Does multiplayer need microphone technology?

[Galdus]

VOIP creates yet more overhead on the server for very little return. Given the amount of third party options around (from the dedicated like Teamspeak to the utility like X Fire or Steam) it's a little redundant to have it in game.

This statement here would be the only one out of all of them that would change my mind on my vote. It would cause more lag connection wise. Since there isn't any amazing servers yet that may be a problem. As in most of the good server atm 22nd,ATS some Ero servers I still get a whopping 120+ ping. Hence the game hit detection would be worse then it already is sometimes.

 

[ian626]

i think what edwardwellcraft said is good. trying to get someones attention to help them would be so much easier with something like that but the only drawback with the spamming control that was mentioned is that u would only be able to help 1 person every like 30 seconds or something like that, it seems a bit long for on the battle feild. wat i would do is make it so that 1 can send 1 warning then u can either send say another 4 warnings (totaling 5) instantly afetr the first then if u do that u get muted for say 1 minute or u could send 1 then wait like 5 seconds and be able to send another.

 

[Steeltrap]

TF2 has voice.

It works well and adds to the game.

It has an easily used 'mute x player', so the idiots are quickly talking only to themselves.

People who get on and scream obsceneties/nonsense would quickly be ignored by their teams as per the mute described above.

I see lots of good things and no compelling bad ones. Typing is painfully slow compared with speaking, and leaves you vulnerable (which really makes no sense).

If it's of no value, why do clans etc bother with it?

One other thing: aren't those who voted for the OTHER methods essentially voting 'yes' to voice? If so, why would you want to run a separate programme? Far better to do it all in one, as TF2 does.
If you look at the results in that light, 86.4% of respondants (only 110 at time of my writing this) have said 'yes, Warbands should have voice' (some have simply decided to use another method).

Seems a pretty clear message to me.

Cheers

 

[Venset]

Just because the majority of people who have posted in this thread want a In game voice system does not mean It's a good thing.

Teamspeak/ Ventrillo / Mumble / Skype are all programs which are fine to use.

And If they did include a in game voice system It should be as someone said, in squads, where you actually have to join that squad to hear and talk. I wouldn't want to be clicking the mute button all day. Not worth the extra lag anyway.

 

[Kittenhuffer]

I suppose my previous post slightly touched on the subject, but yes, voice chat really does ruin the immersion. I'm fine with it in clan wars, because it's generally accepted and I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of the medieval battle feeling in order to communicate with people I know. But casual battles on public servers should be just that; Casual battles. And if people really want to, they can just as easily organize everything using the text chat.

Then we have the issue of realism. Maybe it's just me as a hardcore roleplayer, but I'd really hate it if someone turns around when I sneak up behind them to stab them in the back, just because an archer on the other side of the map spotted me and warned him. If anything, he should turn around because he heard my footsteps, or the sound of me switching weapon.

I'd rather prefer built in hotkeys that send out text messages to everyone within a certain radius. There could even be short ranged and long ranged ones, like talking and shouting.

 

[Torgrim]

Just because the majority of people who have posted in this thread want a In game voice system does not mean It's a good thing.

Teamspeak/ Ventrillo / Mumble / Skype are all programs which are fine to use.

Yes that's nice and dandy and all if you belong to a clan, but for the majority who server jump It can be be quite a hazzle and pain in the ass to keep record on all the IP's to be able to join a open TS/vent whatever being used on the server.

Using VOIP help alot to overcome the vent/ts fixasion i read from some of the guys posting in this thread, Just be able to for an example warn someone instantly if he/she is about getting backstabbed or I really need to say something fast without putting my face into the keyboard to write something then die becuse I had to write, and it get alot much eaiser to setup some basic tactics or change it midd battle so people can hear it.

Or if you don't want voip whatsoever then dont enable it simple, and if someone is spamming the VOIP then just mute him, It's not that complicated.

I really can't see the issue here only technical but that we don't know yet.

 

[CMarshall]

3D voice would improve a lot! If anyone of you've tried it, you know what I'm talking about.

And yes, people would follow orders much better with voice compared to chat. The chat window is crap for commanding, on big servers, your messages drown in the mass, and it's hard to see who's saying what, as you have to be close the the character to see their names in the game. With 3D voice you hear who's talking and you'd be able to communicate, apply tactics and be awesome.

The option needs to be there. Please!

