I humbly disagree. As a former gamer I’ve used similar live chat and VoIP (voice chat) services, mainly TeamSpeak, and gamed for many years with community members from all over the world while voice chatting. The servers are open 24/7 and members drop by at all times depending on their schedules and time zones. I’m in Sweden and frequently chatted with people from the US, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, the UK and many other. It’s a great way to hang out over a shared interest, and complements a community forum in a nice way. You get to know the people behind the avatars and many times people make friends for life this way.
The mechanics of it are very basic; anyone who knows how to use a forum can learn how to use a chat software like Discord. The main obstacle is that you need a decent quality headset based microphone or similar setup. Poor quality microphone inputs can be difficult for people to listen to in the long run. Also, you cannot use speakers, because it will create feedback loops where everyone hear themselves multiplied. In my experience, this is where things might get difficult for members that have less knowledge about computers; how to get proper audio working. But Discord can also be used on phones, where audio setup is already established and proper headsets are often already in use.
The one thing that needs to be emphasized is that it’s advisable to have moderators appointed to on and off monitor the chats. People don’t always get along, and in open chat rooms things might escalate quicker than on forums where people get to think a bit before posting. But in my experience it’s rare that that happens, and the precense of moderators tend to remind people to contribute to a socially healthy environment.
Oh, and hi everyone! This is my first post.