-scape- group *voice* chat?

[Iskanderia]

I think this sounds irritating. And as far as just a few people going off to Skype on their own on the day of the chat - that sounds kinda shitty. Like, do it a different day or something, because otherwise normal chat would end up sucking.

If the majority decides to go with it, I'm sure I'll give it a shot, but I'm voting no.

 

[Ravenson]

I couldn't vote for anything in the poll, mine doesn't exist in there at all. D'X

At first, i don't have working microphone that i could use with skype, despite that skype's from here Estonia(ayes free education ppl : ))) and i don't feel such SCAPEspirit to manage to fix it. xD

second, theres no way that i could in the middle of saturday night go sit at computer and speak in english and the other people who live here would be fine with it. XD

for third, my accent is SO terrible that you would just totally ignore me as you couldn't get a word i say or at best chance you'd laugh your heads off.

K, my point is that i hope you will not replace the ordinary chat with the voice thing, otherwise i can't attend on neither in future (and i believe im not the very only one about that).

 

[Iskanderia]

You were supposed to vote no then!

 

[Ravenson]

You mean " Ew no IRC is good enough for me!" ?
well, the rest of words in it after 'no' make it kinda wrong to vote for me, as i don't think "ew" but i think it would be interesting to try out but i think less people have opportunities to take part of voice chat than from the irc one.
So i support no replacing and also some better timing than this late in the evening, it should be totally possible.

 

[Antaeus]

Don't worry about it Antaeus. I can honestly say I've been on a voice chat with 20+ people and it worked out just fine.

Then again it was an mmo, but we still chatted like regular buddies asides from the battle strategy. >_>;

From my own experience, I have played Unreal Tournament and Soul Calibur matches online with a mic on, and in both cases it was quite messy(and that was just with 4 other persons). Voice chatting for actual 'socialising' is a bit different because there isn't a game that will distract you, but I remember it already got a bit messy with 3 people(never did a groupchat bigger than that as a normal conversation).

If your computer's memory can't handle the large influx of data hitting it at once, it with either lag to hell or crash. How do I know? Personal experience.

One, two, or even three people at once generally isn't a problem, but when you start getting into five and six, or even nine or ten, that's when it starts to get sketchy.

That depends on the program actually. The voice itself isn't the problem, it's the program you are using. I have never tried Skype, but if the program requires a lot of memory, then voice chatting will cost a lot of memory too. However, a normal voice chat through (an older version) of msn doesn't require a good computer, just a computer that can run msn and has a good network card. 215MB is enough, I would say that even 64(or perhaps even 32MB) is enough for a decent voice conversation.

 

[PureElegance]

I donno, I'm not sure I want to do it XD

I don't want my whole family to listen to our conversations either, they'll probably be home at that time so...(and no, I won't use headphones.) ::kisaki:: I've used Skype before but only when there's no one there XD

Like, do it a different day or something, because otherwise normal chat would end up sucking. If the majority decides to go with it, I'm sure I'll give it a shot, but I'm voting no.

I'd be interesting to try, but I fear that it won't be the same. In the end, it'd end up being only 2 or three people talking and everyone else being drowned out and not being able to comment. I, for one, have a very soft spoken voice, so yeah..
I'd be willing to try it out, though.

I donno, I'm with Iska and Priss here >.>

 

[Garnet in the Eden]

Well, I think it's a nice idea that should be a separate thing to the scape chat. Just those who want to do it can set a date and chat (during the scape chat maybe?)

 

[Lem]

I use to also chat with large groups over dial up and had no problem either.

I think I only had either 256MB RAM or 512MB of RAM too.

Don't worry about it Antaeus. I can honestly say I've been on a voice chat with 20+ people and it worked out just fine.

Then again it was an mmo, but we still chatted like regular buddies asides from the battle strategy. >_>;

From my own experience, I have played Unreal Tournament and Soul Calibur matches online with a mic on, and in both cases it was quite messy(and that was just with 4 other persons). Voice chatting for actual 'socialising' is a bit different because there isn't a game that will distract you, but I remember it already got a bit messy with 3 people(never did a groupchat bigger than that as a normal conversation).

