Voice chat

Voice chat communication software (also known as Voice over IP) allows vocal communication (via microphone/speakers/headset) between players during gameplay. This allows players to discuss strategies and tactics in realtime, even during the battle, without time-consuming typing. As communication is a huge factor on the effectiveness of a team, voice chat is often considered a must for serious PvP. It also helps a lot in PvE, although it is not considered as essential as in PvP.

Since Guild Wars does not include in-game voice chat at this time, many people use 3rd party software.

Third party voice chat software typically is a client / server application that runs in the background while playing Guild Wars. Many voice chat programs are available as free trial versions for download (both server and client), so everybody can set up a server and connect. Be aware that especially running a server can put quite a strain on your CPU and your internet connection, so servers should preferably run on a dedicated machine with a broadband connection (with up and downstream). Free hosted servers are available for many popular voice chat programs. For many voice chat programs it is also possible to talk peer to peer, but because of the CPU and bandwidth usage this is not recommended for more than 2-3 players.

Popular voice-chat programs
The following voice-chat programs are commonly used among players:


 * Teamspeak - http://www.goteamspeak.com (commonly abbreviated to "TS")
 * Teamspeak Overlay - http://www.teamspeakoverlay.com (add-on for Teamspeak)
 * Ventrilo - http://www.ventrilo.com (commonly abbreviated to "Vent")
 * Ventrilo Overlay - http://www.voice-overlay.info.ms (add-on for Ventrilo)
 * Roger Wilco - http://rogerwilco.gamespy.com (commonly abbreviated to "RW")
 * Team Sound - http://www.teamsound.com
 * GameComm - http://www.gamecomm.com
 * Microsoft GameVoice - http://www.gamevoice.com (formerly known as "BattleCom")


 * Disclaimer: The list above is incomplete, and the order is subjective. The order is not meant to imply any preferences, or to promote the use of any of these software products. It is recommended that users test several of them (free trial versions available for download!) to find out for themselves which one they prefer and which one works fine in combination with their soft- and hardware.