Voice chat for me depends on the game. Overall I dislike using vent or teamspeak. When I play with my friends we usually get on a google voice call or something similar, because these are people I know, and that way I can completely turn off voice chat in games that have it as a standard. ( Like Global Agenda).
I'm somewhat social in game, I like to help others and get in on some conversations, but I prefer to know the person a bit more before I get into a voice conversation because much of the time it ends up being awkward sitting in a conversation when not much is going on.
I'm not against voice chat, but its not something I just jump into willy nilly. I mean, can they just buy me dinner first? Maybe a movie? Whats with all of this pressure?
I love voice chat, especially some newer clients coming out (like Dolby Axon). Personally the ability to hear laughter, tone, and speed to speak vs type (given type time, latency, and read time) I find it more fluid and enjoyable overall. It's not to say that text chats weren't great back in the day, nor that terrible people voices or terrible microphones cannot ruin a chat...I just personally have had so many great vent & axon moments, I'll never turn back.
Give me text chat during the work day and voice chat during the game night, on everytime. Kudos on another decent article though
I too and an old speed typer who never had a need for voice comm in MMO's.
Then again I'm also an FPS player and for a while I was in some competitive groups (WAY back in the Q2 days. ) so voice comm was a big thing for me. So at least I had early experience in using those things. (We set-up conference phone calls on in the dorm. It was hilarious.)
Now a days I have two voice comm programs (Vent and TS) for WoW and WoT respectivly. I turn it on for Raiding and training and that's pretty much it. Luckily there are voice overlays (so you can see who's speaking. Thank god!) and chaps I get used to hearing so I don't get lost so much on the "Who needs what now?"
As for the Accents and Gender things my Wife is an Aussie. (Yep that Brittish but not Brittish accent. ) So everytime she is heard on vent she had folks wondering what she was saying etc. (Luckily we have several women in our guild so the "ooh your a girl" thing was a non-starter.) So she mostly lets me do the talking. It really annoys her that we yanks don't understand what she's saying even though she's speaking English. What's even funnier is she speaks fluent Spanish (lived in South America for a few years) and she complains that the Mexicans can't understand her either!
In WoT most of my Clan are Europeans and Russians. So I've learned to deal with a LOT of wierd accents. Hell they make Voice comm FUN! Especially when one of the guys sounds so much like Chekov from Star Trek it's not even funny! (Seriously! He had us guess where he's from and he sounded so much like a characature of Russian I didn't have the heart to guess it! )
Though for daily use typing is my prefered method and it doesn't wake the daughter up from a nap.
Current Game: Asssasins Creed 2(PS3, Gamer Tag: Happy_Hubby) Current MMO: World of Warcraft and World of Tanks Former Subscribed MMO: Star Trek Online, Aion, WoW, Guild Wars, Eve Online, DAoC, City of Heroes, Shattered Galaxy, 10six. Tried: Too many to list
I only voice chat with the people I've known for a long time, my guild is both funny and mature so voice isn't a problem. I'll listen when it comes to raiding but I wont participate, luckily the raids I've attended have been strictly quiet except for the raid leader so very few experiences of audio excrement in that setting thankfully.
There is one big problem I have with VoIP - cliques forming amongst the users, those who don't voice chat get left out of decision making, I've seen it happen a couple of times.
I used to avoid voice chat, but now I see the benefit. I don't mind not having to type, even though I'm very good at it. What matters most is that I am comfortable with everyone on the mic, so as long as the people I am teamed with are friends or at least close acquaintences, I'm happy to voice chat whenever possible. I'm not really looking for the level of immersion that comes from RP typing or envisioning a girl toon as an actual girl.
Also if there is an issue with harrassment or similar its much much simpler to report it as its all logged. But with voice chat you have to be activly recording.
I am Partially Deaf. Voice Chat for me, is something of a nightmare. really dont like to use. THAT SAID, I do recognise, it sometimes needed and damn useful to have. I will use it in group ops, but that only if proper protocol is followed. which can be a bit harder. Nothing like trying to figure out what the FC is trying to say, while some git going, OH WTF! I JUST GOT KILLED, THAT STINKS! at the top of his voice.
Well I cant Type or spell if my life depended on it and yet I wont use voice chat either. I will log on to hear instructions but that is it. If the chatter gets too inaine I turn it off. For me its more about the disconnection it brings to the game. Its hard to feel like I am in a different world when some IDIOT is talking about Glenn Becks latest rant!!