I have played with 40+ people It had it's chaotic moments but generally when a tank died

It's just like talking on the phone.....only with a larger group and you're chained to your computer. The voice chat should have the option to let people type. I can really feel for some of you when you say you maybe too embarrassed or shy to talk. I am also painfully shy and it took me a great deal of time to even start talking to the people I been playing WoW with for the past two years. Only in the last few months have I started to talk with them over vent, I use to always talk to them by just typing in game. With the scape voice chat I probably won't be very chatty either so that's why I would think there needs to be a chat option so that people don't feel left out.

 

[navate]

I don't go to the chats, but I think this sounds like a terrible idea for the reasons already given. It excludes introverts, people who don't feel comfortable with their English, and people who don't have access to headphones (if they're embarrassed or unable to have a live chat in the middle of their living room or whatnot) or microphones. And it's probably going to end up one of two ways: everyone talking over each other, or a couple of the loudest people chatting back and forth while excluding everyone else. Not to mention there is no way to keep a transcript of live chats in the event something goes awry.

Regular chats are more inclusive for everyone and I would prefer that's as far as the "scape chats" go, insomuch as there are any scape chats to begin with. One of the reasons we didn't want chats in the first place was because of exclusion of those not participating; doing a voice chat would end up excluding some people who DID want to participate.

 

[Kyuketsuki]

^ These are all valid points, and this is why, if it's done at all, it would only be once.


As for lack of mics, if you get any pair of headphones and plug them into the microphone jack, they'll work just like a mic.

Also, if we do do this, I'll be doing everything I can to keep it from getting too loud. People being timid about their accents are being silly, too- most of the native speakers on scape are american and we're used to hearing accents all the time. We're the 'world's melting pot' for a reason, so I don't want to hear that as anyone's excuse. XD

Carry on....

 

[Kyuketsuki]

You mean " Ew no IRC is good enough for me!" ?
well, the rest of words in it after 'no' make it kinda wrong to vote for me, as i don't think "ew" but i think it would be interesting to try out but i think less people have opportunities to take part of voice chat than from the irc one.
So i support no replacing and also some better timing than this late in the evening, it should be totally possible.

well, you get the point. XD I was trying to liven it up a bit. I figured it would be better than just having, "Yes", "No", "Maybe", or "I don't know".

 

[PureElegance]

people who don't have access to headphones (if they're embarrassed or unable to have a live chat in the middle of their living room or whatnot)

Amen!

I probably won't be able to do this because of that right thar...oh wellz.

 

[navate]

^ These are all valid points, and this is why, if it's done at all, it would only be once.


As for lack of mics, if you get any pair of headphones and plug them into the microphone jack, they'll work just like a mic.

Also, if we do do this, I'll be doing everything I can to keep it from getting too loud. People being timid about their accents are being silly, too- most of the native speakers on scape are american and we're used to hearing accents all the time. We're the 'world's melting pot' for a reason, so I don't want to hear that as anyone's excuse. XD

Carry on....

Frankly, if it's done at all, I would rather it not be organized on or associated with the forum. Even the text chats are becoming far more "official" than they should be, reoccurring every month and being organized on the forum despite the lack of official moderation, and involving only a small number of people who have become something of a clique. Maybe it's just me but I have noticed that since the chats have started, the discussion on the forum seems to have deteriorated to many more in-jokes and chattiness/banter than we ever had before. Very few active threads are about bands or music anymore, and that kinda bothers me.

So, my stance is that if this happens I would prefer that it be organized off the public forum.

 

[Antaeus]

Maybe it's just me but I have noticed that since the chats have started, the discussion on the forum seems to have deteriorated to many more in-jokes and chattiness/banter than we ever had before. Very few active threads are about bands or music anymore, and that kinda bothers me.

This is very true, not really related to the topic, but the kind of users on this forum aren't really here for the 'forum' but for the 'community'. Community building on a forum was never really my thing. I am used to the type of forum that are about discussions and increasing each other's knowledge. Oh well, make me think of the old days when the internet was just new and less..accesible.

Then again, this is not the topic to complain about that, but it's good to hear that a moderator noticed this.

