Winter rolls around, and once again Mr. Athena is making noises about playing World of Warcraft with me.
One problem we’ve had in the past is that we’d like to be able to talk to each other, but our computers are half a house away from each other (on purpose - when we’re working, we don’t want to be able to talk to each other.)
I know there’s systems like TeamSpeak out there that allow you to attach a headset to the computer and yak away. However, they require their own server, and I’m hoping to find something a little simpler that will allow us to just talk between ourselves while playing.
We’d thought of VOIP solutions, like Skype, but would that work while playing a game in the background? We also want to hear the game sounds - music, murlocks sneaking up behind us, etc.
No, for Teamspeak (TS), you don’t need your own server. My nephew and I regularly play games with each other using TS with only the two PC’s that each of us is using. I downloaded the TS server program and run it on my computer, then I load up the client TS and connect to myself. Then he connects to me from the other PC. The system works well and allows us to chat while playing.
It’s fairly simple to set up the server part, and if you have problems it comes with great documentation and there’s the forums at the TS site as well to help you.
So yeah, I’ve managed to use the server on my PC then connect to it with the client with no problems.
Teamspeak is my recommendation. Any VOIP solution you’ll find will almost certainly require a server/client setup. It’s really simple to use. One of you (the one with the more CPU cycles to spare on their comps) will run the server instance. The other will log on to that server (through your LAN), and the one hosting the server will log on with their own client locally.
You’ll have to do the same with any VOIP solution I know of.
Lots of the large IM services now offer voice chat. You will probably get a little bit of a delay/pause though.
The good news is it’s really easy to set up. Install the current version of the software, set up free accounts, plug in your headset/microphones and call each other.
google talk works really really well compared to most of the voice chat programs out there, and believe me I have tried them all, starting with Battle Com back in like 96 or maybe 98…anyway Google talk is easy as hell and no server required, just need an account for each of you. if you need gmail I or any of a few dozen people here can send you an invite.
Skype would be my choice. It’s free, easy to use (no server/client setup required), and it has among the best voice quality of any VOIP software I’ve used. It’ll work fine in the background while you’re playing WOW.
i highly recommend using team speak, though it is a bit tricky setting up, but once it is it works like wonders…
it is also free, at least the last time i was using it,
ventrillo is another one as mentioned above, but ts is better
if neither of you are very computer savvy, then id go with the recommendations of skype/msn/yahoo messengers…
they all have this feature and is very user friendlyish
