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Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

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Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#71
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to change my global settings, not server settings. I'm on dozens of Discords and join/leave them and change their order on the sidebar all the time. Going through each of them (and remembering to do it every time I join a new one) sounds like a nightmare. Every time I hear/see a notification that I don't want, I'd have to go through all those dialogs for all of my servers? Nope, not gonna happen.

From your original comment I assumed you actually would want to know how to do it, I see now it was simply whining. edit: sorry, this came off more aggressive than I intended. I just meant that I thought you were looking for a solution, but you were actually critiquing, so I felt like I'd wasted the time trying to help. Sorry to be an ass.

I was replying to a post that praised Discords UX. I agree, it's mostly excellent, but there are points that deserve critique, which prompted this response.

If you feel like that's whining, well, as an UX designer I'd welcome feedback on what could be improved.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#72
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how tech startups work, isn't it? Use investors to build a product with no business model, then the founders cash out via purchase or IPO, and soon after the fact that you have no business model comes to light and the product falls apart trying to find a business model, while users move on to the next shiny thing with no business model.

Glad I'm not the only one thinking this. Seems obvious, but I always felt like I was missing something. How is it that most of the tech/SV world is just the same con being run over and over again, yet it keeps working? Does it operate on the same psychological glitch as a lottery? Do the giant corps buying these startups all think "I know how it's been in the past, but surely THIS startup WON'T turn to shit the momen…

The real answer is that you should be selling these works of fiction on the Nasdaq too.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#73
post #42
post #4

Let's hope that Discord doesn't end up going the way of Slack. Since Slack got overconfident over Microsoft Teams and lost and got acquired by Salesforce.

I don't think they got overconfident at all - I think that slack was relatively well built but lacking too much of a value proposition to differentiate themselves. Then they got acquired before anyone realized how much of their usage was marketing driven and how little was driven by the quality of their application. I'm not saying it's bad by any means - in fact the search functionality is pretty sweet... but there i…

Agree. They came out of the gates with a really well put together chat app, that made a massive impact. Then, basically, didn’t advance it beyond that. It is still great for chat, but Teams is sooo much more useful for the virtual office, and discord waaay better for social. Slack is in an ever decreasing middle zone.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#74
post #53

Amazon (Twitch), Epic, and Valve are all targeting gaming verticals. Each of them are integrating the other's features as also-rans: streaming, marketplace, reviews, community, platform. Most people would probably be surprized to know that you can buy games on Twitch and stream on Steam. What space will Discord be able to carve out? They will be a Netflix in an Disney and Hulu world.

> What space will Discord be able to carve out? They will be a Netflix in an Disney and Hulu world.

Do you mean that in a positive or negative way? Netflix is doing very well - it's the other, broadcasters-cum-streaming platforms that are struggling.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#75
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how tech startups work, isn't it? Use investors to build a product with no business model, then the founders cash out via purchase or IPO, and soon after the fact that you have no business model comes to light and the product falls apart trying to find a business model, while users move on to the next shiny thing with no business model.

Discord has a business model: Get people engaged in a community, sell them Nitro so they can boost their communities [1][2]. The "buy benefits for you community" scheme is wildly successful in mobile games, so I wouldn't be surprised if it works well for Discord. 1: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028038352-S... 2: https://discord.com/nitro

Yet they are not profitable. It seems that "nitro" is not enough.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#76
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how tech startups work, isn't it? Use investors to build a product with no business model, then the founders cash out via purchase or IPO, and soon after the fact that you have no business model comes to light and the product falls apart trying to find a business model, while users move on to the next shiny thing with no business model.

Discord has a business model: Get people engaged in a community, sell them Nitro so they can boost their communities [1][2]. The "buy benefits for you community" scheme is wildly successful in mobile games, so I wouldn't be surprised if it works well for Discord. 1: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360028038352-S... 2: https://discord.com/nitro

The fact that they are trying to sell/IPO is pretty strong evidence that they are not profitable, I think. But regardless, I will give them massive props for not just doing the ad thing, which is the last gasp of this style of startup before they finish circling the drain. Lookin' at you, Imgur.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#77
Speaking as an 18 y.o. doing my first year college online, I wouldn't have made it through quarantine without Discord. I've a server with my high school friends and since Discord lowers the barrier to join a voice call so much it's super chill to just hop in a channel when doing homework or playing a game or whatever else, and anyone else who's free can join.

I really wish there were competition, but there's nothing AFAIK that can replicate this particular experience except for Teamspeak, which has other problems.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#78
post #70

So what is Discord's path to profitability? They tried selling video games and closed the store not too long after launching it. Nitro/Server Boosts definitely don't come close to the cost of operation.

Advertisements I guess? I still cannot believe how fast they captured game chat market, even with lots of other competitors.

Honestly I also would like to enter to this market but breaking the market share of discord will be very hard indeed.

Re: Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft

#79
post #70

So what is Discord's path to profitability? They tried selling video games and closed the store not too long after launching it. Nitro/Server Boosts definitely don't come close to the cost of operation.

How do you know that? Why would it be expensive to run a glorified irc server network?
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