Nai is investigating
  • Also people are using the role in channels that people generally don't have muted and it pings people constantly
  • Nai can set the command so that it only can be used in certain channels! That feels like a good solution.
  • Or maybe getting rid of the role entirely and then just the temp role you get for reacting
• Someone brought up wanting resume review, but doxxing is a concern, so. Not likely.
• Voice Acting Events? Maybe? Who knows. We're workshopping.

#8: June 10th, 2023

Notes taken by amara (amarvelous)

amara takes notes round 2: electric boogaloo

Agenda:

• Welcome to DevTalk and the Town Hall
• Paid & Volunteer Opportunities to help DevTalk
• Ongoing and Upcoming Events
• Spooktober Sponsor Drive
• Future Scheduled Topics for On-Topic
• Discord Linking Thresholds
• The VNDev Wiki
• Bot Integration with External Communities
• AI in DevTalk
• Open Floor for Questions & Concerns

A writer has been acquired for the Spooktober promo video! There's still opportunities for VAs and a video editor

• These are PAID OPPORTUNITIES. If you want to, please apply!

Volunteer opportunities for the community:

• Tumblr expert (page needs some help)

Upcoming events:

• Currently Otome Jam is running (alongside others), so jam channel got renamed
  • Battle Action Fantasy Jam and Josei Jam are both running now
• Prep for Spooktober has started
• SuNoFes is starting soon, we don't officially run anything but we still encourage the community
• Considering holding VA audition for Spooktober live in a voice channel, but nothing's been decided

The search for sponsors for Spooktober has begun

• If you know anyone who makes tools for devs or other things of that nature, that's what we look for in sponsors
• Probably going to be trying to get more schools and organizations involved this year

Always on the lookout for new scheduled topics for weekly discussions (and specific dates)

• Can always go to Nai's channel to drop suggestions
• Weekly discussions happen Mondays, but there are also scheduled posts for holidays/days of significance

Considering changing linking thresholds for Discord servers in the community

• Currently, pretty much anyone can put a server in the pile and they'll get added to the rotation
• Sometimes that means unrelated links get added (individuals' servers, etc.)
• Most likely going to require a minimum threshold of users to be added to the list

VNDev Wiki exists! Huzzah!

• If anyone is interested in using it, it's there! You can also contribute articles or edit pages!

Bots are struggling, yo

• Some APIs are getting hecked up
• Lemon has integration with Reddit (which we don't really use), but Reddit's going to start charging for their API soon (like Twitter), so :lemonup:
• We're down to diversify what the bots interact with, so bring up any suggestions you may have in Nai's channel.

AI talk time uh oh

• A frequent request has been to simply ban AI talk because it gets too heated
  • Follow-up question is often "why haven't we banned this user for using/supporting AI"
• Nai's opinion is that we will not start witch hunting AI-users
  • A waste of resources to scrutinize every new project to see if it's using AI
• It does seem like the consensus in the server is moving to ban AI
• It often devolves into fights, which does not help community morale
• We will most likely end up banning it (Ari isn't here and Nai's sad because she has opinions apparently, :sadcat:)
• Banning AI talk would most likely not affect the wider community, but it would be a move to improve DevTalk's culture
• Will continue to be evaluated, even if it gets banned
• There isn't anything wrong with ethically-sourced AI, but unfortunately, most of what is publicly discussed is unethically-sourced AI, and that is what the community has taken issue with
• Arimia came back!!
• The conclusion is that AI talk will get banned. If someone brings it up, it is seen as an opportunity for education, but if they continue to argue, action will be taken.
• Convo devolved and I got sleepy :whatapain: Awhoops

Other topics

• Spooktober likely needs judges! Not a paid position, sadly
• Burnbox got converted into devtalk to dissuade venting/oversharing (for users' safety), but it's otherwise functionally the same
• Devclub has 60-70 average chatters and 200-300 average viewers. It's not as private as we think it is.
• DON'T GET SOCIALLY ENGINEERED. BE SMART.

