It is often the fans who create the most useful tools, even when the developers try equally hard. It is simply a reality that fans will have a better idea of what things they need after hundreds or even thousands of hours of engagement. As it turns out, one of the lead designers of Discord, a popular messaging application, was inspired by Final Fantasy 11. While MMORPGs frequently have text and even voice chat built-in to the game, it is all too common for folks to want something better than what is offered. This may involve better tools for organization or simply more feature-rich applications. Let’s look at how Discord came to be.
Messaging for Gamers
As its controller-shaped logo might indicate, Discord was designed with video gaming in mind. Accounts for the service link to various gaming platforms to let friends and server-mates know which games you’re currently playing. The service has become so popular that it has native applications for both Xbox and PlayStation. The application allows for both direct messaging and the creation of servers, which can be subdivided into various channels. With both text and voice chat available, it became the prime gathering place for all kinds of communities. These days, a large variety of groups make their home there.
A Love of the Game
In an interview with Famitsu, thankfully translated by Siliconera, co-creator of Discord Stanislav Vishnevskiy revealed that he had the first inklings of the platform while playing Final Fantasy 11. As the first MMORPG for Square-Enix’s flagship franchise, it attracted a large player base who needed to communicate to organize for tough encounters. Since the game doesn’t feature built-in voice chat, it is clear that Vishnevskiy heavily desired this aspect of Discord and that it served as his initial inspiration. After meeting co-founder Jason Citron, the two worked together to build the application from the ground up. Nowadays he spends time in Final Fantasy 14, the second MMORPG of the series.
Discord’s Value
As stated before, it is not for a lack of in-game text communication that Discord is so popular. Instead, the feature set of the application simply dwarfs what is available inside the game. As communication within the service is not locked into the game, players don’t lose contact with each other out of the game. Planning done in the server transfers over as gameplay starts, with the service having overlays for use in-game. Games like Final Fantasy 11 are also extremely visually busy, with the chat box often used for far more than just player messages. To have a clean location for communication with your friends, Discord is simply superior.
Final Thoughts
We should all be so lucky that the love of the game brought us Discord. While many services are targeted at specific user bases, nothing quite measures up to someone creating the tool they need for themselves. As Vishnevskiy spent the last ten years playing Final Fantasy 11, he learned exactly what sort of thing players needed to improve upon the in-game communication tools. This has brought us the Discord we have today, which unifies gamers everywhere. Should the service ever fall, massive troves of information collected by these communities would be lost. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like the platform is going anywhere anytime soon.
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