So, through which do you talk with you gaming companions?
I use Skype because all my friends use it. It's a hassle but it has pretty good sound quality so I think it's worth it. We tried using SteamChat once, but the sound quality was terrible. Everyone seems to be moving to TeamSpeak so maybe I'll try that.
honestly I haven't used these in a while, just LAN in the same room so we can talk to each other, although now that summer's over, We'll have to move back to Skype.
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I use Skype because all my friends use it.
Word. I think the only reason people still use it is for the convenience.
We tried using SteamChat once, but the sound quality was terrible.
Aww man. I'll have to try it out even so, at some point.
Perhaps I'll try TeamSpeak too. So many users here said good stuff about it!
just LAN in the same room so we can talk to each other
I've never ever done that. I live a bit far from my friends (same city but a big one) so having a VoIP available to play on weekends is the best deal for us.
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I use Team speak mostly. Skype whenever my nephew is feeling like he needs to be a loner.
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Aww poor lonely nephew!
I hope you get the reference!
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Teamspeak, Skype, Mumble & Raidcall. I prefer Skype over everything else, though.
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You've got it all, huh? Thanks for letting me know.
I prefer Skype over everything else, though.
Do you mind telling me why? (:
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Yeah, I have friends with different preferences xD
I've been using Skype for a few years. The quality is nice, the video quality is alright (it mostly depends on the person's computer, camera & video settings), it will show you who is talking on the pop-up or on the main call screen (it just lights up their picture, it makes it easy to know who is who in a group call), it's simple and easy to use. It's easy to get around and figure things out.
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I rarely play multiplayer/online games, but when I do it's either in game chat or steam chat.
If I play with my real life friends I just call them on the phone and tell them how bad they played, I guess that's one of many reasons why I don't have that many friends.
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Or it's because you're too occupied wisely reading good Nietzsche books ;)
I prefer the immediate feedback of VoIPs, though. That way I can tell them how bad they're playing right then and there :D
Though normally I'm the loser who gets to listen to complaints haha
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Even the most avid reader needs to let of steam sometimes and I'm too the one who at the end of the day gets shouted at. ^^
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Woah, really? The sheer pain for me is normally unbearable D:
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Simplicity surely is something to take into account!
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I never use a mic. Sometimes, my friends will use Steam's voice chat function to speak with me while playing, but I use the text chat only.
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Jbond doesn't use a mic, doesn't take selfies, doesn't say his real name... Is he really a person? Could he be... a bot?
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I mainly use Steam voice chat... I use Teamspeak when either the game doesn't play nicely with Steam voice chat, or if I'm playing with a controller. Back in the day, when I played WoW, I used Vent... only to listen though.
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I play with a controller a lot, so that's good info right there. Cheers! :3
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Hehe, I wish Steam voice chat allowed you to use controller buttons for push-to-talk. The unfortunate thing about Teamspeak, is that if you or a friend don't have your own server, you have to rely on the public ones. Of course, by doing so, you risk running into some unpleasant people, usually telling you to get off their server. It's funny when someone doesn't want strangers on their server, yet they don't put a password on it... makes a lot of sense. But, anyway, you can choose from a lot of server locations, and the list of servers is usually a decent size (or at least the one for my location is). I do recommend trying it out.
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Would it not be possible to use something like joy2key or similar in order to "trick" steam into using some button on your controller as a push to talk key?
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The unfortunate thing about Teamspeak, is that if you or a friend don't have your own server, you have to rely on the public ones.
Another user mentioned this on the comment sections here too. :/
makes a lot of sense
People can be peculiar, yes.
I do recommend trying it out.
Thanks so much for all the info and recommendation! I'll try it out for sure :3
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Of all those options, I use Mumble the most. I used to have my own Teamspeak server but Teamspeak requires a license to use so I ended up switching after my year's rental was over. I do keep Ventrilo, Teamspeak, Skype, Dolby Axon, Razer Comms and Curse Voice installed though depending on the situation
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Teamspeak requires a license to use
I wasn't even aware.
I see you like to be prepared! Thanks, Deadpool (:
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Only in terms of running a server. You can use the client for free, but if you wish to host your own server, you need to purchase a license. There are plenty of free public Teamspeak servers you can connect to, but... I'm generally not a fan of public servers since there are lots of jerks and trolls (as to be expected from the interwebs)
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Woah you're explanation was a much needed one on my part, so thanks for providing it.
I'm generally not a fan of public servers since there are lots of jerks and trolls
Word!
