New Ventrilo Version to be released on Wednesday

[MajorWoody]

http://www.ventrilo.com/images/header.jpg

On Wednesday, Nov 14th 2007, we will be releasing version 3.0 of the Ventrilo communications system. While the actual change log is still being worked on we can give you some clues here as to what you will be getting.

User Access Rights (UAR)
Guest account and restrictions
Per channel codecs
User authorization channels
Ranks
User complaint reporting
Private chat sessions

Oh, and the “Move User To” menu option has been resurrected from the dead. But we also have an auto scrolling drag-and-drop system so it might not get used much.

And this is just to name a few. The change log in DOC format is already 13 pages long so this little snippet really doesn’t do justice to how many new features have been added. So be sure to read the change log, found on the main download page, once 3.0 is available for download.

An official announcement will be posted on the main page of Ventrilo.com when everything is available.Source: http://www.ventrilo.com/forums/announcement.php?f=4

Looks like Vent beat out Teamspeak to the elusive version 3. We've been waiting... i think two years for a new Teamspeak version :p

Ventrilo announced their version 3 just this past July.

[Wolverine]

IMHO TS2 still owns over anything Vent puts out because the TS team lets me host my own TS without limiting me to 8 measly slots. They have done more for gaming communities than Vent could dream of.

Greed, she's an ugly beast and well known by the Vent team.

[romeozor]

this is why we use 2.1.x ventrilo server :p
2.3 was not an option in my country because of the insane licensing ventrilo has

[TSI_Destroyer_NL]

this is why we use 2.1.x ventrilo server :p
2.3 was not an option in my country because of the insane licensing ventrilo has


yes thats the same in the netherlands too there are only a few that are able to host it Vent has a weird licencing poilicy..

[Pennybags]

So someone wants to make money for something they make and that's a bad thing??? How is it insane if your country has different rules and ways of governing that prohibit a license similar to that in the country the program was made in? I really do not consider $120 USD a year (50 user server) a huge amount for a VOIP server! Consider you pay that for just about any website hosting service and that is about two months pay for a game server! Most of the server companies offer a free Vent or TS server when you rent a game server anyhow.
Unless you have some uberfast connection, no one wants to host a VOIP server on their own computer that runs 24/7.

I used TS for 3 years and I really liked some of the features but the issues we had with TS were ridiculous. Hijacking of the server, constant problems with the the features, horrible sound quality, non-userfriendly administration. These issues were brought up on their forums for YEARS and they did nothing about it! I don't see how you can say TS has the best support??? All they care about is marketing their product! The amount of time it takes them to do anything is a joke! On the TS forums, you have these "TS Fanatics" that think they know everything about the program that answer posts and write something totally useless!
The TS team is no better and will treat you like an idiot and tell you it's not their problem and to contact the company you rent from! That was my experience with them and that was a couple years back. Maybe lately they have changed their way of dealing with customers, but from what I hear from people that move to Vent, I doubt it.

I was totally against Vent when I was using TS but then one day I decided to see what all the fuss was with Vent and I have not turned back. Yeah, it doesn't offer some of the features I like with TS but I can live with that because Vent is a much better and stable program. When the announcement was made about making Vent3, a post was made to give suggestions for the next version and I can almost guarantee that the developer took every idea into consideration. If you have an issue with Vent and you post on their forums, the developer will almost always answer the post and help you with your issue!
I had a bunch of people that were against using Vent but once they started using it, they agreed that it was better than TS!

I can't wait to see what has been done in Vent3! Based on all the input from users it sounds promising!
I really enjoy Vent now but I AM interested to see what TS3 has to offer. But who knows when or if that will ever be released!

[MajorWoody]

Pennybags sums up my thoughts perfectly. If you read the teamspeak license, i'm certain you will find that your are in violation of that license. If you take money from anyone in any way (through donations, ad revenue, etc) to help run your server, you are stealing.

While i agree that Ventrilo is superior (as a client and a server). We'll see what happens when TS3 comes out. If any new ground-breaking features come out, it won't take Ventrilo 2 years to code them in.

[Wolverine]

Hey if folks would rather pay for the same thing you can have for free then more power to em.


