How do you voice?

EoinHef

Basically im looking for the best VOIP on PC,i know most multiplayer servers have a TS channel these days but im not always looking to play massively multiplayer and would like to have a chat client that is shall we say less crowded than your average TS channel.

Im playing Arma 3 and im so sick of sidechat:(
I understand the need to communicate in the game as teamwork is required but people just abuse it,spam chat. Plenty of other games that i would love just to have chat with a friend and nothing public but i dont want to rely on some public TS or in game chat. Really unreliable imo

So hoping you guys can make a few suggestions:)

On a side note anyone using AMD cards probably got the Raptr gaming app with the latest drivers,what are the rewards about? Can i use them to get games?

SterlingArcher

EoinHef wrote: »

Basically im looking for the best VOIP on PC,i know most multiplayer servers have a TS channel these days but im not always looking to play massively multiplayer and would like to have a chat client that is shall we say less crowded than your average TS channel.

Im playing Arma 3 and im so sick of sidechat:(
I understand the need to communicate in the game as teamwork is required but people just abuse it,spam chat. Plenty of other games that i would love just to have chat with a friend and nothing public but i dont want to rely on some public TS or in game chat. Really unreliable imo

So hoping you guys can make a few suggestions:)

On a side note anyone using AMD cards probably got the Raptr gaming app with the latest drivers,what are the rewards about? Can i use them to get games?

Been wondering about this myself , the same deal arma spam chat , muting 20 + players. And then having to use a ts server just to rendezvous for a game. Thought steam has a voice communication set up?

That said having steam open can hit fps.

jumbobreakfast

What's wrong with TS? Gaellords have a TS server that anyone can use and you can either create your own channel or join one of the permanent channels.

degrassinoel

ventrillo mostly, occasionally steam voice (it's not that bad, really) and very rarely TS.

Vent is lightweight, servers are dirt cheap.
steam is free, voice can be setup as either constant broadcast or push to talk between more than 2 people and can be used whilst ingame without having the box onscreen. ie: no shift tabbing to talk.
TS, i just dont like it, but i'm definitely in the minority there

ShadowHearth

We are using ventrilo for the last 7 years. Works great. Very simple and low resource thing. Sound quality good too.

I used mumble and Ts too. I don't mind them, but I find ventrilo simpler and I just got used to it.

If you need Ts server use that irish server mentioned above. When we play rust we used it all the time and owners did not mind.

jumbobreakfast

TS channels can be configured with different voice quality settings so if you are not happy with the sound quality then let an admin know. Some TS servers use very poor quality VOIP but ours is quite good. Don't feel like you are under pressure to join gaellords (it's not a clan or anything like that) and you can create your own channel and keep to yourself if you want. Just don't use offensive names please.

Sabre Man

Skype is also an option, and Google Hangouts.

EoinHef

jumbobreakfast wrote: »

What's wrong with TS? Gaellords have a TS server that anyone can use and you can either create your own channel or join one of the permanent channels.

Is the admin required to make a personal channel?

I guess mt point is that i wanted something i had control of myself.

Had a look at ventrilo and the public server is listed as free,so would it just be a case of downloading the server and client and friend just download the client if i run the server?

jumbobreakfast

Anyone can make their own channel. Every time you leave the server the channel will dissappear but it only takes a second to make a channel. Just right click on the top level and select "create channel". Admins can make permanent channels and can edit channel defaults but you probably won't need that. If you have any question just ask an admin on the server and they'll be happy to help (they have a red 'A' icon beside their names).

The public ventrilo servers work the same as the TS ones. If you want your own private TS or ventrilo server then there are plenty of providers, just google it. They cost very little but sometimes the cheap ones use really bad audio settings to keep the bandwidth down

Oh I see, you're thinking of hosting a VOIP server on your own PC? I suppose you can do that but you might have to mess with your firewall settings to get it to work

EoinHef

jumbobreakfast wrote: »

Anyone can make their own channel. Every time you leave the server the channel will dissappear but it only takes a second to make a channel. Just right click on the top level and select "create channel". Admins can make permanent channels and can edit channel defaults but you probably won't need that. If you have any question just ask an admin on the server and they'll be happy to help (they have a red 'A' icon beside their names).

The public ventrilo servers work the same as the TS ones. If you want your own private TS or ventrilo server then there are plenty of providers, just google it. They cost very little but sometimes the cheap ones use really bad audio settings to keep the bandwidth down

Oh I see, you're thinking of hosting a VOIP server on your own PC? I suppose you can do that but you might have to mess with your firewall settings to get it to work

Ok i see so i can just create a channel on gaellords TS and thats ok? Didnt realise i could do that,also thought hosts wouldnt be happy with someone creating there own channel when i could be playing a game theres no channel for. For example me and a friend wanna play diablo 3,i could just create a channel for the two of us and that would be ok?

That would be cool.

Ill definitely have to drop in on the wasteland server and have a game with you guys.

