D&D General Looking for Skype alternatives

[Corinnguard]

Well, Zoom's the big one. Probably the primary videoconferencing platform in the last few years. I"m not sure how long it's free for though (45 mins?)--I have a paid sub. That said, only the host needs the subscription.

I didn't even realise people still used Skype!

I was using Skype until the very end. I have been using Discord since I started playing 5e.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I used to use Team speak for voice chat only, and when we needed to switch to Discord around 2017-2019 for some reason I really didn't like it. It seemed like there were always performance issues and other things bothering me.

But eventually those issues went away. In my experience it's been pretty rock solid for years now. We haven't used video as much as I'd like, but it doesn't cost anything or have limits, and I don't notice any issues when we do use it.

If you need to access the text chat at the same time as you see the video, you can pop the videos out into a separate window and resize and position it wherever you want. I make it a column near the right edge of my monitor (the close to my webcam) and then use the rest of the screen for everything, so I have full ability to access everything and never need to switch to video. I think there may also be an overlay option, but I haven't tested it. Either way, it's definitely not limited to either looking at the text chat or looking at the video.

 

[John R Davis]

We too skyped to the end
We tried a few things and have settled with teams
As long as one of you have a 365 subscription it has no limits. Used it for the first time for a session last night and it was issue three for the 3 hour session.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

My group and I have been meeting online ever since the pandemic. We tried Discord, but eventually settled on Skype.

I host, laying out a physical battlemat on the table, and handle moving the miniatures, no matter who is the DM.

With Skype going sundown, we're looking for a good alternative. We need little more than a common video chat, but it has to be free for more than half an hour. Our sessions usually run for four or more hours per session, and some of my players are retired and on fixed income.

Any suggestions?

I'm afraid the only option I can think of is Discord. Everything else is either lacking in key features or not free.

 

[hojulation]

My group uses a commercial Zoom account one of my players has for his work, but as I read through this thread, it got me thinking that the Jitsi Meet platform might be a viable solution for many.

About Jitsi Meet | Free Video Conferencing Solutions

It's free, open source, web based conferencing software. They also have desktop clients if so desired. It's existed in some form since the early 2000's.

My experience with the software has been positive, but with so many existing Skype contacts, I never made the push to get others to adopt it. Will probably start subtly encouraging it's use more amongst my cohort though now since Skype's shutdown.

 

[Belen]

I have a zoom from my work account. Yeah, its performance is impressive.

It also eats memory. Zoom is bad for the load it generates.

 

[GrimCo]

Google meets. Sure, free version has 1 hour limit. But that's good point as any to take quick brake. It's also less demanding on hardware resources than zoom, which can impact performance on older computers and people with slower connections. If you need more uninterrupted time, only host needs paid version.

 

[Mistwell]

We use Discord as primary, Zoom as secondary. For video we prefer Zoom, but if it's primary audio we find Discord is easiest.

 

[Tessarael]

We used to use Skype. Tried Discord early on, and found the call quality was worse, so we went back to Skype. Tried Discord again for Vampire the Masquerade for the dice roller extension, and by that point the quality was good. Continued with Skype for D&D and Discord for Vampire. Then with increasing frustrations with Skype, and it being end of life, we're happily using Discord full time now.

Discord really is very good these days for roleplaying. You have the audio channels, but also pics, chat logs, and so forth, and there are various helpful extensions that you can use too.

 

[Stormonu]

I've used Zoom, Teams and Webex for work, Discord, Roll20 and Steam's Friend chat (no video, but there are the likes of Tabletop Simulator, Fantasy Grounds and the like for handling battlemaps and such) at home.

Out of them all, I would say Discord has been the one I would prefer to use for gaming, with Roll20 for handling anything visual - as I am adverse to webcams.