Share the Stage

One-on-one conversations are much easier to manage. One person speaks, the other listens, then the other speaks and the other listens. Simple. But in a voice chat room where there are multiple speakers, “hogging the conversation” can be seen as mildly rude at best. Be kind to the room – take your turn and treat your fellow chatters like their voices matter, too.

Tips For Joining a Channel

• Listen - Listen to what a room is being used for.

• Wait - Wait for a break in the conversation. Truckers and other CB users have practiced this technique for years, generally because if one person keys his microphone, anyone else who keys in over him will block out his transmission. While this isn’t true in voice chat, it’s still very unpleasant to be interrupted in the middle of speaking.

• Ask - If it sounds like the channel is being used for an event or meeting, ask what’s going on so you can get the information you need to decide how to…

• Act - Respect the space based on the context. You are always welcome to listen in on any channel you have access to, but you should be careful not to take over the stage if it’s being used for something specific.

Pause for Announcements

If someone shouts out Break, Break, that means they’re about to say something important. Stop speaking to help clear the comms so they can say what they need to say.

Right Tool for the Right Job

Vanguard currently uses three channels for comms, all three of which members should be familiar with using. Reach out to an Officer if you are unsure how to use one of the communication channels below.

• In-Game Comms are often used for immersion, and to get us used to elevating them to a primary channel as the feature continues to evolve.

• Discord is used for day to day communication and general chatter, as well as for some smaller operations and training.

• Teamspeak is used for large operations and training, due to its ability to easily handle side-by-side general chatter and operational chatter thanks to whisper lists. Click here for recommended setup details.

Use Push-To-Talk

By default, your voice chat operates without Push-To-Talk (PTT) enabled. This is due to its original purpose as a voice chatting interface for gamers, who generally don’t desire to have to hold down a button when they want to speak on the channel. But if you don’t use push-to-talk, your fellow chatters are subjected to all of the background noises that your mic is able to pick up – including your coughs and groans and eating/drinking sounds and whatever other questionable things you may be doing while conversing. Do the room a favor, enable push-to-talk in your settings and set up a PTT shortcut key. Or, if your mic has an on/off switch, use that to go from talking to not-talking as needed. The other chatters in the room will thank you for it.

Mute And Deafen Yourself for AFK

If you need to get up to do something else for a moment, but you don’t want to leave the channel, just click the icons to mute and deafen yourself in the room. This is a visual cue to all others in the room that you are not speaking nor listening at that moment. This makes them less likely to attempt to get your attention while you’re away, saving everyone a little frustration.