VoIP

Comments

• kagda Member Posts: 85

  October 2005

  u anwsered your own question, is a good way of putting it i think.... reason mmo's dont include any type of Voice Chat, is simply because of bandwith limit, and most people wont pay an extra $5 (companies wont make it less then 5, because this way they can get better business)  when they can just jump into their guilds TS/Vent and use that...... if ur playing a game in a guild, and ur guild doesnt have TS/Vent.... find urself a new guild, any serious player/guild will tell ya that.

  Okkkkaaayyyyyyyyyyyy
• Renian Member Posts: 152

  October 2005

  I dunno...VoIP could be really, really BAD for Roleplaying servers, unless they roleplay over it. Though, they probably won't.
• kuronekoyama Member Posts: 15

  October 2005

  I wait for the day when VoIP could be completely and totally integrated into the environment--that is, when you speak it would actually broadcast the sound in-game, and the game's VoIP subroutines would accurately model volume, diffusion, diffraction, the Doppler effect, and such.

  Build in a good quality vocoder and give the ability to set aspects of your character's voice (pitch, timbre, etc.), and it could be done REALLY well for RP purposes.

  Course, all this is... 5-10 years off, would be my guess. Neither bandwidth nor processing hardware could keep up with it right now. Soon as Internet 2 replaces the current Internet, and as soon as most people worldwide have the sort of average bandwidth they have today in Korea, and as soon as profoundly multi-core processor architectures become commonplace (looking toward both the next-gen consoles for this)... Very possible.
• Trystan365 Member Posts: 23

  October 2005

  Roleplaying...that is a concern.  I have found, though, that with the people that are on my Ventrilo server that we roleplay when dealing with other players.  We are friends, sometimes we kvetch about our situations, sometimes when revel in each others accomplishments.  We talk in Ventrilo about what friends normally talk about.  We've all known each other for years.  To the outside world of other players in the games we play, we are roleplaying our characters.  Perhaps we are the exception, but I hope not.

  As for utilizing a third party application for VoIP communication, the company that produces the game could liscense the application from the originators, integrate it into their game and charge a small fee, attached to the monthly fee that will be charged for playing.  At the rate schedule of one dollar US per player, per month, they would be making over four times the amount of money that I am currently being charged for my Ventrilo server.  Bandwidth usage costs for VoIP, as in the case of Ventrilo, is negligable and easily recouped in the monthly fee.  Integration into the game code would also prevent software and hardware conflicts with the end user and allow seemless usage in the game.

  I have to say that I rue the day when VoIP is integrated into the game code so that actual speech is heard by other players, though.  All it would take would be one git to break the immersion for everyone in the area.  As for changing the pitch, timbre, and tone of the voices, that is already able to be done.  A simple database transform in settings would allow this to be able to be projected.
• kagda Member Posts: 85

  October 2005

  i do understand where you are coming from. but one thing which will be very important to keep in mind, is that in an MMO you are very likley to have over 200 people in the same "area" IE: Bazar in EQ.... imagine even 100 people trying to sell, and outyell one another.... also ventrilo is a pretty basic application, but its also pretty limited... and if u talk to people who own big TS/Vent servers, they can tell u, that it does get very expensive........... also, my guild will average, about 20 people per night for an event (i play Shadowbane; hard core pvp game) and were a pretty good guild, and even during these times with only 20 people in same guild, the Guild Leaders often have to yell really loud at everyone to clear channel etc. etc. ..... someone might say were unorgonized or something of the sort, but when there is a lot of things going on, its hard to keep everyone quite... imagine even 20 different people in a zone trying to sell things, even then it would get out of control.....

  as far as RP goes, unless there is a moderator present 24/7 in this voice chat room, things will get out of control with in 10 seconds lol....

  Okkkkaaayyyyyyyyyyyy
• Trystan365 Member Posts: 23

  October 2005

  Just like in Ventrilo and TS, channels can be set.  I would most assuedly advocate the ability for folks to be able to create channels.  In a bazaar or auction house, I would advocate no channels to be used for this purpose. 

