|
|
Monty Sharma of VIVOX talks to us about his VOIP gaming technology
Currently in use in EVE Online, VIVOX has also signed deals with Icarus Studios to be part of Fallen Earth, as well as engine builder BigWorld. They believe that in the future we'll all be talking to each other as we play. Learn more below.
|
| MMORPG.com: |
Tell our readers a little about Vivox. How has your company entered into the MMO market?
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
Vivox provides in-game voice services that allow players to talk to each other while they are playing - one-to-one and in groups, avatar-to-avatar, character-to-character, and within their gang, corporation or guild. We tailor the voice features and integrate them into the game. Most of us are enthusiastic gamers, and we saw a need in the MMO market for in-game voice communication. Being able to talk to other characters enhances the overall game experience because it improves tactical control and social interaction. As we've all learned the hard way, typing and combat don't mix - it's a good way to die. And being able to talk freely improves strategy because your guild can discuss the plan of attack in detail without being tied to the keyboard for IM.
|
|
| MMORPG.com: |
What are your thoughts on third party companies entering into MMO games to help manage and control parts of the game play?
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
To the extent that companies like Vivox can bring specialized expertise to particular aspects of the experience, like voice, physics, etc., and leave the game developers free to design and improve the game, it's a good thing. Game developers are experts at the game so it only makes sense for them to turn to experts in other areas to be a part of the development.
|
|
| MMORPG.com: |
Can you tell us about your partnership with BigWorld? How has it helped your company grow?
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
This is a very exciting partnership for us. We have integrated our voice services into Big World's suite of game development tools. Game developers using the BigWorld Technology Suite can now have access to a pre-implemented and tested voice solution.
|
| MMORPG.com: |
With Vivox getting more involved in the voice chat of games do you believe it to be a step up from Ventrilo or TeamSpeak?
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
The biggest difference between Vivox and the others is that our voice services are integrated into the game. There is no separate application to run, and no credentials and server addresses to negotiate. The service reflects the look and feel of the game and supports the established social structure. The solution is fully managed and supported by Vivox - you don't have to run your own communication server anymore.
In addition, our service allows you to talk to anyone else in the game, not just people on a particular server. This opens up a huge range of possibilities for grouping, adventuring, and conquering. Imagine approaching another character and just starting a conversation, or having guild-to-guild or corporation-to-corporation negotiations. Similarly, by integrating with the game, we can match the communication hierarchy to the command hierarchy, so that raid leaders or fleet commanders are automatically mapped to the communications infrastructure.
|
| MMORPG.com: |
One of the issues I had while playing DDO is that groups would invite you into a party and immediately set up voice chat. Suddenly strangers were on the game talking to you over your computer. This seemed a little more open than having a password to get into say Ventrilo and only allowing certain people in. What are your thoughts on this type of open communication?
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
Vivox provides game developers and publishers with tools to set moderator and admin rules according to the social structure of the game. This helps guilds/groups/corporations to better manage themselves and meet the needs of individual players. We believe that more widespread voice has huge potential to improve gameplay and social interaction, but player choice is hugely important and no one is forced to use voice.
|
| MMORPG.com: |
Are you excited about your upcoming work with Icarus Studios on Fallen Earth? Tell us about the partnership.
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
Icarus clearly sees fully-integrated voice as an essential component of their upcoming release, Fallen Earth. They are a fantastic and imaginative team to work with. They got our API codes and had the voice features integrated and running within a couple of weeks. Like our other partners, we have teamed to implement a complete solution so that players will be able to talk to each other one-on-one and in groups to coordinate, strategize, and socialize as they do battle with giant mutant rats and other post-apocalyptic challenges. Fallen Earth is sure to cause a stir in the industry.
|
|
| MMORPG.com: |
How can Vivox help players communicate when not in game? Are there ways players can get in touch prior to logging in and say organize a raid or something?
