WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.680 You were the chosen one! 00:00:04.680 --> 00:00:12.720 It was said that you would unite gamers all under one platform, not divide them, bring 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:18.000 all services together under this one roof. Give me your face ID! 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:22.320 Please! Wait, what am I saying? 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:26.960 There was a world before Discord, and with Discord announcing that it will be demanding 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:32.240 government photo ID from a significant number of users as a way to verify their age, whether 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:37.440 that's today or in the future, you can see that by this search trend, people are wanting 00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:41.840 to leave. They just don't know where to go, which is why we are going to be breaking down the 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:47.640 best Discord features into four different categories and identifying three solutions 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:52.940 that could be a replacement for you, depending on how you use Discord with some honorable 00:00:52.940 --> 00:00:59.480 mentions along the way. At the end, we will see if any stand out across the board as the best all-in-one replacement, 00:00:59.480 --> 00:01:04.200 because, spoiler alert, you might have to compromise on a feature or two in the name 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:10.640 of retaining your privacy. But you know what I'll never compromise on are these segues to our sponsor. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:14.460 The four categories that we have decided to focus on today were what we deemed were Discord's 00:01:14.460 --> 00:01:17.800 most important offerings for most people. 00:01:17.800 --> 00:01:21.360 That's voice calling, text channels, community, and usability. 00:01:21.360 --> 00:01:26.480 Obviously, there are other important features like forums and screen sharing, customization, 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.640 and hey, maybe even the shop, if that's your bag. 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:34.480 But these four stripped Discord down to its roots and highlight why it ended up dominating 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:40.200 the market in the first place. So let's start with probably the most important one on this list, voice calling. 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.400 Whether it's with your close friends or strangers in a community server, our three programs 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:48.960 that we're going to highlight need to prioritize clear communication first with minimal drops 00:01:48.960 --> 00:01:56.160 or stutters. Steam Chat is a real contender here, featuring high enough bit rate for a casual conversation, 00:01:56.160 --> 00:02:01.120 group voice calls, and even channels for these calls if you want to set up separate chats 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:07.160 for multiple teams. The biggest complaint among Steam Chat users is that it has a bit of a higher latency than 00:02:07.160 --> 00:02:14.400 Discord, meaning while your calls are basically in real time, there is a bit more of a delay, 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:20.080 which can be awkward. Like that. For the best audio quality, you guys should check out Mumble. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.280 It's kind of an OG, and its UI also kind of shows it. 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:27.640 Like Discord, you can join multiple friend servers if you want to hop between different 00:02:27.640 --> 00:02:31.920 friend groups, and it even features in-game overlays to see who is chatting. 00:02:31.920 --> 00:02:37.280 Unlike Discord, though, Mumble has positional audio, so if you want to hear where your friends 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:40.320 are in-game, the catch? 00:02:40.320 --> 00:02:44.040 Hopefully one of your friends likes being a server admin, because while there are guides 00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:47.120 to help, the setup process requires you to get your hands dirty. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.300 Also, there's no text. Only voice. Not even any anemojis. 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:55.960 Teamspeak can also require users to get their hands dirty, but it is a lot easier than Mumble, 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:59.920 and is probably the closest looking to Discord out of these three. 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:05.120 But don't think that means it'll be an easy adjustment as it behaves completely different. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:10.800 Being a voice chatting focused software, you have to, for example, be in a voice call in 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:16.740 order to type text into the chat. Not to mention it's the first on a list where you might need to bust out your credit card. 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:21.020 If you like being a server admin, you'll probably end up needing to buy a license before 00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:29.140 you can host more than 31 friends. And speaking of friends, we need to talk about one of Discord's biggest advantages. 