Non-Profit Organizations
If you host a TeamSpeak server strictly for non-profit AND you are not a commercial entity then you will not be subject to licensing fees. You must not exceed a total of 1000 slots on a maximum of 10 TeamSpeak servers within your organization. TeamSpeak servers are defined as ANY server upon which a connection is allowed - be it virtual or physical.

Examples of non-profit entities:

* An individual hosting a single TeamSpeak server configured to allow up to 100 slots for their online gaming clan for non-profit.
* An individual hosting 10 TeamSpeak servers with 100 slots each but does NOT ask for fees, does not advertise, or receive any sort of compensation or benefits for doing so.
* An individual that rents a dedicated server from a hosting company but does NOT ask for fees from clan members AND does NOT rent or share space on their TeamSpeak server to others for profit.
* A church or other non-profit organization hosting a free TeamSpeak server for online bible study discussions.
* A school hosting one TeamSpeak server over 10 physical machines, each configured to allow no more than 100 slots and is completely free of charge to students, allowing them to receive help with homework for their classes online.


http://www.teamspeak.com/?page=faq&cat=sales&rate=14#who_needs_to_pay

In the above the key word is profit. I think the above language goes out of its way to allow clans the ability to host a TS server legally for free. I don't think you could get within a mile of any of those situations with Vent. To them its pretty much "wanna use it? PAY!"

[Diva]

I would love for our clan to use vent but cant afford for paying for all those slots, we host tourneys so sometimes we will have around 100 or more on TS at one time. So Teamspeak is what we use. I hear vent is very good.

[MajorWoody]

* An individual that rents a dedicated server from a hosting company but does NOT ask for fees from clan members AND does NOT rent or share space on their TeamSpeak server to others for profit
Read that one carefully. If you rent a box, start up a TS and accept donations from members you are violating the TS license. Granted, they probably aren't going to come after you.

However, you make it sound like TS is free. It's not. If someone has deep pockets and wants to completely cover the costs for their clan/guild, then yes, it's free. However, that deep-pocketed person can't take money from their members.

[Wolverine]

This thread really got me thinking about the intent of the language. Here is a copy of an email convo between me and the TS folks.



My orig email to them:

Hello.
I am hoping you can help me by clarifying part of your licensing rules.


Here is the part I am referring to:

Non-Profit Organizations
If you host a TeamSpeak server strictly for non-profit AND you are not a commercial entity then you will not be subject to licensing fees. You must not exceed a total of 1000 slots on a maximum of 10 TeamSpeak servers within your organization. TeamSpeak servers are defined as ANY server upon which a connection is allowed - be it virtual or physical.

Examples of non-profit entities:

* An individual hosting a single TeamSpeak server configured to allow up to 100 slots for their online gaming clan for non-profit.
* An individual hosting 10 TeamSpeak servers with 100 slots each but does NOT ask for fees, does not advertise, or receive any sort of compensation or benefits for doing so.
* An individual that rents a dedicated server from a hosting company but does NOT ask for fees from clan members AND does NOT rent or share space on their TeamSpeak server to others for profit.
* A church or other non-profit organization hosting a free TeamSpeak server for online bible study discussions.
* A school hosting one TeamSpeak server over 10 physical machines, each configured to allow no more than 100 slots and is completely free of charge to students, allowing them to receive help with homework for their classes online.


I am having a debate with someone about the intent of this language. My contention is that if me and a couple friends (or clanmates) all pitch in to pay for the hosting of our server that we can still by your language host a TS server. I guess it comes down to your definition of "profit". We share the burden of paying for the bandwidth our machine uses but no person in our "organization" profits from money donated for that cause. Non profit organizations bring in money all the time and that money is spent to further the cause of that organization and not for individuals to profit from.

In short I guess I am asking you to define the term "profit" for me as it applies to your licensing language.

Thank you for your time.





