Streaming recommendations

[Sirion8288]

Hey all, I was wondering if y'all could provide some advice. We already have one streamer who connects into our D&D game. We currently use Google Hangouts and it's been...meh at best (lot of issues with audio cutting out). Now, two more of our players are leaving the state for a year and we need to stream in three players if we want this campaign to continue. We are thinking about doing something a little more formal (e.g., get a good camera/mic) so that this campaign does not fizzle out.

My question is what mic/camera you would recommend, and what streaming service/program?

Thanks!

-Sirion

[Monster Manuel]

I've been calling in remotely to my weekly game for a few years now. It's just me that's remote, everyone else is together (sounds similar to what you had set up originally).

I started off using Hangouts, but found the same issues with connectivity and bad audio. We switched over to using Skype, actually, and it's been much more stable. We use a video-call, and we position the camera on their end of the call over the game map, so that I can see that rather than the other players. No need to share it with anything more sophisticated than that, since everyone else who needs to see the map is sitting at the table. When it's time for me to do something, I'll say "move me 3 squares over the the left, behind the tree" or whatever, and someone at the table will move the minis around.

I was using a Razer Kraken headset with noise-cancelling mic and bells and whistles, but honestly, just the plug-in earbuds on my phone have worked just as well if not better.

It's far from perfect, but it's worked for us.

Adding more people calling in, I'm not sure Skype would be an ideal tool anymore. We have had one other person call in, and the three-way call worked OK. But, i imagine there are better tools than Skype out there. It's what's worked in a low-key way, but I'll be eagerly lurking this thread to see what else people suggest...

*edit* I'm not sure "streaming" is really the term you want to use for what you're trying to do here. Remote Play? Virtual gametable? Not sure there's an official term for it, but when I first read "Streaming Recommendations", I was expecting to see a thread looking for recommendations of live-play streaming shows to watch, not recommendations on how to play remotely.

[ShadowSandbag]

I use Discord for voice and roll20 for maps and stuff for the 3 games i run online. Overall I don't have any problems and find that there are some things that are a lot easier to do this way, like taking one player off to the side for secret stuff.

[Keravath]

I've used Skype and Zoom to remotely access play sessions. Both worked well for video+voice. The quality of the laptop/mic/camera at each end is a critical feature. Running the camera and mic on a cheap laptop can result in really substandard audio/video. However, the camera and mic on a decent laptop seemed to work fine so unless you want professional quality you might not need to buy an expensive mic/camera.

[EnnPeeCee]

My current group has one player who plays remotely. Our setup is an old iPhone that I built a stand out of legos for so that it is propped up enough to be able to see the table. We just use Skype, and it seems to work out just fine.

[firelistener]

I use Discord for voice and roll20 for maps and stuff for the 3 games i run online. Overall I don't have any problems and find that there are some things that are a lot easier to do this way, like taking one player off to the side for secret stuff.

I've used the same setup for a few sessions. It worked pretty well for us too, but I found the initial setup of the Discord server and Roll20 game pretty intensive on my part as DM.

[LudicSavant]

Discord + Roll20

[Throne12]

Discord and roll20 is wht we do as well. It takes a sec to get use to using everything but that just using something new. As a DM it nice I have all my maps and encounter all set up on roll20 and just move players to a new tab. As for mic I use the earbuds mic I got with my new phone and it perfectly fine.

I have roll20 and dnd Beyond pulled up on my laptop. Then I run discord on my phone. I'm going to start recording are games. And I'm just going to run program on my phone with discord on too.

So ya thinking about I think my hole group use there phones for discord then run roll20 on there PC's.

We tried Skype but it just got to roboty or call would drop. So we switched to discord and have had no troubles.

[LordEntrails]

Use a Virtual Table Top.

I prefer (strongly) Fantasy Grounds. But Roll20, Astral, Foundry, Maptools, and Battle grounds are all possibilities.

Ask yourselves a couple of questions to help you decide;
- Do you want a hosted solution or not? Me, I want all my data on my computer, not one someone else's server who can pull or restrict that data at their whim.
- Do you want to purchase content? This pretty much limits you to FG and Roll20. D&D 5E resources are much cheaper on FG than Roll20 (and Roll20 doesn't even have all the 5E resources available), and Roll20 has a lot more other content besides 5E.
- Do you prefer subscriptions or one-time purchases? Be aware that some "Free" versions are extremely limited, especially with regard to creating your own content and using your purchased content.
- What's the community like?
- How good is the provider at providing support? Are they involved in the community? Do they regularly update their platform? Do they incorporate community suggestions?
- How long have they been around? Do you care if you have to find a new VTT in a year or two if a new VTT goes under?