In something like a swingset my first consideration would be safety, make everything from stuff that I'm 100% sure isn't going to surprise me one way or another, and given that it is a dynamically loaded structure with kids doing 'creative' stuff with it I'd aim for overkill rather than getting it 'just so' or working for something that looks good but that may not be strong enough.
If it's going to be outdoors in the weather over a very long period of time I would not count on glue (unless you have very good process control and know exactly what the long term properties will be) but I'd use steel to connect the various wooden bits, typically hole through (large diameter), then epoxy the hole and then drill again (smaller diameter). That stops the wood around the hole from rotting away. You also want to take care in what kind of wood you use in the first place a nice wood for stuff like that is Tamarack, which doesn't rot.
If it's going to be outdoors in the weather over a very long period of time I would not count on glue (unless you have very good process control and know exactly what the long term properties will be) but I'd use steel to connect the various wooden bits, typically hole through (large diameter), then epoxy the hole and then drill again (smaller diameter). That stops the wood around the hole from rotting away. You also want to take care in what kind of wood you use in the first place a nice wood for stuff like that is Tamarack, which doesn't rot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larix_laricina
Combined with stainless steel hardware that should last longer than you will.