Vent

[Tikki]

What is this vent all about?
I visited the site and understand it's a speaking program. I've never used one and I'm just interested in the in game experience of it....can you chat to anyone? how do you go about knowing who you're talking too (like server, etc.) ....basically - is it hard to use? and is it worth using during game play? I'm just curious to know if there are a large amount of players using it rather than chat....

oh, and just a weird question - if anyone can join a vent channel, are there gold spammers on there? and if you can't join a vent channel without invitation...how would someone like me, who's never used it and doesn't know anyone who uses it, get to chat?

i know it's a lot to ask ... sorry! :)

[xDarkDrifterx]

Vent allows you to do what you are saying above though . . .

Having the program means you can use it when/if someone that has paid for a vent server (very cheap - $8 a month or so - our guild has one) asks you to join their vent channel or server. If your guild has one then you can just use that one. Ours has channels made up for the various zones (if people are questing together) for every instance, every BG, etc.

This allows you to put on some headphones or just use your speakers and a microphone and talk to your buddies while you play w/ them - just like you're on a conference call - some people think it's weird as they like to keep the speaking to real people to typing within a game environment.

People can be kicked out of vent from the admin (usually a guld leader, officer, or raid leader) at anytime. The addresses and everything vary widely (you can even set up a password) so no, there's no gold sellers, as it's not free for a large slot (you can buy server spots @ #'s like a 15 person, 25 person, 40 person, etc with each costing more then the previous one per month)

I don't use vent a lot b/c I like the sounds of the game and often fly solo - it helps to pull me into the game by listening to the ambience etc - though when I'm in a Raid, a premade BG group, Instancing, Questing with buddies, or doing Arena we're always on vent - not having to type what you want to say helps your skillz IMO.

:thumbsup:

[roiegat]

Vent and Teamspeak are both great tools. I totally agree that they take the "ambiance" out of the game when in use...but its so much easier to talk then to type in a lot of instances. My guild has one and it's defintly a great tool. I don't use it all the time, but when were going into a instance - we prety much require everyone to be on it. You don't have to talk (we understand some people are shy or just don't have a mic) but we require that you could hear so when we try cordinate things in the instance you can follow along.

I also think it gives the game more of a "hang out" feel to it. I feel like I'm hanging out with my friends talking and playing at night. Instead of meeting at a bar, were meeting in a virtual setting.

[Aurum]

Dont know if you get from the above posters that Ventrilo is a sepret program from wow. You use it when playing alot of online-games where you team up with ppl not only wow...

You dont have to worry bout goldspammer since the servers you are in
are private. So often guilds have their own ventrilo-server where they can talk to eachother. Where only guildmemebers get ip+password!

Severs does not have to cost anything to set up like somone posted. It depends on what version is used. If you want to cover that problem you download somthing called ventmix or ventrilomix dont remeber exactly. Then you can connect to all versions of ventrilo-servers!

[xDarkDrifterx]

Severs does not have to cost anything to set up like somone posted.

Could you elaborate?

After much research the only type of "free" servers that I found before paying for our guild's were something like a 5 or 8 slot I beleive - which isn't good for guilds but may be useful for a player doing instances.

[Stigg]

Teamspeak allows free unlimited servers. /shrug You just need a dedicated computer to run the server from.

[xDarkDrifterx]

Teamspeak allows free unlimited servers. /shrug You just need a dedicated computer to run the server from.

Ahh yeah, since that's not an option for me I kind of forgot about that.

:grin:

[Tikki]

thanks for the help.

this is really interesting. as a casual player i fear that a large majority of people will be choosing to use vent during raids/instances and general guild chatter. I suppose for us casual'ies, we'll have to decide if it's worth our time to move over or not.

it would be interesting to know a little more about these free servers - that would certainly make it worth while

[moopy]

Teamspeak allows free unlimited servers. /shrug You just need a dedicated computer to run the server from.

Grumble, even if it does have a bug where it doesn't parse its own config file properly on first run, and binds to the default port anyway, so you have to hexedit the server.dbs to get it on the right port (if you're on a busy machine where the port it likes by default is taken by something else :-). This bug breaks the web interface too.. but once you fix the port in the .dbs file, it all works swimmingly.

[poopsmcgee]

i've been using vent mainly for the last year or so and was stuck on teamspeak for prolly the 5 years previous of that. i like vent better, i think they have better sound codecs and it just plain sounds better. but i even used roger wilco back in the day of the first diablo lol.

[moopy]

i've been using vent mainly for the last year or so and was stuck on teamspeak for prolly the 5 years previous of that. i like vent better, i think they have better sound codecs and it just plain sounds better. but i even used roger wilco back in the day of the first diablo lol.

The free ventrilo server doesn't let you change the port- and hacking that would break the terms of the license, so I'm stuck with TS :(

[thedirty]

thanks for the help.

this is really interesting. as a casual player i fear that a large majority of people will be choosing to use vent during raids/instances and general guild chatter. I suppose for us casual'ies, we'll have to decide if it's worth our time to move over or not.

it would be interesting to know a little more about these free servers - that would certainly make it worth while

In my guild, there are a few that use it to chat each other up during game, but they are the minority. The majority of them use it only come raid time, twink time, or instance time. /g chat is still very busy, I for one use /g chat mostly too except in twink or raid situations, mostly because I would rather listen to music while playing rather than my guildies, lol.