That's pretty much it, if you read this far, you're a cutie! :fingerguns:

#7: January 14th, 2023

Notes taken by amara (amarvelous)

These notes are gonna be chaos, have fun :)

The agenda:

• Welcome to DevTalk!
• Announcement: VNConf Upcoming
• Announcement: VNDev Wiki
• Announcement: Jams for 2023
• PSA: Social Engineering on Discord
• Poll: Text Channels for Voice
• Poll: Activation/Utilization of newer Discord features
• Poll: Microsoft Windows Patch/Backup Notification (2nd Tuesday of Month)
• Discussion: Voice Casting in 2023
• Discussion: AI & DevTalk
• Discussion: Twitter, Tumblr, Mastadon, oh my!
• Open Floor

Winter edition of Town Hall! Biannual, community updates, things we care about

VNConf is coming, speakers have been assembled (https://vnconf.com/category/speakers/), tickets at https://vnconf.com/shop/

• $15 for single, group is $60
• https://vndev.wiki/index.php/Visual;Conference
• January 28, 2023 (Sat) 11AM-6PM EST

The wiki exists! Nai wants to encourage people to use it/contribute to it

• A helpful resource for new VN devs/someone exploring a new field
• A big wiki would be good for standardizing language across different groups

2023 jams!! :wowcherry:

• The regular set of jams is still planned.
• Officially supporting:
  • NaNoReMo
  • Otome Jam
  • O2A2 (will be returning!! Thank you, BaiYu/Mikey/Princess Internet Cafe) (Q3?)
  • Spooktober
  • Winter Jam

There was another round of hacks that hit our server (sorry if it happened to you)

• The graphic is helpful!! The more informed you are, the less likely you are to become a victim :bless:

Text channel for voice channels? Arimia calls for remaking them lmao

• Nai's argument:
  • He deleted them because our server is big. The more channels there are, the harder it is for newer users to navigate.
  • Newer users would get overwhelmed and disengage because of the sheer volume of channels
  • There's built-in text channels for the voice channels now that we can use!
• Arimia's argument:
  • New built-in channels are obtuse and hard to use (and also buggy)
  • Therefore, bring the channels back
• Coda's argument:
  • (for the work channel specifically) sprints are harder to organize through the built-in text channel, because you can't mute them
• Cody's argument:
  • Channels are good for people that want to see what's discussed without joining the voice channel immediately
  • The bots are smarter than us :burnit:
• We're gonna reinstate SOMETHING, we'll work it out
• Might also want to make the channel guide more visible (and not buried in #welcome)
• Could Discord's new Browse Channels feature factor into this?
  • Not a lot of people use this feature, though
• Nai doesn't want to gate channels by roles because people will forget immediately that they don't have certain roles selected
• Voice text channels are back, baybee

We don't use a lot of Discord's newer features (are we old?)

• Forums might be useful for the jobs channels, threads could be good for busier channels
• Threads are a nightmare to moderate, and because the wiki exists, we don't necessarily need threads
• Can you set threads to expire?
  • Concerns against:
    • • Moderation (Nai thinks he could figure it out) (could create staff-only channel that condenses all threads to see them all concisely)
    • Channel bloat/permanence
    • Discussion vs source of information
    • Who would have permission to make threads?
      • Nai thinks gating thread creation to specific people defeats the purpose
  • Support:
    • People will feel less like they are talking over each other
  • Threads would only really be used in busy channels; only really busy channel is burnbox, where threads wouldn't be helpful.
  • Will probably just encourage usage of the reply feature to maintain multiple conversations
  • Will table the thread conversation until the server grows larger
  • Might try forums during NaNoReMo instead of the recruitment channel (could also be implemented in job channels) for a trial run
  • If it works for jam recruitment, it'll probably work for other channels

Patches for Windows Products on the second Tuesday of every month

• Nai's considering setting up an alert for people to back up their stuff (and therefore not lose their stuff)
• Could just be a blanket reminder to back up their stuff (not related to Windows)
• No one is concerned lmao

We were sponsored during Spooktober by Casting Call Club, super cool!

• The event run by Burger and Cody was successful but also stressful
• What can we do to appeal to VAs and what resources can we provide to support devs who want to use them?
• Burger is willing to lend us folks to help streamline the system (more rooms available, more people available to guide VAs/devs)
• Would be a much shorter process (Spooktober event was 6 hours, mamma mia)
• Not a lot of notice was given (purposefully, to keep event smaller)
• We have used casting rosters in the past, but they tend to go completely unused
• Dirty secret: the voice recruitment channel exists to weed out people who just want to drop their reels and leave as a moderation tactic
• There was a lot of gossip here, I'm not taking notes on it
• Spooktober is likely to have another voice acting event
  • 2022 more than tripled the number of VNs with VAing
• One of DevTalk's big goals is to get voice acting into VNs

