I seem to have a propensity for, inadvertently, breaking a forum rule every once in a while. I had the foresight to imagine that this subject might be one of those things, so I actually read through the rules post and, so far as I could tell, this doesn't break any of them. I hope that's the case! Anyway, there are a number of services that offer free voice chat servers that can be set up, organized, and customized however one would like. I gained familiarity with them through my online gaming activities, where friends that happened to be playing at the same time could hop on and socialize. They have tons of functionalities that make them extremely useful for all kinds of things, you can share screens, link videos, stream yourself, etc, etc. Anyway, thinking that it would be fun and interesting to actually speak to, and get to know some of you better, I was wondering if these tools are/have been utilized by people in these forums? It could be a 24/7 type thing, or we could set up servers for special events for which people would like to get together, like auctions for instance. Of course, we would have to implement and follow rules pertaining to collusion prevention and so forth to maintain some ethical integrity, but it could be a really fun time. Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there and see if anyone had any thoughts.
Myself and a couple of other CT members have formed a chat group on Telegram. It's quite useful for openly discussing auctions, prices, trends, new or future acquisitions, forgeries, etc ... without moderators hovering over you and the prying eyes of trolls. NB: This is primarily a text/chat group.
I'm a member of a Discord community for ancient coins. Lots of our members are here on CT as well. For those unaware, Discord is a communications platform that allows for instant messages and voice/video to be shared in individual "servers" (used to be called IRC's back in the day). We usually discuss on-going auctions together, share new acquisitions, or just discuss generally about topics surrounding ancient coins. Feel free to join us! Here's a link (You'll need to register an account if you have not done so already): https://discord.gg/FCPWX3TJFW
I am a member of this online group as well. We utilize voice chat for a number of purposes like discussion on various types, auction commentary, and more!
Ah nice, looks like you guys beat me to the punch, which is exactly what I was trying to figure out. I was going to mention Discord, as that is what I primarily use, but I wasn't sure about the rules for naming those kinds of specific outside resources (I think I'm building up a point total for violations ). I'll pop in from time to time and see if anybody is on, look forward to chatting with you all!
I have had one on one Zoom meetings with a couple of Coin Talk friends and have participated in virtual club meetings on Zoom where I have given short talks to clubs a thousand miles away with live video and shared screen still photos. I was not aware of Discord having a group for ancient coins but my grandson uses that platform. I need to ask him about the technical parts of using it. Zoom is free for meetings involving only two people or limited in time for larger groups. I only do the free 1 on 1 format except when a club has purchased a membership that allows more. In the early days of Covid, I set up a rig that allowed switching back and forth between a macro camera and the one in the laptop so I could show my face (why?) or a coin in hand with ease. While this allowed tilting and turning a coin under discussion, the screen sharing feature allowing showing my regular photos seemed easier. I have not used this rig for quite a while now but it did work. Of course both participants would need one to get the most out of the idea. Usually when I got together with someone to talk coins, we ended up talking about a thousand different things of which coins were only a small part. A few years ago, there was only one option for real time social interaction with other collectors: coin club meetings. Today we have a glut of options for virtual contact and not only have to find someone who shares our interests but someone who 'does' the same platform. I Zoom; my daughter has Teams through her work; my grandson has Discord and a dozen other things through his computer gaming interests. Times change faster than I can keep up. Coin Talk has many advantages not the least of which is that I have been using it for 12 years and have half a clue how to use it. I wish there were more of a 'standard' for the live chat world and people who share my interests in coins (not just prices realized) who also used that platform.
I loved the old chats like AOL and ICQ. I haven't messed with those or regular chat rooms in a very long time. I miss newsgroups & Yahoo groups. Never had much interest in Discord & thankfully I haven't had to use any sort of "zoom".
Discord is free to download and use, you just have to create an account. Other than that, you of course require a microphone and speaker. The most convenient setup with respect to cost, quality, elimination of unwanted background noise, etc, is a gaming headset. You can probably find a cheap pair on Amazon or at Walmart in the $25 to $35 range. If the only intention is to use them on Discord from time to time, then these will be plenty good enough.
If any of you , or family member, use CANVAS as basis for taking or giving classes on-line, there is a ZOOM app within the Canvas program that can be used for groups or individuals. The person starting it has to be registered in a canvas course. Students use it for study groups with or without their video . Jim
I tried Discord. I filled out their forms and downloaded the app but got no confirmation email. Too complex for me.
An hour after I stopped trying, I started getting pop ups that said I should be able to post but those were interrupting what I was doing then and as unwelcome as spam. I got to see a few posts that reminded me of the 'here is my new coin' type here on CT. That leaves the question of why.
You can modify the notification settings so you don't get notifications about new messages (or only about messages addressed to you) but like any app the notifications are set to "on" by default and you get bombarded at first. The question of why is a bit like why use text messaging when emails exist? If you're looking for a more real-time conversation then Discord is great and the conversations can be a bit more free-flowing than here. Perhaps someone shares a new coin and the conversation goes off on a tangent about something else. I see both Discord and forums having their own purpose but, as you say, there's lots of "here is my coin" posts here on CT so I mainly only frequent CT for more in-depth discussions and stick to Discord for everything else.
I don't have a mic nor a camera on my computer. Ergo I can't talk online. And you can't see my face (which is probably good).
I can talk and be seen...but can't HEAR well enough, as my computer's speakers are woefully insufficient for my average-deficient, age and work-related hearing loss. I do have some hearing aids and /or ear-buds, but usually by the time I find them, unravel them, etc. and get them in, the conversation is over...!
same here, when i have to use a social talk/picture same time app, i use my phone, i hate how my voice sounds over computer, and the slower picture to voice freaks me out as well, lol
