Yes I agree. In fact I have suggested this before.
AreaNet cannot be expected to host voice chat servers for their entire user base. Instead, as Winterclaw suggested, there should be an interface within the game it's self to control TS or Vent. You host your own server, or pay for dedicated hosting as people now do. The only difference in being able to send an invite to chat that will give temporary login credentials to the recipient. Other games have implemented similar features (be it through official release or Hack/Mod). I see now reason other than Tech support overhead, why AreaNet couldn't implement this.
As for Lag issues, don't hold us back because some people have sh*tty connections or computers. I use TS and Vent all the time while playing Guild Wars, and my ping time rarely exceeds 125ms. The gaming community as a whole has already decided: Voice chat is an essential part of modern online gaming. As evidence, we have a huge market for it. TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, Xfire, even Skype, AIM, MSN Messenger, and GoogleTalk have options, plugins and services designed with gamers in mind. Those wouldn't exist if people didn't demand it.
Voicechat works very well with Guild Wars, even on a 56k connection. Yes you have to use a lower grade codec, but it's still clear and lag free. If you are experiencing lag it's more likely the fault of integrated audio than the internet connection. Buy a REAL sound card and problem solved. The SoundBlaster XFi Gamer edition is widely available for under $80 and will make a huge difference. Also If you still have lag issues, remember to adjust your MTU settings based on your connection speed. They default to a setting optimized for short bursts of data ideal for web page viewing. When streaming data over a voice network, that creates pops, delays and cut-offs. Determine your connection speed, and Google "MTU" to get more info. It can make a world of difference.
Last edited by Vlatro; Sep 18, 2007 at 09:28 PM // 21:28..
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