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Discord

Discord is a proprietary instant messaging platform which was developed by “Discord, Inc.” that released to the public on May 13, 2015.1) They're managed by a private company that currently relies on funding rounds, but recently floated the idea of going public.2)

Brief history

One of my earliest messages on Discord.

In the beginning, Discord was introduced as a 'gamer-oriented' platform to Reddit,3)4) at a time when its users were growing unsatisfied with Skype's direction under Microsoft,5) and their momentum seriously picked up once video calls and streaming were rolled out to everyone in 2017.6) By 2020, they started dropping the 'app' from their name7)8) and started phasing out the 'gaming' label during the COVID-19 pandemic.9)

Features

Differences with Nitro

“Nitro is completely optional with features that don't take away from the core of Discord.”
– Discord10)

The platform has a subscription service, but conveys the differences in tiers in a very haphazard manner,11)12) which is why I made the chart below, plus they stole a few bucks from me after pulling a fast one.13) In 2022, the 'Nitro Classic' plan would be phased out14)15) for a cheaper and inferior 'Nitro Basic' plan, but 'Nitro Classic' subscribers can keep their plan as long as they don't cancel16) or have the link.

Base Nitro
Basic 		Nitro
Classic 		Nitro
Pricing Monthly Free $2.99/mo $4.99/mo $9.99/mo
Yearly $29.99/yr
($2.50/mo) 		$49.99/yr
($4.17/mo) 		$99.99/yr
($8.33/mo)
Limits Characters 2000 2000 2000 4000
Upload 10 MB17) 50 MB 50 MB 500 MB
Guilds(Servers)18) 100 100 100 200
Streaming
resolution19) 		• 720p @ 30 FPS • 720p @ 30 FPS • 720p @ 60 FPS
• 1080p @ 30 FPS 		• Source @ 60 FPS
Super Reactions None Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Features
Set animated avatars ❌ ❌20) ✔️ ✔️
Set guild(server)-specific avatars ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔️
Use global emotes ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Use global stickers ❌ ✔️ ❔ ✔️
Two guild(server) boosts ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔️

Social party games

During the Among Us trend in 2020, we saw Discord announce 'social party games'21) very prematurely22)23) since it wasn't rolled out to the public until October 18, 2022.24) Once they released what was now called 'activities', the activities could only be initiated by Nitro subscribers at first,25) but this restriction was eventually lifted during the social platform's month-long 8th anniversary event around June 15, 2023.26)

Notes

  • The server owner, or administrators, can disable the activity feed in server settings.
  • Discord will ask you to verify your account with a phone number, if they flag it as suspicious.27)28)29)
  • Ban evasion is reportable, per guidelines. It's also a pain to evade the measures.
  • In 2018, an arbitration clause was added,30)31) which will impede your ability to file a class-action lawsuit against them.32) You can opt-out by emailing arbitration-opt-out@discord.com, but only within the first 30 days of your account's creation or after the terms went into effect.33)
  • During National Hispanic Heritage Month, the company had used Latinx in 202134) and 2022.35)
  • I don't think you need me to tell you that “MEE6 sucks”, but there's a lot of other bots.

See also

1)
"One year after its launch, Discord is the best VoIP service available" (May 13, 2016). PCGamer.
2)
"Discord is discussing an IPO" (March 7, 2025). TechCrunch.
3)
"Jason Citron lands $20m for Discord" (January 26, 2016). GamesIndustry.
4)
"Inside Discord, the Chat App That's Changing How Gamers Communicate" (June 21, 2017). Glixel.
5)
"Discord steals gamers from Skype with video chat and screensharing" (August 10, 2017). TechCrunch.
6)
"Discord makes video chat and screen sharing available to all" (October 6, 2017). Engadget.
7)
"we're no longer @discordapp, we are now @discord on twitter dot com update your phonebooks" (April 6, 2020). Twitter.
8)
"Discordapp.com is now Discord.com" (May 5, 2020). Discord.
9)
"Discord raises $100 million and plans to move beyond gaming" (June 30, 2020). The Verge.
10)
"Nitro is completely optional with features that don't take away from the core of Discord." (January 26, 2017). Twitter.
11)
"Nitro Benefits and Features". Discord.
12)
"Discord Nitro Classic & Nitro". Discord.
13)
If you choose the 'Nitro Basic' plan, pay close attention because they will try to switch you to the 'Nitro' plan if you're not paying close attention during the transaction.
14)
"Unleash more fun with our new Nitro Basic plan. Get access to some of the most loved features like custom emoji and bigger file uploads for a lower price. More info: http://dis.gd/new-nitro-basic" (October 20, 2022). Twitter.
15) , 16)
"Introducing Discord Nitro Basic" (October 17, 2022). Twitter.
17)
Historically, the default upload limit was 8MB, which was raised to 25MB in April 14, 2023, but then they discretely scaled it back to 10MB around September 4, 2024 which pissed a lot of people off.
18)
Discord has popularized using 'server' for what they call 'guild' in their own API, giving the false idea that people own it when it's really a 'container', 'group', or 'guild' on a proprietary server.
19)
The platform allows you to mix-and-match the streaming resolution and frame rate, giving you the options of '720p', '1080p', or 'Source' resolution at '15 FPS', '30 FPS', or '60 FPS'.
20)
"Animated Avatars being removed from Nitro Basic on Dec 12, 2022" (November 4, 2022). Reddit /r/discordapp.
21)
"Social Party Games on Discord!" (November 13, 2020). Reddit /r/discordapp.
22) , 23)
"Social Party Games Update - Play Chess on Discord!" (July 22, 2021). Reddit /r/discordapp.
24)
"New Feature Launch: Activities Play games and watch YouTube with your friends right in the comfort of your own server (and without having to coordinate a bunch of links). Learn more on the blog: http://dis.gd/activities" (October 18, 2022). Twitter.
25)
"Discord Activities: Play Games and Watch Together" (October 17, 2022). Discord.
26)
"Discord ‘Activities’ for collaborative gaming are now free for everyone" (June 16, 2023). The Verge.
27)
"Hey. I work at Discord - and actually, this system is a thing I work on - and code my team wrote caused your account to be locked." (August 25, 2019). YCombinator.
28)
"PSA: Discord is deactivating accounts without phone numbers now" (October 19, 2019). Reddit /r/privacy.
29)
"Is it possible to use a VPN and NOT have to give Discord my phone number?" (October 3, 2019). Reddit /r/discordapp.
30)
"Terms of Service Feedback and Changes" (October 19, 2018). Discord.
31)
"discord_arbitration_tos.md" (October 17, 2018). GitHub.
32)
"Discord's TOS update forbids lawsuits against it, but you can opt out" (October 19, 2018). PC Gamer.
33)
If you made your Discord account before the arbitration clause went into effect on October 16, 2018, then your window to opt-out was between October 16, 2018 to November 15, 2018.
34)
"This year we’re honoring Latinx Heritage Month by sharing stories from our employees + donating a total of $30,000 to United We Dream, League of United Latin American Citizens, and Oasis Legal Services. Join the celebration: https://dis.gd/latinx2021" (October 8, 2021). Twitter.
35)
"Here at Discord, the theme of this year's Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month is Mejor unidos: Better Together. Our team members reflect on the ways community can uplift and inspire: http://dis.gd/hispanic-latinx-heritage-2022" (September 15, 2022). Twitter.
discord.txt · Last modified: 2025-03-09 07:01:56 by namelessrumia