
A Mumble 1.0 Review
Mumble totally revamped the way PR was played. With more communication, less issues stemmed between players and cross-squad cohesion was encouraged. Mechanized infantry became infinitely easier, requesting ammo from a smurf was no longer an elongated affair, and more importantly typing was drastically reduced in teamchat.
Mumble 1.0 is a quantum leap from the above. VOIP is now redundant in its entirety thanks to clearer quality and minimal latency. A whopping 13 buttons allows for the ultimate in direct communication, eliminating frustratingly long communications between squads that are irrelevant to others. Automatically joining channels without player input using heretical developer wizardry is just an added plus that already polishes off an almost flawless piece of equipment (which by the way, happens in mere seconds).
Last-night I used it for the first time, playing on NwA Basrah for the latter part of a seeding round. Having the entire squad connected, VOIP wasn't used period except for when people were still trying to sort out their buttons.
It took a single round to get used to the new system. The only significant downfall that I've found is player based, where a Squad Leader communicating with me didn't begin with 'dtacs, this is Squad X', making it impossible to converse with him and forcing me to type 'Who is talking to me'. Any SL who is communicating with another squad use this simple, idiot-proof protocol: 'Squad X, this is Squad Y, <message>'
One issue in the subsequent Muttrah (MEC) round was that radio spotting was hardly used. When a message was important, it was sent directly cross-squad or to all SL's in the case of the Cobra.
TL;DR Mumble 1.0 is the best addition to the game since AAS. It negates the need for an ageing voice system that wasn't meant for a game making the effort to pursue realistic gameplay and teamwork. I tip my hat to those who made it, you've given players the ultimate third-party program and drastically increased the quality of play during games. Pure development genius.
There are no excuses for not using Mumble anymore.
The next step? Make it compulsory for all players, even those without microphones.
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Attached is my overlay. Its minimal, shows people in GREY talking with local chat, people in RED talking over global, and people in GREEN talking in whispers (other SL's)
[Example]








