Chat UI is still bad

Hi. About a couple of weeks ago I complained about this- I haven't gotten used to it whatsoever, as others have said. But, obviously Discord doesn't care to check feedback, so I've been using the app less and less- only using it to chat with friends and occasionally moderate a server I'm in. This isn't good for a company that claims they have the best accessibility and ability to listen to their community, and I'll explain all of the things that bother me.

The divider lines.
Oh my god the divider lines, I didn't know how important they were until they were removed, and them not being added back as at least a toggle-able feature seriously ticks me off. It's quite a bit harder to read everything now.

The new line.
I don't like this either. I preferred when it wasn't as in your face as before.

Mouse-over highlight/Emote list??
What is this? When did we need this? I don't like it, maybe the highlighter can stay for those who need it, as a toggle preferably, but what the hell is with the emote display? The 3 dot thing before the update was much better and less in the way.

How text is shown.
I constantly feel like I'm in a weird mix of Cozy and Compact display, it's super annoying and I hate how the bottom of the chat box makes it seem like I'm missing something from somebody's post. The smallest of changes to how the text appears makes it so much harder to tolerate.

Wtf Discord??
What kind of app developers are you? You used to have it good, then you became Skype and tried to add as much as possible, now everything feels cramped and uncomfortable. This is the thing that bothers me the most about the app, and it's not the UI screw up, it's how you guys at the top of the tower are dealing with it. You're ignoring everything we say, every attempt to fix this with some feedback.

Discord is a lost cause if they keep this sort of attitude up, if they refuse to listen to the community when something is wrong, if they continue to make updates that further mess up the application, people will stop using it fully. Some have already been canceling their subscriptions, or leaving fully- especially people with reading disabilities (or general disability that can mess with how they perceive things, like those on the autism spectrum- I'm one of those people)

Conclusion?
I don't know a better, reliable alternative to Discord and would like somebody to help me out there. I want to be prepared to run and watch this app burn to the ground if they do end up continuing down this route. Yeah, I might be a bit dramatic, but there's a difference between having to adapt to a change you aren't used to and having to tolerate a change that's bad for you.

Wolfgalaxy

February 14, 2020 20:59

The lack of ANY fixes is VERY annoying and disheartening. They need to stop ignoring us.

February 15, 2020 06:53

your comparison to skype is apt, never thought of it that way before but its p accurate

Sethosaur

February 15, 2020 10:21
Edited

They've most likely sold out and are now appealing to investors. I've given up.
alas, hitting enter too soon.

I've never ONCE seen anyone ask for or talk about or use a lot of the new features I see. Only the ones I did use that are now broken in favor of FLASH, PIZZAZ, WOW THE INVESTORS.

They're trying to be an everything app and it isn't working. I can see Discord easily being taken over by a 'like' app while they keep going with more social media bulltype whistles. They can't even keep their p2p protocols up to spec and they're adding in the umpth new streaming feature and the next new shiny button to react to some post somewhere because you saw a bright notification.

Even their website spells sold out.

Sylvandyr

February 15, 2020 19:04
Edited

The lack of padding at the bottom of the chat box for Cozy display may seem to the devs like a small thing, but I'm actually starting to get a headache and feel like I'm falling when I look at the messages. My brain expects some spacing to be there, and it's not there anymore, and it is very disorienting. If there was a setting to increase the padding at the bottom, I would use it. (There are settings to change font size and space between each message, I feel like a new option to set the padding at the bottom of the chat box would fit well.)

I have also completely disabled my ability to use emoji reactions (even though I like using reactions occasionally) just to get the horribly distracting bar out of my face. The little gray ellipsis and "add emoji" icon are fine, the colorful "top 3 emoji" icons feel like they're bleeding into the text and they catch my eye and make it hard for me to focus on the text. I really don't need the top 3 icons.

I agree that the "New" bar is quite distracting. I preferred the old one. I'm less up in arms about this than the padding and emoji bar issue though.

Contrary to what some random UI decision-makers on their staff might think, these changes are not good for me. It's not just because they're "unfamiliar" and I'm not used to them, it's because they're bad. On a fundamental level.

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