Did SRS Kill the Chit-Chat?

[SharpeXB]

So it seems that nobody is using SRS but now nobody is using Discord either. The unintended effect of releasing SRS has been to kill off any voice comms at all. I don’t fly online very much but recently decided to finally install SRS only to discover dead silence on the servers. On a Finnish VP game with about 70 players nobody appears to be using the radio. 
Clearly SRS has problems:
- It has too many radios and channels for the limited number of players. 

- The GUI doesn’t show you who is on any of the channels or that anyone is even using it.

- Finnish VP doesn’t describe what the various radios and channels are for or even that SRS is used at all. But their Discord is rather empty too. 
- Combat Box gives a radios description but again, 2 radios with 5 channels each is too much to be useful. The end result is that nobody is on any of the channels. 
- SRS doesn’t appear to support voice activation. This might be an obstacle to people with limited buttons. - SRS requires too many keys assigned to it, these aircraft don’t have clickable cockpits where you can simply use the radio like a real one. 
- Mimicking a real radio maybe discourages people from idle banter that makes playing online interesting and fun. There are people responding to my radio check so I know it’s working and they’re on. But they aren’t talking. 
 

All things considered SRS doesn’t seem to be a good fit for this game. I would think the server owners would have noticed the lack of use by now. Discord was always being used even with low numbers of players. Now there’s nothing but crickets. 

Edited December 31, 2021 by SharpeXB

[Tipsi]

I don’t think the SRS interface is a barrier to people using it.

There has been an influx of new players recently and I believe it’s likely that they are not aware that there is a discord for each server, let alone SRS.

 

I too would like to see more people on voicecomms as it makes for a much better flying experience.

 

The best way to get more people on comms is to spread the word and educate / encourage people to join.

[RedKestrel]

SRS was never really highly used on FVP. It was really popular on CB when I was playing more, because they did a lot of work building it into the server. The Discords, too, are always hit and miss. Go back a few years and find all the posts lamenting crowded servers with no one on voice comms. Everyone demanded an integrated solution that would magically solve the problem of no one joining general comms. SRS was a step in that direction, but the problems persist because the problem is not technological. If anything it seemed VC usage spiked on both Discord and SRS after it was produced.

SRS' beauty is being able to have two channels going at once, so you can listen to a coordination channel while talking to people you are directly flying with on another. When flying on CB I always started on the general channel, and after coordinating an ad hoc group, we moved to a different channel just for our flight. But we could still monitor and speak on channel one to keep an eye out for the server as a whole. You can shift channels and see how many people are on each one with the click of a button, instead of hopping into a different app and getting onto a different channel.

 

And frankly, the fact that it has no voice activation is a godsend. No more listening to people's dogs barking, chewing, drinking, or people yelling in the background. All the things you mention as not being a great fit are, to me, where it shines.

 

Squads usually set up their own Discords and congregate there to fly together. Its why Discord and Teamspeak never really produced the coordination people wanted. People get sick of being in the general voice chat, the people who value teamwork and coordination usually link up with a squad, and then they go to the squad discord for VC and the general chat empties.

[SharpeXB]

As far as I can tell, on FVP people are on it, but don’t speak on it. The server is just silent without any voice comms.

 

Combat Box is dead for whatever reason and never seems to have players. Too bad, I liked CB

 

Wings of Liberty uses Teamspeak and only in Russian. 
 

So basically there is no voice chat in IL-2 anymore. Introducing SRS didn’t create some standard for the game, it just added another app and diluted any voice comm participation. Bottom line, when Discord was running there were more participants. Now it’s all silent. 

1 hour ago, RedKestrel said:

SRS' beauty is being able to have two channels going at once

This is actually not an advantage but a huge problem. There aren’t ever enough players online or on voice comms to actually need separate channels. They could all be on the same one. Plus there’s no GUI in SRS like there is on the other apps to show you who is on any of the channels. The idea of having an ATC channel is laughable because far from requesting takeoff clearance, players just take off across the taxiways ? they don’t even use the runway let alone any radio procedure. 

1 hour ago, RedKestrel said:

And frankly, the fact that it has no voice activation is a godsend

I’m trying to guess why people don’t actually talk on SRS. Finding an extra PTT button is a big deal. I only lucked out and discovered one otherwise I’d be using an extra mouse button every time I wanted to speak. And I have a HOTAS instead of a simple joystick. 

