The software is not without flaws. It's design is monolithic, causing any error to crash the entire system. Plugins increase the fatal error surface, attack surface and functionality.

The greatest problem with plugins is that I'm never sure how they deal with my anonymity.

I think Retroshare could well be replaced by something alike Tor, but not Tor, then to have some quantity of programs connect to it to do interesting things. That makes it more confusing that it exists, because Tor does already too.

So, why use Retroshare instead of a Tor hidden service with standard chat relay? Because Tor is a target and RetroShare is not. And because Retroshare actually does a lot more than relay chat.

I do not have a solid recommendation. I use it for curiosity reasons now. Although occasionally stimulating in it's novelty I find it unfit technically and practically for critical work. It still seems to be the best tool for the job, not unlike the rock-and-stick tools were the best for cutting lumber in days long past.