00:03:29.140 --> 00:03:34.780 And that's community. While Discord is a bit confusing to start out for the first timers, there is no denying 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:38.980 that having thousands of different servers and communities to easily join and be a part 00:03:38.980 --> 00:03:44.900 of is incredible. Whether it's a Linux community to help you troubleshoot, or even a financial advice group 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:50.020 to help you plan your retirement, there is probably a Discord server for just about anyone 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:55.180 these days. As for our alternatives to the community aspect, Teamspeak gets another mention here. 00:03:55.180 --> 00:03:59.740 If you're wanting to game with like-minded individuals and probably go hard on the role-play 00:03:59.740 --> 00:04:07.980 in ARMA, Teamspeak is perfect for that. Sure, it lacks persistent text chats or the forums like Discord has, but if I'm being 00:04:07.980 --> 00:04:15.340 honest, Discord forums suck. They often result in three people answering the same handful of questions because of how 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:18.740 terrible they are to navigate, but let's get back on track. 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:23.980 At the moment, Teamspeak appears to have the greatest amount of people dedicated to their 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:27.660 communities. But other than Teamspeak, that's it. 00:04:27.660 --> 00:04:34.460 In order for an application to have a community-focused side, there needs to be community. 00:04:34.460 --> 00:04:39.500 And while there are multiple applications that could be great community hubs or seem 00:04:39.500 --> 00:04:45.140 to have potential like Stoat, Matrix and Circle, just to name a few, until they see mass adoption 00:04:45.140 --> 00:04:51.140 from users, they will never really have the same community momentum Discord has captured. 00:04:51.140 --> 00:04:54.900 But if you are looking for something that is focusing on text channels and the ability 00:04:54.900 --> 00:04:59.540 to send messages, organize chats and send memes with your small community or friend 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:03.060 group, those options I just mentioned are incredible for that. 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:07.700 Matrix is one that can be self-hosted, is open source, features end-to-end encryption 00:05:07.700 --> 00:05:14.700 and allows you to choose from a variety of client-side interfaces because Matrix is actually 00:05:14.700 --> 00:05:21.900 just the back end of this messaging service. To connect to someone's host server, you will need a separate app like Element, Fluffy Chat 00:05:21.900 --> 00:05:25.820 or Cine, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. 00:05:25.820 --> 00:05:31.340 But you can mingle with users from anyone since they all run on Matrix. 00:05:31.340 --> 00:05:35.020 Matrix is the one that's recommended most often though and I'm gonna have more on that 00:05:35.020 --> 00:05:40.020 a little bit later. Stoat, formerly known as Revolt, seems to have a lot of potential. 00:05:40.020 --> 00:05:44.980 It is in its very early stages but features community-run servers and of course private 00:05:44.980 --> 00:05:50.460 DMs and group chats which they boast very proudly are secure and confidential. 00:05:50.460 --> 00:05:54.500 There are some people online expressing doubt and concern for Stoat, whether it's because 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:59.460 of the name change or just the small user base, but I think it's a program that is 00:05:59.460 --> 00:06:03.020 worth trying just to see if it fits your friend group's needs. 00:06:03.020 --> 00:06:09.340 Our final text-focused application is Slack, which, what, uh, corporate software, right? 00:06:09.340 --> 00:06:13.420 But hey, if you're willing to live with some of the trade-offs that come with using the 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:18.020 free tier, you can have a great organized chat experience with threaded conversations 00:06:18.020 --> 00:06:25.100 as well as many free users as you want. And besides, if you really need more than 90 days' worth of message history or larger 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:30.420 group calls and more app integrations, their monthly plan is cheaper than what Discord 00:06:30.420 --> 00:06:37.300 Nitro costs, which is kind of funny, right? Because you know that if you tried to convince your Nitro using friends to pay for Slack 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:41.020 that they would look at you like you're crazy while their profile badge does a little spin 00:06:41.020 --> 00:06:44.140 in the background. Yeah, it's kind of a touchy subject. 00:06:44.140 --> 00:06:47.740 Which I'm gonna go on a small tangent before I get to our final category. 00:06:47.740 --> 00:06:51.740 I think going a paid route is a totally valid option. 