Since we are on the subject of alternative voice communication programs, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with GameVox:

http://www.gamevox.com [External Link]

Here is a rather limited comparison of GameVox to Discord on their website:

https://gamevox.com/compare-discord/ [External Link]

It is currently in "public beta." There is a Linux client in addition to clients for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows. The applicaiton works in a web browser and there is self-hosting option. According to the website:

No Personal Data Harvesting: Unlike many competitors, GameVox does not require an email address for account creation and does not use ads or data mining.

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Quoting: Mountain ManPeople on Reddit lamenting that there's not even the option to give Valve your money upfront, and then they ship as units become available, which would be the sensible way to do it.

Amen!

My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't care if my Steam Controller 2 didn't arrive until Christmas, just as long as I knew when to expect it. Right now the uncertainly is killing me 🤔

Not really... but I would like to know when I am going to be able to get my hands on one. Liam's review got me excited!

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I have rented a Mumble server for years. My needs are simple. I only need voice communication. Mumble is a light weight application written in C++. No bells, whistles, privacy concerns or unnecessary feature bloat. My server was grandfathered in when a new owner acquired the company. My server has five user slots (one guest) for $14.40 a year and that is more than what I need. My brother-in-law and I chat most nights on the server, unfortunately my grandsons are of the Tik-Tok generation, so when I am playing games with them, I am forced to use Discord. The funny thing is, most of the time when they are playing games online with my son or their friends, they use their cell phones. Talk about a practice that kills the battery life on a cell phone.

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Since April 7th I have been playing a fair amount of Skull Horde by 8BitSkull. It is an excellent game and I have found it a fantastic match for my LCD Steam Deck. Highly recommended if you like horde survival games. Skull Horde is rated as "Playable" on the Steam Deck. The Steam Compatibility dialog states: "Some in-game text is small and may be difficult to read." I have not encountered any problems reading the text that I am being exposed to while playing the game. Perhaps I am just not in the correct areas of the game; but after over twenty hours of playtime, I am very curious to discover where this unreadable text is located.

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This article got me thinking about Commodore BASIC, which was also written by Microsoft. I discovered that Commodore BASIC had been open sourced in September of 2025. I then went to commodore.net the home of the company has been manufacturing new C64 computers for over six months. They have named these systems "Commodore 64 Ultimate." The system that I discovered that might be of interest to some of the GoL crowd is:

Commodore 64X PC with OS Vision

https://commodore.net/store/commodore-64x-pc/ [External Link]

The description of this system is:

Order the computer optionally paired with Commodore OS Vision 3.1, the free Linux-based operating system for PCs developed and maintained by Commodore® – it’s your escape from big tech, digital noise, and constant surveillance. No tracking. No ads. No toxic social media. And, if you choose, no web browser at all – for a truly distraction-free, child-safe experience.

Commodore OS Vision includes dozens of classic Commodore games and emulators for every one of our systems, from the Commodore PET to the Amiga.

The Commodore OS can be downloaded from: https://www.commodoreos.net/CommodoreOS.aspx [External Link]

I will likely not be purchasing a system or downloading the ISO, but it amazes me that hardware/software released back in 1982 is still a thing. That being said, I still have my C64 and C128 in the basement. :)

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The 1.0 update comes with major new end-game content to play through in the form of a multi-stage quest. There's multiple new locations, new music, new achievements and best of all - over 600 new voice lines.

I bought Lucky Tower back in November of 2024. From what I can remember, version 1.0 is a significant upgrade from the version I played previously. To be honest, the "feature" which is most noticeable to me is:
there are so many more novel, unanticipated and humorous ways to die!

I had not previously played Lucky Tower on the Steam Deck, but the newest version works fantastically! The dialog is so snarky.

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Really looking forward to the full release of Skull Horde on April 10th. Skull Horde is an insta-buy for me. I have been playing the demo on and off for about 10 months. The demo has been updated many times and just keeps getting better. I only had one issue. Due to my poor eyesight, I kept losing track of the "flying skull necromancer" on my LCD Steam Deck. When I looked in the options, there was a setting under Settings->Camera->Zoom that solved my problem.

I would say that 8BitSkull is one of my favorite Steam Deck game developers. I have spent may hours on BORE BLASTERS and Void Scrappers. They support Native Linux, the graphics/audio are great and the performance is fantastic on the Steam Deck.

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Brotato is one of my favorite games for the Steamdeck. Unfortunately, I had reached a point where my limited dexterity could unlock any new characters or achievements. Last week, when the full release of Paws & Claws dropped, I played several rounds. I managed to unlocked some of the new characters/pets and got a couple achievements. As evidence by the patch notes, Evil Empire has added a good deal of content with this update and it is FREE! Now I am curious to see what Evil Empire has created with the DLC for Dead Cells.

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Another way to look at this situation:
Discord is living up to their chosen brand name and perhaps their corporate culture.

From Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Word: discord - noun
1 a: lack of agreement or harmony (as between persons, things, or ideas).
b: active quarreling or conflict resulting from discord among persons or factions.
2 a: music
(1): a combination of musical sounds that strikes the ear harshly.

I have had a personal Mumble server for almost ten years. At various times I am forced to use Discord when I play games with the younger members of my family. They dislike Mumble because of it's lack of video/screen casting/screen sharing. I can't convince them that to all you need for gaming and communication is the ability to talk and send text messages (URLs). Kid's these days! :)

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The Discord team highlighted their privacy protections for all this as:
* On-device processing: Video selfies for facial age estimation never leave a user’s device.

This method is likely very similar to the age verification process that is being used by Roblox. When the time came for my two 16 year old grandson's to complete this process on Roblox, they handed me their phone and I followed the onscreen instructions. On completion I got the message "We estimate your age as 21+." I felt young again!

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