I miss IRC too, but I don't miss the doxxing and DDoS nonsense. I don't have to setup a znc bouncer to connect to Discord. I don't have to take any precautions. It just works. I hate the client though, so I feel you on that. The lack of terminal integration with Discord is painful.
That is mostly solved with ChanServ and NickServ services. Channels can't be taken over with DDoSes because ChanServ protects them and attackers can't get your real IP because NickServ provides host masking.
People can still get your ip and ddos you on discord. its just a little expensive. theres a forum where you can pay $500 for someone to send an EDR to Discord from a police email. Also there was a file attatchment bug in the wild that leaked your ip as recently as 6 months ago which im not sure was even fixed. A guy I befriended in a hacking community proved it to me.
Its a highly illegal felony, yes. but take into account the value of a human life is low as $226 in some countries. These operators are in foreign countries and dont care.