Since there are so many WoW vets here, and technology has otherwise risen to a level where this is not only possible but mundanely so, I wondered if we might not engage in an semi-irregular powwow over voice chat? Google hangouts can handle 10 people, I think, and perhaps one of us is still hanging on to a Ventrilo server from raiding days?
Anyway, here are what I see to be the advantages:
We can proceed faster with ideas, side projects, board notions; either by building consensus, hearing objections, or getting a general sense of non-enthusiasm.
Voice chat can foster some friendly camaraderie (which the boards do as well!); sometimes the boards can devolve into lengthy, tiring arguments that are more easily (and amicably) solved with voice.
And here are the disadvantages/challenges:
Scheduling. With time zones, jobs, and lives, this may well be impossible. It would (probably) need to be mid to late evening on a Friday or Saturday night, but that may not jive with work schedules. If it’s not something that 5-6 people could make, then maybe it’s not worth doing.
Absurdity/waste of time. Remember the chatrooms? Remember how quickly they would devolve into long silences, dumb jokes, and other inanity? This would probably happen over voice, too. BUT: If we had a limited agenda (as in, 2-3 to three questions to debate and/or vote on), and stuck to it for about 15-20 minutes, I think it might be worth the effort.
This is an excellent idea. I’ve used Google Hangouts pretty extensively and can vouch for its relative stability and quality; plus, as it’s cross-platform and requires no software downloads it provides the greatest accessibility to all members generally.
With internet apps like Roll20 (www.roll20.net), we could also engage in non-story-related nerdery together (for that camaraderie thing you were talking about).
What’s everyone’s availability like in the near future? Weeknights are really hard for me these days, though I could reasonably swing something post-5 pm PST on Tuesdays, and post-4 pm PST Thursdays. Weekends are much much easier, though on some Saturdays I hang out with Mike to be a nerd, roll dice and eat things that aren’t healthy.
Weeks days are currently out if the question for me as I don’t get hone from work uh until about 8:30pst.
Noon on a weekend or early weekends would work best for me. I do play DnD from time to time with Matt, but that’s typically every other weekend or so.
Also, I find that these days for some reason I have very little patience to sit around and chat online. If we had some sort of activity involved like a roll20 game, I’d be down though.
I work second shift in IT at my job, and there is zero possibility of my being able to do voice chat at work. (It’s a government contract, and a secure facility. No cell phones, no recording equipment, no personal electronic devices.)
Sundays through Thursdays, I’m working, and get home and would be available more around 11:30pm Eastern.
Fridays are when I’m usually running errands, and evenings then I’d be more likely to be available once dinner’s done. (So, say 9pm.)
Saturdays are when I’m getting together with friends, and availability would depend on how late we all get tired and go home.
… it seems like, so far, really really late on a Weekday or early-ish on a Weekend is the way we’d have to lean in order to snag the most people?
Gabe? Travis? How about you guys?
((side note: I personally LOVE the idea of doing a roll20 game with the Kupop crew. Is this something Dustin might be into, even if he doesn’t want to write Kupop anymore?))
I’m a terrible Luddite. Also my raids used a mumble server.[/quote]
Actually, my thought was that we use Google Hangouts. It requires no software download, and should be fairly accessible since I think everyone whose IM info we’ve seen has a google ID.
Also, it’s worth noting that I believe Skype puts a cap on the number of people you can have in a group chat session unless you go premium. Not that I’m expecting people to be hanging from the rafters and lining up out the door to get in, but even so, since I’m not 100% sure what the cap is, it’s better safe than sorry.
Okay, I just sent out the invite to the hangout. It’s a video hangout, but do not feel obliged to share your video if you don’t want to. (there is a button on the interface to turn off your camera)
I sent the invite to all the gmail addresses that were posted to the boards, which means I know I missed some people. Here’s the link for those who aren’t there: plus.google.com/hangouts/_/gy6s … mqtcsnhhma
If that link somehow doesn’t work, email or IM me at manta928 at gmail and I’ll fix it.
Also worth noting: the link I posted and the invite I sent are permanent links to a hangout. So you could potentially check into the room anytime and see if people are there.
Which is why I sent out the invite to everyone whose gmail I could find, even if they made it clear they couldn’t make it this morning.