Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else • Hacker News Board

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#181

Post by TeMPOraL » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:28 AM UTC

omot wrote: post #169

Hello! This is the HN comments of Facebook’s latest valuation in 2007: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34057 I wonder if HN will ever be bullish on a product that’s targeting the general audience. We seem to only be able to see technical expertise as the only moat. I guess this is why product managers that can’t code get paid the big bucks. Anyone know if there’s a HN made up of folks with astute product sense?…

> I wonder if HN will ever be bullish on a product that’s targeting the general audience.

Sure. I don't think anyone is doubting Discord will pump a ridiculous valuation and make boatloads of money. That's not really impressing anyone here, not anymore.

In more general terms: that you can impress the general audience with shiny trinkets, shepherd them into a walled garden, and then milk them for all they're worth - it's a well-known, common pattern. It's not interesting, except in terms of what we're losing as a society and as an industry because of it. So it's the latter things that get disproportional attention on HN.

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#182

Post by Gunax » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:30 AM UTC

bbellini wrote: post #31

Gunax wrote: post #17

I despise discord. It's bloatware. It has constant popups that are difficult to disable. I do read their tech posts on HN, and they are always fascinating. But it seems to me like a product that the MBAs have taken a over.

Mind going into more details about the popups? Ive been using for years and cant say I've ever had a popup besides the occasional changelog.

Yea so if you install it, it will harass you about 'going live' everytine you launch a fullscreen app. Then it puts some box in the corner (sorry cannot remember what it said)

You can disable it per application of course... But I just wanted it gone.

Also it makes incessant beeping noises, which again can only be disabled per room.

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#183

Post by sadness3 » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:31 AM UTC

As a personal user, I'd give Discord more money if high-resolution streaming and higher bitrates etc. were a bit cheaper, and I could buy credit which using these features ate through, instead of having to pay an overly expensive subscription.

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#184

Post by tester34 » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:33 AM UTC

ulzeraj wrote: post #165

p1necone wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I also find it really weird that push to talk only ever surfaces in gaming focused voice chat. It's useful for any situation with more than a couple of people, especially when they're typing while on the call.

I think corpos and normies are too polite to call someone out for heavy breathing at the microphone. I remember during my days of wow raiding hearing someone else's background or breathing noise during the raid was not acceptable.

Still, how "corpos and normies" can stand kids as somebody's background? which is something normal during pandemic

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#185

Post by belorn » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:39 AM UTC

danuker wrote: post #158

tester34 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you name at least two other platforms that offer at least Decent chat (file sharing, emojis, support for code snippets), decent voice chat, decent streaming and supports PUSH2TALK button? and I personally prefer when it is not self-hosted due to DDoS risk, but it's not must have. and is e.g F/OSS? Because I'm unable to name and that's why I started using Discord

Chat: Mattermost Voice chat with push-to-talk: Mumble Streaming: OBS > and I personally prefer when it is not self-hosted due to DDoS risk Only let your friends connect via Wireguard.

Mumble is my currently choice for a F/OSS alternative to group chat. Works fine, especially for having open in the background with push to talk. No chat history or built in tools for sharing videos, code or streaming.

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#186

Post by nicoburns » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:46 AM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #172

nicoburns wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it goes one level abive execs. Execs who don't do these things get replaced! The shareholder model is broken.

What is broken about it? Did anyone tell the discord creators to involve other shareholders?

I don't know about Discord specifically, but what is broken is that the people who have ultimate control of large public companies (in 90% of cases - founder controlled companies are a prominent exception) are the shareholders. And these are typically not domain experts, their main interest is in making money. So they generally see fit to appoint executives whose main objective is to make money and to remove those who care about anything else.

Now, you might think that this still aligns shareholder incentives with the long-term interests of the company, that if the shareholders care about profits over the long term then they should also care about the health of the business rather than just about how much money they are making now. The problem is that the most efficient way for investors to make money (per unit time) is not to care about the long term and instead to "pump and dump" companies by directing them towards (usually destructive) activities that increase profits in the short term, then selling the shares before the value inevitably crashes.

Not everyone is doing that. But those who are often making the most money, and as money = power in capitalist economy, the people who are doing this are continually increasing their control of our companies over time. As such, the system is setup to give power to those who are most destructive to real value creation. Ergo: broken.

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#187

Post by Broken_Hippo » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:46 AM UTC

Barrin92 wrote: post #76

bagels wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a chat app. I cannot imagine not selling for an offer like that. Your opportunities for what to do next would be unbounded.

opportunities aren't really a function of money in particular in the software world. You need a good project, good people and whatnot, but you don't need 18 billion dollars for your next company. In fact if anything I'd honestly say it might be a negative to be that wealthy. A lot of ideas are the products of inventiveness in the face of constraints and a sense of urgency. There is a lot of super-wealthy 30 year olds…

"In fact if anything I'd honestly say it might be a negative to be that wealthy"

Honestly, that sounds like propaganda telling poor people to be happier with their lot in life. Who says they'd put 18 billion towards their next company anyway?

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#188

Post by codingdave » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:47 AM UTC

tester34 wrote: post #111

hamburgerwah wrote: post #105

Discord is the classic freemium monopoly trap. They want to capture market share with a walled garden and once they do they will alter the terms to milk out every last drop of revenue they can before everyone jumps ship to the new new thing.

Could you name at least two other platforms that offer at least Decent chat (file sharing, emojis, support for code snippets), decent voice chat, decent streaming and supports PUSH2TALK button? and I personally prefer when it is not self-hosted due to DDoS risk, but it's not must have. and is e.g F/OSS? Because I'm unable to name and that's why I started using Discord

When you pile together half a dozen different requirements, of course the number of products in the middle of your resulting Venn diagram is going to be narrowed down to one. Especially if you already had that answer in mind when you laid out your requirements list. The question that needs asked is not, "What is the one product that exactly fits my personal needs?", but "What feature set of a communication platform meets most of the needs of most of the people?"

Is Discord the best answer to that broader question, to handle many different use cases for many different audiences? If so, it makes sense for them to expand their market. If not, stick to what they are good at.

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#189

Post by saladuh » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:51 AM UTC

ohgodplsno wrote: post #153

danuker wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discord has done some shady stuff for quite some time. https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/coo3h6/discord_use...

Discord enumerates processes to discover OBS to turn on streamer mode, as well as being able to display what game you're playing. Disable the "share my current game" feature and there is no longer any ptracing

Are you absolutely sure that's the case? The OP in that reddit post seemed to suggest that he had toggled off game detection and whatnot. Scroll down to the thread where the deleted comments are.

Re: Discord has won over gamers. Now it wants everybody else

#190

Post by amelius » Thu, Aug 26, 2021, 9:51 AM UTC

sadness3 wrote: post #171

mihaifm wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem is the tech world is changing very fast. If you're going to sit idle hoping to make the same amount of cash every year, you're going to disappear within 5-6 years. Not liking where Discord is headed either, just saying some change is necessary not only for growing, but for staying relevant.

It takes significant evolution to just keep doing what you set out to do well. Running a successful mechanics business to repair cars means continuously updating your skills and tools. Eventually you become a flying car repair shop. It doesn't mean you have to grow to encompass every aspect of the automobile industry and compete with Repco and Mobil.

Except by then cars are rented to you by big advertising companies (in exchange for data), and they also do repairs (or outsource them to the lowest bidder).

Skills don't matter if your business case has disappeared.