[unbdm]

For the most part I don't use vent unless I'm in a group that is using vent; it improves group performance in an encounter if the encounter is a chalenge for the group.

It's no big deal, just download it, and if the group you are running with has vent, get on their channel. Even without a microphone, you can at least listen. You don't have to host a server. If you want to lead encounters it would be nice to have access to a server, but unless you are leading runs, just download it and use it when your group is using it.

Some poeple use vent full time, and talk constantly while they are playing. I don't use it for that. Although I do like to listen in on instance runs sometimes if I'm farming.... If you have an imature guild that you don't like the /g chat on, then I would be surprised if the vent chat was any better however.

Lastly, I run regular wow sound over speakers, and guild voice chat over headset. I dont' want my family be subjected to the randomness of vent chat; and I can hear spearks just fine, even with head set on. So the only real cost inovolved is the head set, which is not required, just my prefernce.

Best regards,
Barry

[Stigg]

I think the website for teamspeak is www.goteamspeak.com Tikki - just downlaod the client and the server packages and install both. The server will run you through a set-up, and after that, you *should* be good to go. I had to tweak it a lot for when I made one for my twink guild, but as soon as you actually get it working, its fine.

Vent still is far superior....but no way in hell was I going to pay that to listen to a twink guild. /shudder. Worst week in my gaming life.

[Aurum]

Could you elaborate?

After much research the only type of "free" servers that I found before paying for our guild's were something like a 5 or 8 slot I beleive - which isn't good for guilds but may be useful for a player doing instances.

You just get version 2.1.2, 2.1.3 or 2.1.4. The old versions are free you dont have to pay to set up these servers. And to be able to connect to both old servers and new you get a client called ventrilomix! Ventrilomix can also connect to TS.

[Aresxx]

My guild / clan (I joined in 1999) has been using some type of voice comm for years, and imo, it makes for a better / tighter club. We started out as a Q2 clan and just kept moving to the next best game. Mostly FPS games, and in the last few months some of us started playing WoW. In any case, a lot of us just hang on the channel and talk about anything and everything while questing / bg's / farming. Groups go into a different channel for doing instances that way we can be a little more focused. On the other hand, we have very strict rules for getting into our club (18+ etc), and we require a substantial time for getting to know a new person before letting them join. As a result we all get along very well, but we are pretty small compared to a lot of WoW guilds.

Anyway, the two big programs to use these days are Teamspeak and Ventrilo. We have used both and all of use like Ventrilo a lot better. So much so that we pay for Ventrillo, when we could be running teamspeak for free (have our own dedicated server box).

[Dragonmaster]

I have yet to use it, and still I remain pretty tight with my friends through just typing. I'll probably give it a shot eventually (isn't WoW adding it in some patch so I don't need another program?). But I don't really raid or anything, usually just drinking and soloing with my Warlock, so typing works.

[spadron]

Worth mentioning that Blizz are planning to add voice ccommunication directly into the game in the near future.

[bhroam]

Other than instancing/raiding, I guess it comes down to why you play the game. Do you play the game because you enjoy the game, or the people. I personally have lost interest in most of the game other than raiding... rep grinds bore me... daily quests were a nice idea... but they're just highly paid rep grinds.

I play for the people. I enjoy hanging out on vent and bsing with ppl while doing stuff in game which would otherwise make me want to pull my hair out =]

[dwarfenhelm]

ive used teamspeak for years now playing various online games and would never imagine doing a raid with out having ts up and running. in my guild if you want to raid with us then you have to be running ts or you dont come. press a button and say orange shackle has broke or great im dead can someone pick up my target please. you cant type in the middle of a large fight and i cant be looking at the text bos in a fight either im to bussy making sure my target is being tanked checking the threat meter to make sure its looking good and keeping an eye on poss cc'd targets breaking free that i might need to mop up. even if most players in group dont have a mic they can listen to the raid leader.
also it really brings a lot of the guild together, yes you can type away all day to people but actualy having a chat and laugh as you play is IMO a lot more fun

[roiegat]

Also not sure if it was mentioned, but you can also create different channels on these servers. On our guild vent we have a general room and then rooms for each instance and several group channels. This way if some of us are going on a instance run well switch channels so everyone doesn't have to hear us.

And there are defintly no gold sellers.

[Pwnzaurs]

vent=dead after next patch. saw it on G4. patch lil later this year is going to put in a in-game talking system.
sweet
SCHWING!

[Kodonn]

vent=dead after next patch. saw it on G4. patch lil later this year is going to put in a in-game talking system.
sweet
SCHWING!

That really depends on how they set up the in-game voice system. Will it be open to everyone to join ? Is it just going to be an audio version of the /General chat ? Or will groups be able to set up their own "rooms" as needed ?

Not going to cancel my Vent subscription just yet.
Besides, Vent will actually let you talk with friends even if they've hopped servers.

