View Full Version : Voice chat for MP games.
Dark Matter
17-07-2008, 11:56
Would people be interested in Teamspeak or Ventrilo voice chat for MP games?
It's been suggested that it could prove useful for the HC weekends, and I have done a minor amount of research.
If there is a decent amount of interest, I am prepared to rent a server for a 3 month trial to see how it works out.
You can pick multiple answers:
Please choose the Voice chat system and the number of slots you think would be good and comment below.
I've played with both of them, and the soundquality was in general much better on ventrillo.
But if that also means higher pricecard, teamspeak is just fine, and especially if it's only for the weekend.
But definitely interested in voice chat:thumbup:
Cheers
it would be nice in general and lead to greater camaraderie among the SPF. currently during MP games I sometimes feel that to type something takes too long and I don't bother, also out of fear of dying. Forgetting people's characters after 15 minutes and not remembering who you're playing with isn't too great either. Having used Ventrillo for WoW I have a bunch of people that I know by voice only and it made communicating in and out of game easier and much more interesting.
make sure if you do go with Vent that it is a mac-compatible codec.
dune6836
17-07-2008, 12:38
grumpyskeeper and i always talk while we play via yahoo messenger. it does make for a more enjoyable time than having to type everything.
i have dl'd ventrillo a while ago when i noticed a few folk using it but i never actually used it myself.
you have to pay to make a server on ventrillo then? if so why not use yahoo instead? its free and i've never noticed any lag issues with it and diablo running.
also, if you want to try it out you could host vent on your own machine when you play. might slow down the internet a bit but would give you a chance to see how it works out.
does anyone know if you can run ventrillo natively on linux? i know teamspeak is an option
Cwicseolfor
17-07-2008, 14:14
Where's the "No, I wouldn't not be interested in voice chat for MP games" option? :p
moo: WINE? I know you said natively, but I really don't see the difference if it works.
Dark Matter
17-07-2008, 14:47
:D
Cwicseolfor: There's no "No" option as no is irrelevant for the purposes of the poll. I only want to gauge who is interested.
moo-cow: Yes I can host it on my machine BUT my pc is not on 24/7. Additionally, Virgin cable are infamous for their "Traffic Management" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_shaping#ISPs_and_Traffic_Management) and I often see my upload limited to 15kbs between 4pm and midnight (http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html).
If there is going to be a server up, it would be nice if it were on all the time as there are SPFers in all time zones (except mid-Atlantic atm).
dune6836: Sorry, I don't want Yahoo.
I am actually able to provide any platform voice server for free to the SPF/MP community. If there's actually a desire for it, I can have it set up in a few moments, and it won't cost anything.
My FPS group that I belong to (http://75thr.us) has a dedicated server for our game servers (AA, COD4, BF2, and ArmA) and the voice servers take very little resources, so it is totally doable for no further cost :)
Cwicseolfor
17-07-2008, 15:09
Cwicseolfor: There's no "No" option as no is irrelevant for the purposes of the poll. I only want to gauge who is interested.
Haha I realise that, but from a statistical PoV, you're unknowingly skewing your results because people who would normally vote "I don't want voice chat" will instead vote for another option (people don't like not voting), even though their opinion is kind of irrelevent in such a scenario.
Similarly, it's wise to put in an option "I don't know" for the same reason. Contrariwise, when you want to force somebody to have an opinion on something, you can polarise things by giving a binary choice with no 'grey' options - but this is only useful if you think that people are educated on the issue, but simply reticent to commit to a side.
*cough*
Haha I realise that, but from a statistical PoV, you're unknowingly skewing your results because people who would normally vote "I don't want voice chat" will instead vote for another option (people don't like not voting), even though their opinion is kind of irrelevent in such a scenario.
Similarly, it's wise to put in an option "I don't know" for the same reason. Contrariwise, when you want to force somebody to have an opinion on something, you can polarise things by giving a binary choice with no 'grey' options - but this is only useful if you think that people are educated on the issue, but simply reticent to commit to a side.
*cough*
But it doesn't seem like the OP was really interested in hearing from folks who don't want to use one. He's merely seeing if there's enough interest to warrant the cost of one. Since I can provide one at no cost, ANY interest appears to be enough interest, assuming the OP and the SPF community are fine with me providing it.
Cwicseolfor
17-07-2008, 15:21
But it doesn't seem like the OP was really interested in hearing from folks who don't want to use one.
Would people be interested in Teamspeak or Ventrilo voice chat for MP games?
It would seem to me that "no" is a valid answer.
Ah well, whatever. I'm just not sure voice chat is good idea because it requires everyone to have it or the person without it isn't going to hear you scream "Don't zeal that boss, he's multiple shots and lightning enchanted!". That's entirely up to team 2 to decide for themselves, though, which I concede.
It's great of you to offer a voice chat server, BTW.
I vote no btw. :) :p
If you do it though, please upload Leeroy Jenkins-type happenings to YouTube and link please.
Xdeathfire
17-07-2008, 15:47
Vent is preferable to TS from my experience since it is less laggy overall.
I don't think anything over 10 ppl is needed. After all, there is a max of 8 ppl on at any given time so 10 slots should be more than enough
Edit:
I vote no btw. :) :p
If you do it though, please upload Leeroy Jenkins-type happenings to YouTube and link please.
I could picture it right now, there is a huge staircase trap and we barely make it only to have a stray quill rat kill like 2 people. The swearing would be crazy...
