DMS Tactical Question...

[WideEyed]

I've noticed that, for some people at least, the Kam kills are beginning to pile up, while for the rest of us, even reaching Kam is almost impossible.

I've been fortunate enough to have Crewed with some really excellent players, and even then, the process is so time consuming that we never even get to the 100% Room.

Now I realise that skill and willingness to devote the hours that it takes are hugely important when it comes to Kam runs, but I'm beginnig to also suspect that those with the impressive kill counts have something else working for them that a lot of us don't, and that something is a means of communicating with each other beyond the Chat Panel.
I know that a lot of people use some form of voice communication while playing, and after having been in the Green Rooms and experienced just how difficult it can be to launch a co-ordinated attack with only the Chat Panel to direct the assault, I figure that live voice communication has to be a game changer.

So here's the question....
If you are one of those people who have beaten Kam multiple times, do you use voice chat while you play?

[Prizzly]

WideEyed

I've noticed that, for some people at least, the Kam kills are beginning to pile up, while for the rest of us, even reaching Kam is almost impossible.

I've been fortunate enough to have Crewed with some really excellent players, and even then, the process is so time consuming that we never even get to the 100% Room.

Now I realise that skill and willingness to devote the hours that it takes are hugely important when it comes to Kam runs, but I'm beginnig to also suspect that those with the impressive kill counts have something else working for them that a lot of us don't, and that something is a means of communicating with each other beyond the Chat Panel.
I know that a lot of people use some form of voice communication while playing, and after having been in the Green Rooms and experienced just how difficult it can be to launch a co-ordinated attack with only the Chat Panel to direct the assault, I figure that live voice communication has to be a game changer.

So here's the question....
If you are one of those people who have beaten Kam multiple times, do you use voice chat while you play?

Well I think having 13 kills under my belt, I THINK I'm in this category.
And yes, I do use Voice-chat when I'm DMSing.
I'm online daily on Skype, since December last year, since I've noticed Voicechats are fun and helpful at the same time. I have so much fun with the people I'm actually talking to, yet I can be serious, when I need to focus and do my job within the crew (The role I get assigned too within the crew)
But I usually Voicechat, when I farm/being on a Kamrun with my friends and the LUSTgroup.
When I farm in Yellow / Greens with randoms, then I don't use it. Or when Im in the crew with someone familiar, bit that also depends if I want to Voicechat.

I also have this IRLstuff; when my mom/dad/sister are in the same room, then I join call, but I'll be muting my microphone. My family doesn't like to be bothered at all, hearing me talk in English (I'm Dutch) or hearing other people talking / laughing / joking around.
I'm more active in the morning and in the evening with Voicechatting. But most of the time, I'm muted, but I try to communicate over Crewchat and everytime I ask for something over crewchat, I can hear the people in the Voicechat answering my questions or hear what I need to do. It goes really well for me and the people I usually Voicechat with, understand and do know my issues, so its no problem at all X)

[Shawkeekee]

Yew mean skype dms calls? LOOOL

[petiele]

Sure do talk on skype. It's makes thing easier/faster.

[Zealand_Aquarius]

Ive not got any Kam kills under my belt unless two 1st forms count?) however I have been in voice chats for DMS mute mic answering on chat pane) and I find them to be that bit better when it comes to somethings yelling heal and buffs is that bit quicker the typing it for me anyway)

I also find that Im more arlert when theres a voice chat going on and less likely to flake and forget. However I understand that a voice chat is not for all and when thats happened and theres a mix it doesnt effect the crew that much.

But a huge vocie chat during a dev meet would rock not Skype but one of the others that float around)

[Cannae]

I miss having voip on zomg crying
I would use skype to talk while playing dms, I have used skype while playing zomg before.

It would help speed things up in the crew esp while in the green rooms it's pretty hard to type sometimes.

[Mademoiselle Kit]

We used voice chat during one of my first form Kam runs (I haven't beaten Bloodlust yet) I found it was a bit easier to coordinate things on a voice chat--things got done faster.

Also, it was hilarious, with us yelling "X ALL THE THINGS!" at the slightest provocation for a good hour. XD "LURE ALL OF THE VAMPIRES!" "BUFF ALL OF THE THINGS!" "TANK ALL OF THE THINGS!"

[Zzyli]

Zzyli - Zzy as in Xylophone, Li as in leaf

I have multiple first-form Kam kills under my belt, and multiple Bloodlust-related glitches, including a really fab one that I shall entitle "grey Flash-related exclamation mark of death".

I've done both VC & non-VC crews. You don't need VC, but without it, you have to be much better at communicating intentions & battle plans before you get started on a stage. I have a few regulars that I crew with in the Green Maze & we have got to a point now where we pretty much have a routine down-pat with roles & expectations when it comes to doing Green/Kam. This has been a slow process though.

