In what ways does it look that way, if you recall?
I hear this semi-often, but I don't really get it. The base UI of Discord is pretty normal / looks just like every other chat app out there. Is it the ads for nitro and stuff like that were the issue?
I think the base UI of Discord is fine, but having used it for almost a decade at this point, the UI has gotten worse. Besides the ads you've mentioned, they've added a lot more clutter (random icons, rarely used features, hidden menus, etc.). When I look at screenshots from 2019, I weep.
There's a bit of clutter for sure, but I don't find it too objectionable. As the sibling comment mentioned, the super reacts are really annoying, and so are the ads, but it's overall alright.
Most of the clutter I would complain about comes more down to Discord making it really easy to bloat a server (and a cultural expectation to do so).
I’m in more than one Discord that has more channels than routine users. Like there are 4 people that use it on at least a weekly basis but there’s a meme channel, a pet photos channel, a news channel, yada yada. Managing notifications is a lost cause because the server owner redecorates the server every other week into new channels and what not.
Profiles have gotten weirdly wild, to sell Nitro stuff. Statuses, emojis for the status, now flairs from a server, profile pictures, etc.
Constant notifications for junk. Nitro is on sale, some game I don’t play has a quest, etc.
It’s fine, but it feels like Discord wants to be more than a carrier for voice and chat and I really just want them to do that. I don’t need “Facebook with VoIP”
> I’m in more than one Discord that has more channels than routine users.
Likewise, and I find it quite annoying too, but I don't think it's really Discord's fault. They default to one text and one voice channel, after all. The ability to add new channels easily is a good thing, but people do go a bit crazy with it.
> Statuses, emojis for the status, now flairs from a server, profile pictures, etc.
The server flairs are kind of odd, but aren't the rest of those pretty bog- standard features for a messaging app?
I do agree the notifications are annoying, though. At the same time I get it, they do need to make money somehow.
Animated server logos, colorful /gradient and tonally-varied usernames & avatars, the super emoji or whatever they're called, etc all feel like they're pushing more towards Twitch chat than anything else. Which as another commenter remarked, is essentially aligned with their original and biggest target demographic.
> Animated server logos, colorful /gradient and tonally-varied usernames & avatars
Fair, but all of these things are user controlled. If you're using Discord for work or something, presumably you don't have a bright flashing animated server icon and avatar, your server doesn't have gradient roles, etc.
The super emoji are spot on though, those are fun but were really dumb from the get-go, and waste space in the reaction UI.
Discord is honestly not great for work, but there are lots of other tools. I think they should focus on what’s made them successful, which is gamers and communities.
They should realize charging people $100/year per person for Nitro and $500/year for server boosts means that they don’t want to be advertised to and have their data stolen.
