i think we should use skype for the vassal tournaments then i think we could do 60 min games and it wouldnt feel like the games are going so slow. i really felt the games in the last vassal tournament went really slow that was some what from me not knowing what i was doing when i was running the tournament. i felt the game play was really slow too. running the tournament with skype would speed up the games to were they should be so the tournament doesnt go past 12-1 am central.

hmmm definately interesting. I know I was able to play my first game on skype against TINT and it was awesome. Definately made for a table top feel. This seems to have its own set of logistic problems though. I mean so you would announce pairings and go to the room and them one person would have to call the other set up and then go. I think this still will be clunky, but could be something were if we did it enough and worked out the bugs could end up quite well. I still think you will always have someone in the tourny with no mic, so like I said interesting problems to solve.

Please let him have deleted it ! ! Please let him have deleted it ! ! Please let him have deleted it ! ! Please let him have deleted it ! !

i uploaded it. ill look into it.

Yeah I used skype against Tint too. He was playing Dodanna and I was playing San and the whole "I activate an ugnaught and do nothing" phase went way quicker. Definitely recommended.

Just talking about myself, when I'm sitting here at the computer, looking at the screen, I have a tendency to talk to myself outloud, plotting strategies, lining up shots, etc. Just me, perhaps, but I don't think Skype would be helpful to my opponent when they hear me mumbling!

I just want to chime in on this real quick: Vassal games with Skype are MUCH more enjoyable (table-top feel, as Boba52 says) and much faster, and with fewer hassles, than Vassal games without Skype. It only takes about 5 seconds or less for two people to connect a "call" on Skype. There's the odd situation where you lose the connection ("Can you hear me now?"), but even with something like that happening, it's still MUCH better than the alternative type-chat. There really is no question: using Skype for Vassal games is a huge improvement.

If someone doesn't have a mic, then obviously they can't do Skype, and so we'll have to resort to type-chat again for that match. But if we can affort to spend $100s of dollars on little lumps of painted plastic, then $20 for a mic doesn't seem too far out for most of us.

Furthermore, Skype is very easy to download and install--infinitely easier than Vassal and its associated maps!

I really hope that many of the players at this Saturday's tournament will be using Skype.

Hey Ray. I think you are looking at this all wrong. The webcam works great with skype also. It wouldn't be too hard to set up a webcam too point directly to your dice and actually roll real ones thus making the vassal ones uneccesary. I am pretty sure that would go along way to solving alot of negativity some (cough...ray...cough) have about using vassal.

You obviously would have to work out some of the problems, but over time could be done effectively.

lol, Chris. I don't blame Vassal for the dice being skewed against me. I still believe they are totally random, but it just appears sometimes they are geared towards one player or another, but I know that happens in real life, too. The webcam idea is cool, but I have never gotten my XBOX Live camera to work on my computer, and that is the only webcam I have, but it is a cool idea. Might think about it . . . might

DOwnloaded it, seems to work. Now need to test it out with someone.