I think you were onto something even back then when you mentioned interaction anxiety building up in the general population. This is a perfect example, people still have the basic need to sorta interact with each other, but since normal speech is getting too difficult to handle for them, gaming becomes an outlet. There's the excuse of having a common interest in gaming, there's the comfort of never having to actually see the guildmates face to face, and you can retreat much more easily if your sensibilities are offended: mute the person annoying you, or just log off. That bit's harder to do IRL.

Side note: It could also be a craving for structured interaction, and having some authority in life. This is easier to mimic in gaming with a guild leader, than IRL where you'd have to research and find a worthy cause + a boss with leadership capabilities.

Another side note: Gaming has been popularized and commercialized. It left the niche of "only dorks play video games", and it's now high on the acceptable entertainment list. In this context, I would expect serious gamer groups to actually become professional about it. As Anon mentioned above, there *are* certain advantages in having everyone synced via voice chat. This just adds to the general picture, making the Discord thing much easier to sell.

@Anonymouser That is a most novel and interesting comment!

Unfortunately, the parts that are interesting are also trivial restatements of the article, and the parts that are novel are also veiled restatements of you suck, she says.

Don't try again. For one thing, whatever it is you think you're doing isn't worth trying, and moreover the thing impelling that, namely what you are, isn't worth being. Quit being youself anymore, be something else instead.

Also, raid coordination.