VoIP do we need it?

Venombrew

Master endo
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
369
well its not that big of an issue since VOIP is considered old news in games. adding VOIP is not ground breaking in anyway, SoT has VOIP, AA, PS2, AS, Rust, WA, and list goes on. plus i never played a game with VOIP and it didn't have a turn off function for it. Its one of those things where you can have it in the game, and if you dont like it you can just turn it off. why say no to it and cause people who do want it to be left out for those who don't want it, when all they have to do is just turn it off. now if it didn't have a turn off feature, that i could understand, but ive yet to see a game with it that didn't have the feature.
 

BadNation

Well-known endo
Joined
May 15, 2020
Messages
58
I think that performance comes first, the game already has problems with large amounts of people and ships I think it would only be worth it if they can fix that.
Although it does have problems, VOIP will add a lot of rp and immersion elements that will be missed out on, but I do agree that performance should come first.
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2020
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3
As a streamer I would not stream a second of any MMO that has VOIP which is either opt-out or global or proximity only or whatever. If I am not in control of what is happening in my stream I have a problem. Twitch's TOS are strict and DMCA strikes are a common thing by now.
Is it a good idea for EA? Maybe not.
The ability to turn it off would be a necessity, and is something most games with VOIP have.
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2020
Messages
14
VOIP for sure, if we cant get it atleast some "emotes" with sound I hope, Predefined messages like "Yes", "No", "Cut your engines or die!" etc
 

BadNation

Well-known endo
Joined
May 15, 2020
Messages
58
VOIP for sure, if we cant get it atleast some "emotes" with sound I hope, Predefined messages like "Yes", "No", "Cut your engines or die!" etc
I like the concept of some messages like that I think it would add a lot of immersion if people don't have the use of mics
 

rabirland

Learned-to-sprint endo
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
22
the first thing I disable in games is VoIP, nobody is curious about no one's background noise, shitty tesco microphone, constant static, etc...
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2020
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12
the first thing I disable in games is VoIP, nobody is curious about no one's background noise, shitty tesco microphone, constant static, etc...
Understandable but so many games are so greatly improved by VoIP. While certainly not something to be a priority, VoIP allows for very... colorful expression from one gamer to another. Though a public vicinity VoIP would be a hellscape in space stations, maybe radio-transmissions with different channels could be worked into ships?
 
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
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the first thing I disable in games is VoIP, nobody is curious about no one's background noise, shitty tesco microphone, constant static, etc...
As Sloppy Stalin said: understandable. On the other hand: don't be surprised if you get unexpectedly gunned down by someone, just because you didn't hear their warnings to not come closer / surrender your cargo / etc (provided VoIP would be included)
 
Joined
Dec 15, 2020
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I think communication is a huge thing in games where meeting another player out in the middle of nowhere puts you on edge. Text chat is too slow when you need to know something quickly or throw out key information at a moment's notice.
I think VoIP is essential for a game like this.
 

rabirland

Learned-to-sprint endo
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
22
As Sloppy Stalin said: understandable. On the other hand: don't be surprised if you get unexpectedly gunned down by someone, just because you didn't hear their warnings to not come closer / surrender your cargo / etc (provided VoIP would be included)
For that, I prefer a voice-commands like in Tribes Ascend, or user-made macros. The added negativity of VoIP in games FAAAR exceeds the added positivity, so it doesn't worth it for me.

Plus, to make it "logical" and prevent heavy noise and spam at stations, the range should be really low, so either way pirates must use chat to notify a target from 30+ meters.
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2020
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I think all of the cons of VoIP could simply be washed away by just saying that you can only contact on the radio of your ship kind of like what biglet said. This makes sense not only because radios and stuff but also because you can't speak in space. I know there is already noises in space in this game but still, they could just say you can't talk because you are in space. Also I think there should be quick emotes like putting your hands up for when you are not in your ship.
 
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Messages
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For that, I prefer a voice-commands like in Tribes Ascend, or user-made macros. The added negativity of VoIP in games FAAAR exceeds the added positivity, so it doesn't worth it for me.

