While it's certainly not required that you use audio and/or video when playing a live game, it is encouraged. Mah Jongg is a social game and it's good to get to know your tablemates, even if they live hundreds or thousands of miles away! :)
You can certainly choose to use just the audio part, if this is more appealing. Some don't always want to be on video, so this is something that people do on occasions. To do this, accept the audio and video permissions when shown on your screen. If you have a camera cover, just leave this closed, or place a hand over your camera initially. Once the game screen has loaded you'll see a mic and a video camera icon to the left of your tiles.
To turn off the video, click on the video camera icon. You'll be given the two options:
- Fully: the connection to your camera is severed and no video is sent to other players (which also saves bandwidth). Just be aware that it won't be possible to switch your video camera back on until you return to the Game Launchpad and launch another game with live players (when new connections to your camera will be made).
- Temporarily: your video stream will be turned off temporarily and can be turned back on.
Either way, when the video is turned off, the video area will be replaced by a photo of you, if you have one loaded into your account information - you can add a pic here, if you don't already have one.
The mic can also be muted by clicking the mic icon. Click again to unmute.
When playing live games with sound and video, we recommend using a headset, as otherwise announcements on each device will be heard by all players at the table (which isn't always an issue, but can be louder on certain devices).
To test your audio/video equipment, to ensure they are set up correctly, please click here.
If you choose not to use audio and video you still have the ability to communicate via text chat (available on the bottom right of the game screen).