Look up mumble. It's a 3rd party VOIP program, which the developers were kind enough to allow integration into Warband. 3d positional audio works fully, you just need to install and set it up. Then whenever you're alive you can hear the direction you're teammates are in, and the volume adjusts itself to represent distance. And if you need to talk to your whole team you can set up buttons to bypass the positional aspect and use it for plain ol' voiping.
Oh and it has an inbuilt user overlay 

 

[Marin Peace Bringer]

I only had time to read the first page and a half, so forgive me if my post is redundant.

I would love to have voice chat . Text chat just doesn't work good.  You can't constantly keep track of the death spam while in the middle of a heated battle with two enemies to follow orders, and you certainly can't send out a call for help in that situation or if the enemy is close to you at all. Make it optional so you could turn it off if you just don't like it.  Make it so you can mute individuals to take care of the mic spammers.  I don't see a problem at all with it if you did those things.  Text chat just isn't viable aside from giving a few orders before the battle begins and maybe an order or two after it starts that only a handful will have the opportunity to read.

My advice to you is type faster 

I do not mean that in an agresive way, just some advice, there have been several times were i just hold my shield up, start typeing (when you type you keep walking in the direction you were going, and you hold your shield up) and just backpedaled away from the enemy, while i was typing "HELP HELP HELP!" 

 

[captain lust]

Mumble looks awesome actually, I'd be interested in VoIP like that. It seems to be an afterthought, for a lot of PC games, which I think is a shame.

For me, I think the best option would be pure positional (i.e. friends and foes can hear you, in positional 3d), with two hotkeys:

one that switches to only team positional
...and one that switches to all (and only) team

I wouldn't want to sacrifice the satisfaction of creeping up behind someone and screaming at them, before splitting their skull.

Although, I'm no expert in the field and don't know how (if at all) this would affect connection quality. So that's something to consider and on the whole, I'd trust Arch, who seems to think it could be a problem.

To be honest, I think in theory it's probably a lot better than it actually would be, anyway. Right now, CoR use Teamspeak and it works just fine. I think, in regular matches, I wouldn't bother putting a mic on most of the time.

Also, as with most things, I think this should be a server option.

 

[The Shadow]

It'd be nice if you yourself could mute it.

And if it showed who was talking by displaying their name as well as a speaker icon.

3D sound might be asking a bit much, but it's cool nonetheless. 

 

[CMarshall]

KoS and a number of australian clans use Mumble as our main voip program. It's connection quality is very good actually, you can tweak the data rate to change your quality. As for speaking to teams specifically, you could do that with subchannels on a mumble server. And yes it is ALOT of fun yelling at someone before stabbing them in the back of the face 

 

[Nemesis43]

3D positional VOIP is really the only kind that seems remotely appropriate for WB. After all, there weren't any walkie-talkies in the middle ages With that, and a healthy attempt at staying in character, even I might be tempted to give it a try.

 

[Galdus]

3D voice would improve a lot! If anyone of you've tried it, you know what I'm talking about.

And yes, people would follow orders much better with voice compared to chat. The chat window is crap for commanding, on big servers, your messages drown in the mass, and it's hard to see who's saying what, as you have to be close the the character to see their names in the game. With 3D voice you hear who's talking and you'd be able to communicate, apply tactics and be awesome.

The option needs to be there. Please!

Look up mumble. It's a 3rd party VOIP program, which the developers were kind enough to allow integration into Warband. 3d positional audio works fully, you just need to install and set it up. Then whenever you're alive you can hear the direction you're teammates are in, and the volume adjusts itself to represent distance. And if you need to talk to your whole team you can set up buttons to bypass the positional aspect and use it for plain ol' voiping.
Oh and it has an inbuilt user overlay 

I see your point and what is does but how is that integrated into the game for voice? I have never heard anyone say anything before,unless you actually need the program and be in a specific channel with others to communicate making that the same thing as other 3rd party programs.

 

[CMarshall]

-Snip-
I see your point and what is does but how is that integrated into the game for voice? I have never heard anyone say anything before,unless you actually need the program and be in a specific channel with others to communicate making that the same thing as other 3rd party programs.

Yeah to hear people they need to also have the program installed and set up- and be in the same channel as you. I was merely pointing out that the developers have built mumble integration into their game, and it's awesome. The other 3rd party programs can't tell you where voices are coming from in 3D.