CrimsonTRPSep 16, 2024

(1/4) It's not often that I feel like I have something on my mind that I need to share, so... incoming rant.

A few months ago, I posted about how I was checking out other chat platforms that aren't Discord. One of those is Guilded. Strangely enough, it's become an everyday app that I use now.

This is gonna be a bit longwinded, and probably in multiple posts, so... TL;DR at the bottom, I guess.

Guilded is better than Discord in almost every way.

Guilded has 500 MB upload limit on files, Discord has 10 MB for free users. Guilded has animated PFPs, HD screensharing, no upload limit on emoji and you can use them anywhere. Discord has all of these things too, but you don't have to pay for them on Guilded.

It also has a built-in planner, which has helped me a LOT, built-in simple bot support for your servers, and way more organizational options for setting up servers.

Guilded seems snappy and responsive, whereas it takes a while for Discord to load which windows I can share. (1/4)

Show threadCrimsonTRPSep 16, 2024

(2/4)...Cons for using Guilded: You need a Roblox account, and the client can be kinda glitchy sometimes. They also make you set up a server during account creation, which I feel is entirely unnecessary. You can delete it afterwards if you don't want a server.

Recently, a YouTube Channel, No Text To Speech, went into detail about how Discord is ramping up to get on the stock market, and some of the ways they're trying to get there. Basically it goes into detail about how things like: The recent decision to take the 25 MB upload limit for free users and bumping it down to 10 is just one of the many ways they are trying to make Discord feel unusable without Nitro.

I've been paying for Discord Nitro Classic since 2021; unfortunately they've taken the option for Nitro Classic away, and the only reason I still was able to do so was because I was basically grandfathered in, but even still, Nitro Basic gives me most of the same features that Nitro Classic did. (2/4)

Show threadCrimsonTRPSep 16, 2024

(3/4)...In the wake of everything, I decided to cancel Discord Nitro. Right now, I don't feel like they should have my money because they are purposefully making their product worse, and there is a better service out there. I was on my phone at the time, so I opened the Discord app, went to the Nitro page, where it blatantly tells me that I CANNOT CANCEL THROUGH THE APP, that I must use a desktop computer.

Now this infuriates me. I have a desktop computer, that's not the issue. In the world we live in today, many people I interact with on a daily basis do not have home computers because their phone has replaced that for them, or a tablet, like an iPad or something similar. To me, this just SCREAMS dark pattern, and it made me want to end my subscription all the more.

I'm still going to be using Discord, because let's be real: that's where most people are. My goal with this post is to just bring to attention that something else is out there and... it's actually better. (3/4)

Show threadCrimsonTRP

(4/4) Whether or not that alternative ends up being Guilded in the long run, I'm not delusional enough to think that that will be it. In fact I dare say it will probably die soon without much love, and the recent poor decision that requires you to have Roblox account. Ultimately, I don't think that's a big deal, it's just an account, but it very clearly made a lot of their former users angry. It is what it is.

So, at least for the time being, that's where I'm most active, and I'll check my Discord occasionally, but I don't live there like I did before.

TL;DR: Discord is intentionally worsening their product, Guilded exists and I think it's better.

Here's the No Text To Speech video I was referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXaEk72Hyvo

If you read all of the posts, thank you for taking your time to read a nerd rant lol (4/4)

EDIT: Updating the link because the one I oringally linked wasn't the video I thought it was.

Discord Just Nerfed Uploads... (and added a New Badge)

YouTube
Sep 16, 2024 at 12:26amWeb
Show threadTarbuck Transom 🌹Sep 16, 2024

@CrimsonTRP "Requires a Roblox account" So they're evil, got it. No service that's privately owned will ever not follow the same route as Discord, especially one willing to do business with Roblox. Matrix is a discord-like that's a protocol like email, like the fediverse, and the only way to insulate against corruption is to have it be an open protocol. Even if it isn't as feature-complete as you want, it's the only way to break the pattern.

The app I use is Element. FluffyChat is nice too.

Show threadCrimsonTRPSep 16, 2024

@TarbuckTransom A few months ago, I tried out a few platforms, Element/Matrix was one of them. It's... alright, I suppose, but it doesn't give me everything I need, unfortunately. It is something I keep around, however.

I'm not willing to write off Guilded because 'Roblox bad', if I went by that mentality, I wouldn't use ANY service because there's always evil somewhere.
Edit 2: took out first edit cuz I wasn't sure it fit the conversation 
Edit 3: Adding this in; I just want to point out that I am complaining about Discord because I am saddened by the direction it's currently heading, but I cannot make the judgement call that they are 'more evil' or 'less evil.'

Show threadTarbuck Transom 🌹Sep 16, 2024
@CrimsonTRP I could probably make up an amount of evil where you'd clearly and without hesitation draw the line, but that's not really the point. You can tell when things start in one place and get worse, that's your whole point about discord. It's pragmatic to choose a platform that's insulated against that happening, right?
Show threadCrimsonTRPSep 18, 2024

@TarbuckTransom Not... exactly, no. The point was that Discord as a platform is just getting more and more unpleasant to use by the day, and I found a service that isn't trying to advertise Nitro to me every five seconds or inconvenience me because I don't pay a fee.

I haven't had a chance to check out the vid yet but I probably will after stream tonight.

I have different issues with the recommended Matrix/Element. Sure I can guarantee that none of that stuff is there, but it doesn't really offer the services I need, either.

Show threadCrimsonTRPSep 16, 2024

@TarbuckTransom Please forgive me, I am incredibly out of the loop and know nothing about Roblox at all other than the game doesn't look all that great and appeals more to a younger audience.

In your opinion, what makes them seem overly negative?

Show threadTarbuck Transom 🌹Sep 16, 2024
@CrimsonTRP https://youtu.be/8kcoo119W_A This checkpoint video explains at 4:33 just one of the things they do. Their system for amateur gamedev (uploading your own worlds) is similarly exploitative. I'm not a "won't someone think of the children" type but they specifically target a vulnerable class of people for value extraction and that's despicable.
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Show threadCrimsonTRPSep 19, 2024

@TarbuckTransom Admittedly it's not a good look, I do agree.

That being said, I'm not sure how it's different to many other game companies, and the Guilded service itself doesn't require any of these things (at least not yet. Discord can change, they could too if they got big enough.)