  Limitations would have to be put in place to keep things in line.  The same rules regarding harassment and such would still be in effect.  This would be the job of the game designers and game masters.
• Tidic Member Posts: 12

  October 2005

  For an Rper like me it would break the illusion quite a bit to have that Huge muscled Ogre sound like a 14yr old schoolkid from Texas or indeed that sultry elf priestess to sound like a 40yr old male investment banker from the Netherlands

  But then maybe in 10 years time the sound processing tech will exist to distort voices to match the role like some sound card packages do now to a limited degree.

  But of course RPers dont tend to hold the majority in these things, and if i wasnt one I would definatly love to see it happen
• Trystan365 Member Posts: 23

  October 2005

  <<For an Rper like me it would break the illusion quite a bit to have that Huge muscled Ogre sound like a 14yr old schoolkid from Texas or indeed that sultry elf priestess to sound like a 40yr old male investment banker from the Netherlands

  But then maybe in 10 years time the sound processing tech will exist to distort voices to match the role like some sound card packages do now to a limited degree.

  But of course RPers dont tend to hold the majority in these things, and if i wasnt one I would definatly love to see it happen >>

   

  I think you misunderstand.  I am not advocating VoIP for character voices...far from it.  I, too, don't want to hear the big orge with a Mike Tyson-esque voice or a gravelly, male voice coming from the lithe elven vixen saying, "My name's Galadriel."  I am advocating VoIP for groups of players to facillitate communication between friends who play together.  To have this functionality integrated into a game would be a boon for those of us who use third party applications.
• Trystan365 Member Posts: 23

  November 2005

  Well, it looks as if the folks from Dungeons and Dragons Online read *this* thread.  On their official forums...  http://www.ddo.com/index.php?page_id=66&pagebuilder[module]=article&pagebuilder[display_item]=145 

  The response is interesting.
• Frozz Member Posts: 4

  January 2006

  As one who has played Gemstone for almost 10 years, as well as World of Warcraft over the last year, I am convinced that built in VoIP would be detrimental to the immersiveness that most of us are yearning for in Hero's Journey.

  I currently run a 100 person Ventrilo server for my WoW guild on an RP server. Since we all got on Vent I've seen less and less discussions taking place in game, thus leaving any Ventless individuals out of the loop! Often times, Ventrilo discussions deviate from the game to "real life." While that is fine, I do not want to be forced to listen to the latest gab about world politics while I am attempting to slay a foul beast.

  Spend a few dollars and purchase a Ventrilo or Teamspeak server if you'd like to talk to your friends. Simutronics has more important things to deal with than managing VoIP servers.

  Frozz
• xDivianaDRx Member Posts: 239

  January 2006

  Ah, I think voice chat is a bunch of crap. Nobody wants to hear me talk anyway, all I do is swear.

  HJ-Diviana
  Hero's Journey GM
  Hero's Journey Official Site
  Hero's Hall
• Arremus Member Posts: 656

  January 2006

  Yeah... voice chat.. egh.

  I have to admit, the main reason I don't use Teamspeak in my guilds is not due to lack of immersion (though this is a factor), but due to the fact that I get a headache from listening to shrill accents and people yelling through the mic "Add! Add!! Ah ****! Didn't you see it??!" etc.
  No offense, but the shrill North-Eastern American accent can get rather tiring Especially when you've got a half dozen of 'em trying to talk over each other during a raid... (But the one lass from the South... well.. I could listen to her all day.. *sigh* )

  There's a big guild on AB server in EQ2 who raid and whatnot and are full role-play. ie They don't use Teamspeak or any other voice chat. They raid very effectively, and being around them is a crudload more immersive than listening to my Guild members rant about who's tactics are better, and how they have a flu and their nose won't stop running, and what their youngest son did at school etc etc.

  I'm with the guy a couple of posts up.
  Teamspeak is not immersive. It just doesn't belong packaged with HJ imho. If you want to use it, use a service instead.
  

  
  "(The) Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude." - George W Bush.
  Oh. My. God.
• Amlaith Member Posts: 37

  January 2006

  Simutronics has more important things to deal with than managing VoIP servers.
  
  I agree 200 % with you.

  @Arremus:

  Or to hear those Austrians, Saxons, Bavarians....or even Romansh-Swiss... ( Don' t take that too serious.) Actually that was really funny, but non-productive for roleplay.
  
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