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Mumble and Skype mainly, I rarely play with friends these days :/
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I rarely play with friends these days :/
Same here >:
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Apart from Teamspeak mostly Skype because almost everyone has it for (video-)chatting with relatives etc.
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I only got this really cheesy one regarding your topic ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csATriX8Ed0
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Yeah, that stuff to eat they sell on the supermarket, you know?
It normally comes with complaint spice and overly attached toppings.
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Oh noes I'm sorry! D:
Maybe you could have some Lonely Timeβ’ then? They're for allergics. It works pretty well. You just buy the small pack and add it any beverage of choice. It tastes like bittersweet tears, though. ):
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Thanks for the suggestion, I'll definitely have some Lonely Time tonight ( Ν‘Β° ΝΚ Ν‘Β°)
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Carrier pigeons. I'm actually playing CIV IV with a friend from Angola that way, still on turn 2 for a match started in 2008.
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ts... btw, you cant be member of our royal elite club of cool people, you're too stalky :o (i accept bribes ;) ;) ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkpYqKKrewU
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uh... do you mean Mr. Bribe? Because I haven't seen him around, no.
you're too stalky :o
But... mommy says I'm special ;-;
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Lately Mumble, but TS3 and Vent as well.
Never liked Skype and never thought of it as something people used for gaming, but apparently I'm wrong on that count
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Never liked Skype and never thought of it as something people used for gaming, but apparently I'm wrong on that count
Here, have the prize of "You-just-read-my-mind-like-a-pro". Enjoy.
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Never liked using a mic to talk in online games well, I don't even liked online games too! xD most of the times you will see me in the chat box when everybody is speaking in the mic. Yeah, I'm weird. BUT, when I do, TeamSpeak and RaidCall are my main choices mostly beacause they don't eat 200% of my CPU usage like Skype.
BUMP PELO JOGUINHO AEEWWW \o/
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I don't even liked online games
You monster!!ELEVEN!!1! >:(
Yeah, I'm weird.
That's why we talk, dear :D
they don't eat 200% of my CPU usage like Skype
Yes!
COISAS DE GRΓTIS Γ NΓIS \O/
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Well we used to talk on skype but now we talk on the phone i have free calls so :P
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Maybe you should tattoo it on your forehead?
I heard they can get you paid for it.
That's why I have this gigantic apple tattooed on my back. Still have a Motorola phone, though.
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I prefer Skype without a doubt. Its fidelity and noise cancellation--not to mention having open mics--make conversations as natural as if we were in the same room. I'll use Gamevox or Teamspeak if certain groups require it, but open mics on those platforms don't work well and I've always found push-to-talk awkward. I notice there's a lot less actual communication occurring in those instances (only keying mics when you have something to relay), whereas with Skype it's constant.
It's a conversation versus oldschool radio-like communication. I have no idea why the latter seems to be so much more popular (I even have a friend who rebukes Skype by saying "my grandma uses that").
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I prefer Skype without a doubt.
I'm happy to know it doesn't give you problems. The same can't be said for me, though. :/
I've always found push-to-talk awkward.
Me too, but in most cases you can opt out of it.
I'll use Gamevox or Teamspeak if certain groups require it
I considered putting Gamevox on the poll. I'll add it to the main post (:
Well, I really dislike skype for gaming because I've always had problems with it myself. That's one of the reasons I made this thread for, in fact.
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I've seen a lot of people mention performance problems with Skype, saying it taxes their CPU to an unreasonable degree. It runs fairly low impact even on my eight-year-old CPU, so I'm not sure why so many claim to have trouble with it.
Is that the difficulty you've had?
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No, not at all. But bad quality call and random call drops have been all over my experience with Skype. Not to mention unbearable lag and connection problems.
You may say the problem lies on my connection. I assure you it does not, even more so when I take into account how other VoIP haven't caused me problems at all.
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That could actually be indicative of connection issues. Skype is, because of its fidelity, more susceptible to quality problems on a less-than-perfect connection. I recently had an issue with a wifi adapter that resulted in loss of quality and frequent call interruptions, but other clients (Gamevox, specifically) worked quite a bit better. I fixed that issue and Skype went back to the flawless operation I expect.
I suppose, then, that I should rephrase: it's always been great except when external issues interfere with its normal operation.
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I suppose, then, that I should rephrase: it's always been great except when external issues interfere with its normal operation.
Which is most of the time if your buddy's connection is quite horrid, sadly ):
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My group has collectively forbidden open mic. There's just top much noise from people drinking tea when you have open mics.