uh oh it's AI talk time

• Currently, all AI discussion is kicked to burnbox because it inevitably turns to an argument over the ethics of using it
• Nai does not want AI to be a major function of the community (no channel to encourage it, etc.)
• Arimia wants to disallow it from recruitment channels specifically
• Coda suggests focusing on uplifting artists' resources (art packs, etc) over AI
• Anything generated by AI cannot be copyrighted, which creates concerns for using it as one piece of their game
• Nai doesn't want to try to moderate AI because he doesn't want to be the judge of what is and isn't AI (which is fair)
• A decision needs to be made so the rules can be edited
• AI will continue to be quarantined in burnbox, and if someone posts something related to AI elsewhere (art, etc.) they'll get directed to burnbox
• If a pack gets posted in resources, it'll be asked to be removed
• Nai doesn't want to ban people for advocating for AI
  • However, kickstarters that use AI have been requested to be removed in the past
• If we ban people who shill AI, they will slowly realize that they are not welcome here (like with NFTs) (not necessarily a bad thing?)
• Relegating them to burnbox is just a half-step to banning them anyways
• Suggested rules:
  • Kickstarters that declare they use AI will be removed (not the user, just the project)
  • AI conversation will be relegated to burnbox until further notice (when the landscape settles)
  • Don't be a jerk, ya jerks :veyes:
  • Prevent AI packs from being sold and advertised
• Will probably revisit at the next town hall

We as a community use Twitter... a lot... but Elon's doin some shit

• Do we want to consider branching out to other platforms? Tumblr and Mastodon both came up initially.
• Seems like a transition to Mastodon is the best path forward, although it takes a concerted effort to block out the bad stuff (primarily CP)

Open floor time!

• Please go do the DevTalk survey (https://forms.gle/JACTHwshEja1tMoH6)
  • Coda wants you to contribute ;)
  • (It's not an 8-page survey, don't worry)
  • You can attach your discord name, but regardless, your answers will be anonymous. The name is just for the survey creators to contact you with questions.
• Coda also wants job-requests to be renamed to the same naming scheme as the other money channels
• She takes control and Nai allows it. What is happening
• OH HE SERVER MUTED HER
• What a time we live in
• We have devolved. This meeting is essentially over.
• If you read this far, thank you :wowcherry: you're cute

#6: July 2nd, 2022

Notes taken by Shino (4noki)

Social Engineering in Discord

• Topic: Discord Safety
• Context: people recently getting hacked after being scammed into releasing their own information
• <Refer to Infographic - also in Announcements>
• Feel free to use the infographic and spread it around!
• Comments:
  • Don't download random exe files (e.g., the "play my game" scam!) unless you trust the person
  • Be reasonably suspicious (e.g., visual novel dev giving you a tic tac toe puzzle? kinda sus)
  • Your friends can get hacked :(

Planned upcoming Events, Programs, Features and Products Spooktober VN Jam 2022

• The big event of the year! One of the few prize events of the visual novel world! Seeking sponsors now.
• Seeking:
  • Sponsors (currently none...)
  • Judges
• Criteria for being a judge:
  • Not strict criteria
  • Be familiar with the community and have a breadth in the genres you read
  • Be able to read several a day (e.g., last year 3 entries/day average)
• Funding and Sponsors:
  • Static entry fee potentially
    • Disparate contributions would be problematic
    • Entry fee would exclude people with less financial stability
    • Also include some logistic/legal challenges
  • Sponsor advertisements
    • Allows smaller sponsors to pay money to pay to be on our banner, etc.
• Q. Can you opt out of judging?
  • The jam is a competitive environment to encourage high quality content, so not judging submissions may take away from the spirit of the jam. Note that starting early will automatically disqualify you! Please don't.
  • TLDR: most likely no.
• Concerns about opt-in/opt-out:
  • Can reduce judging workload
  • Talented teams may self-disqualify due to low confidence (this is a major point!)
  • Many previous winners did not think they would win
• Q. Can I use last year's idea if I didn't make any assets?
  • Yes. Ideas are fine.
• Q. Could we allocate some funding to reward judges maybe?
  • Great idea! Nai wants to do it. In the current sponsorship agreement, DevTalk takes 10% of money to pay for jam logistics - which will likely include judging. However, sponsorship is voluntary so there may not be any sponsors and thus no judge money.
• Q. Can artists volunteer to do comms to donate money for funding Spooktober and allow them to still participate in the jam?
  • No. You cannot be judged if you donate any amount of money.
• Quote Arimia: "No fuck you" (to Nai)

DevTalk Planner

• Stay tuned for more information!
  • Paperback: 15 USD (not incl. shipping)
  • Hardback: TBD
  • Likely to be done in the middle of July
• Nai shills planners
• Expectation: likely not to sell enough to fund Spooktober!
• Goal: to help developers!
• Q. Is it possible to buy the planner digitally?
  • Currently not likely.

