Integrated in-game voice chat that works!

[shiznitz]

I know many of you don't pay attention to EQ2 any more, but once again the team delivered.

Integrated voice chat went live with the last update. And it works well. Its introduction does not mean that our guild is dumping our Ventrilo server just yet, but that could happen.

When you log into EQ2 for the first time after the latest update (GU 47?), see a window informing you about the new chat funtionality and are prompted to go through a very short tutorial or just ignore it and turn it off. If you opt to leave it on, you will automatically join your guild's voice chat channel. If join or start a group, you will also automatically join a group channel. Obviously - like Ventrilo and Teamspeak - you cannot be in both channels at the same time.

The interface is simple. For the group channel, each member of the group in the voice channel has a voice bubble icon next to their character name in the group window that is faded. When anyone talks, the bubble icon turns guildspam green.

For the guild channel, the V key will open a window that lists all the people in the guild voice chat channel. When someone speaks, their name turns green.

As far as the quality goes, in the two times I have used it the sound quality was good and did not lag. There was some incidents of low level static/scratchy-ness but well within tolerable levels.

You can have the ingame voice and a thrid party chat program running simultaneosls but the push-to-talk button has to be different for each or the feedback is horrific.

[Mrbloodworth]

Nice, other games have this, but that one sounds very featured.

Screen shots of the UI?

[taolurker]

SOE also added a voice chat functionality to SWG too.

[NiX]

SOE also added a voice chat functionality to SWG too.

Talking to yourself is pointless.

[Numtini]

But the big question is do people actually use it.

[Tale]

Everybody I've ever played MMOGs with is currently playing and enjoying the hell out of the EQ2 raiding game. They've gone UO-EQ-AO-DAoC-EQ2mk1-WoW-VG-LOTRO-WoW-AoC and a million other betas and minor MMOs, and been settled on EQ2mk2 for a year now.

[apocrypha]

I was very skeptical when they put voice into EVE, but it's great. Works flawlessly and integration gives you all sorts of handy things that you just can't do with external voice apps.

Best thing about it being integrated IMO is that it's right there for new players and new situations - Faction Warfare in EVE is the perfect example. Without EVE-Voice it wouldn't have been half as accessible and sucessful.

[Rendakor]

Its a good start but isn't quite perfect. A number of players in my guild are randomly unable to join the in game voice, so we've been using Vent still. Also voice quality on the whole seems less good, but not substantially so (just some static). On a whole its a good step forward, but having to listen to every jackass when i PuG is kind of annoying.

[eldaec]

To put it into context,

TeamSpeak < EVE Voice < Ventrilo

[Jimbo]

SOE attempt with Planetside failed, glad they got the EQ2 one to work, maybe they can fix PS voice now.

[Numtini]

This is the same voice that will be (or is in?) COX. It's some company shopping it to different publishers, it's not actually something SOE came up with. The big thing for me is whether or not people use it. I don't mind the mediocre voice in WoW, but the only time I everh eard anyone use it, I head the voice, said hi, and he apologized for having his mic on and turned voice off.

Everybody I've ever played MMOGs with is currently playing and enjoying the hell out of the EQ2 raiding game.

If anyone raids less than two "work nights" a week and is earlyish eastern and needs a mystic let me know. I loved loved it but my guild kept going later and later.

[Draegan]

I got a free month of EQ2 from a buddy of mine and tried it out last night.  It's not bad.

[MahrinSkel]

Eve Voice works well for Faction Wars because the fleets in that are overgrown PUG's, where trying to get everyone onto the same Ventrillo or TeamSpeak server would be nearly impossible (hard enough to do when you're doing joint Alliance ops and everyone is at least used to using them).  But in features (especially security and multi-channel coordination) it's a distant second at best, and the fact that if the game servers crash they take your comms with them is a deal-breaker for 0.0.

--Dave

[Venkman]

I know many of you don't pay attention to EQ2 any more, but once again the team delivered.

Integrated voice chat went live with the last update. And it works well. Its introduction does not mean that our guild is dumping our Ventrilo server just yet, but that could happen.

The team "delivered" by bringing in Vivox to do it for them. Same group that did it for SL and then later for Eve. They're a bunch of good guys, and their founders came from a telecom background. If SOE chose to (and if CCP did), you could make phone calls from ingame to both landline and mobile sets. It's a question of course of how of the technology much the company wants to license.

Vivox is better than most other ingame solutions I've seen.

[pants]

If SOE chose to (and if CCP did), you could make phone calls from ingame to both landline and mobile sets.

Heh, that actually brings up some pretty scary scenarios.

<sitting at home, watching TV>
Ring!  Ring! 
"Hello?"
"Dude, where are you?  We need a tank."

[Mrbloodworth]

SOE attempt with Planetside failed, glad they got the EQ2 one to work, maybe they can fix PS voice now.

Keep in mind, PS shipped with voice chat, its using some really OLD software. And in a game where FPS matter, having the initiator as the Voice host is a bad idea.

Would be good if they did upgrade it. But i bet its unlikely.

[Tarami]

If SOE chose to (and if CCP did), you could make phone calls from ingame to both landline and mobile sets.

Heh, that actually brings up some pretty scary scenarios.

<sitting at home, watching TV>
Ring!  Ring! 
"Hello?"
"Dude, where are you?  We need a tank."

You mean this hasn't already happened to you? Gee!