Communications
Contents |
Purpose
Communication plays a major part in the 3rd Infantry Division. Keeping in constant contact with members is an integral part of the unit, and has always been its strong point. Officers constantly relay messages to NCOs, who in turn relay information down to the Corporals, and Privates. Without the ability to keep everyone informed, the 3rd Infantry Division would surely die. Lack of knowledge is the natural killer of any large organization.
Instant Messaging
Throughout the years, the medium of which the 3rd Infantry Division communicates outside of the game has gone through several metamorphosis.
2001
By the order of Captain Higgins, every member of the 3rd Infantry Division was required to download, install, and use ICQ (I Seek You) as the main medium of communication. Before any other major instant messaging services came into the world, ICQ offered what other clients did not.
- Mass messaging to an entire group
- Offline messaging
- Full profiles
- Address
- Phone number
- Age
- 3rd Party programs such as HLSW, and All-Seeing Eye allowed for away messages to be dynamically changed to reflect the server location of a member.
Drill times, announcements, and other private means of communication were made easy, and possible by the use of ICQ.
2003
In conjunction with ICQ, the 3rd Infantry Division also created an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel, hosted by GamesNet. Command Staff meetings, unit briefings, reprimands requiring multiple personnel, and general discussion (outside of a forum) took place within its confines. At one point it was also used (during the Day of Defeat era) to actively watch the game server chat logs; aiding in server administration.
The channel, #3rdid, lasting just under a year's service is now extinct.
2006
On June 18th, 2006 T/4 Sgt. Kenkel polled the Command Staff on a decision to make a switch from ICQ to XFire.
[...]If anything, XFire does much more than ICQ ever did, and is geared towards gamers on top of it. Despite all that, AFAIK we're the only ones that use ICQ... I use the term use loosely because I think about 4 or 5 use it on a consistent basis.[...]
On June 27th, 2006 FSgt. Townsend rehashed the idea into a formal post stating that
[...]It's basically everything ICQ has but better, and catered to gamers. It's also no longer attracting only the "l337" crowd either. Best thing to do is go ahead and create an account, download the installer, and try it out for yourself.
On July 3rd, 2006 FSgt. Townsend made the call, ordering the 3rd Infantry Division to abandon ICQ permanently.
"XFire Conversion & Unit Directory"
Over the past week the NCO corps and the Command staff have been taking a look at XFire. Compared to our current method of communication, XFire blows ICQ out of the water. Catered to gamers, the XFire chat client sports the following features:FEATURES
- Friend Tracker
- See when your friends are online, what game they're playing, and what server they're on
- Join in on their games with one click
- See what the friends of your friends are playing
- One-Click Join
- Once you're ready to join one of your friends in a game, simply select your friend's name and click the Join button. (Say goodbye to cutting & pasting server IP addresses!)
- Server Browser
- XFire's server browser is built right into the client so you don't need yet another application running while gaming. You can easily filter by game type, map name, ping, etc. XFire also keeps track of your recent servers, your favorites, and your friends' favorites.
- In-Game Instant Messaging
- Unlike other IMs, you can send and receive messages from inside games without having to minimize (Alt+Tab) the game window. Your IMs appear right on screen: just hit Scroll Lock + X to respond. You can even take screenshots by pressing Scroll Lock + S and automatically upload them to your profile page.
- Voice Chat
- XFire's voice chat lets you talk 1:1 or in groups with your friends while you're in or out of game. Superior voice quality and custom bandwidth settings ensure your gaming will still go on lag-free.
- File & Patch Downloads
- You can download the latest mods, patches, and trailers for your favorite games to your desktop over our flexible and convenient P2P file network. Subscribe to XFire's download channels and get game patches and files automatically delivered as soon as they're out- no more waiting around to get a patch, just play.
- Profiles with automatic stats
- XFire shows off your gaming stats, such as the games you play and how many hours you've played them. They're on your profile and Mini profile, which can be embedded anywhere on the web.