VNDev Wiki Project & Event

• The wiki is now live at vndev.wiki (check it out!)
• Editathon: 7/16 (check announcements)
  • Gather up the community to help out
  • Whoever can contribute the most articles to the wiki will get a little prize!
  • 24 hours, prize TBD
  • Likely to have a sign up sheet to prevent article overlap issues
• The wiki will likely replace the ... resources command on Discord.
  • Discord is not very searchable
  • The wiki should resolve lots of those issues
• Q. How is the number of articles going to be quantified?
  • At least 100 words and a topic that does not exist. There will also be a list of requested articles to target articles of high demand.
  • Likely to be most new created pages with at least 100 words (details TBD)
• Q. Editing/updating existing pages won't count?
  • Likely not. Focus on creating new pages.
• Q. Will spelling and grammar disqualify a page?
  • No, but don't go too far.
• Q. Style guide?
  • Not yet. Make Iron do it :p
• Q. Nothing before the edit-thon counts?
  • Yes, but you still get to be on the special contributors page.

Decision Topic: Voice + Text Channel Integration

• If we switch to voice attached text channels, we will remove the existing text channels.
• New attached channels cons:
  • Hard to access (especially hard on mobile)
  • Prevents ability to easily preview text conversations before hopping into voice
  • Breaks quotes
  • Some voice channels are temporary and get deleted (e.g., Town Hall channel)
• Decision:
  • Try to disable the attached channels
  • Hopefully keep our existing system - DevTalk folks want to keep

/r/VNDevs Details

• Nai is the new head moderator on r/vndevs... and uhh the only mod due to various reasons. If anyone is interested in moderating a vndev subreddit, let Nai know!

Open Floor Discussion

• BaiYu:
  • O2A2 Jam 3 currently scheduled to begin the last full week of July (7/24-7/30) or mid-August
  • mikey is stepping down as co-host
  • Changes:
    • Allow entries in any languages
    • Allow fandiscs, fangames
    • Slightly looser rules this year

#5: January 15th, 2022

Notes taken by Coda

2:00 p.m. Item 1: Visual;Conference Reminder

• Nai (Nai#0461) mentions that Visual;Conference (better known as VN;Conf) is an upcoming visual novel conferencing event hosted by Aginan (Aginyan#7281)

2:05 p.m. Item 2: Follow-up topics

• Nai reviews the previous Town Hall’s stated initiative to increase game jam hosting and engagement.
  • Notes overwhelming success since setting out for the endeavor last year.
  • Reflects on Spooktober 2021 being the largest event last year for its participation, cash prizes, and sponsors (among whom were Clip Studio, Ratalaika studios, NaniNovel, VN Game Den, etc.).
  • Concerns: The almost monthly frequency of jams became tiresome for promoters, taking time, energy, and resources away from supporting other potential third-party jams. Overexposure to jams may have also exhausted some participants.
  • Nai intends to dial jam-frequency back. Will continue with major jams: NaNoRenO, Otome Jam, Spooktober—and if Katy (Katy133#6825) and mikey (mikey#9311) are willing, Winter VN Jam and O2A2 respectively). Third-party jams will be avoided, citing a lukewarm experience with Magical Girl Game Jam as hosted by Ran d'Reille.
  • An (NyanBacon#7215) asks when would be a good timeframe to ask Nai about a member hosting their own jams, or if they should handle it themselves.
    • Nai says he will not turn down a “really good idea” that matches DevTalk’s community values, but asks anyone planning to please approach him a month or two in advance so he can have proper time to create promotional materials and run ads.
  • Cerise (Cerise#5742) asks if there is a list of major jams for 2022.
    • Nai mentions mikey has a list of visual novel jams from 2021, but it is not updated for 2022: https://vnjamcalendar.blogspot.com/p/2021.html
  • Maricu (Maricu#8063) asks if merch could be made to help with funding inside the community?
    • Nai thinks it is an interesting idea and could be explored in the future, though he is not sure what to do about it or how to go about it for now. He references DevTalk’s Patreon as being a likely place to set that up when more for it could be organized.
  • RifferKyle (RifferKyle#4044) asks if there is a DevTalk itch.io page to follow through which to send announcements.
    • Nai admits no, but it’s a good idea. Mentions an initiative with a dud YouTube page for devs to post to, but realized later that DevTalk is better aligned when helping and targeting devs versus individually helping devs promote to an audience.
• Nai reviews idea of a DevTalk newsletter.
  • No progress so far. Nai appeals for advice on newsletters for those who have 1 month experience in running a newsletter (reach out after town hall).
    • Pumpkin (checkers#1023) asks how often the newsletter would be.
      • Nai: Once every 2 months. This is for archiving purposes and as a way to reach out to the community in case something unexpectedly happens to Discord.
• Nai plans on moving #welcome channel quotes archive (quotes from Lemon bots) in a more easily browseable location. Thinking about doing so on a website, but would be in need of a web server for hosting.
• Nai reviews idea of annual multi-speaker conferences in a similar vein to VN;Conf.
  • Doesn't think DevTalk will move forward with that for now.
• Nai mentions that DevTalk has a Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/VNDevTalk) whose purpose is to have funds for things that will directly help the community.
• Nai mentions the DevTalk YouTube channel. Channel is older and currently inactive, password has been misplaced. If channel were to be revived, is not sure what to do with it. But as DevTalk is about promoting tools and opportunities that developers would find helpful, may find this focus in potential video content ideal.