To be able to yell "I'm dying, help me!" or "You derps forgot to use tef" can be really good, and also when I'm tanking to actually be able to talk to the crew in sentences mid-room instead of having to use code or just say "top" and hope that they understand what you mean in context is pretty nice. Plus, I tend to not shut-up, so despite 'my future career in BBC radio', having the ability to join in with what the crew is talking about is nice. I think it also helps to keep you focussed and less likely to start afking mid battle, even if you are only lurking the chat owing to not having a mic.

I have full admiration for the crews who can systemise working together well without VC, as I realise some people don't have the bandwidth/specs/equipment/spoken English capabilities, and I've come up with a few tips & tricks that I like to use when leading to help my crews, but if you can use the tool (Skype, tinychat etc.) why not do it?

Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative...

[Aseres]

The voice chat is almost vital for 2 reasons:

no 1: coordination. This is the obvious one. It really makes things CONSIDERABLY easier if you can coordinate via voice chat and get commands/cries for HEALZ out there fast.

no 2: as you've said yourself, it's VERY time consuming sweatdrop . It's just so easy to get bored or distracted if you can't be on voice chat together and joke around and have fun sweatdrop . Playing for 10+ hours can get frustrating, but we just had so many amazing people in our team - someone would ALWAYS cheer us up (namely Josh heart ). When I assembled my team "good character" was as much a requirement as "skill" - you can't spend 15+ hours a day with people you don't love. The voice chat was what helped us bond and make it through insomniatic back-to-back runs.

I know that both my team (who were the crazy Kamila farmers in the past) and the LUST people (who do her very frequently now) use Skype. You definitely *can* do her without it, but I would say that voice chat is a key factor to farming her hardcore.

That's not to say that we didn't crew people without Skype capabilities. In fact Becky, one of our very central team-mates could only get on Skype with us at 2-3 occasions. She makes up for it by being incredibly smart and assertive (she practically "reads our mind" ), and dedicated and hardcore (you never have to worry about Becky bailing out on you!) though.
(I'd actually argue that "they get the flow of the group without being on voice chat" is what sets apart a great player from an excellent one. I remember the first time I crewed Lux (when we still hated each other trolololol - we were in the same clan and he was looking or GR crew, I had a spot, so I thought "muahahaha, I'll show him how awesome we are and he'll be all impressed and jelly of our amazing coordination" - that's the exact thing that ended up happening too xD ) we had very different ways of doing GR, and it took us about 2 minutes of random debuffs being thrown around to coordinate like we'd played together for years - that's why we got so impressed with each other and basically ditched both of our teams to play together sweatdrop . Another person who's genius with figuring out what to do without being on voice chat is Ultra venus btw!)

[ryry Kenny_McGroot ryry]

i dont use voice chat, but then again im usually a simple damage dealer in kam runs, so not much coordination is needed sweatdrop

[Aseres]

ryry Kenny_McCormick ryry

i dont use voice chat, but then again im usually a simple damage dealer in kam runs, so not much coordination is needed sweatdrop

Yep, I remember trying to get you on vc for a crew on at least one or two occasions and you were all "do I have to?? laazzyyyy" rofl

[sailoranimecode]

I don't use voice chat either. Mainly because I don't want to have my mom all go "who are you talking too?" at night.

Typing is better for me anyways. I wouldn't be easy to understand on voice chat and probably mess up words or pronounce words wrong.

[ryry Kenny_McGroot ryry]

Aseres

ryry Kenny_McCormick ryry

i dont use voice chat, but then again im usually a simple damage dealer in kam runs, so not much coordination is needed sweatdrop

Yep, I remember trying to get you on vc for a crew on at least one or two occasions and you were all "do I have to?? laazzyyyy" rofl

well, that, and:
-i dont have a mic
-the skype program derps every time i try to open it. i uninstalled/reinstalled it multiple times
-parents would get super pissed if they knew i was playing zomg past midnight sweatdrop

[TurtleMaster24]

ryry Kenny_McCormick ryry

Aseres

ryry Kenny_McCormick ryry

i dont use voice chat, but then again im usually a simple damage dealer in kam runs, so not much coordination is needed sweatdrop

Yep, I remember trying to get you on vc for a crew on at least one or two occasions and you were all "do I have to?? laazzyyyy" rofl

well, that, and:
-i dont have a mic
-the skype program derps every time i try to open it. i uninstalled/reinstalled it multiple times
-parents would get super pissed if they knew i was playing zomg past midnight sweatdrop

This is the same for me. Dx

[Mage The Red]

I basically agree with Aseres for most of her points. But admittedly, for the last two Bloodlust kills I got (In the last two days emotion_awesome ), Voice Chat was never really utilized. Everyone understood their roles mostly, and the only issue we had was a bit of aggro stealing that BL Kam sorted out for us quickly <3

Fighting Kamila or even surviving the Green Maze requires a LOT of coordination, patience, and you have to be able to keep focused and laugh a little. If you start getting mad or frustrated, your playing ability shoots down the drain. If you need to, tell yourself or your crew jokes.