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On TS and other low-fi clients, sure, noises and even background can be a huge problem, often getting picked up by other people's mics and rebroadcast. But on Skype I've never found it overly distracting. It's akin to sitting around a table and sipping tea. Granted, on Skype we're usually only a handful of people, but that same number on TS would be an unmitigated disaster with open mics.
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I always use push to talk on Skype as well, when I actually use it, for the very same reason (people really don't want to hear me drink tea). It has more to do with the threshold you set for when the mic "opens".
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True, but I've always found that threshold to be a bit tough to pin down; either it's too sensitive and picks up keypresses or other noises or it's set too high and cuts off words here and there. All those unintentional noises seem a lot less obnoxious on Skype, though, probably because of the higher fidelity, which is one of many reasons for me that it's a vastly superior option to TS, Vent, Gamevox, Axon, and every other app or in-game VOIP I've ever used.
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I do wonder how you're able to get higher fidelity audio on Skype than on say Mumble or TS. Sound quality seem to be worse in general there for me (and the people I play games with, hence why we use Mumble). Everything sounds poorly compressed, if that makes any sense.
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That is odd. Skype has always been crystal clear, while anything else has that overly compressed, static-y harshness. The only time I ever notice someone's quality drop on Skype is when they've saturated their bandwidth with a download while in a call. Of course, it returns to normal quality as soon as the download is done.
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Skype has always been crystal clear
Perhaps you and all your friends both have a very good connection, then. Whenever I talk with a friend that has a mediocre connection, Skype makes hearing them a nightmare altogether.
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As in my other reply, that's quite likely. I suppose we're lucky enough to be graced with (mostly) stable and relatively high speed connections, things that Skype generally requires for fluid operation. Other clients may be better able to tolerate complications if they have lower bandwidth and QoS requirements.
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I don't think that's the problem for us. We have really good connections (10-500mbit fiber).
I wonder if it's the built in noise reduction that I pick up as it sounding like it's poorly compressed. That would also explain why you notice less "bad noises". Noise reduction can sometimes remove noise that you actually want, in particular if it's oversensitive. And if someone has a cheapo microphone, that can really mess with the noise reduction (we don't have that problem in mumble, but that noise reduction might just be a bit "smarter")
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How very useful to know all this, truly. I have experienced the same issues with skype if a friend of mine doesn't have a very good mic (or even, like one of my best friends, uses skype without a standalone mic but with the aid of a notebook's built in mic).
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I would contend that Skype's noise-cancellation is really very good, but like you say, if your friend's mic is poor quality and picks up all sorts of background noise and mic-popping and keypresses and who knows whatever else, that layered soundstage could impair the noise cancellation. In theory, anyway. I'd have to hear myself to say for sure.
Any rate, I maintain that with even halfway decent mics and good connections, nothing beats Skype for call quality and natural conversation. Nothing even comes close.
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I always use push to talk on Skype as well
Stupid commentary incoming: I wasn't aware, until I read this very comment, that Skype had that feature. Judge me all you will, I just never bothered poking around with it.
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I have no friends to play with. When I did play with a friend a long time ago, we didn't talk. However, the one time I've talked with a friend I played with, we used Google Hangouts.
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I only used several times steam chat when Valve was giving for free L4D2. Before and after that i didn't have anyone with who i could play any game.
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we used Google Hangouts
Woah. That's some unusual alternative right there.
I have no friends to play with.
And I don't have the time to set up with them. So I can understand you in a certain way. ):
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Yeah it was because the other guy had forgotten his Skype password or something, and had Hangouts handy.
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There's been an Uprising of game voice chatting recently. So many options I hardly know which ones are really worth using and which ones I should just dump. So this thread has been born. I've selected a few voice chatting software that are made for gaming (or oftenly used for such), and I'd love it if you'd tell me which ones you use (if any)!
Also, if you'd like to leave a comment telling me why you use the one you do, it'd be much appreciated.
VoIP's in no particular order (from 1 to 13):
Well, the gA ends in 3 days!
! Forgot to add these on the poll! My bad.
!! Didn't even know this one existed! Good call, Dragoneit!
!!! Thanks, Korrd!
Comments poll:
Based off of preferences in the comment section for the things I forgot to add (hopefully I will update regularly)
Bonus:
If you wanna add any others on the comment section, feel free to :P
Cheesy Mood Music:
The Heights - How Do You Talk To An Angel (thanks, Chinkara!)
Cat Stevens - Another Saturday Night
Simon and Garfunkle - The Sound of Silence (Thanks, LittleBibo1!)
Electric Light Orchestra - Mr Blue Sky thanks for all the suggestions, leonidas56!
Eagles Of Death Metal - Complexity ^
The Monkees - What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round ^
Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) ^
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