- Over 550 Games Supported
- XFire supports many popular online PC games, including server and non-server based First Person Shooters, Real Time Strategy, and Role Playing Games. If you play it, we probably have it. And we're constantly adding newly suggested games.
You can download XFire from [XFire www.xfire.com].
Once you have downloaded XFire, please post your XFire name here for everyone to see and add.
It is important that all members download this program. If you have issues with it bring it up with me in private and we will try to get them sorted out.
ICQ is no longer the standard for text chat communication within the 3rd Infantry Division.
In-Game
2001
56k modems were just starting to become phased out by the more powerful DSL, Cable, and (older) ISDN services, but for the most part, the Day of Defeat community was still to be considered "High Ping". Due to this, voice communication clients such as the long since forgotten Roger Wilco were not a viable option for keeping in contact while on the battlefield. The usage of in-game chat was essentially the only medium of which to communicate during a session.
The 3rd Infantry Division required all members to use proper grammar, spelling, and etiquette to speak to one another while playing. Respect was earned through elegance of text, rather than a command voice of an officer or NCO. The usage of voice commands also became essential, because it allowed for quick direction during a battle. The abuse of in-game voice commands by 3rd Infantry Division members was considered spam, and would result in ejection from the server, or in more severe cases, a discharge.
A document written by Briggs further explains this very basic rule.
Hunkeler says,In retrospect, typing orders during a firefight seems impossible to today's standards. The mere fact that I lived through it (more often than not) is more surprising than anything, but that's just the way things were.
2002
Voice communication, even at its lowest quality added a new dynamic to Day of Defeat. Typing orders became a thing of the past for many of the leaders who's internet connections could handle it. Standard typing was still second nature at the time for many of the 3rd Infantry Division members, and was not removed from the battle equation, but as the year 2002 drew on more soldiers adopted the voice chat capability. Voice chat was easier, safer, and allowed for greater control by leaders and soldiers alike.
The in-game voice chat became a secondary (just shy of primary) means to talk to one another. Before VoIP (Voice Over IP) became a sensation, and the long distance phone call plans were still expensive, the use of the in-game voice became a literal telephone for many members.
2003
In September the unit made the transition from Day of Defeat to Call of Duty. This posed a major issue, because Call of Duty did not have in-game voice chat capability; an alternative needed to be found. After reviewing clients such as the dying Roger Wilco, Ventrillo, and TeamSpeak, it was no question that TeamSpeak came out on top. Ease of use, and the ability to change the quality of the voice tranmission to near face-to-face sound, stood out among the rest. It became the unit's standard for voice communication in-game, and out-of-game.
2006
Call of Duty 2 added in-game voice communication (a little too late), and it is used sparingly by the 3rd Infantry Division. Training squads, and side-conversation ability is the only plus-side to having in-game voice, but it is no where near the quality of TeamSpeak, and no standards have changed pertaining to it.
Forum
2001
Hosted on a 3rd-party site [need site name], the forum did not require login information to post. All posts made to the forum were under the honor system, as each submission required the individual to enter their Name, and E-Mail. The forum was flat-thread based, and was messy to say the least. Due to this, official announcements were made through ICQ, and general discussion on various topics occurred on the forum.
2002
Curator, the host of DoDHQ.net hosted the 3rd Infantry Division under a sub-forum. The 3rd Infantry Division had full control of this forum, and because of DoDHQ.net's popularity with the community, the unit prospered with potential recruits; sometimes waiting in line for up to a year to be accepted. This forum became the original stomping ground for the 3rd ID, and will be forever missed.
When DoDHQ.net closed its doors permanently in 2004, all of the memories, doctrine, and community went to the grave with it. There was an outcry from many community members demanding that the forum be hosted elseware for the sake nostalgia, but all attempts at this restoration failed, and left many community members in disarray.
2003
DoDHQ.net was beginning to shutdown, and because the 3rd Infantry Division left Day of Defeat, the unit was forced to find another forum alternative. In September the unit decided upon hosting its own forum using phpBB. The 3rd Infantry Division has not changed their ways since then, and continues to use the same forum created during this time period today.