I usually log into voice, talk only when needed. I tend to tank and as a tank it really helps to be able to call things out, but I rarely talk. And I do tune out blabber until I hear my name.
Heck, there are plenty of occasions in which I'd prefer to type to someone sitting in the same room as me than to speak to them. Sometimes its just easier. Not much needs to be said and the answer should be short? Just type.
Though, I can honestly say I've always found it "cool" to play with a female gamer. Its really mostly that I like to listen to female voices over male voices. Its less about the fact that you're female for me and more that your voice is more pleasant to hear. Accent or not.
Voice chat has its benefits but it also has disadvantages. For example, the quality of the mic people uses can vary greatly so where as some you hear just fine, others are barely audable.
Then you have the issue with some people having one volume set so high that you get ear damage where as others so low that you can barely hear them.
Finally there is the issue of non native english speakers, like myself, that can type just fine but their accent is so bad that you can barely understand them.
During our raid having to listen to a screeming married couple go over their divorce proceedings because of him getting to involved with a fellow female guild member ..
(After taking several aspirins).. I decided that voice chat is not for me at this time, if ever again!
If I am going into a large raid and there is a set leader(s) in place I don't mind Vent but I definetly don't want to live there. As said, Vent can be useful but for general gaming I have zero use for it...and I'm not a speed typist by a long shot.
I can't imagine having to listen to a bunch of people from 12 tp 70 jabber on about things I have no interest in while I'm trying to play a game. I'll take the typing path thanks.
Had to chuckle reading about the early phones. Whew! Those puppies were huge..and heavey. It would have been more accurate to call them and the early 'portable' PCs, lugables.
I agree 100%. Maybe it's because I'm older now, but I really don't like listening to people babble. In fact a lot of time I just turn the sound off completely. I know i lose a lot of the immersion, but the extraneous sound really bothers me. It kind of reminds me of talking to my daughter, non stop blather, oops did I just say that.
I CAN type at demon speed, which I have to anyways as it's my primary form of writing (hands hurt like hell when I try to actually write)
I love talking as it relinquishes the wall that texting creates when you're in the middle of actually playing a game. But I also hate talking when some idiot is constantly asking questions though would only need a second of brainpower to answer for themselves.
Then there are the kids on voice chat. Now, don't get me wrong, some of them aren't too bad and have learned to speak like adults. But it's when you get the serious high pitched voice from some little brat, or the kid starts smack talking.
No, I take that back, I just hate when people start smack talking fullstop. Kid or Adult.
Then you have the people with naturally annoying voices.
The great part is, you can usually set the people you DON'T want to hear to mute/ignore/whatever. If you really can't stand listening to those twits any longer fullstop, you just turn voice off.
Voice just has the benefit of being able to type orders/status updates/info without having to stop moving when you're getting mobbed by a swarm of enemies, or stuck in a spot under constant fire (this isn't limited to MMO's) and need help. If you stopped to type it out, you'd be dead (or seriously wounded). Regardless of how fast you can type.
MMO's played: Ragnarok Online (For years), WoW (for a few weeks only), Guild Wars, Lineage 2, Eve, Allods, Shattered Galaxy, 9 Dragons, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Star Trek Online (Got someone ELSE to pay for it), Champions Online (Someone else paid), Dofus, Dragonica, LOTRO, DDO and more... A LOT more. I've played good AND bad. The bad didn't last long. :P
Well, in WOW (example pic you showed) you can take yourself out just by clicking the speaker opposite your name. You ca unjoin the channel as well ... and even mute those you want to .,,,, just like in the more popular ventrilo. So you can pick who can hear you and who you can hear ,,,,, it is a bit tedious but hey, you sound pretty much of a multitasker .... immagin typing a get lost msg to some geek in reg chat, while you are talking to your best friend in voice,
I noticed a lot of women's comments about not wanting to endure the "flirting with the server don juan's. My sister plays wow. She is happily retired (almost 70) but sounds 35 so no one knows. She gets invited to many more raids ,,, and free equipment and even one of them out of game pets ,,,, just for being female. I don't mean she tries to finagle stuff, it is just offered. I play mostly frmale characters and voice chat immediately lets folks know I am not a female. However that is good cause I am not tryin to be, I have had guys give me stuff tho on the typing chat even though I TOLD THEM i wasn't a girl. One guy told me "you have to be a woman by the words you use'. I went ahead and took the sword and said thanks. Felt a little wierd tho ... but hey feelin funny (and havin fun laughing about stuff) is part of why I play this stuff. It can be a hoot.