2:23 p.m. Item 3: Upcoming Events

• Nai ran a Twitter poll (https://twitter.com/RemortStudios/status/1456649542124904454) on which topic devs would be more interested in for community resources: Animation or Translation?
  • Poll results: Animation beat out. Nai is interested in the community building better resources for animation in visual novels. Will reach out to animation-focused devs who are knowledgeable on different types of animation.
  • Nai mentions AD (Aesthetic Dialectic#2074) for Russian-to-English visual novel translation, and Kai (Kai#8949) for Japanese-to-English manga localizations, but would like to build up the structures for more translation services in the future.

2:27 p.m. Item 4: Flex Conferencing

• Nai mentions a user (Coda#1898) bringing up having user-hosted presentations year-round instead of just once as does VN;Conf
  • Might be a direction that DevTalk will go towards on their own.
  • Nai invites any suggestions for that, volunteer to speak, or submit your own talk proposals to him.
  • Nai will need time. Will need at least 2-3 speakers to start. Would want to do so after NaNoRenO in April. Unsure if events will be ticketed.

2:49 p.m. Open Floor

• sugoishii (F o x y#6523) suggests writing streams or workshops for events.
  • Nai says he may be able to work those into it conferences, so long as they’re about an hour long or shorter. He can encourage others to join them but he cannot force.
• Jen (JensterCreations#1123) asks if DevTalk can support crediting other artists when art is posted in the server.
  • Nai: Not going to explicitly call anything out, believing it’s more of a common courtesy thing than anything versus making it a rule in #welcome. Will collect some opinions from folks.
• Jen asks if the animation channel will be run by someone such as mikey does for the #productivity-and-motivation channel.
  • Nai: mikey does so of his own volition, as does Arimia (Arimia#9009) of her #marketing-and-business channel, so anyone who wants to, he will carve out the space for them to do so.
• An asks about any resource management, and if there is a resource spreadsheet available to the public.
  • Nai: There is a master spreadsheet that is publicly viewable, but cannot be edited publicly. Admits it’s not a visually-friendly sheet as it logs every string for every DevTalk bot: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/181B5jF4PuWczotL9DFlf3DamibOrxM_0fqGyjeDYdGE/edit (To view resource quotes, go to the Quotes tab at the bottom, then create a Filter, click on the icon on cell A1, and search for “resource”)
• Rob P. (Rob P.#0975) asks about the :kms: emoji
  • Nai says it’s a layover from another community and server, the context is from the series Fate/Stay Night. Thought he had deleted it by now, and consequently deletes it.
• Kusoneko (Kusoneko#4209) asks about the music channel, as the Rythm Discord music bot has been down (since Google/YouTube’s cease and desist in 2021).
  • Nai says he must either make an alternative bot or remove the channel. He cannot support the bandwidth for it with his own bot, but will do some investigating on reviving the channel with one or two bots to integrate.
• shino (4noki#9554) asks about a demographic survey for the server.
  • Coda: Has results from the first survey in 2020, but the answers are not yet compiled. Has gone through questions to improve the next survey, which she would like to run an updated version this year, comparing results to 2020’s. Would like to make the survey a yearly thing moving forward.
  • Nai is on board with it. Nai suggests surveying in the summer, though any time is ideal.
  • Coda feels she may not be able to compile all results in a timely manner due to her ongoing obligations, and appeals to have volunteer help. Nai suggests posting the raw data for readers to interpret themselves.
• Nai announces there are now over 3,000 members in DevTalk!
• sugoishii asks if there are game nights.
  • Nai: We don’t currently have game/movie nights, but MAHO! Cody (Donny Q#4729) runs Jackbox once in a while.
• Jen suggests a pingable voice chat role for those in voice chat to invite for company.
  • Coda asks Nai how he might find that role comparable to the Sprinter role, which alerts others when the <~sprintstart> command is used as a way of inviting others to participate.
  • Nai: Needs to think about it. Not sure about adding it.
• Rob P. shows interest in a potential "Show Off My VN" night.
  • Arimia counters with a story about the failings of Let’s Reads, in which some people who requested critique would think laughter and jokes made by readers were directed specifically at them. Arimia says if devs want to stream their own demo playthroughs or playtesting, that is fine. Use #community-news to announce.
  • Nai: A DevTalk-run read is not going to be resumed. It is a significant time investment to do an organized schedule and getting folks to participate.
• Jen asks if a new video trailer channel will be made for animation learning.
  • Nai: It might be a channel or a role. Not thinking there will be a channel solely for trailer animation. Looking at who would be interested in these first to make decisions on it.
• Jen asks about “spam” in use of the channels.
  • Nai says the reason is to encourage members to post, whether it’s a work-in-progress or multiple pieces.
  • Jen counters with creating separate channels for discussion, not believing “—spam” would encourage it.
  • Arimia notes that adding more channels would make the server more overwhelming.
  • Coda mentions that the fact users direct art- and audio-specific questions to the respective channels means they are already a valid and designated discussion space.
  • Nai thanks for feedback and adds as an aside that chat can write in the #suggestions channel or DM him with any server organization concerns.
• RifferKyle asks for Nai to clarify what he means by “animations”: sprite movement or CG videos?
  • Nai: Wants to start a conversation about building up to fully-animated visual novels, if possible. Would address anything from particle effects to character movement, etc. Shouts out Vimi (Vimi#4554) for the character animations in Vimi’s own visual novels.
• Riffer Kyle asks if it’s ok for devs to focus on other, non-visual novel games.
  • Nai is ok with it, even citing a couple card game developers in the server.
• On behalf of sugoishii, An offers a few ideas for videos if DevTalk were to resume hosting their own YouTube channel. Asks if the video content would conflict with the animation initiative being higher priority.
  • Nai says DevTalk is not the best place to rally consumers. The video ideas suggested (Moderator’s favorite visual novels/characters, etc.) is more consumer-related and spaces like VN Game Den do better. A dev would show minimal interest. If DevTalk were to create such content, it would be focused on dev-oriented content, as it is the audience it has.
• A member asks how VN Game Den is affiliated with DevTalk.
  • Nai: There is no official affiliation. Members of their group are members of ours. Being in the visual novel community leads devs to talking to each other and networking.
• Aginyan describes Visual;Conference, better known as VN;Conf. It is a ticketed webinar currently in its 6th year where visual novel professionals can speak to an audience of developers in a Discord server.
  • This year seems to have a focus on writing (choices, post-mortem docs, planning) and some audio (formats and voice acting). There is a YouTube channel that hosts past years’ talks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQtQMEIQkh3ajtx_BMemvIA
• Nai closes with thanks and an appeal to everyone that if they’d like to volunteer for something, please do. It would help him out greatly, as he “can’t do everything by himself.”

