Topic: Ventrilo Server Information - Now Public!

[Morloki]

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(copied from Zanriel's original post)

Ventrilo server:

We have a 75 user Ventrilo server, replete with several channels for us to use for groupings and whatever else. It has now been approved for public use, Wishmakers and non-guild members may join the main lobby, while all other channels are password protected for full Order members only.

Ventrillo Settings Information:

Address: vent2.clanservers.com
Port: 4934
Server password: order
If you are running Windows Vista or 7, you must set up your shortcut to run as Administrator in order for Push to Talk to work in SWTOR. To do that, right-click on the Ventrilo icon, go to Properties, Compatability Tab, and check the box for "Run as Administrator".

Setting up Ventrillo:

1.First you need a microphone, of course. A headset microphone works well because then people won't be hearing themselves coming out the speakers, back into your microphone, and over Ventrilo back to you.

2.Test the microphone and make sure it works. What many people often suggest is that you try it with Sound Recorder in Windows. Go to Start-> Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> SoundRecorder. Try recording something and make sure you get playback.

If you don't hear anything, check your volume control. Make sure your microphone is not muted. On many sound cards, you have to go to a special place in the mixer to set the recording level. That's the little gray speaker looking icon down by your clock. Here's how to set the recording level and desired input device on most PC's and soundcards:

Go to Options -> Properties and click on the radio button called "Recording".

3. Download and install the Ventrilo client. Here's where it can be found:

http://www.ventrilo.com/download.php

4.Install it, run it, and create a user name. It's totally arbitrary, just pick whatever you want people to see show up when you connect.

5. Click on the Setup button and adjust it the way you like. Here's how I have mine set, you can use it as an example:

Details

6. Easy enough so far? Hit the "Test" button and make sure you can hear yourself talking. Adjust the Outbound so that it's clear and loud without being distorted and scratchy. The most common thing I've found is that the "outbound" volume is either too high or too low.

If you prefer to use "voice activated" mode instead of "push to talk", keep in mind that the higher the number on the sensitivity, the louder you'll have to be before the microphone kicks in and starts transmitting. Experiment to find the best setting.

7. Hit "OK", then click on the arrow next to the "Server" field to add/edit a server. Enter the info as follows:

Address: vent2.clanservers.com
Port: 4934
Server password: order

Details

You can also use the settings at the beginning of these instructions to manually set up the log in.

8.We have several rooms set up for people to use. We have three rooms for regular groups, and one room for each council, where people can gather for raids and big events. Of course if you just want to chat, please stay in the lobby.

9. When you are done, please exit Ventrilo. We're limited to 40 users on at one time. We'd hate to have to kick people off the server to make room!

I hope everyone has fun hearing their guildmates over voice chat! It's 10X easier to coordinate groups when you don't have to stop what you're doing to type.

Please donate!

Here's where you can go and donate if you'd like to help pay for Ventrilo:

ClanPay

You can also click the handy dandy Donations block on the left side of the site. Moneys donated there are used to support our webhosting needs as well as any short-falls for the Vent server.

The cost of the server is $19.95/month for 75 users. It comes out of my pocket unless people donate, and that's okay! I don't mind! But I do have a kid to feed, toys to buy, etc. Oh... the toys? No, those are for me! HAHA! ;-)

How to equalize the incoming volume of everyone on vent

[solgar]

Works great.  Even got it working under WINE on Ubuntu!!

[Zanriel]

The server's down and my bank account is $39 in the negative. If anyone wants to toss a few coins in the machine, we can be back up in a jiff.

Here's the link:

http://www.gameservers.com/clanpay/?clanid=d6e426b58b11ad75f45e137a499a1066

[Kirotei]

Balance should be paid now - dunno how long it'll take for the server to be put back up, though. ^^;

[Zanriel]

Yay! It's alive!

[Cipe]

Howdy boss(es)!  Just thought I'd share something I came across a while back, but just remembered: http://www.wow.com/2010/07/18/ventrilo-vs-mumble/

It's an open source Vent alternative.

[Savarus]

Just out of curiosity what is the cost per month for our vent server? or whatever the pay period is.

[Rainbreeze]

I don't know the answer to that, but I'm glad someone posted.  That helped me remember that by golly I have my own debit card these days!  (Why I didn't have one before is a complicated explanation I won't go into here. lol  No, I wasn't a spender.  It's something else)

blah blah blah anyway, I get to help pay for vent now!  Yeee haw!

Oh, and I heard someone, recently, talking about a more instant voice chat system that's available.  Was that Kiro and Treph talking about that?  What is it, and we should look into it.  What's that thing Cipe posted?  Is it nice?

