Discord Comms Server

[Kenadian]

Hey guys we have a Discord Server for voice comms you can join here:

https://discord.gg/SVPJRF3

I guess there's no better time than now to test Discord.

 

[Will]

Invite code expired, but you can generate an infinite invite link with unlimited uses as well.

 

[Daunt]

As I said, WarDogs has a TS we can probably use. I am talking to Pablo about it now and he's making sure we can use it for the time being.

 

[Will]

PS you guys are also invited to drop into the Sloth Spot and say hello to the slow-movers whenever you like. Permanent/infinite link is in my signature.

 

[Kenadian]

I updated the invite key, sorry about that.

 

[Kenadian]

As I said, WarDogs has a TS we can probably use. I am talking to Pablo about it now and he's making sure we can use it for the time being.

PS you guys are also invited to drop into the Sloth Spot and say hello to the slow-movers whenever you like. Permanent/infinite link is in my signature.

Definitely appreciate the invites for other servers but this is also about getting a backup for B2O as iRacing isn't the only game we support.

There's a few of us in Discord right now and it's actually surprisingly good.

 

[Will]

^ Yes, Discord is awesome. I've been trying to tell Marc this for months

 

[Skid_Marc_]

@Quicksilver Can we get admin rights going so that we can start spreading the love around properly?

 

[Kenadian]

Page navigation updated to reflect changes to ingame comms. For now Teamspeak is still listed as our primary server with a link to our Discord server now added.

 

[Daunt]

I'm not going to lie, I like the idea behind Discord, and maybe it's because it's still in its early stages, but its frustrating and I'd rather use TS. Discord has some great features and all, and shows promise.

1. quality of voice comms is a bit worse. Not a huge deal as it doesn't need to be perfect, nor do I care. It's honestly not bad though and I could live with it, if this were the only issue.

2. I simply cannot record races, etc locally like I used to over Discord. For whatever reason, comms is extremely digitized so everyone sounds like robots. I used to be able to run ts, bandicam and run a race and record my terrible driving while also catching our banter. I can't do that with the quality of voice chatter I get through the recording. It's really odd that it is fine listening to it, but in the recording it's crap. Maybe it's a setting I need to mess with in bandicam?

3. It has screwed up my system sounds configuration. I used to switch between my external speakers i have set up in my cockpit to my headset extremely easily. I'd simply go to playback devices and change the default output from speakers to the headset. Now it's all fucked up and likely my own fault but it's odd that it changed these settings or did something that screwed it up. I'll have to investigate this further because i usually am fucking around with it when I'm trying to turn laps and might put a band aid over it and not fix it properly.

I don't expect us to migrate over to TS again because of my complaints, I just wanted to voice what my problems are and see if anyone had similar issues or maybe solutions.

 

[Kenadian]

I honestly don't think Discord is there yet either but it shows promise for a Beta. I really dislike the fact you cannot create sub-Channels so you end up with a scroll fest if you have a lot of channels.

I'm also not a big fan of how bl00dy huge the entire window is. I know you can customize the size but that's only if you don't want to see everything. I think TS is much more compact and refined in these areas but aesthetics aside, TS really is shit by comparison given how long it's been around. The fact that you cannot force connections via an e-mail auth system is ridiculous and the basis of why we see so many trolls.

There is absolutely no reason TS cannot link to a central database somewhere and keep a running record of abhorrent users from connecting. If they want to save bandwidth they could easily query SFS, Akismet, Project Honeypot and disallow users based off those db's criteria.

The only advantages TS enjoys are sound codecs and some functionality but you pay dearly for it. It's always a matter of not if but when you get ddos'd. The only reason we've been lucky for so long is we're not using a dedicated TS host, otherwise our uptime would be as abysmal as it was previously.

From a user standpoint I can see people preferring TS over Discord currently but from an Administrative and cost conscience pov TS is inferior by far.

If you're having sound related issues Kyle I'd suggest looking at either Virtual Audio Cable or Voicemeeter.

I think Marc is using VAC where I'm using Voicemeeter as I think it's easier to setup and configure but it's personal choice.

I've not tried recording with it yet but can clearly hear Mr. Roboto sometime in Discord. I know Discord comes across well in my streams so I just assumed the same could be said for straight recording but maybe not?

I'm not married to either right now but if Discord can make a few of the highly requested changes already mentioned then I'll likely push for a full scale move to Discord down the road just due to simple economics.

 

[Daunt]

Thanks @Duke . That software seems to be exactly the sort of thing I need, I think. I'm far from an audio guru. I never really have any idea what I'm doing in that regard. I'm going to try it tonight or tomorrow.

As for the recording I really want to see you try it, just see how it turns out. You are usually streaming but maybe before you start your stream tonight and you're in-channel. try recording like 10 seconds and see how it sounds. I'm curious.

I definitely understand that TS' overhead costs make it a much less viable choice, on top of its reliability unless we depend on our own privately-hosted server. A huge upside to discord. Will it remain free? I'm not familiar with how it's set up or the price plan / philosophy behind it.

These voice transporting softwares are getting complex! haha

 

[Kenadian]

I can give it a try tonight if you're on and you remind me to do it because I KNOW I'll forget

Unless Discord changes things, their plan is always to offer the core functionality plus new features coming will remain free. They plan on making money through micro-transactions (if I understand it correctly) by selling things such as skins, voice packs and other stuff.

As for the audio guru stuff, you're not alone my good friend, I'm usually lost as well. I could not for the life of me get Virtual Audio Cable to work but Voicemeeter was pretty straight forward (at least for me).

I think it took me the better part of 8 months to almost eliminate the static and hiss I was getting in my mic when recording voice comms. It's frustrating and takes forever if you don't truly understand what's happening which I oftentimes don't when it comes to sound.