How to effectively communicate through voice chat?

[Zoot]

I played a few rounds of Squad Battle with the Squids Next Door today, which was also my first opportunity playing Splatoon with voice chat (over Skype, obvs). I thought this would magically make our teamwork better, but I found I had no idea what to say!

Do any of you who have been playing online shooters for longer than me have advice on how to communicate effectively?

 

[TheMH]

I have no experience from other shooters, but I think in Splatoon one key aspect is to define definite names for every location on the map, so you don't have to talk about locations too much. Like "mid right" for the square-shaped area between the slopes at the right and the center in Skatepark. As you can see with this example I already cut off 80-90% of words I have to say for this specific location.

 

[Dano]

@TheMH Pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The only problem is, all the maps are symmetrical. So, coming up with names for areas can be a little tricky. But, yeah, coming up with names for areas is very important for communication. Watch any Counter Strike: Global Offensive game, and listen to how they communicate.

 

[DeeWee UNub]

Like what the other two have already said,callouts are a must. However,if that's too tricky at the moment as it's going to take a while to learn callouts,just tell your teammates what's going on where you are. It's easy for your teammates to know where you are and they will know that the enemy is in the area.

 

[RespawningJesus]

Basically keep comm short and simple. I also tend to call out enemies by the weapon they are using.

So, for example, in Saltspray Rig, I see a blaster in the upper area, I will say, Blaster, High Rig.

As for callouts in terms of map lovations, make sure you establish beforehand what the callouts are.

 

[Cheezey Bites]

Tell people when you're about to special (in 5), when you see an enemy, if you'removong location, or spot a location that needs covering. Don't forget bombs and beakons, or any notable movement you see on the map.

Once you've got reports down talking strategy becomes Alot easier.

 

[Blatikin]

Hey, Just wanted to ask about a certain setup that I've had on my mind since seeing this ability on one of the gears, while waiting for squads to arrive to better utilize it. You know the recon ability, I always thought it would be most useful with a squad with an ability to communicate. What I'd imagine is whenever a whole squad is wiped or whenever the person with the ability gets splatted they would spawn and call out enemy positions or where there moving towards to their squad. If the situation is right, perhaps whenever you wipe out the enemy team and wait for them to come back you could squid jump to your spawn and call out where they're coming from like if they're concentrating on engaging from the left then call out to focus all your squad to the left or something?

If anyone has done this or plan on trying this out, let me know how affective it was for them. Would really like to see if this strategy works. And also I don't have a squad to test this out on.

 

[Kat]

With callouts a lot of people seem to think it's good to saturate the lines. Keep it short and simple, communicate what you're doing if you've changed it up and usually any enemies you see/need help dealing with. Maximum information in a minimum amount of words.

As people have said, go listen to some CS:GO demos etc. with TS3 comms.

 

[BeanYak]

@TheMH Pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The only problem is, all the maps are symmetrical. So, coming up with names for areas can be a little tricky. But, yeah, coming up with names for areas is very important for communication. Watch any Counter Strike: Global Offensive game, and listen to how they communicate.

I brought this up in one of my threads and another one, but you can call certain callouts one thing or another based on which side of the map it's on. I suggest Good vs. Bad, e.g. Good Alley vs. Bad Alley, the thin side corridor on Mall. Good and Bad follow the game's way of naming teams, and the good callouts would be whichever is easier to get to from your sspawn. Will link later, I'm on mobile right now, though.

 

[Zoot]

I suggest Good vs. Bad, e.g. Good Alley vs. Bad Alley

In my head, I've been calling the two ends "near side" and "far side". It's less subjective that way. :P