I did a test deployment yesterday of a discord <> IRC bridge, and I found an IRC client that has been packaged as a script for mysticBBS, so we could conceivably set up a telnet/SSH BBS with a custom IRC server, a built in client, and a discord bridge bot.

Deploying that is, at most, half a day's work.

It's an absurd way to handle things, but I can't see a reason it wouldn't work.

It lets people who already have a discord account join the conversation easily. It gives a non-discord option (IRC) for people who want chat but not discord (and they can handle bridging IRC into their platform of choice, if they really want to) and it gives us a completely ridiculous, unwieldy, but ultimately very thematically appropriate way to more deeply engage with particularly motivated or especially nerdy fans.

(some "You want a sneak peak of the new game? Check the Warez board and queue up zmodem" type stuff)