Ventrilo, Skype, etc.

[Linaeus]

Anyone here got a server for any voice chat programs such as Vent that'd be capable of handling 5-15 people on it for communication during events and battles? Similarly, does anyone here have any particularly reservations about letting us hear their voices? Remember, it's for science and also coordination!

Studies show that coordination goes up 100,000,000% when those fighting are actually able to communicate hands-free during combat. Works wonders in League of Legends where I do a lot of 5v5 PvP with various people.

I'm a little apprehensive about using Skype as opposed to Vent due to the phone numbers being involved.

[Sergio]

Yeah it kinda sucks also vent LoL is hilarious Keres: "udyrudyrudyr"

[Celuvian]

I have vent with my ooc guild. Works very well when pvping or such.

[Kas Valentine]

I'd be happy to use Ventrilo, but only for PvP battles and such. I can vouch for the fact, as I'm sure many people can, that it works wonders in terms of coordinating people on games like World of Warcraft and there is no reason to assume that wouldn't transfer well to UO. My only reservation is probably the thing that has kept it from being used before; the fear that it would detract from roleplaying. So as long as we just use it for battles and it doesn't end up as a place where everyone sits talking instead of getting some hard-line emoting on the go, s'kick it !

Oh and yes, I do have a rather deep Geordie accent, so consider yourselves forewarned.

[Keitaro Kazami]

if its skype on the pc to pc you dont have phone numbers.... me kal and brenna use skype but the more people that are on the call the more it lags you. i believe that searchuo has a free vent server. i have not checked it out to see what it looks like

[Linaeus]

I know two servers owned by friends from college that host 20-30 rooms full of 5+ League of Legends players. I could check in with them to see if they'd be fine with us hijacking one of the underused rooms now and then. Just a matter of checking with them to see if they're fine with us accessing it, and making sure their server can handle the extra load.

I'll do some checking.

[Jassi Cowin]

I have a vent channel we could use..

[Linaeus]

Another option is to use a server but only have it open for use during events and battles, and restrict the actual talking to Command and emergencies. If we want to do more with it and have individual rooms for teams during games and training, we can have one or two subchannels.

As a general rule, though, having the channel being general-use -does- distract people from the game and open up the potential for people to just be standing around and babbling in Vent. That said, Party, Guild Chat, and ICQ all do the same thing, and actually require the player to stop typing IG.

So I'd say that;
1. The channel should give Command members moderator powers if possible so that people that're abusing it can be muted, and if the channel is being abused before or during a battle, everyone except team leaders can be squelched temporarily.

2. The channel should have generically named utility subchannels that can be used to coordinate teams during games and battles. A way to divide up the chatter into, say, 'Archers', 'Stealthers', 'Mages', and a main group during combat.

3. The channels should maintain the same rules (and level of enforcement) as Guild Chat. If nothing much is going on, it could prove a useful vehicle for getting something going. But if there's an event on, or people are trying to RP, it should be silenced or the chatting parties should relocate to a subchannel.

S'my take on it. I think a voice chat program and server of some sort could definitely benefit us.

[Sergio]

Unfortunately, it only takes a few people to spoil a good thing.  People who can't stop talking may be ones that are more likely to take things personally.

[Faden]

Skype is quite good but coms lower roleplay... we should try skype

[Gregor Eason]

Do many Guilds use voice chat? It seems a bit out of character; but I admit it improves performance. If other Guilds use it then I say its fair but.. mmm.

[Sergio]

I'd be for it more for training than using it in an actual battle it's easier to convey what you mean out of character than it is trying to find an IC way. (ie: use mortal strike instead of finding some ridiculous way to try to get across stopping them from healing)

As for in actual combat and RP events I'd say no it will hurt everything, but training people with it would be fine unless someone just completely ignores etiquette and starts up conversations during the whole thing.

[Marcus Kobra]

vent is great i use it in my cross shard adventurs with friends

[Linaeus]

Insert Quote
I'd be for it more for training than using it in an actual battle it's easier to convey what you mean out of character than it is trying to find an IC way. (ie: use mortal strike instead of finding some ridiculous way to try to get across stopping them from healing)

As for in actual combat and RP events I'd say no it will hurt everything, but training people with it would be fine unless someone just completely ignores etiquette and starts up conversations during the whole thing.

Quite the opposite, it should be used during battles, but not during trainings. The purpose of it is to organize a group of people that're scattered across a large battle area, many of them totally unable to take a moment to type an emote or read what's said in party.

Hell, half the time we have to pry Ilyana off of someone after even calling cease thrice, because she, like many others, has a habit of getting very focused on the 'annihilate the enemy' bit. In a situation like that, being able to press a button and give a friendly verbal reminder would be ideal.

Similarly, it gives the scouts the ability to convey their positions and organize a proper ambush, or give the Grenadiers the kind of cohesion they need to survive as a group.

Ideally, all of this would be doable without the use of a VoIP Program. The simple fact, however, is that BoC is a guild that rarely has the same group of players active from year to year, and this severely impacts our ability to work as a team. It takes dozens of battles and skirmishes to develop the kind of coordination it'd take to work well as a team without using some hands-free method of communication.

As for the issue of it being an OOC method of coordinating in battle, and possibly detracting from any mid-battle RP that might happen; No one emotes in battles, and no one has for years, because standing still for even a few seconds to type an order -will- get you killed, as it did for me at last Sunday's battle. On that same note, consider that a great deal of our target calling and orders to rally somewhere or restrict the fighting to a certain zone is done via party or guild. Even the rules have to be given via party, since there's usually no IC basis for them.

[Gregor Eason]

Maybe Voicechat could be roleplayed?