Hi guys,
One for the admins: have any of you taken a look at Discord? - https://discordapp.com/
It looks very slick and may be worth considering, especially as it, and the companion tablet/phone apps, is free!
QuoteDiscord is always completely free to use with no gotchas. This means you can make as many servers as you want with no slot limitations.
Wondering how we’ll make money? In the future there will be optional cosmetics like themes, sticker packs, and sound packs available for purchase. We’ll never charge for Discord’s core functionality.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with TeamSpeak, per se, but withi this being, and remining, free, it could be a good time to switch.
Oldie has been looking at our voice comms recently and when he is back from holiday we should pester him to take a look at this one! Thanks for the headsup!
I can't see anything on that list of features which we're missing from TeamSpeak - what's the benefit?
Quote from: Tutonic;406155I can't see anything on that list of features which we're missing from TeamSpeak - what's the benefit?
It's free! :)
Seriously though, that's a good question. From what I can see, they appear to be overhauling everything to be a lot better looking and a lot simpler for the admins (I'm just going on what I've been told - I've never been an admin for any TS server), and players can connect from out of game while away from a PC as long as they have the mobile app - which again is free (the TeamSpeak app is £3.99).
Nothing is free :)
I'm totally open to an alternative to TeamSpeak if it offers a clear benefit to what we already have, and it's got to be clear because getting everyone to transition would probably be a pain in the arse.
Also, this is in their ToS...
QuoteWe will not charge you a fee to use the basic functionality of the Service. However, you may have to pay a fee to use certain features of the Service or to obtain Virtual Currency or Virtual Goods (as defined and discussed further below).
:eyebrow:
What was the one we tried before called?
There was GameVox that some of the CS:GO lot tried briefly but most just kept using TeamSpeak.
Gamevox is set up and can be used I think it in case we lose ts and the servers. It is a backup basically.
Sent from my Nexus 5
The compelling feature for Game Vox apart from it not being on our server and so usable as a backup if we have any problems with TS, is that it allowed for multiple channels. The idea being that in Arma as an example, if we had two squads in channel A and B their respective squad leaders could communicate privately in channel C. We can sort of fudge that already using in game comms with TS but Game Vox allows it work all in one app. Also there's no messing with IP addresses and ports.
Quote from: smilodon;406178it allowed for multiple channels. The idea being that in Arma as an example, if we had two squads in channel A and B their respective squad leaders could communicate privately in channel C. We can sort of fudge that already
....and you can non-fudge it by using whisper channels in TS, which DMR WoW officers have been using for years to communicate with each other during raids.
Quote from: TeaLeaf;406179....and you can non-fudge it by using whisper channels in TS, which DMR WoW officers have been using for years to communicate with each other during raids.
This.
The important thing is remembering the keybind, and pressing the right one.
Aha, I thought the general opinion was that the feature in TS was buggy, although I have never used it.
Oldie and I had a quick go with Game Vox a few weeks back. I was under the impression that the Game Vox version was a much better implementation than TS and did multiple channel better?
It does somethings better and other bits less well.
Another thing to consider is that most start-ups fail.
I've had a quick look and they've secured $12 million in VC but aren't making any money yet. I don't see how selling skins and stickers can support this business in the long term but then I'm not someone who would pay for that sort of thing.
Also worth checking their Privacy Policy per this redit post. https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/3jwa21/how_does_discord_make_money_are_there_any_plans/cuu971a
https://discordapp.com/privacy - I've tried to read it "The Company is not in the business of selling your information." but what comes next is a little vague. They will have an exist strategy and will probably sell to someone like EA :/
My 2 cents would be to set-up a little test for those that like new things to play with and see what happens down the line.
Hey Guys,
My Horde guild have just started using this in their community and it seems to be going down a storm. We used to Whatsapp and Mumble for comms and are now in the process of migrating across. AFAIK it's completely free although it is still in development. It works across all platforms except Windows phones.
Worth a look me thinks.
https://discordapp.com/
Thanks, Jewelz. I'll take a look and run some tests with some willing volunteers.
Out of interest ... did you also look at Gamevox? The tests we did with that were promising with the only real downside (at the time) was a lack of whisper channels and no plugin to see who was online.
We haven't tried Gamevox, Discord is the first one we've looked at. Whilst trying to break the Discord system, there were 40 of us in a channel and everything was buttery smooth - short of 40 voices talking at the same time chaos. No disconnects, no lag, no robotic voices, very nice. You can use "@" tags in chat to ping people's phones too (providing said phone is connected) So a @Oldbloke was send a notification to your phone. @everyone would send a notification to everyone. It all seems very nice.
If it works well this would be brilliant for games like star citizen where you would have a lot of people on doing the same thing and working as a team.
Issues I've found so far:
- No iPad version of the client.
- Can't use the iPhone client to configure server or permissions.
- Web client doesn't work in Safari.
- Web client appears to be port locked, so I can't use it at work.
- Windows client doesn't work on my work PC - I get a white window. I believe this is linked to being port locked again and won't display the main interface until it connects successfully to the servers.
I've also championed this on another forum here, but as I've never set up or run a TS server I have no frame of reference to judge its abilities.
The problem with new products in this space is catching up with TS is a tough ask. Community features and scalability take time to create and tune. Not to mention that many TS users paid for clients for mobile devices to use with our server.
Port issues might be a port 80 issue (and i'm going to guess you possibly run Skype?). Its not a bad client, the massive obvious up-side is its free! Which would obviously free up resources. I can imagine a switch from TS would be a bitter pill to swallow for many, me included. I use Windows Phone so it wouldn't work with my phone, which is a shame. However, I can always look at writing an app for us if it takes off :norty:
The cost part of this is definitely the plus. I suppose if an alternative server or service is ROI positive and bring with it better features than any small losses could be ignored.
I'm up for helping test any new products if you need feedback.
There's already been a post discussing this - perhaps these threads could be merged, forum gods?
http://www.deadmen.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?41880-Discord-A-viable-alternative-to-TeamSpeak
They have some very dubious stuff in their usage & privacy policies, so I would advise caution.
Like Dr. Moreau but for forums not humans, I have spliced the two threads together to create one new mutated hybrid monstrosity.
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