Guilded Shutdown, Telegram Becomes Main Messanger, Other Changes

Guilded has banned my account. As a result, we are now moving TDK over onto Telegram. Also, there is a new domain that being tdk.venith.net which I am excited about. Also, expect livestreams on Telegram instead of relying on the now deleted YouTube channel.

Well this might be long, so get ready.

Changes To Main TDK Communities

First of all, I would like to say that I am glad to announce that the TDK website has a custom domain now along with many other websites. This TDK domain means that links can now just use tdk.venith.net instead of tdk-clan.neocities.org (which is also good if we switch website hosts because links probably won't break anymore). I have considered moving things to GitHub yet again for TDK as either an entire organization or a repo on VenithNET's account, that has not happened at this time. The Neocities account wont be deleted until long into the future though as I will just put a redirect up instead due to the heavy use of tdk-clan neocities links compared to Venith's use of it.

Second of all, Guilded has banned my account. I have attempted to send emails twice now to Guilded Support, I have gotten nothing back. On top of that, my alt account I temporarily made until I can switch all the way over to Telegram has also been banned. I used a different email, that being my new main public one which is dc@tfwno.gf (thank you cock.li email service). As a result, I believe Guilded kind of knows I am trying to ban evade and thus are trying to stop it. Whatever, I will have to make sure I have everyone from these platforms but I already believe I do. Most of my frens were also in TDK or just invited over to Guilded unlike Discord where I had to hurry up and find everyone.

Thirdly, Telegram will be the main non-Venith platform TDK uses from now on. This is because of a few reasons. For one, they literally could not give a fuck less as long as you don't do something like terrorism. Also, they give 2GB uploads for free (4x Guilded's limit) and I'm pretty sure you can download channel posts without a TG account no matter what if its not in a private GC. This would not be the case on a public channel for TDK, meaning we are good. Lastly for the reasons we picked TG, Telegram GCs can have topics now which means we can somewhat split channels up. An "INFO" channel if we want to outline rules and then we can make a ton of topics for discussion. Plus we aren't anywhere near 200k members so thats good.

There is still some issues you might want to consider before using Telegram. Well only one really, that being the requirement of phone numbers to join. I am not sure if a TextNow phone number would work, if so I'd recommend that. However, you will have to go into your settings otherwise to hide your phone number before adding anyone, or use a throwaway phone number with little to no attachment to your real identity. I just use my main number, but I've changed my privacy settings to not share it. Also, be careful when adding contacts so you don't accidentally give your phone number out assuming you don't have a throwaway number you can just completely ignore when not using TG or other services that may require it. You might be able to get one from Google Voice as well if you're that desperate, those maybe work with verification too but idk.

As for how to change your privacy settings to hide phone numbers, its pretty easy. Settings > Privacy and Security > Phone Number > Nobody (see my number) + My contacts (find me by number).
Not too hard, you can mess with other stuff while you're there, its way better than the other chat platforms at least in terms of centralized platforms. Little sketchy at first, but I'd trust it way more than Snapchat, Discord, Guilded, etc (not like that says much).

The Future Of TDK

So what is "the future of TDK"? I talk about it a lot, I'm at a point where its hard to decide if TDK will eventually also fade out of existence for Venith or if it will stay due to the need for a gaming clan inside of Venith. TDK is now part of Venith to an extent, and thus any TDK property is a Venith property now (including DC Empire, 2015-2023 and still going strong). However, how fucking many times am I just gonna keep changing the groups around? The entire point of TDK was to keep things simple, but by merging it to an extent with Venith yet keeping the name I have just complicated things. However, if I got rid of TDK for Venith I would no longer have a working clan-tag such as for online games which is a big part of TDK and even Venith to an extent.

Well, TDK is staying but its complicated. Venith is the best name I've thought of thusfar and I have a domain for it now so I'm sticking with it. However, every other name I've tried doesn't stick. Very rarely have I came up with names that sounded as good as TDK and Venith. TDK was pure luck, but Venith I had to really sit down and think about for a long time before coming to the decision to pick it. Had to make sure it wasn't generic, it was easy to remember, and more issues before picking it. Even the TDK name had some thought though, TDK standing for "The Destruction Kingdom". TDK is cool sounding both when short and when you write out the full name.

Something as good as TDK/Venith or better is what I am looking for whenever I am making an entirely new group. If there isn't a very good reason to start from essentially scratch, I just throw it under an existing name. That first being DCE, then TDK, and now Venith unless it makes sense to put it under TDK such as for gaming sub-clans (like Destiny 2 clans). I'd prefer to keep this stuff big, but not overly complicated either. That was what TDK was partly created to solve after all, but too much of new group names without being under one system despite TDK and Venith not being seperate entities and merely partners (like it would have to be for it to not be an issue eventually) destroys the entire purpose of TDK other than a cool looking clan-tag for gaming.

It isn't going away anytime soon if ever I can assure you that, but there will inevitably come a time where I have to start making major changes to make sure the groups don't devolve into a shitshow when it comes to keeping things easy to remember whats what, and for all I know that may be soon. Now no, future maybe. Also, with the 3DS/Wii U online servers shutting down in early April 2024, we will have to essentially start over any MK7 or original MK8 groups claimed. I thought we had until 2027-2032 for this stuff, apparently we don't even get 20 years on the consoles before it all closes down. By the time this happens, the 3DS will only be 13 years old. What the fuck Nintendo.

