Category: Zone BBS Suggestions and Feedback
I regret to inform everyone that Ventrilo will not be coming back.
For those who are curious, it actually has nothing to do with licensing, billing, etc. The Ventrilo upgrade
to version 3.0 removes the way that we were using to generate our user files and there doesn't appear to be a way around this.
We use the user list to keep the ability to ban troublesome users and ensure that only registered users have access to the server.
We're looking at some other options and will report back.
If anyone has an idea for another voice chat client we could use, please post here. Teamtalk also will not work. We're looking at perhaps Teamspeak and other options now.
When I tried running a teamspeak server a few years back, the administration stuff looked good, but the audio quallity was crappy. They may have made it better, but it's something to watch for.
Personally I've never liked teamtalk. It always seemed like everyone was too quiet no matter what I did with using it, but most people I've talked to seem to like it well enough, so really that's just a personal thing.
ah stupid upgrading hey?! .. yeh i can never get teamtalk to work that well no matter how hard I try, and however much bandwidth I have!
anyway good luck with finding something! I hadn't used it for quite a while myself! :)
Teamspeak seems to be out because there's no way to disable guests logging in. And yes, the audio quality isn't great.
ok I am officially deleting ventrillo
Hmmm. I personally think we should have a #zonebbs channel on irc. It won't be speech but...maybe we can bounce ideas aroud in their.
what about talking communities?
I think that with talkingcommunities, anyone can come into the rooms.
Nope. You can have a log-in screen set up, and actually link to it right from the web page. The thing that blows about it, which the majority won't care about, is there's no Mac support. Sigh, but we all know mac users don't matter, because even though Apple has a screen reader built in, Windows is the standard, so I won't complain too much if they went with TC.
well, let's not turn this into a Mac VS. PC thing, please please? It's like the old JAWS VS. Window-eyes, Coke Vs. Pepsi debates. No answer is the right one for everyone, it's up to what people prefer to use. as for voice chat, how about Paltalk? I know people use them for both video which won't matter to most of us but it does have audio, not sure how the sound quality is? and I was just thinking, don't we already have phone conferences on Zone By Phone? I mean aren't those enough for you guys? lol!
The mac thing was more a joke than anything else...I can run both. Phone conferences don't have as much structure as we did on Ventrilo though, because everyone kinda talks at one time oh the phone, and on VT, you actually had to press a button when you talked, and let up when you were done.
I think we tried IRC once and it wasn't hugely popular. Mind you, it was on Freedom Chat which in itself wasn't popular, but...
Yeah, I really think that these ideas are good. Just thought I'd say that and stuff. Lanna.
yeah we're going to need another voice chat system, just don't know what it would be though...
IRC was also tried on another IRC server not to long ago, and it generated little interest. I think the main reason for this is that IRC is just becoming obsolete. As for voice chat solutions, I'm not really sure what to suggest. All other systems I'm aware of don't allow for the specific type of log in control we need. I know you can create channels on PalTalk, but again, there doesn't seem to be a way to determine who and who doesn't get access other than to bann each user that comes on the channel that shouldn't be.
you're all forgetting...why not just use zone by phone?. what with 5 confrence rooms, private confrencing...what could go wrong? plus, only users that are signed up can use it. nice to see the back of ventrillo.....can't say i liked it
and it's really popular....
yeah, but for things like tune trivia it's lower quality. and for ppl who don't have phone service? zbp sounds cool though
we'd have to get more numbers for the system then, or have the numbers support more callers at once for that to work
aww I just wanna say I will miss VT very much. I am kinda shy so don't much enjoy the phone thing as much but like Jesse said, you could push a button on vt if you wanted to talk so it wasn't as intimidating. But yeah. I understand why VT won't be coming back but I for one will miss it! *sad face*
VT 3.0 still has the "User Authorization" option available under "Protected Mode" in Server Properties, and why not switch to just using the USR file?
big d, i don't actuallly think we have another tune trivia planned anytime soon
J, is it not possible to simply continue using the older vertion of ventrilo? for people using newer servers as well, it's simple to have both vertions installed as I do here.
I know we have a lot of people here who know programing etc. Maybe an indipendent zone client could be a good solution but i don't know any programing myself so probably this is not as easy as it sounds.
Also what about skypecasts? Could we use those?
I think skypecast is a type of conferencing with up to 100 people being in one. The moderator can control who speaks and when etc. But i don't know how accessible this is to the blind. I never participated in one.
no tune trivia? :'( for those not reading the punctuation or who don't know, a :'( is a crying face.
The New Ventrilo was forced on everyone last momth. I was going to say that I think those options are still there like the old VT, plus a tun more.
It is a pitty we can't use it as some of the new features like having different rooms at different codex could be useflu.
Oh, and Skype casts, unless they have improved sound worse then the phone.
To those wondering why some of us don't want to just use ZBP, here are 2 very large reasons. 1- The audio quallity is very low on ZBP, making it often times difficult to understand everyone if you have more than a few people in the room. 2: I assume at least partially for the previous reason, the room limit is only 5 people. Usually the very few times I want to come on ZBP, it's because several of my friends are on, but by the time I get on, the room is full. I have a feeling I'm certainly not the only one that's run into this a good deal. Not to mention the vt community, and the peeple that hung out on ZBP, though they have some in common, there are many of us who vastly preferred one (vt in this case) over the other.
I think both have advantages and disavantages. ZPB works well for those who have long distance, or use skype or cells, and for those who only would like to comunicate with a few people. Audio quoloty isn't there and people can talk atop each other. Vintrillo was better quolity, more control, and more people per room. Not to mention long distance charges are not incurred, and one does not have to just live in the US, UK or Canada like with the phone system. Sure people could use a VOIP, but I don't know anyone who uses softphone. I also believe that though there were some users (Like me) who used both systems, both systems attracted different users. I think having a voicechat client option of some kind and the phone system would be the best way to go. Now as to what works and what is available I have no idea. i'm just putting my $0.02 worth.
John
1. It's still possible to write to the USR file in VT, and it could be done with the fWrite function of PHP. Encryption of the PWD's is a different matter, but it still can be done.
2. As for audio quality, for you audio buffs: VT operated at 32 kHz, 16 bit, stereo with a Speaks codec, whereas ZBP operates at 8 kHz 8 bit mono.
What about VIP communicator? The audio quality is great and you can click on the links to the rooms right from the site. I think you can find out something about it at vipconduit.com
No mac support...Disturbing trend everywhere. Mac support aside, however, I'd give it a shot if there was a way to aproach the developers and ask for a licence.