Help: Pros and Cons of various voice communication systems

[ffujita]

I'm planning on GMing a 5E campaign with FG. I'm currently playing in a 5E campaign where we use Google Hangouts to voice RP. I'm considering Teamspeak even though I've never used it, and Mumble which I use when playing WoW, and am open to other possibilities (skype?). I'm pretty sure I like mumble better than ventrillo.

My players will include people who've never played this type of game and are unfamiliar with FG, so I don't want too much of a learning curve. I'd like a free option, but could pay a small monthly fee if necessary. I could host a server. So, would some wise people who do this and have experience with multiple voice communication systems chime in with the reasons why one system is better than another?

Thanks!

[JohnD]

Community TeamSpeak server - use it everybody does almost.

[damned]

Welcome ffujita

A number of people actually use hangouts and roll20 so that they can see the speakers and roll20 lets you add the character names to the video feeds too.

As John says the community teamspeak server https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?17071-Voicechat!-Community-TeamSpeak3-Server is available for your use for free.

Is their a huge difference between TeamSpeak, Ventrillo and Mumble? Probably not that much. Everyone has a personal preference.

Skype is another free option but it uses more bandwidth and that can pose challenges for some on slower links - especially if the GM is on a slower link.

Come and join us at https://www.fg-con.com/events - lots of sessions still have room for another player - the games have begun!

[Zacchaeus]

Is their a huge difference between TeamSpeak, Ventrillo and Mumble? Probably not that much. Everyone has a personal preference.


This is what it comes down to - personal preference. As damned says there's probably not a great deal of difference between them all; I've used them all and prefer Teamspeak but that doesn't mean that you and your players like it.

[GunnarGreybeard]

Skype is a pretty good option especially if one of your players has it already installed. They should be familiar with it and can host the call. It's a bit of bandwidth hog so you will want someone other than the GM to host the call but it's certainly adequate for use.

[kylania]

Skype's lack of proper Push To Talk (no, it's workaround push to toggle mic doesn't count) makes it, and Google Hangouts and roll20 alike, horrible choices for online communication. I NEVER need to hear you eat, or drink, snort, swallow, fart, or your TV or your music or your cleaning lady or your phone or your family or your pets or traffic near you nor myself coming through your speakers. Buy a quality headset with a mic.

I'll gladly give up some moments of hearing unexpected laughter to avoid all the rest of the problems that come with open mic voice comms.

[ffujita]

Wow, thanks for all of the useful feedback. In particular, I didn't know that FG had its own Teamspeak server. I think I'll give that a try, with Google Hangouts as a backup if/when the server goes down.

[TASagent]

My guild in Guild Wars 2 has started using Discord (https://discordapp.com/). It's been really great so far; I recommend checking it out.

[Full Bleed]

Our group uses Oovoo. It has a great sidebar mode for people who are on one monitor.