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
Sure, imagine that your guild is about to plan a raid and you need to have an important strategy meeting, but you are stuck in your car commuting, or your corporation is under attack, and you need to get a message to all of the members whether they are in the game or not. You shouldn't be left out just because you are not running the game. We have a voice client that can be used when out of the game, which is great for staying in contact even when you can't log in to the game. It's got a lot of great features including one-on-one and group voice chat, the ability to see when your friends are online and in game, and links to other IM networks, so you can stay part of the raid planning even when you can't run the game itself.
|
| MMORPG.com: |
Are there any profanity filters in Vivox? Only reason I ask is that many children play MMOs right alongside adults, just curious if there are measures in place for kids to enjoy the live chat while not being exposed to poor language.
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
This is a very important issue. Filtering voice in real time is very difficult, but we provide the game companies with various controls to address this area, including easy links to game moderators, controls to mute, kick or ban misbehaving players, recording, to have "proof" of problem behavior, tagging based on reputation, and others. We understand the need for these controls on a player level, as well as the need to address the concerns of players, parents, and game companies with the content of voice conversations. Safety and security are very important to us.
|
| MMORPG.com: |
Are there any other games in the upcoming future that Vivox will be a part of?
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
Yes, if we have anything to say about it! We actually have several new games in the pipeline.
|
| MMORPG.com: |
How do you see voice interaction growing in the MMO industry? It seems to be getting to the point where typing won't be needed anymore to play a game.
|
|
Monty Sharma: |
Yes, voice is a power to be reckoned with. There will still be a role for typing in game communication, but we won't be constrained to just text or setting up our own communications server. The real-time strategy is too important, and the socializing is too much a part of the fabric of these games to leave the communication in a rudimentary form. Voice is elemental in this context.
Visit us at www.vivox.com for additional information.
I've enjoyed sharing Vivox news with MMORPG readers.
|
;)
;)
I don't think the Vivox chat has gone live on Eve yet but it will be interesting to see what effects it has, if any, when it does become active.
In guilds or groups where everybody agrees to use voice this should add a lot of value. I don't think though devs would allow voice chat in 'say' or 'shout' in local so we'll still be typing at least some of the time.
I remember CCP saying in the beginning that the Vivox system in Eve would have an additional cost if you decide to sign up to it. Not sure how many people will be willing to pay extra for a service they already get via TS or Ventrillo. Also roll players seem to prefer typing as it's easier to be in caracter.
In the Kali test build its already activ, without subscription though.
The main Problems now are less the integration in EVE, but more the billing for it and what happens on Connection Loss of the Client. Most TS Servers are free or very cheap and you still have you voice com if the client dropped,
the bad thing of TS/Vent is that they use additional system ressources, you cant see whom your talking to and
the qualitiy, in which Vivox is far superior from what i heard.
That being said, I think that many games could benefit from this technology getting a leap in distance and physics effects. For instance, only people in a certain radius should be able to hear you, and if you whisper, literally dropping the volume you are pushing, that radius should drop in-game. It would be nifty, but I can see the difficulties with the mass crowding of certain social areas in some games... but would still also create a better immersion factor and put in-game voice options way ahead of out of game options.
Planetside had an in-game chat mode since its release, and it generally created massive lagging issues, so I have been leary of such technology. I am sure Vivox, being dedicated to such technology has improved its efficiency... but even so, without a leap in immersion for the tech, I can't see using it. Although I am not an avid raider, or a guild leader... some of the features Vivox discussed seems like they could prove very useful to such folks.
Cheers!
People do not pursue voice chat because it is a feature. They pursue voice chat specifically because it is not a feature, but a tool to act upon the game in a way that gives an advantage. It is a metagaming solution to play problems, not a function of play in itself.
So what is that in layman's terms? A guild on teamspeak or ventrillo can do the following things unavailable to the guild who doesn't use teamspeak, or ventrillo:
1) Talk to their group to facilitate team play between members who are in a group. Example: "More DPS on the purple mob."
2) Talk to their guild who are logged in, but doing other things. Example: "We need another cleric here Joe. Are you done with those tradeskills?"