I have been using Skype since I was a clan-leader of a DotA clan. It worked perfectly ^^ but when we were more than 5 which is maximum for Skype we used Ventrilo even thou I'm not a big fan of ventrilo =P
I can set up a ventrilo server. I would make it a 50 slot, just so that multiple mp games can use it. I can just make multiple channels and voila.
Darkoooo
18-07-2008, 10:48
What about persons who don't have a microphone? They wouldn't be allowed to join these games? If they would their playing experience would be cut down severely (what's the point of MP games if you can't interact with others?).
I'd be interested in this, only tried TS though :)
Just bought a new headset (http://pics.computerbase.de/1/7/4/5/7/1_m.jpg)last week :thumbsup:
What about persons who don't have a microphone? They wouldn't be allowed to join these games? If they would their playing experience would be cut down severely (what's the point of MP games if you can't interact with others?).
Why? You could still listen and type. :scratchchin:
What about persons who don't have a microphone? They wouldn't be allowed to join these games? If they would their playing experience would be cut down severely (what's the point of MP games if you can't interact with others?).
Well they can type and listen... They're crippled in comparison to the people with mike's, but their experience might be improved in comparison to a game with no voice whatsoever.
I'm a bit queasy about the whole thing, but it might be worth to try it before rejecting it. Just my 0.02 (EUROcents).
--Greebo
EDIT: too slow. By less than 60 seconds :p.
Dark Matter
18-07-2008, 12:51
Feedback:
There was once a time when I gamed without Vent. I enjoyed WoW, but that enjoyment was enriched once I bit the bullet and installed vent. In fact, I was forced to install vent or give up raiding MC. You can't have a priest not 'hear' what the tactics were. For 3 months I never spoke. I had a mike, but I abhor playing with earphones -they are claustrophic, make my head ache and my ears sweat! Additonally, I make David Beckham sound butch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuUrSrIZnMc). People would speak and I would type a response.
One day I spoke! I couldn't help it. :whistling:
All that waffle is just to say that you can join a vent channel and not talk. There is also a robot who will convert your typed words to speech - marvellous if you want to pretend to be Stephen Hawking. However, the benefits are there if you bite the bullet and install it I don't think you will regret it.
Drixx: Thanks for the offer of the Vent server on your site. It's tempting.
Would it need to be passworded? If so, I don't think it's a good idea to publicly post the server and password. Could you set up a 'lobby' for general chat and then, say 4 rooms (max 8 per room - like the game).
I'm basing this on the Vent we used for WoW where we had a gen chat room (lobby), a couple of raid rooms (40+) 3 general questing rooms and an officers room for guild meets etc. Clearly a D2 vent server won't need all that, but 3 or 4 rooms for games would be nice just in case we have a pvp, an HC and a SC game all set up at similar times.
People would also be able to ask advice (or talk ********) in the lobby.
DM
It's a good idea if you can get a server for it, it would also be useful for Baal runs and PvP games, though I doubt I'd use it even if I was still MP'ing a lot, I have quite a colourful vocabulary and it can get old fast:badteeth:.
Yeah, you can definately still listen and type. I've found that voice chat really does enhance my fun gaming with folks. Can carry on all sorts of convo's while doing stuff in game. That's a bucket of win to me :)
I definitely enjoy voice chat while gaming, though I can't always indulge (small children who use my gaming hours as sleeping hours, y'know). I've considered trying to set up something like this in the past, but I just couldn't justify spending money on it. If we can get it set up for free, I'd definitely use it!
I only have experience with Ventrilo, personally, and it worked just fine for me.
For all the haters out there (:wave:): Don't use it if you don't want to. :wink:
ryanhutson
02-09-2008, 20:31
Has this idea taken hold yet? I am currently trying to MP again (last time I did I had dial-up), but would love to have this option. Just curious.
Ryan
Voice chat would be cool I reckon, Ive had Exp with Voice Chat due to CSS and WoW and it is really handy to be able to speak to people and things, for eg doing baal runs you can talk in between them as well :)
Sacred Mercenary
04-09-2008, 20:35
Introduce a vent server and I'll start MPing :thumbup:
Got a pretty nice headset I used to use for GvG on Guild Wars. MP games would be a lot more fun with voices behind the names. Just my 2 cents.
CoRnJuLiOx
17-09-2008, 15:22
Voice chat is a must! Stopping to type in the middle of a fight = death. I remember back in the 6th grade, I used to play Tribes with a friend from school, and we would Voice Chat through AIM. Hell, I'd spend the money for a headset just to be able to do voice while MPing.
Fast Eddie
02-10-2008, 19:51
To resurrect the thread, Cheese On Toast (RL friend) and I use Skype, which can support 24 people online at once for conference calls (useless for an 8-player MP game admittedly) and like dune, we never noticed any lag or slowdown running them simultaneously.
Never tried any other programs, but would probably try them to enhance my MP experience as it does with Cheese.
How do you get up to 24 people with Skype, Eddie? I thought the limit was 5? Ta.
EDIT:
It looks like the free is 5 maybe and if you pay it's more. I am researching Vent etc but I don't find their own website very intuative. *shrug* not an urgent matter; Skype works for me. :) Thanks, though Eddie.
Fast Eddie
03-10-2008, 19:56
I researched before I posted :P
I don't have enough friends to try it off course, but that's what the website (http://support.skype.com/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=questiondetails&_i=92) says. If it is true, you may need Skype credit (requiring RL £££) but as mentioned earlier, you only need 8 people in an MP game and I don't think I've ever been in an 8-player SPF MP game. I've had a free 4-person conference call with the current version of Skype.
Hope that helps Thy,
Eddie.
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