The meeting was officially adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

#4: July 10th, 2021

Notes taken by Coda

2:01 p.m. Item 1: Recap of last town hall

• Nai reminds that last town hall, a suggestion was made that Devtalk helps support 3rd party game jams
  • Magical girl game jam - comparatively large participation because non-VNs were included, but perhaps poor member retention. Nai interested in collaborating again
  • Otome Jam - many people felt that it was taking a long time, Nai & stars are currently thinking to avoid 2-month long jams in the future. However Nai is pleased with outcomes
  • O2A2 - coming up tomorrow; 141 registrants. Nai is pleased with the social media hype and is hoping for similar outcomes to last year.
• Planning to continue supporting 3rd party jams; Spooktober is largely the only official Devtalk jam (Winter Jam is close but not quite the same). Jams have significant benefits for consumers, devs, and Devtalk specifically.
• If community members have jam ideas, please share!

2:14 p.m. Item 2: Spooktober

• Sponsors: VNGameDev, Naninovel, several others in talks
• Naninovel will be giving away 2 free keys during August meet & greets
• Prize pot may exceed $3,000
• Girls' halloween costumes are in progress, Lime is already done!
• Nai is recruiting up to 2 VAs & a video editor for jam promotion
• Also seeking 1 more judge
• TundraFlame (TundraFlame#8427) will be joining judges this year - last year, streamed all Spooktober entries
• Anne (NyanBacon#7215) asks: Will we be doing the live stream contests again for Spooktober?
  • Yes! Nai has put in some money for prizes for Best Stream, Best VA

2:20 p.m. Item 3: Conference

• DevTalk VN conference is unlikely to happen this year
  • Unable to collect enough voices/speakers, will likely attempt again next year
  • Considering returning to supporting VNConf