Yes i was thinking of trying to host something locally,just so i would have the use of it without restriction. And not have to rely on some form of public voip when i want to say play a co op game with just one friend,if that makes any sense!?!

@Shadowhearth who hosts your ventrilo server and what does it cost?

Must also have a look at steam chat

Shiminay

There's a group of old farts I play with who refuse to learn and configure their setup for Team Speak so we have to use Skype which is frustrating as all hell when the call starter is done but the rest of you are playing and you have to set the whole lot up again.

The only multi stuff I've been playing seriously in the last few months has been BF4 (with the group I mentioned above) or Minecraft where we have a TS channel on the server.

Titanfall, I just used the in-game cause I wan't playing with friends.

Can I add something though - push to talk should be your default setting, there's nothing more ignorant or infuriating than someone with random noise coming through in the background when you're in a group. I get it all the time with XBox scrubs when playing GTA (which is what I've been doing most this last couple of weeks).

jumbobreakfast

EoinHef wrote: »

Ok i see so i can just create a channel on gaellords TS and thats ok? Didnt realise i could do that,also thought hosts wouldnt be happy with someone creating there own channel when i could be playing a game theres no channel for. For example me and a friend wanna play diablo 3,i could just create a channel for the two of us and that would be ok?

No problem at all. It's all about broadening our gaming horizons so the more games people are playing then the more chance we have of trying different games. Of course if you want to just play with your friend then that's cool too.

dreamers75

TS but prefer Mumble

EoinHef

jumbobreakfast wrote: »

No problem at all. It's all about broadening our gaming horizons so the more games people are playing then the more chance we have of trying different games. Of course if you want to just play with your friend then that's cool too.

Cool appreciate that,ill be on at some stage tonight so ill check it out. Ill get the address on the website. Couldnt find the gaellords server the other night in game. Was putting gaellords in the host section of the filter?

Shiminay wrote: »

Can I add something though - push to talk should be your default setting, there's nothing more ignorant or infuriating than someone with random noise coming through in the background when you're in a group. I get it all the time with XBox scrubs when playing GTA (which is what I've been doing most this last couple of weeks).

The above is why i was looking for an alternative to in game chat or crowded TS,can get very annoying after awhile:(

degrassinoel

Shiminay wrote: »

Can I add something though - push to talk should be your default setting, there's nothing more ignorant or infuriating than someone with random noise coming through in the background when you're in a group. I get it all the time with XBox scrubs when playing GTA (which is what I've been doing most this last couple of weeks).

Here's a horror story ye probably wish you'd never read

A few years ago whilst playing world of warcraft, i'd joined a raiding guild and we'd raid molten core and blackwing lair, onyxia etc.. spent a few hours a few nights a week on ventrillo. Anyway, the guild invited this Swedish young guy (maybe 15 or 16, voice barely broken) who had trouble configuring vent and just left it on constant broadcast. We got through our raid, killed some bosses and the raid ended a few hours later, some people left vent, some others stayed on. So off i went for a cuppa, came back to hear the distinct noise of porn grunting and moaning coming from my speakers, along with the noise of a young swedish teenager having a peddler to it lol

some of the others on vent were howling in laughter at the guy, but i guess he was just at the err stage where he didnt give a sh*t and kept going.. he was eventually kicked off vent and out of the guild.. but yeah..

push-to-talk should be the default setting on every piece of voice comm software.

cherryghost

Teamspeak 3 mainly, Mumble if I'm required to join some bum's server

Sarky

Shiminay wrote: »

Can I add something though - push to talk should be your default setting, there's nothing more ignorant or infuriating than someone with random noise coming through in the background when you're in a group. I get it all the time with XBox scrubs when playing GTA (which is what I've been doing most this last couple of weeks).

I just don't bother with voice chat with anyone I don't trust not to do this constantly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inhS60GiGk8

EoinHef

Availed of the Gaellords TS last night and like jumbobreakfast said there was no problem setting up my own temp channel and inviting friends. Cheers man:)

MadYaker

I haven't encountered to many VOIP spammers in Arma 3. It generally has an older player base than games like BF or COD or Titanfall so you get less idiots.

nesf

TeamSpeak usually. Private servers only, push to talk or get kicked etc. You couldn't pay me to use public servers.

ScumLord

Shiminay wrote: »

There's a group of old farts I play with who refuse to learn and configure their setup for Team Speak so we have to use Skype

There are apps you can get for teamspeak. I have to use it on the racedepartment servers but they have an app on their forum that you click and it launches teamspeak with the right settings.

I never really use it but they pass out the passwords through teamspeak sometimes. I don't have a mic and can't hear or don't want to hear them during the game.

Antar Bolaeisk

Sabre Man wrote: »

Skype is also an option, and Google Hangouts.

I despise people who insist on using Skype for online gaming, it is never an option

I use mumble here mainly because that's what's popular among the groups I play with.

nesf

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

I despise people who insist on using Skype for online gaming, it is never an option

Skype's ok for one-off two player stuff. A regular group really should have a voice server though, they're really not particularly expensive for small groups.