D&D General Looking for Skype alternatives

[Greenfield]

My group and I have been meeting online ever since the pandemic. We tried Discord, but eventually settled on Skype.

I host, laying out a physical battlemat on the table, and handle moving the miniatures, no matter who is the DM.

With Skype going sundown, we're looking for a good alternative. We need little more than a common video chat, but it has to be free for more than half an hour. Our sessions usually run for four or more hours per session, and some of my players are retired and on fixed income.

Any suggestions?

 

[Seramus]

What feature did you dislike about Discord? What features are most important to you, besides free?

 

[cbwjm]

Discord might actually be the best one in that I don't think there is any fee for meetings longer than an hour. I do recall having issues with it taking up a lot of resources but it might be better now.

 

[Yaarel]

My group and I have been meeting online ever since the pandemic. We tried Discord, but eventually settled on Skype.

I host, laying out a physical battlemat on the table, and handle moving the miniatures, no matter who is the DM.

With Skype going sundown, we're looking for a good alternative. We need little more than a common video chat, but it has to be free for more than half an hour. Our sessions usually run for four or more hours per session, and some of my players are retired and on fixed income.

Any suggestions?

Does Zoom help?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Discord might actually be the best one in that I don't think there is any fee for meetings longer than an hour. I do recall having issues with it taking up a lot of resources but it might be better now.

We routinely use Discord in both audio and video mode for our games, which typically last around three hours. All free so far.

 

[Morrus]

Well, Zoom's the big one. Probably the primary videoconferencing platform in the last few years. I"m not sure how long it's free for though (45 mins?)--I have a paid sub. That said, only the host needs the subscription.

I didn't even realise people still used Skype!

 

[Seramus]

I didn't even realise people still used Skype!

Humorously, I stuck with Skype for a long time. But after it was purchased, it slowly lost features that were important to me (like unlimited history), until I finally swapped to Discord. I can't believe I held out for so long. Just being able to control individual volume for each person in the call was a monumental improvement. I'm honestly a little bamboozled that the OP dropped Discord for Skype!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They're going to write about Microsoft failing to capitalize on Skype during the pandemic in business text books for decades to come.

 

[payn]

They're going to write about Microsoft failing to capitalize on Skype during the pandemic in business text books for decades to come.

Lets hope this guy didnt get any more tats.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Well, Zoom's the big one. Probably the primary videoconferencing platform in the last few years. I"m not sure how long it's free for though (45 mins?)--I have a paid sub. That said, only the host needs the subscription.

I didn't even realise people still used Skype!

Used Skype for one group up until a few months ago, finally switched them to discord. And to OP, no, I have no other suggestion than Discord. Used Teamspeak years ago but no idea if: it still exists or supports video.