 

[Kyuketsuki]

Frankly, if it's done at all, I would rather it not be organized on or associated with the forum. Even the text chats are becoming far more "official" than they should be, reoccurring every month and being organized on the forum despite the lack of official moderation, and involving only a small number of people who have become something of a clique. Maybe it's just me but I have noticed that since the chats have started, the discussion on the forum seems to have deteriorated to many more in-jokes and chattiness/banter than we ever had before. Very few active threads are about bands or music anymore, and that kinda bothers me.

So, my stance is that if this happens I would prefer that it be organized off the public forum.

Discussion about bands hasn't changed since the chats started- it's been the same- there's just not a lot going on right now and hasn't been for quite sometime.

As for the chats seeming too official, I asked Flowers long before I ever started it up if it was alright to do it the way I've done it, and he gave me the go ahead. Since they *have* been successful, and yes, we do talk about music a lot on there, I don't know what the problem is aside from scape's userbase perhaps becoming more solidified in a time of such informational drought.

This is very true, not really related to the topic, but the kind of users on this forum aren't really here for the 'forum' but for the 'community'.

You're very incorrect here. Please check out past threads, when you have the time. There's not a lot going on right now- mana's pretty dead at the moment, Gackt's just rehashing old favourites, Klaha's been MIA for ages, Kozi's started up potential activity yet but I don't think anything new has been put out so far. Hora's been dead recently, and Kaya's also taken to rehashing old releases.

We're in a bit of a drought, as I said earlier, with artists related to Malice Mizer. Since this is a specialized forum, I suppose things can only be so active, as it's heavily dependent on the activity of a small group of people. If that small group of people isn't up to much, then things get chatty in order to keep the forum alive until something worthwhile comes up to be discussed.

That, and when you've talked and debated with the same people for a few years, it's hard to remain business-like towards them on the INTERNET. I know you're not into the touchy-feely stuff, Antaeus, but I don't think you can really crucify us for getting along so well.

Everyone is welcome to come to the chats- there's been no question about this. Therefore, to dispel some of these claims, I'd like to ask that everyone that perhaps doesn't regularly show up to please come to the next one.


edit:

@Navate: For what it's worth, I do my best to moderate it. The invitation has been out since the begining for either you or flowers to step in if you want, but since no one's been interested, I've just been trucking along with it. Also, in order to control such things as you mentioned from spinning out of control, this is why they're only once a month and for a certain time. If I catch people still around in the morning, I mass kick and tell everyone to go to bed. I don't let it drag on for days because I respect you and Flowers' wish not to have a permanent, 24h chat, because quite personally, I wouldn't want that either. XD Basically, it's just like a get-together once a month where everyone can get to know each other better, discuss mutual interests, goof off, and talk about music and artists. Everyone's always been welcome to come. If they don't, I can't force them to join in if they're not interested, but I don't think it's really been hurting the forum as a whole to do them.

 

[DementedThingie]

As for the community thing I have to agree with Kyu. I've seen a good amount of people come and go but for what it's worth there's still the same bunch here that's been here for a very long time. I've been on scape for a good 4 years now and it's not really that odd for us to be a little more social than regular forums are.

 

[Iskanderia]

I just want to say that I agree completely with Kyu's post.

Also, I understand how some people may feel like things are getting a little "cliquey" but it's not like we're trying to form an exclusive club. Or rather, there may be a clique, but everyone is invited.

 

[Ravenson]

well, ....

well, you get the point. XD I was trying to liven it up a bit. I figured it would be better than just having, "Yes", "No", "Maybe", or "I don't know".

ok, must admit i do, (but i didn't at all when i first read them). just that i think that there should be also something like "don't have facilities" but what am i complaining.
Your and navate's posts made sense.. (i dont bother to quote more) i agree both of you, totally equally.


hahah I found that i basically can come and listen to you from my speakers. this one sounds fun. btw i found that actually i might get mic working and would even participate if it wouldn't be middle of night and i must be in the living room(yeah timing isn't discussed yet but certainly it ends up like the awful timing of the scapechat).

Communitything is part of an active forum being an active forum, older than a year-two.

 

[Kyuketsuki]

^ Also, if this is done through Skype, you can do voice and a chat log at the same time, to my knowledge. Therefore, the exceedingly modest among us can still listen along and comment.

 

[Garnet in the Eden]

Yeah. Also, I'm sure if something happens (although I can't see why it would) other people can mute the people they have a problem with.