Its all about the beginning. We have always used Vent/TS to setup and then play games, we now have a launcher but, since we are used to hearing voices in the heat of battle, rather than reading, people don't see the need to change, and want to continue talking rather than typing. In a game like EiR typing, no matter how easy, can use up precious time, when trying to warn another player, or quickly change a tactic or target.
it already takes a leap of faith for most people to even consider downloading the mod. Asking them to download even more is just unfair...
To be honest if someone can only just bring themselves to go through downloading this mod and set a up a division, and can't be bothered to go through the even easier process of downloading vent, i don't really think they should play. For those who really like and want to play EiR, they probably find the download of Vent a very minor task.
I may seem a bit harsh, but i do not believe the download of vent is a hard thing to do. This mod isn't for the sort of people that want to download it, install it, and start up a skirmish battle in minutes. Europe in Ruins is war, and a MMORTS, and like most MMOs the game isn't a quick plug and play thing. Due to this mod and its community using Vent/TS for so long, its hard to breakout of the habit, and we are all used to the ease of creating battles and playing them that Vent brings. This is a team game, and most people find it much easier to work as a team, when you know there are people there with you, and you can hear them fighting alongside you (hmm, Great Escape music just came on media player).
It's good to see that the newer people are also checking that everyone has vent, but this is due to all the old players being used to using vent. If the newer people are already taking over in that sense, then the people that come afterwards will also use vent. To me, it seems that this will continue, and vent will be a hard thing to lose.