I'd go look 'cept I'm skeerd I won't understand what I'm looking at.

[Kriggs]

Well for voice services, you've got either ventrilo, or Teamspeak.

The big thing with TS is that you can host your own server for free.

[Zanriel]

It's like $10 per month for 75 users. They must have bumped us up because it used to be 40 or 50 users.

We've used both Ventrilo and Teamspeak. We tried Teamspeak in the past because Ventrilo didn't have the Speex codec for Mac users, but nobody liked it, so we went back to Vent and now it has Speex too. It seems to have better features, and it's a lot easier to control things like sound quality and volume level. Then again, we haven't messed with Teamspeak in quite a while, it might be better now.

[Kriggs]

theyre about even now, Teamspeak 3 has a lot of improvements.

[Kirotei]

The speech program I was talking about to Treph is what Cipe linked, Mumble. It's a lesser-known alternative to Teamspeak and Ventrilo, but has several advantages over them that I really liked.

For one, it has about as much lag (time between you saying something and everyone hearing it) as a regular phone call (< 1s in normal conditions, probably ~0.5s). I've definitely noticed a delay between when we call out a warning on vent in raids and when that warning actually gets through, so much so that when you hear me say "<big nasty thing you should avoid> in 5 seconds!", I'm saying it when my boss timers read 8 seconds on the nasty thing, to give people enough time to react.

The other thing that's nice about Mumble is that instead of making players adjust their outgoing/incoming volumes, the program adjusts itself to how loud or soft the people you're listening to are. Dunno about you guys, but I know of a few super-quiet and ears-bleeding vent users even when I'm using that normalization trick, so using a program that will keep everyone at a comfortable volume without me having to set up anything sounds really, really convenient.

Finally, Mumble is open source, which means that if we wanted to, we could set up a server running it without having to pay for a dedicated one (Ventrilo, on the other hand, won't let you create a dedicated server  for more than 8 people unless you plan on buying over 1000 server licenses). I'm not sure about how feasible this is with our existing web server's bandwidth, but it might be worth exploring if we're looking to save money.

Switching over to mumble would definitely be a big change for us, but at the same time I think it's something we should really look into.

[Rainbreeze]

The name of it is really funny.  I like that.  Even more, I like the idea of a more real-time transfer of voice chat and the self-adjusting feature.  It doesn't sound like it would be that hard for us to switch over as a guild.

Now, for good ol' pug land, we guildees would already have vent on our compies for using other people's servers.  How easy or hard would it be to get puggies on Mumble when they come places with us?

[Monnan]

I have used Mumble while playing FPS in tournaments and it beats vent and TS hands down the lag time (if set up right) is not even enough for you to notice!

As for setting it up for out of guild people that we take on runs it isn't that hard. As long as you have someone that can trouble shoot (mic plugged into the wrong port etc..). If you read the article that Cipe posted it explains it very nicely.

[Kriggs]

I'm not sure what kind of bandwidth a voice server uses, but it can't be that much, given the prices hosting companies charge.

[Moonlitangel]

Are the settings still the same?

Address: vent2.clanservers.com
Port: 4934
Server username: twilight

[Rainbreeze]

That looks right to me.  They haven't changed from what they were many moons ago, no pun intended there, Angel.

And we're still using ventrilo, though I'd really like for Zan and whoever else to explore this Mumble option sometime. 

[Moonlitangel]

But if you all mumble then what good is it to have open communication?

Thanks Rain - trying to get back into the swing of things so I can participate more efficiently when grouping/raiding.

[Rainbreeze]

Hey guys and gals, where's the thread that shows how to balance out vent volume?  Madman and I looked for it and couldn't find it yet.  Anyone know off the top of their head?  I can consolidate it into this thread when we find it to make it easier for others in the future. 

[Kriggs]

I dug this out of the ancient past, but my old Horde guild had a guide for it.

http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=121964&ForumID=886096&TabID=1039975&Replies=2&TopicID=5129523

(If it shows a blank post, highlight it, the text is hidden for whatever reason)

[Zanriel]

It's in

[Zanriel]

It's in Tech Support. Ventrilo Tips and Tricks.

[Rainbreeze]

You is gonna make me go fahnd it mahself?  You better watch yerself there, buddee cuz I might woop up on you with a JUDEE CHOP!

HIY--YYAH!

[Dramber]

Updated the first post with the current vent info, pricing, and how to donate information.

[Rainbreeze]

Very nice!  Looks like you highlighted the link I threw in there earlier today. lol