4 ms·

And yet I'm convinced Discord chose this naming because it implies independence. It sounds a lot cooler to say "We got our own server" than "We started our own

by sho_hn 7y ago

And yet I'm convinced Discord chose this naming because it implies independence. It sounds a lot cooler to say "We got our own server" than "We started our own guild".

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
Eh, I think they chose it because of the history of Minecraft, CS:GO, WOW, etc servers. Remember that Discord is intended for gaming.
tylerl 7y ago
Discord replaced ventrillo and teamspeak for gaming communities. For those you actually ran a "server". Whether or not the company started out calling these accounts "servers" initially, that customer base sure did. It was the terminology customers were used to. They neither knew nor cared what the technical aspects were of having a separate server; it just what you called that thing that the team used to communicate.
- sho_hn 7y ago
  > For those you actually ran a "server". Exactly - something difficult to do that not everyone could just do (or rent from a service, or have permanently running). Which is cool. I'm saying this is an important element to Discord's early success precisely because it understood the gamer audience it was engaging, how it communicated and thought and the tools they were using. Discord allowed people who previously couldn't to "have a server". Which lead to a period of everyone "making" one, and then better ones survived. Not the only factor, but it contributed. I clearly remember how proud people were of their "servers". I'm sure they knowingly made use of this fact and picked a term that implied more than it does in technical reality because it had social currency. If you play to an audience, understanding what it values and what generates status within it helps a lot.
passthejoe 7y ago
I never used Discord, and I assumed that a "server" meant a server. Now I'm definitely not interested.

4 ms·

And yet I'm convinced Discord chose this naming because it implies independence. It sounds a lot cooler to say "We got our own server" than "We started our own

by sho_hn 7y ago

And yet I'm convinced Discord chose this naming because it implies independence. It sounds a lot cooler to say "We got our own server" than "We started our own guild".

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
Eh, I think they chose it because of the history of Minecraft, CS:GO, WOW, etc servers. Remember that Discord is intended for gaming.
tylerl 7y ago
Discord replaced ventrillo and teamspeak for gaming communities. For those you actually ran a "server". Whether or not the company started out calling these accounts "servers" initially, that customer base sure did. It was the terminology customers were used to. They neither knew nor cared what the technical aspects were of having a separate server; it just what you called that thing that the team used to communicate.
- sho_hn 7y ago
  > For those you actually ran a "server". Exactly - something difficult to do that not everyone could just do (or rent from a service, or have permanently running). Which is cool. I'm saying this is an important element to Discord's early success precisely because it understood the gamer audience it was engaging, how it communicated and thought and the tools they were using. Discord allowed people who previously couldn't to "have a server". Which lead to a period of everyone "making" one, and then better ones survived. Not the only factor, but it contributed. I clearly remember how proud people were of their "servers". I'm sure they knowingly made use of this fact and picked a term that implied more than it does in technical reality because it had social currency. If you play to an audience, understanding what it values and what generates status within it helps a lot.
passthejoe 7y ago
I never used Discord, and I assumed that a "server" meant a server. Now I'm definitely not interested.