3) Talk to their guild who are part of the same guild, but on different games. Example: "We need another cleric here in WoW Joe. Are you finished with what you were doing in EVE yet?"
4) Keep secrets. Example: Joe types to someone, "You are such a good friend to us Stormbringer," and says to his guild on vent, "Stormbringer is such a dork, isn't he?"
5) Keep in contact with people unrelated to games. Example: "Hey Joe, are you coming with us to the dungeon?" Joe replies, "nah, I don't have time for that, but I just wanted to hang out. Is your sister around?"
6) Metagaming coordination. Example: "Okay, here he comes, and he's only brought two friends. Gary, James, Paul, Greg, and Joe, log in. Fred and Michelle, stay behind, they seem to have built their templates in a way that counters your builds."
7) Go around harassment rules. Example: "You #%@&*! Go die, and I slept with your mother." You may not see this as an advantage, but then again, it gives the TS/Vent users the privilege of talking badly, without oversight.
8) Identification of the normally anonymous. Example: "Hey I know that voice from SWG...you were Joba Fatt, and you were an ass to me." /kick Joba Fatt's new character from group. /ban Jobba Fatt's IP from channel. /ignore Joba Fatt in local. Post about Joba Fatt's antics in a falme about his new character on the boards.
9) Make deals that would be easily flagged as corrupt, outside of being tracked by the game providers. Example: "I heard you need some gold. How much you want? Here is my PayPal account."
10) Have one central communications network for all of the guild's games, for all their players, for one fee. Example: "So we got ten guys in WoW now, five in CoH, twenty in EVE, sixteen in EQ2, four playing counterstrike, and two playing Rome: Total War."
This is the sort of power and advantage one can get over the game, when you use an independent broadband communications network. I'm not even saying its right or wrong, but only commenting on how it is understandable why the desire for voice AP has nothing much to do with how "neat," and "cool" it is, from a design standpoint as a gameplay feature.
You see, unless Vivox understands how voice chat is used today, and why it is used today, they'll fail to provide an alternative that will be appealing to guilds...let alone us guys who stay away specifically because voice chat is integrated.
But this isn't even about the ones that don't use voice chat. Vivox doesn't care about them anyway, so they'd best understand that unless they create a voice system that allows for all of the above needs to be met, no guild will abandon what they have, and the ones who do pick up Vivox will find out very quickly how much less useful it really is. I mean, do you really think Mr. Sharma, that your average player actually cares about your "neat feature," if by adopting it, they compromise their ability to metagame?
The truth is, its not a game feature, and the few who have tried to make it a feature have discovered that the ones who depend upon it don't really care how "cool" it is if it prevents metagaming options, and the ones who don't like voice chat saw it as an imposition. Nobody really "likes" voice ap in itself. They like it only because it is a very useful tool for manipulating the game to the advantage of the user.
Which is why I predict Vivox will fail. They fail to see that people are not using voice chat because it enhances the game. They use voice chat because it gives them power to manipulate the game in ways that an integrated system could never do. Todays gamer, and today's clan are not in the business of pursuing "neat" technologies because they are "neat." They pursue useful technologies, because they are useful.
You can attack me, but you can't attack the reasoning.
If I am allowed to get away with something on TS or Vent, that I won't be able to get away with on Vivox's system, then I'd be a fool to go to Vivox's system. First, because I end up nerfing myself, and secondly, I'm going to have to compete against others who would rather have a useful tool, than a tool that sacrifices usefulness for "cuteness."
You mentioned that a lot of this can be done with Vivox + Xfire or IRC. What is the real point though when you can do it all on TS/Vent, and not need Xfire or IRC?
Yes, I personally don't like voice chat. But this isn't about me, as much as it is about what voice chat does for those who use it now, and the usefulness of it to those that depend on it in ways that Vivox is unable to facilitate. An independent voice IP system is just a better tool, and it is better simply because it exists independent of the game.
By the way, most of the arguments for independent voice servers over this integrated stuff from Vivox has come from those on the EVE forums.