Discuss Proposal to re-organise TeamSpeak channels

[danpaul88]

Hi everyone.

As you may know, OWA, TeamWolf, Triattack and myself met up in London today to discuss many things over a variety of beverages and foodstuffs typically found in an English pub.


One of the topics we discussed was Teamspeak, specifically how we could reorganise it to make it easier for newcomers to find their way around.


To that end, I'd like to propose the following structure. This is by no means final, nor has it been discussed with anyone else yet (hence this post). It should serve only as a starting point for a discussion on the subject.

<Root>
  Rules
  Lobby
    Recording Booth
  Games
    CnC
      Westwood RTS Games
      Tiberian Sun: Reborn
      Renegade X
    Minecraft & Terraria
    World of Tanks
    Warframe
    Open Room #1
    Open Room #2
    Open Room #3
  SG Clan
    Clan Chat
    Staff Chat
  Ghost Reactive
    Chat
    Staff Chat
  W3D Hub
    Testing
    Staff
    Founders
  AFK

So, you're probably screaming at your monitors already because <favourite channel X> is missing or moved, so let me explain some of the rationale I applied here before we open the floor to discussion.

1) Private channels move to the bottom of the listings
Since all W3D Hub channels are private, we've moved to the very bottom. SG and GR (not entirely sure who these are - presumably a clan?) are above since their "clan chat" areas are somewhat more public (all clan members) than any of the W3D Hub channels (all require specific permissions)

2) Shared channels move to the top of the listings
Any channels not associated with a specific clan or community are considered shared, common channels and are probably what a newcomer is looking for when they join TS, hence they live at the top

3) Game channels grouped together under one top level item
Rather than having "C&C" and "Other Games" and "SG/Clan Area" all containing random assortments of games, I've brought all of these together under a single top level Games category.

I also rationalised the list somewhat and removed items that, to my knowledge, are not really being used much. Scream and shout at me if I am wrong about any of those. Warframe is reduced to a single channel, although we could retain some or all of its subchannels if necessary - but I see no need for it to live under the SG area of TS.

I included "Open Room ##" channels to cover people who want to play other games to those listed, or for cases where more than one group of people are playing different RTS games concurrently - the idea is to find a free room and reserve it for the duration that you need it for. Hopefully we can use the channel commander logic here and thus require people joining the channel after the commander must be manually given voice rights, ensuring an interruption free gameplay session.

4) Clan areas stripped back to basics
Each clan area will now only contain a "clan chat" style channel and a "staff chat" style channel. If anyone knows of any real reason why we'd need more do let me know, but in the spirit of inclusion and getting people talking outside of their own communities I'd rather keep the majority of channels outside of clan / community areas.

Note that the clan areas will require a "clan membership" tag/permission/whatever in TS before someone can join any channel inside the clan area - staff would get an extra permission for the staff area.

The W3D Hub community area will operate on a similar principle, but replacing "clan chat" with "testing" (general chit chat for the community lives in the lobby) and adding a "founders" chat for the six founding members to discuss things in private if necessary.

Server moderators will have access to the W3D Hub community staff area, thus removing the need for their own channel.







OK, now that I've explained some stuff, begin your ranting and raving. Please try not to break your keyboards as you hammer our your angry replies to all the things I did wrong

[Einstein]

.....and GR (not entirely sure who these are - presumably a clan?)

 

GR or Ghost Reactive is AZ-Stalker's place -> here

[Isaac The Madd]

Meh I don't use teamspeak (I don't even have a microphone).

[GeneralCamo]

[7:07 PM] Daniel Paul:

<<< I don't subscribe to clan specific channels
since I'm not in the clan why would I go there?

 

You claim they are empty, but you don't subscribe to them? You realize that a new user would automatically subscribe to all channels when joining a server, right? Not only that, but the most used channels (495th, Warframe) are open to the public. Really only the w3dhub personal channels are closed.

 

Couple things suggested:

• Remove ALL the command and conquer channels. The existing Misc Games channels can be used for these. (Move TSR under w3dhub if we don't want to get rid of that)
• Server Moderators channel: Remove. We have the staff channel for a reason.

[VERTi60]

Don't agree with the clan game channel changes. I'm against changing the structure in clan area and game channels. Anything else it's not really my business to comment on.

[Jerad2142]

Replace Renegade X with a game that actually gets players, like Renegade.

[danpaul88]

Don't agree with the clan game channel changes. I'm against changing the structure in clan area and game channels. Anything else it's not really my business to comment on.

Can you elaborate on this? What's the rationale behind hiding the Warframe channel inside a clan specific area? It seems daft to me to NOT have all the games channels under a "Games" category...

[OWA]

 

<Root>
  Rules
  Lobby
    Recording Booth
  Games
    CnC
      Westwood RTS Games
      Tiberian Sun: Reborn
      Renegade X
    Minecraft & Terraria
    World of Tanks
    Warframe
    Open Room #1
    Open Room #2
    Open Room #3
  SG Clan
    Clan Chat
    Staff Chat
  Ghost Reactive
    Chat
    Staff Chat
  W3D Hub
    Testing
    Staff
    Founders
  AFK

 

I agree with most of these changes, especially putting W3D Hub to the bottom of the list and making SG more visible; however I don't think we need a channel for Renegade X or Westwood RTS games. The Base C&C Channel can still be joined and that will probably be where most of the people playing C&C will hang out. TSR is necessary because we kind of make that game.