2:22 p.m. Item 4: Banner Rotation

• Banner rotation is resuming; was temporarily stopped due to COVID financial restrictions
• Currently recruiting banner artists, significant priority given to those who are invested in the community
• Current banner was drawn by Cider (Cider#9256)

2:25 p.m. Item 5: Newsletter

• Nai is considering starting a newsletter (has not yet discussed with Stars)
• Attempted to start a website but had difficulty with this; a newsletter is sort of a stopgap
• Currently seeking suggestions, thoughts, etc.
• BaiYu (BaiYu#2315) mentions that DevTalk has a Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/VNDevTalk), which helps us fund some resources, and may also be a convenient way to manage a newsletter
• Katy (Katy133#6825) suggests Scribus as a Zine maker (https://www.scribus.net)

2:29 p.m. Open Floor

• Anne (NyanBacon#7215) asks if the Productivity channel is set as a permanent feature of the community
• Nai confirms yes, as it has been quite active
• Katy (Katy133#6825) will be approaching Nai about potential plans/collaboration for Winter Jam
• Kai (Kai#8949) is seeking a voice actress for an O2A2 18+ game
• Anne asks about collaboration with VNConf. Nai explains that although there is no official collaboration, the DevTalk community is deeply involved in recruiting participants & speakers.
• Cygni (cygni#3539) asks about the resource channel & the ability to have access to resources in a more searchable way. Nai explains that the resources queue is managed by a Google Spreadsheet, but that it is not terribly human-readable. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/181B5jF4PuWczotL9DFlf3DamibOrxM_0fqGyjeDYdGE/edit) Resources are currently mixed in with Plum's Quotes system
  • Cygni: Could resources be easily moved to a separate sheet? Nai: Yes, that would be pretty easy.
  • Nai: It may be better to move them to a completely separate Google Sheets document to make things more readable/accessible.
  • Eli (Eli (rngwrldngnr, he/they)#2046) wonders about using the bots to make things more human-readable
  • Anne suggests a tagging system for resources to make them more searchable
  • Nai agrees, but thinks that something with that level of complexity would be better hosted on a website. This is a goal, but he is worried about capacity, skillset, and money.
  • John (John#5289) already has a website called Make VNs (https://makevns.com) for hosting resources. It uses a submit/mod approve method. Nai ran the audit command for resources in Bot Spam, and encouraged people to submit resources from that dump into the site.
• Anne asks about the 1000 quote system. Nai explains that it is mostly shelved but may be co-opted for other purposes later.
• Tasty (Tasty#2290) asks about the backstory of the 4 mascot girls and if there is somewhere that the public can read it
  • Nai: The backstory is entirely created by the community. Fan content is nigh-automatically official.
• Fairy (Fairy#5971) asks about boy mascots. Nai says that people are welcome to draw the mascots as boys. Nai planned for a boy mascot named Berry but had no functional purpose.
  • Several people suggested that Berry could be a mascot for a Devtalk Conference.
• Nai explains the roles of each of the bots:
  • Lemonchan is mostly dev-oriented. She retweets VN dev-related tweets using various hashtags.
  • Cherry is more consumer-oriented. She tweets random VNDB entries every hour so long as they meet certain conditions.
  • Plum manages all discord functions.
  • Lime used to work similarly to Lemonchan except for NSFW games, but was shut down by Twitter.

The meeting officially adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

#3: January 16th, 2021

Notes taken by Coda

1:56 p.m. Item 1: DevTalk-sponsored Game Jams

• Nai introduces a new initiative to support other indie game jams.
  • DevTalk will support and help to promote the Magical Girl Jam #3 (https://itch.io/jam/magical-girl-game-jam-3) hosted by Ran d'Reille. DevTalk will host a meet-and-greet in our server.

2:10 p.m. Item 2: Motioning a Productivity-focused Channel

• Nai talks about the idea of the #productivity channel. Its focus will be on discussing topics surrounding project management, goals, morale, habits, etc.
  • Arguments for: Positive reinforcement, quick referencing of productivity-related resources, expose and foster better habits and thought processes, funneling venting concerns around productivity from #burn-box and various channels for active solutions
  • Concerns: Keeping the space positive and uplifting.

Mikey (mikey#9311) via DM brought up the channel functioning similarly to Miko’s marketing channel, with occasional casual prompts to generate discussion.