Plus, to make it "logical" and prevent heavy noise and spam at stations, the range should be really low, so either way pirates must use chat to notify a target from 30+ meters.
I haven't played Tribes Ascend, so I can't say much to that. Still I think it would be hard if not impossible to have a command for every eventuality. The issue of of heavy noise at stations could be solved by having the option increase/reduce the radius you hear in, or automatically reducing it at stations.

I think all of the cons of VoIP could simply be washed away by just saying that you can only contact on the radio of your ship kind of like what biglet said. This makes sense not only because radios and stuff but also because you can't speak in space. I know there is already noises in space in this game but still, they could just say you can't talk because you are in space. Also I think there should be quick emotes like putting your hands up for when you are not in your ship.
Personally, I wouldn't limit it to only ship radio, but maybe having the option of ship radio transmissions as way for relatively long way communication.
 
Joined
May 11, 2020
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I disagree with VOIP in Starbase in terms of always-open, always able to talk into someone's ear.

The main reason is the development time to implement it isn't worth it. It barely gets used outside of messing with someone. Everyone generally remains quiet to not give away information, or to not let someone know their voice, or to not give away their position. Most bulk teamwork voice chat is done on Discord, Teamspeak and Mumble, so it's not like it adds much utility.

In addition, we're robots, and it doesn't fit the theme to hear someone's accent or human language coming across from robots. Although VOIP is useful in niche cases of heated combat, it's overall just a lot of noise that breaks people out of the game experience.

I think more effective than VOIP would be emote sounds, where unique beeps, boops and doots are sounded from our robots when we emote. We'll know that some random person said 'yes' by their unique emote, or 'charge!' or some other thing, and if we can get some variation on the tone of those sounds, we have somewhat unique voices, and a gameplay themed way to communicate in game. Although people running around spamming the latest meme-song at max volume seems fun, it's not worth the dev time, and more intricate and immersion-creating options should be looked at instead.

Some small form of VOIP like ship-to-ship hailing like what Elite does might be ok, but not something I'd expect at the start.
Honestly some of my fondest memories of playing online games involve some perfect comedy timing over VOIP.
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2020
Messages
14
Maybe some options for people who dont like it could be.

Reduce all VOIP to background radio chatter, that way you know someone is trying to hail you and you can respond with a message.
Switch it off but have an icon when someone broadcasts near you.
Have it switched off except for direct communication (Privat channel)
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2020
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Yeah a hailing mechanic would be awesome. I feel like you could also do a long distance comms, but with the ship having send/receive hardware and the base/other ship also having it. Then you could only hail long distance if you knew the address of the send destination.
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Messages
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For that, I prefer a voice-commands like in Tribes Ascend, or user-made macros. The added negativity of VoIP in games FAAAR exceeds the added positivity, so it doesn't worth it for me.

Plus, to make it "logical" and prevent heavy noise and spam at stations, the range should be really low, so either way pirates must use chat to notify a target from 30+ meters.
I get it - and to your earlier comment as well - you clearly don't play games like Day Z, do you? Games like that (which have definite similarities with Starbase) absolutely need VOIP or a huge element of the game is missing. Fortunately, Starbase is much bigger than Day Z and similar games, so it wouldn't be a deal breaker... it still would really really miss out on something amazing, IMO.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2020
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4
Personally I think a mixture of VoIP and some pre-existing dialogue options would be best, with certain limitations built into the VoIP.

For VoIP - Voice Chat is limited strictly to parties, with players able to hail others and invite them to join their communications. Players not in each others groups would not hear other player's mics.

The dialogue option would be a handful of basic responses for potential situations - a bit barebones, but it'd get the job done. Think like Sea of Thieves, where you can use the pirate wheel of text to post phrases that let you get your intentions across, like demanding a player's items or threatening them to show you're hostile or some kind of phrase to show you're interested in something more peaceful, like trading.
 
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Messages
15
For VoIP - Voice Chat is limited strictly to parties, with players able to hail others and invite them to join their communications. Players not in each others groups would not hear other player's mics.
That pretty much would be VoIP without what makes it useful. If I can only talk to players I already know anyway, what's stopping me from just using Discord?
 
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