[roiegat]

The in-game voice system does seem to have potential but I don't think it'll take over vent just yet. My first big concern with it is how it's going to affect game play. In theory when the game has more to do (in this case encode and decode audio) it would slow it down more. So we'll see how that affects things. Hopefully it won't be an issue.

Second, I'd like to see if they make it so you can talk with peopel in your guild or group. That would be cool for PUGS. I'm really hoping that you can avoid hearing everyone in the general chat because lets face it, I'd rather not hear any chuck norris jokes or any kinda of harrasament via voice. can you imagine the gold sellers trying to sell you gold with this?

guess we'll see on the next patch release.

[poopsmcgee]

vent=dead after next patch. saw it on G4. patch lil later this year is going to put in a in-game talking system.
sweet
SCHWING!

lol hardly. u know there are games other than wow that benefit from vent and ts.

[SirBazturd]

vent=dead after next patch. saw it on G4. patch lil later this year is going to put in a in-game talking system.
sweet
SCHWING!


I disagree.

Blizz has added many of the popular mods to the game. BUT, they only have the basics. I still use the add ons b/c Bliz does not provide nearly as many options as the mod makes do. I expect the same out of their voice communication.


Also, my guildies and I play a bunch of different games. Vent lets us communicate (chatter like a bunch of old ladies) while playing other games.

[Wintrow]

The good thing is, you just download and install BOTH programs and only use them when someone asks you to. The rest of the time they just sit there installed and harmless.

You join a guild that has a ventrilo-server: start up vent when you log in. You join a group that is using Teamspeak: start up teamspeak. (Just don't use them at the same time... they don't get along very well :tongue:)

If you wanna talk as well instead of just listen I strongly advise getting a headset that uses USB. AVOID non-USB microphones/headsets. While they MAY work fine you got a 90% chance you'll be hearing/sending out a LOT of static. And after a lot of fiddling you MAY start becoming understandable. With a USB microphone it's really Plug and Play.

The advantage of getting a headset is that:
1. you're not creating a loop between your speakers and your microphone.
2. your environment doesn't have to put up with the unpredictable party-members suddenly spouting profanity when someone pulls aggro off the tank or some nitwit pulled adds.

My experiences with "vent" and "ts":grin:.

[SirBazturd]

If you wanna talk as well instead of just listen I strongly advise getting a headset that uses USB. AVOID non-USB microphones/headsets. While they MAY work fine you got a 90% chance you'll be hearing/sending out a LOT of static. And after a lot of fiddling you MAY start becoming understandable. With a USB microphone it's really Plug and Play.
:.


I haven't had this problem at all. I use cheap (plugs into mic and speaker spot) headset b/c I tend to roll over them with my chair. I also don't send out static.

I'm not saying USB isn't easier. Your post makes me want to give one a try to see the difference. I just wanted to say that the regular ones work fine for me.

[moopy]

If you wanna talk as well instead of just listen I strongly advise getting a headset that uses USB. AVOID non-USB microphones/headsets. While they MAY work fine you got a 90% chance you'll be hearing/sending out a LOT of static. And after a lot of fiddling you MAY start becoming understandable. With a USB microphone it's really Plug and Play.

..unless you have a decent quality mic pre-amp and high-end ADC hooked up all the time anyway for other reaaons, and then a cheap USB headset sounds a lot worse :)

[poopsmcgee]

i've had the same plantronics set for years now, non-usb, and haven't ever had any trouble. well except that the kids keep losing the foam off the mic.

[amgyn]

vent/Teamspeak is a must for a raiding/pvp guild... otherwise its just a nice addon to the guild as you can chit chat with guildies, and see how everybody pronounces "Auchindoun" :P :P

[Aresxx]

vent/Teamspeak is a must for a raiding/pvp guild... otherwise its just a nice addon to the guild as you can chit chat with guildies, and see how everybody pronounces "Auchindoun" :P :P

Or any other word in this game. lol

[Wintrow]

The first time my brother raided using Vent the way the British said "pally" cracked him up.

[odinsnephew]

The first time my brother raided using Vent the way the British said "pally" cracked him up.

Im British and confused at this comment! :ponder:

I've never used vent but I imagine it would quite amusing to use due to all the different nationalities and languages in the EU realms.

[bwirum]

Yeah, we have quite a few nationalities in our guild, from Polish to British to Norwegian and then some, and being on TS in our case can bring on some laughs. You expect something to be pronounced one way, then someone else pronounces it completely different and you really have to ask what they actually meant...

[dwarfenhelm]

i must add the idea of a blizzard in game voice chat would be a nightmare. with ts you can password it or just give your ip to guild people or good friends. but to have the childish slating that goes on in general party chat sometimes to be coming through your speakers would be to much to put up with

[flyingsumo]

In game voice chat sounds like a lag nightmare to me

[Naedea]

vent/Teamspeak is a must for a raiding/pvp guild... otherwise its just a nice addon to the guild as you can chit chat with guildies, and see how everybody pronounces "Auchindoun" :P :P

Ugh.

Shattrath -> Shathra
Karazhan -> Kaz
Attumen -> Ottoman
Sepethrea -> Sepenthra, or just "that fiery byotch"