• • Nai is interested in the potential direction of a personality-led productivity channel, though acknowledges vocal proponents will drive it of their own accord.
  • Tav (random bodyguard#4580) has a suggestion for a productivity call in voice chat.
  • Anne (NyanBacon#7215 ) counters with a suggestion for once a month and not weekly like the #on-topic or #daily-victories productivity call. She also echoes concern of the channel devolving into venting.
• BaiYu (BaiYu#2315) has a concern for adding even more channels being overwhelming. Mentions that she has the bot channels in specific muted.
  • Nai would like to consolidate some channels. May drop the #reddit-feed, his personal channel, may merge #shuffle and #twitter-news but not certain, may hide #bot-thoughts for diagnostics.
  • BaiYu suggests merging #gaming or #off-topic.
  • Coda (Coda#1898) suggests if #gaming goes, those discussions can be relegated to group DMs.
  • Nai doesn't mind having it in the community as it still fosters community morale.
• Nai loosely mentions playing with the idea of starting a consumer-centric community, maybe as a website or subreddit.
• Jenster (JensterCreations#1123) suggests a #productivity test-run.
  • Nai agrees and is thinking of implementing the probationary #productivity channel period.
• Zoncerto (Zoncerto#9677) suggests an FAQ channel.
  • Nai isn't sure how to approach that in Discord real-estate, mentioning a website would be the better option, though concerns arise.
• Anne suggests in the future that Lemonchan redirect the weekly progress check-ins to the #productivity channel.
• Zoncerto suggests the #productivity channel be accessible via opt-in role that moderators assign, allowing the gating of "toxic" users who misbehave in said channel by removing the role.
  • Nai counters that it may proliferate the problem by punishing sentiment and not the core issue.

2:47 p.m. Item 3: Visual;Conference Reminder

• • Nai reminds interested users to purchase tickets for Visual;Conference this next Saturday through the vnconf.com website (did not link in chat). Clarifies that DevTalk is not a sponsor this year, but will purchase tickets for server Boosters.

2:49 p.m. Open Floor

• Miko (Miko#9009) explains what Visual;Conference is.
• Nai would consider hosting a website to archive resources, but would need to give hosting rights to someone who can manage it, such as keeping web certificates up to date, etc.
• Tav wants to have more community support for the audio users.
  • Nai's counter is to please volunteer to contribute to mentor. He notes folks who are interested tend to act of their volition.
  • Tav suggests a showcase of audio-specific members.
  • Nai suggests that in rotation with the Message of The Day in #welcome.
  • Tav suggests an audio mentorship role.
  • Zoncerto inquires about sponsoring/partnering with casting call communities.
  • Nai is interested but hasn't come up with a more effective way to maintain voice actors.
  • Jenster mentions a tutorship program in the server where "students" pair up with "teachers".
  • Nai is in support but counters with the need for experts to vet individuals.
• Zoncerto inquires about games.
  • Nai says he is fine supporting users who regularly invite the community to playing games via creating a role.
• Nai mentions supporting game jams so long as he is approached a month in advanced for promotion and organizing.
• Kija (Kija#9005) offers his knowledge to help others as an audio producer.

The meeting was officially adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

#2: July 11th, 2020

Notes taken by BaiYu

• Logline Contest is now live until the 25 this month
• Logline votes will be by emote reactions, those with the most reacts will win temporary Lemon-chan VIP status as well as a logo by m.
• Cherry will now take over the project promotion tweets
• Anyone is free to host jams, or suggest a jam here. Server staff may be able to assist with hosting if need be.
• Popular server-wide jam themes seem to either be horror/October and winter.
• DevTalk+ is happy to help promote everyone's works in conjunction with events in the future
• AD is extremely interested in translating RU to EN and vice versa
• Thank you John for hosting the DevTalk+ Minecraft server
• There is interest in starting Let's Reads again
• Please ask to critique during a Let's Read before doing so
• We may be able to start a Lemon-chan Twitch channel
• DevTalk+ Podcast?
• Vtuber??????
• DevTalk+ Zine?
• REVIVE EVNPIRE
• We may host our own version of VN;Conf
• Elm has money flying out her ass
• Possibly renaming the community

#1: December 21st, 2019

Notes taken by Jake Bowkett

• CommPro Project
• Community Ambassador Project
• Lemonchan Features and Requests
• Fate of the EVNPire website
  • administrative burden, moderating
  • technical burden, updating WP, functionality like merging
  • audience vs dev oriented
    • sister communties
    • audience can 'see' what devs are doing
  • people are attracted to personalities
  • skill novice vs. advanced
  • brain drain
• Community Plans for VNConf
  • new, community-run conferenced hosting independently/in a different place
• Event scheduling in 2020
  • streaming workshops
  • buddy system - experienced dev advising new dev & streaming that process
  • provide guidance & structure
  • award ceremony
  • participation levels
  • make events easy to accidentally encounter
• (new, separate point emerged from Event Scheduling): Criticism
  • sensitivity to it
  • good vs bad crit
• Discussion Questions for 2020
• New Moderator