Thier response:

Looking over your situation, it definitely seems that you will not need to purchase a license at this time. The basic definition of “profit” is when you are benefiting in some way shape or form in return for hosting a TeamSpeak server for someone ELSE. Some people try to “cheat” the system by placing a Paypal donation button on their website and getting a flood of “donations” which they in turn pocket. Bottom line – please make sure you host your server using only ONE of the following configurations:



10 servers, 100 slots each, for a total of 1000 slots

4 servers, 250 slots each, for a total of 1000 slots

2 servers, 500 slots each, for a total of 1000 slots

1 server, 1000 slots, for a total of 1000 slots



Please let us know if you have any further questions.



Thank you,
TeamSpeak Sales Team
________________________________
e-Mail: sales@tritoncia.com
TeamSpeak: http://www.TeamSpeak.com
Account Login: https://sales.TritonCIA.com/users

[InfinityDevils]

We used TS for a long time but switched over to Ventrilo and won't go back. There is a definate delay with TS that you don't seem to have with Ventrilo, in FPS shooters, relaying info to teammates is uber critical and any delay is negative to gameplay. People sound more true to life with vent, alot more than TS. There are more positives using vent than there are towards using TS with the exception of having to pay to use it. Very few things in life are free, its just the way it is....I won't be going back to TS, not until it can get to the point of being equal to Ventrilo.

[sCaryDeth]

Ever hear of the term "You get hat you pay for"? It applies to most things in life.

[Dirtynap]

Bottom Line:

Vent rental rates to licensed providers are higher than that of TS, thus the cost is higher.

Vent license agreements are closed and have been for some time hence competition from new providers is at zero, thus again the cost is higher.

Vent has better codecs (at this moment)

Thats it end of.

TS3 will give Vent a run for its money and costs for TS are to remain the same.

[MajorWoody]

Vent rental rates to licensed providers are higher than that of TS, thus the cost is higher.

Vent license agreements are closed and have been for some time hence competition from new providers is at zero, thus again the cost is higher.
Teamspeak licenses are on a sliding scale, and on the low slot side cost more than a Vent license. As you sell more TS slots, your costs go down (but never less than Vent).

[MajorWoody]

This thread really got me thinking about the intent of the language. Here is a copy of an email convo between me and the TS folks.
Maybe we're not clear on what we're debating, cause i think TS made my point for me! :D

Some people try to “cheat” the system by placing a Paypal donation button on their website and getting a flood of “donations” which they in turn pocket.
What i've been trying to say is what they said in this statement. If you take donations for hosting a TS, you're violating the license.

However, if you're happy with the email reply you got from them, great! I'm just pointing out that most people aren't as honest and up front about what they are doing.

[Wolverine]

Ahh, I see your point. At one time in my clans history we did accept public donations to pay for servers. Perhaps under those circumstances I was breaking the terms of the license.

Now days my clan pays for everything without public donations. All our donations are internal (from the clan members themselves) as I carefully pointed out to them in my email and the TS sales folks seem to be just fine with that.

Frankly I think that probably represents the average clans situation or do most take public donations?

[MajorWoody]

Frankly I think that probably represents the average clans situation or do most take public donations?
I think that *any* donation would violate their license :p

My clan accepts donations from anyone, just because the button is on the front page. 95% are from clan members. We have a very popular BF2 server that gets some donators from time to time.

[Wolverine]

I think that *any* donation would violate their license :p


Hmmm,well I was pretty specific with what I told them as I outlined in my previous post.

I said:

I guess it comes down to your definition of "profit". We share the burden of paying for the bandwidth our machine uses but no person in our "organization" profits from money donated for that cause.


Should I email them again and make sure they did not skip over that part of my email to them?

[MajorWoody]

Should I email them again and make sure they did not skip over that part of my email to them?
Up to you, i'm ready to stick a fork in this thread though :D

[Wolverine]

I guess I don't understand.

I have been very straightforward with my comments to the TS team and I have brought all of that to this thread. After seeing all of that you still disagree. I want to make sure I am running a legit TS server so lets at least pony up and say what we mean.

Are you saying that the TS team does not understand my situation or what?


I don't mind a little debate especially about something this interesting for the community and it is not a matter of winning or loosing said debate.

[MajorWoody]

I want to make sure I am running a legit TS server so lets at least pony up and say what we mean.
EDIT: I've re-read their email to you four or five times to get it into my thick skull. It's the someone "else" they are clearly worried about.