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:55.780 If you or anyone in your friend group really doesn't want to be the server admin worrying 00:06:55.780 --> 00:07:00.620 about self-hosting or maybe even accidentally giving out your IP because of the peer-to-peer 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:05.740 nature of some of these applications, I think it could be worth paying money to a service 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:12.460 if everyone in your group can get behind it. What I would encourage, though, is if you and your friends are upset at Discord and the 00:07:12.460 --> 00:07:17.020 whole age verification change, you should cancel any paid services you are using with 00:07:17.020 --> 00:07:24.620 them, whether that's Nitro or server boosts. The only chance that we have at these big companies realizing that what they did doesn't 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:29.940 really sit well with us, the users, we need to hit them where it hurts, man, in their 00:07:29.940 --> 00:07:34.060 earnings. Back onto our final category, though, I don't even think I would put Discord in the top 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:37.180 three here. That's ease of use or usability. 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:41.340 Sure, most of you are probably used to it by now, but when it was first introduced, 00:07:41.340 --> 00:07:46.500 I remember seeing a ton of guides online about how to navigate the interface. 00:07:46.580 --> 00:07:51.500 Heck, today I even get confused when I can't find my DMs before I remember I have to click 00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:57.620 on the little Discord logo in the top left, saying that if you must have the exact same 00:07:57.620 --> 00:08:02.500 interface as Discord because you're used to it, Fluxer, which is about two months old, 00:08:02.500 --> 00:08:08.860 is basically a Discord clone. It's currently in beta but is open source and even allows people to self-host their 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:14.060 servers on their own hardware, which unlocks more features than the non-self-hosted free 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:18.580 tier servers. A big downside is no mobile support yet. 00:08:18.580 --> 00:08:23.180 Their website does show a screenshot of what appears to be a mobile app, so fingers crossed 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:29.140 on that one. Matrix pops up here again, but your experience will vary depending on what client interface 00:08:29.140 --> 00:08:33.540 you're using. For Element, it's pretty straightforward and most people will probably not have too 00:08:33.540 --> 00:08:40.340 much difficulty getting it to work. And there's even Comet, which looks a lot like Discord if you are wanting that again. 00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:44.500 This really does highlight the strengths of something like Matrix, allowing people to 00:08:44.500 --> 00:08:49.300 have different experiences based on preferences, but as someone who is currently going through 00:08:49.300 --> 00:08:54.380 the Linux challenge right now, sometimes having 30 different ways to do something can introduce 00:08:54.380 --> 00:08:59.540 choice paralysis and ends up doing more harm than good, whether it's guides looking different 00:08:59.540 --> 00:09:04.860 because you're using a different client app. The final choice for ease of use is Steam Chat. 00:09:04.860 --> 00:09:10.260 Hey, it's back again, which at first glance is confusing, but when you stop thinking of 00:09:10.260 --> 00:09:15.620 it as a Discord replacement and more of a standard messaging app, it becomes second 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:21.000 nature. Having tabs for different group chats or individual messages is convenient and fast. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:26.260 And when you fully utilize the Steam integration, because you know, it's Steam, being able to 00:09:26.260 --> 00:09:30.420 invite and join people's games with ease is a huge plus. 00:09:30.420 --> 00:09:35.300 With all of that in mind, if we compare all of the applications that we looked at today, 00:09:35.300 --> 00:09:40.180 I personally think that the best all-in-one replacement is probably Steam Chat. 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:45.860 Great chatting experience, integrated well into gaming with the biggest downside being 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:51.420 the lack of a massive community outreach or a hub, but all of these apps struggle with 00:09:51.420 --> 00:09:56.180 that because once again, if people aren't on these applications, it makes it really 00:09:56.180 --> 00:10:02.220 difficult to mingle. Now, I am very aware that we probably missed an almost infinite amount of other communication 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:06.460 apps, so please let us know down below what some of your favorites are, and maybe if there's 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:09.460 enough, we can compile them all into a part two. 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:16.380 There is some good news on the Discord side. Discord did cut ties with Persona, which was the controversial service that was going to 00:10:16.380 --> 00:10:21.620 be used for this face ID verification system, as well as delaying the initial rollout date 00:10:21.620 --> 00:10:27.500 for this. So, public pressure does work. Just remember that for when the next time they try something like this. 00:10:27.500 --> 00:10:31.820 Just like I will always try to do a better and better segue to our sponsor. 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:35.660 If you guys enjoyed this video, go check out the time that we compared other VR headsets 00:10:35.660 --> 00:10:42.220 to the unreleased Steam frame. It was kind of a similar vibe where we looked at the pros and cons of each of the headsets 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:46.060 on the market and compared them to what the frame has to compete with.