We will have to just build it up on Pretendo Network, thats our only hope for survival on the 3DS/Wii U. TDK will probably never have its own custom server. I'd love to have network.venith.net for a custom online service with a Miiverse clone, online play, trashtalk via 16 character status msgs or wii u fren requets, and more but it probably won't happen. Even for DSi/Wii it would be unrealisitic, though a cool idea. I will probably do something on the TDK or Venith website honoring the 3DS/Wii U's online play shutdown whenever it happens. I have a Wii U which I'll run Mario Kart on for days and 2 3DSes I can survive on as long as I push a few buttons occasionally. One will be on Pokemon XY/ORAS, the other will be on a game like Animal Crossing New Leaf or MK7. I'll stream the entire thing on Telegram and put a copy on Odysee as well whenever it ends, I will keep this locally recorded too. Wii U and 2 3DSes will be recorded at the same time, this will likely be a 24h+ stream though.

Whenever this does happen, I will try to also get some friends to help out and see how long we can last on the service, this'll be April 2024 so I will probably be studying a bit for final exams but I won't let that stop me from playing online one last tiny bit of course. I swear, Nintendo doesn't allow anything to last any reasonable amount of time. The Xbox 360 is over here still allowing online play 18 years after it released (partly bc its on the same system but still), yet Nintendo will kill every service their console allows within less than 15 years of its release. It is rather pathetic if anything, but whatever. At least the Wii/DS only died that way because it was usually hosted on Gamespy and some servers lasted until 2021-early 2023 such as the Wii Call of Duty servers.

Why did I go on this rant about Nintendo in a section about TDK? Because Mario Kart 7 was a major part of TDK's founding. TDK used to be just a simple MK7 clan where you put TDK- behind your name and everyone knew you were based, now though its evolved to much more. With the 3DS online play shutdown, we are in a way losing a part of TDK's history. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the only other games with as much influence as Mario Kart were Destiny 2 and Halo (D2 being the only that could actually compare due to the 8 TDK clans).

Its like the end of an era for TDK, even though we do have Pretendo Network we can use yes. Many don't know how much more trouble it is forcing people to use homebrew in a time where many members of a community can only use 3DS or other legacy Nintendo devices. Many active TDK members such as royal-rawr (3DSPaint.COM) can't even access homebrew because they don't have a PC to mod their consoles with. Unless an exploit is also found that doesn't require a PC, they're pretty much locked out of any activities until further notice. And no, most people also don't have a spare router to play original DS games online with either even if they have the game (except for the Pokemon Black and white games as they're DSi Enhanced with online play so they don't need it).

Nintendo, by shutting down the 3DS/Wii U servers, are essentially ruining any leftover fun their shit has remaining. It sounds like bullshit, but the Switch is practically just Wii U ports or sequels that feel very similar to the original until around 4-5 years into the damn life-cycle. MK8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, etc. Theres plenty of good Switch games even in first party yes, but they all feel like just Wii U ports in many cases. The switch as a whole feels like just a newer Wii U. Sure its cool bringing it anywhere you want, but why make a new console if all the games available on it either suck on said console or are mostly ports from other consoles until much, much later into the lifespan? Its ok to port old games, but why only last-gen games? If they're going to just port everything instead of making new games, why not Gamecube games? I can guarantee you Nintendo has the rights to at least one of these games yet they can't re-release a single GCN game. Its just endless NES/SNES/N64 games (except now you don't even really own them like you did with Virtual Console, YAY :D [sarcasm]), and usually the same ones at that. Sometimes less now that I think about it. I think the Switch has more NES/SNES than the Wii, but I can guarantee it had less on Wii than the Wii U's shop. Yes you could buy them on the Wii Shop on vWii, but you're just in Wii mode so you're basically on a Wii.

The whole thing is a clusterfuck, its going downhill and we can all tell at this point. Nintendo is dying if they haven't been for a while. Their money is up, but the fun is gone. I know damn well its not just nostalgia, the Switch I got at 8 years old on Christmas and now I'm 14. Thats 6 whole goddamn years I've had the system, the only thing I should even feel slightly "nostalgic" for is the Wii because I've had my Wii since I was 3 years old and it was my first gaming console, making it 11 years old as of this year. Everyone knows Nintendo is completely fucking up, yet everyone just says "its a kids company" as if that is an excuse to make shitty decisions. Listen up motherfuckers, as long as you keep paying for this stuff, you will only help Nintendo make more money thus keeping the consoles + online services shittier (and games too, though Nintendo weirdly is still doing better than a lot of the bigger companies out there at least).

I'm warning you now, and I haven't been the first to warn you if you're a Nintendo fanboy still, things will only get worse from here. Stop paying for their services, or expect them to become worse. If they want to allow getting games via an online service, thats fine by me. Hell they could mark the price up to $30 yearly for just the games and I'd be fine with it if I could just buy the individual games that I want and own them to play whether or not I had the subscription. However, it is BS for that to be the only option whenever they're actively attempting to force you to use their new shit. They already shut down the old eShop for 3DS/Wii U except for redownloading games, they're taking the online play away + they're taking syncing your existing funds away too. You've been warned before, you're being warned now, all I hope is that I get it through your damn head if it isn't already. Granted, if its not already in your head by now and you're not 8, it likely never will be drilled well enough into your head to mean anything. But one can hope.

The Conclusion To A Long Post

Finally, you've reached the end. This was rather long I know, but it was rather important too. TDK is going to be undergoing major changes for the 100th time, things are hopefully gonna be good.
TLDR; TDK Guilded Banned, Telegram Supremacy, Hide Numbers On TG Profiles, Fuck Nintendo, I Suck At Keeping My Empires Simple And Not Overly-Complicated.

Created October 5th, 2023 at 11:00PM.
Last updated October 5th, 2023 at 11:00PM (blog creation)