What's with the infestation of Skype in multiplayer gaming?

[JTsyo]

Playing with friends on voice is a world of difference than just playing with random people. It makes gaming a much better social experience. It doesn't even have to be IRL friends. People you meet online are real people too, just pick the good ones for friends.

 

[Blue_Max]

I know TS3 probably has a bigger following, but Mumble is awesome. The voice quality is outstanding.

Does it use fewer inet + cpu resources? If so, my kids & I will make the switch tomorrow!

We use skype for voice when gaming - it's 100% necessary.

 

[gothamhunter]

I'm honestly very surprised to see that no one uses the built-in Steam voice chat. That's all I use.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Does it use fewer inet + cpu resources? If so, my kids & I will make the switch tomorrow!

We use skype for voice when gaming - it's 100% necessary.

Probably. The Mumble client and server are both lightweight. I've heard of people running a 30 person server off a Raspberry Pi using their home broadband.

The quality is outstanding, though. Give it a try.

I've actually got a 15 person server I rented that rarely gets used. If you guys want to try Mumble, send me a PM for the server information.

 

[Blue_Max]

I'm honestly very surprised to see that no one uses the built-in Steam voice chat. That's all I use.

I should try that... it IS almost exclusively steam games we're playing.

Has to be super-easy to use though... we're talking about kids here.

 

[Man I Suck]

I'm honestly very surprised to see that no one uses the built-in Steam voice chat. That's all I use.

It's garbage compared to literally every other voice option available.

 

[BlueWeasel]

It's garbage compared to literally every other voice option available.

The voice quality of Steam is really poor for me as well. I've tried tweaking it but with not much luck.

 

[Morbus]

I never understood voice chat in games to begin with. If i wanted to hear other people talk i would invite them over.

You must not play games where voice chat is relevant.

Voice chat in Counter Strike is essential, and it's built into the game for that reason.
I imagine any MOBA style game is similar in that regard.
Apart from that, coops and colabs for youtube need some sort of voip solution, and probably any MP game where you're playing with friends that can't come over...

 

[cronos]

I have a Mumble server setup on my gaming computer for the occasional co-op game with my son (his computer is in his bedroom, saved my voice from shouting throughout), which works perfectly.

For those of you who don't know, mymumble.com gives away free 5-slot mumble server without any catch whatsoever. I registered for this maybe almost two years ago, but never actually used it, until about two months ago when I started gaming online again with a couple of friends who are spreaded around the world so I logged in to my free server and it still worked. We actually ended up using it to hangout and chat when we weren't playing any game as well.

 

[Man I Suck]

The voice quality of Steam is really poor for me as well. I've tried tweaking it but with not much luck.

Not to mention the features it doesn't have that literally every other voice option offers. If you actually like Steam's voice call deal, prepare to be blown away at how rich and powerful other programs like vent or teamspeak or mumble are.

Pff, you can even run a free 8-or-less user teamspeak server on your own computer with practically no impact to performance.

 

[TheSlamma]

I think Teamspeak is very helpful. No way I can do LAN parties anymore. Wife prolly wouldn't be excited about it, plus most of the guys I play with are all over the place. Connecticut, Cali, Minnesota, Michigan, Sweden, New Mexico just to name a few.