 

We probably don't need a World Of Tanks channel, because players can use one of the open rooms if they want to play it in public.

 

The 495th Scarlet Division HQ channel is missing from this list. this is important because it's one of the channels that sees the most TeamSpeak traffic currently. This needs to be put back.

 

I think a review of SG clan channels needs to be done with the actual clan involved so that we're not treading on people's toes and everyone can be happy with the environment that we are hanging out in. Personally, having internal channels is better for a clan because it allows them to play in private without the fear of randoms entering the channel and causing problems.

 

We don't need a W3D Hub Founders channel. Anything that we talk about (that isn't a private discussion) should be available for any staff member to listen in on.

 

These are just my opinions of course. Here's my proposed structuring table:

 

<Root>
  Rules
  Lobby
    Streaming/Recording Booth
  Games
    Command & Conquer
      Tiberian Sun: Reborn
    Minecraft & Terraria
    Warframe
    Open Room #1
    Open Room #2
    Open Room #3
  Steel Guardians
    Leaders Room
    Clan Area
      Warframe
      Other Games
    495th Scarlet Devil Armoured Division HQ
  Ghost Reactive
    GR Internal HQ
    GR Chat
  W3D Hub
    Staff
    Testing
  AFK

I'm happy to accept criticism and discuss with everyone on how we can go about making everyone happy with this restructure. So feel free to post a reply or PM me.

[Chaos_Knight]

Tbh I think that clan area is best left to clan to organize and build in the way they (we basically) see fit.

As for the rest - I don't really have an opinion here. Looks alright I guess?

[Lord_Kane]

As both the TS lead moderator of SG and W3D hub.

 

I approve of the changes to the W3D hub side of things in ben's post.

 

but I think if any changes should be made to the SG side of things only SG members should decide it. I will have a meeting with the other big shots of the SG TS. In general most SG personnel I have spoken to on the matter are against any changes to the SG side of things and I agree with them on that.

[Garrus09]

 

Don't agree with the clan game channel changes. I'm against changing the structure in clan area and game channels. Anything else it's not really my business to comment on.

Can you elaborate on this? What's the rationale behind hiding the Warframe channel inside a clan specific area? It seems daft to me to NOT have all the games channels under a "Games" category...

 

1. Probably that SG Warframe clan has now grown to 60 in game members and is expanding faster than W3D Hub. We are about to ask strike to open up more member slots for our Teamspeak... as now we have more members than our teamspeak can support.

 

2. Warframe needs the more channels that I have put in, because just the other day we had 20 people in 1 channel (Only about 6-7 were the normal people the rest new people you've never met.) ALL PLAYING WARFRAME, and it got pretty hecktic. It was fucking fun but still pretty crowded.

 

3. We've elected to join an alliance in Waframe. Which means even more people flooding into the Teamspeak...

 

So no from me.

[Lord_Kane]

 

 

Don't agree with the clan game channel changes. I'm against changing the structure in clan area and game channels. Anything else it's not really my business to comment on.

Can you elaborate on this? What's the rationale behind hiding the Warframe channel inside a clan specific area? It seems daft to me to NOT have all the games channels under a "Games" category...

 

1. Probably that SG Warframe clan has now grown to 60 in game members and is expanding faster than W3D Hub. We are about to ask strike to open up more member slots for our Teamspeak... as now we have more members than our teamspeak can support.

 

2. Warframe needs the more channels that I have put in, because just the other day we had 20 people in 1 channel (Only about 6-7 were the normal people the rest new people you've never met.) ALL PLAYING WARFRAME, and it got pretty hecktic. It was fucking fun but still pretty crowded.

 

3. We've elected to join an alliance in Waframe. Which means even more people flooding into the Teamspeak...

 

So no from me.

 

 

This is why Garrus I am refusing the changes for our clan.

[TeamWolf]

As voiced before, the changes to the TS is good but SG channels will be handled by the clan. It's nothing negative it's just that we know what we need currently and we just need to fine tune our area.

[danpaul88]

As voiced before, the changes to the TS is good but SG channels will be handled by the clan. It's nothing negative it's just that we know what we need currently and we just need to fine tune our area.

Indeed, I think OWA suggested that too and it sounds like a good solution to me.

 

Is everyone generally OK with the revised list posted by OWA, plus the SG clause as above? Got to admit I'm somewhat surprised, I deliberately went with something very different to actually encourage people to discuss things and give feedback, including a few changes I anticipated being unpopular and thus being reverted or changed in some new way... and yet there was less feedback than I expected! Interesting.

[GeneralCamo]

I had a ton of feedback yesterday. Most of it basically amounted to "You have no idea what you are talking about" and "Why do you care?"

[danpaul88]

Which isn't constructive or useful whatsoever. Much appreciated.