[Retnek]

48 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

...

Combat Box is dead for whatever reason and never seems to have players. Too bad, I liked CB

...
Introducing SRS didn’t create some standard for the game, it just added another app and diluted any voice comm participation.

Don't think so. SRS is easy to use, if you're willing to invest a little time and dedication. That's not given to anyone. Especially not after a 12-hours day with one or two jobs plus family-duties. For all the non-native-speakers English as the lingua-franca is an additional effort.

CombatBox is well alive. I love the immersion their unique radio-service is offering. Especially on the CB-SRS I frequently find pilots interested in cooperation.

Imho the silence has something to do with the decreasing numbers of online-pilots. And a rising tendency to stay within your known community, your country, your language. 10 - 20 years ago people enjoyed cooperation with pilots from all over the world. It is a bit more difficult, a bit more cumbersome - but hey, I'm flying together with a guy from Brazil or Russia right now - that's great! This open mindset and the curiosity to a certain degree changed - sadly.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Retnek
typo

[JimTM]

50 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

...

This is actually not an advantage but a huge problem. There aren’t ever enough players online or on voice comms to actually need separate channels. They could all be on the same one. Plus there’s no GUI in SRS like there is on the other apps to show you who is on any of the channels. The idea of having an ATC channel is laughable because far from requesting takeoff clearance, players just take off across the taxiways ? they don’t even use the runway let alone any radio procedure. 

...

 

In the SRS General tab, click the toggle client list button to see who is on, what side they are on (red/blue for each side, white for undecided), and what channels they are on (e.g., 5-1 = ch. 5 and ch. 1).

 

In Combat Box, ch 2 is mainly used to request a callsign and get airport information so that ch 1 (the main tactical channel) is free for high-priority messages and communications.

Edited January 1, 2022 by JimTM

[SharpeXB]

41 minutes ago, JimTM said:

In the SRS General tab, click the toggle client list button to see who is on

Good to know. But that’s a rather poor GUI design when this has to be explained. It’s fully obvious in the other apps.

44 minutes ago, Retnek said:

Don't think so. SRS is easy to use

Apparently not since I don’t see anyone using it. There are about 84 players on FVP right now and only one on SRS
There are 28 players on CB right now (not enough for a decent game) Only two of the Axis players are on SRS

44 minutes ago, Retnek said:

CombatBox is well alive

I’m online today. Prime time gaming hours in the US. Combat Box had 12 players on. That’s 6 per side. Looks dead to me. There were more players on it when they ran Discord. Coincidence? ? CB was the only server running voice comms and that was part of the appeal. 
 

44 minutes ago, Retnek said:

I'm flying together with a guy from Brazil or Russia right now - that's great! This open mindset and the curiosity to a certain degree changed - sadly.

Indeed that was a fun part about playing online and talking to people all over the world. It seems gone now. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by SharpeXB

[453=SGII_Wotan]

all I can say is combat box is full now and srs is being used

[SharpeXB]

8 minutes ago, IISG2_Wotan said:

all I can say is combat box is full now and srs is being used

Yep I’m on it now!  ?

[453=SGII_Wotan]

I tried but   i had just finished night shift and couldnt coordinate my brain enough to even take off ( wrote 2 doras of)

so I went to bed

[SCG_Tzigy]

15 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

SRS' beauty is being able to have two channels going at once, so you can listen to a coordination channel while talking to people you are directly flying with on another.

Absolutely.  Once I take off, I can listen and talk on one channel with command and/or everyone else, while winging up w a friend from Europe and talk smack in Czech. Or listen in on A-20 flight chatter on another channel. I can also be on SRS and Discord at the same time w the 2 overlays next to each other..or transmit on both if i want.  I think SRS is da shite, tho. ?

[SharpeXB]

So this afternoon there’s 80 people on CB but only 5-6 people per side on SRS. None of them are to be heard. 
 

Edited January 2, 2022 by SharpeXB

[Denum]

FvP alot of us are on discord usually 

[StaB/Tomio_VR***]

SRS also doesn't appear in a VR helmet...
It's not very pleasant to don't know who is speaking because u don't know them well