[VERTi60]

 

Don't agree with the clan game channel changes. I'm against changing the structure in clan area and game channels. Anything else it's not really my business to comment on.

Can you elaborate on this? What's the rationale behind hiding the Warframe channel inside a clan specific area? It seems daft to me to NOT have all the games channels under a "Games" category...

 

 

The clan's gaming is currently having a few overhauls and thus we expect more players and game channels to be active. There are quite few compensations that were done in the past, but now it's getting reverted to support the clan activities and new influx of people.

[OWA]

My only concern with the clan channels and the TeamSpeak in general is the tenancy for a large amount of niche and redundant channels to pop up and sit around with nobody in them. E.G. There are 3 channels for the 495th Scarlet Armoured Division, but 9 times out of 10, only 1 of them is used.

I'd be inclined to encourage the use of Temporary channels for private discussions and rarely-played games/bespoke events, just so that we can all save some real estate on our screens.

[AZ-Stalker]

GR isn't a clan, just to make things clear for anyone who isn't aware of us. We're just a group that works on certain projects and has fun together (like gaming events), to put it simply.

The current setup on our part is run by this logic:

• Default GR channel / category - for anyone to join in and talk with us
• GR Internal HQ - for our staff chat and private discussions
• Ghost 207 / Game Events - for when we have LAN parties or online gaming

The gaming oriented channel has 2 subchannels (team 1 & 2) which are intended for use during matches where we split off and fight as two teams in one server. They could be considered redundant by some of the new standards (ideas?) presented here, but we would very much like to keep them on. Although if it's causing issues with the whole TeamSpeak area we all share, we could live without them and rely on temporary channels IF it's absolutely necessary or required for our continual use of your TS space.

 

I personally tried to minimize the space we use up to as few channels as possible, while at the same time future-proofing the whole thing. So the point is that if there is a problem with the GR part, we'll work it out, but from GR's perspective, our part is set up minimalistically and without need for any expansions because these few channels is all we'll need for the forseeable future.

[TeamWolf]

We're not really a fan of making temp channels and as I spoke about in London with you and Danpaul, SG is growing quiet rapidly. We are going to have a meeting as stated by Lord_Kane to discuss what we want to do with our channels, to see what is and isn't needed.

[ChopBam]

I'd suggest keeping it as simple as possible, reducing the number of channels to only the ones you really need to be permanent. Can people make their own temp channels? If so, open rooms 1-3 probably aren't necessary.

[OWA]

I'd suggest keeping it as simple as possible, reducing the number of channels to only the ones you really need to be permanent. Can people make their own temp channels? If so, open rooms 1-3 probably aren't necessary.

We don't generally let everyone make their own temp channels because in the past there was a problem with people using inflammatory channel names.

[Isaac The Madd]

 

I'd suggest keeping it as simple as possible, reducing the number of channels to only the ones you really need to be permanent. Can people make their own temp channels? If so, open rooms 1-3 probably aren't necessary.

We don't generally let everyone make their own temp channels because in the past there was a problem with people using inflammatory channel names.

 

You could have it so that when someone makes a temp channel it is automatically renamed to Tempchannelx where x is the number of this channel.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Isaac The Madd

[ChopBam]

 

I'd suggest keeping it as simple as possible, reducing the number of channels to only the ones you really need to be permanent. Can people make their own temp channels? If so, open rooms 1-3 probably aren't necessary.

We don't generally let everyone make their own temp channels because in the past there was a problem with people using inflammatory channel names.

 

It would be similar to inflammatory user names, right? Maybe the rule could be clarified to work with inflammatory channel names? Just $.02 here. Edited August 25, 2015 by ChopBam

[OWA]

 

 

I'd suggest keeping it as simple as possible, reducing the number of channels to only the ones you really need to be permanent. Can people make their own temp channels? If so, open rooms 1-3 probably aren't necessary.

We don't generally let everyone make their own temp channels because in the past there was a problem with people using inflammatory channel names.

 

It would be similar to inflammatory user names, right? Maybe the rule could be clarified to work with inflammatory channel names? Just $.02 here.

 

Inflammatory usernames are easier to regulate because you can easily tell who is causing the problem and tell them to knock it off. It tends to happen more with channel names in my experience.

[moonsense715]

 

 

I'd suggest keeping it as simple as possible, reducing the number of channels to only the ones you really need to be permanent. Can people make their own temp channels? If so, open rooms 1-3 probably aren't necessary.

We don't generally let everyone make their own temp channels because in the past there was a problem with people using inflammatory channel names.

 

It would be similar to inflammatory user names, right? Maybe the rule could be clarified to work with inflammatory channel names? Just $.02 here.

 

Slightly off topic and slap me for it but good to see you around again, Choppy

[ChopBam]

Inflammatory usernames are easier to regulate because you can easily tell who is causing the problem and tell them to knock it off. It tends to happen more with channel names in my experience.

My experience is a bit different but I won't try to push the issue. It's just a preference anyway.

 

Slightly off topic and slap me for it but good to see you around again, Choppy

Hehe, thought I'd pop by and see how everybody's doing! Good to see you too, Mr. 715!