Voice chat has its uses. I will happily log into my guild's voice chat...pug raids I usually am fairly quiet unless it's absolutely necessary for me to talk. I'm a fast typist as well, but let's face it, in situations where I'm having to kite or something it's easier.
Our siege leader (in AoC) never hesitated to tell you to shut the hell up in situations where only one or two people should be talking. Which is what people should be doing with the mouthbreathers/the two women who talked about their kids, etc.
I deal with the female/accent thing as well. Except mine's a country twang instead of British-esque. I much prefer people I don't really know just assume I'm a dude.
I actually LIKE voice chat.....for RAIDS. But, I should qualify that with saying that in the games that I raid in (yes, there are more than one, or two, for that matter) I am in guilds full of adults who BEHAVE like adults. They're funny, sometimes uproariously so....but they are never morons, loud, obnoxious, annoying, etc. I've raided with these guilds for many years now. Most of the people are the same ones I started raiding in those games with, and the guild vets pretty much set the tone for new guildies, so....I have almost NO issue with voice chat for raiding.
HOWEVER......
I refuse to sit on voice chat ALL DAY LONG and listen to ceaseless NOISE, because that is what it would be to me when it serves no purpose. We can all converse just as well via text (and do), and it's not racket to my ears....and my mind. I have anxiety disorder and stillness and quiet are important to me.
There are MANY things that annoy me about voice chat.
1) It has hurt the skill of players -- people can't even perform their class role without being told who to heal,etc -- it is a crutch.
2) Voice people are often "elitists" in that they are inflexible with regard to non voice people. You want in the guild or the raid -- you have to use voice or else.
3) You lose all of the ambient sounds of the game.
4) You have to focus on the voices instead of focusing on the game.
5) Some people are very hard to hear and some people are very loud.
6) It demolishes immersion.
7) RL intervenes far too often. I dont want to hear the dish break in the background followed by a string of curse words.
8) Voice chat is ephemeral. If you duck out to the bathroom for 45 seconds you lose it. If you did the same thing during a strats discussion on typing you can scroll back.
9) People sound nothing like their character.
10) Voice chat annoys other people around you if you are not in a private setting.
11) Explicit voice chat doesnt self-censor and could happen at ANY time.
-----
Voice chat will not be any good until it is translated into text as it is spoken. I would even take it doing best guess word by word even if it comes out like chicken english.... "Heel me. I have too hit points left. " I can figure out heel was heal and too is two.
I have no trouble with talking over voice -- my problem is listening over voice.
Like many of today's more modern "improvements" the benefits that voice chat brings comes at a cost that some of us prefer not to trade.
Role playing is much better when there's no voice chat IMO, had a great time in DAOC in an all Kobold clan that took RPing to the point of having our own written kobold language which we always had to stay in character. (Ugh dir lat pinkii, mih iz bubbosh kobo) That all pretty much has gone away with the prevalence of voice chat in most modern games.
We used to be able to raid, pvp etc without voice chat back in the day and had few issues coordinating our activites. I suspect we moved at a bit slower pace however, and in game time sinks permitted us the time to properly prepare for fights and recover which lead to some great conversations, even between strangers which I find totally lacking in this current generation of MMO's.
All part of the transformation of MMO's from virtual worlds to fast paced action games which the newer player base seems to favor.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I just never talk much when voice chat is required. I actually don't even like to use it that much. I tend to have much better conversations over the internet with the use of text.
However, playing many of the newer games, typing when fighting is a lot more difficult because combat is a lot more active. Many games nearly "require" a voice chat. Either that or great situational awareness between team members.
No. I don't dislike voice chat, I HATE it. I extra emphasis the word "hate" in connection "voice chat". While I am no "girl" (so pathetic that for some men every woman is a "girl"; why are they "boys" or what?) I know the foreigner issue. I play on US servers often, basically because it fits my sleep cycle more. But I know the issue. Once people hear you are foreign, they seem to want to know EVERYTHING about you, and indeed I too sat all too often like "doh, let's just kill stuff".
I too am introverted and dislike voice chat for the same reasons. I sort of erases the distance I prefer to people. I DON'T want to hear the grumpy dwarf having the voice of some 12 year old, I don't want to hear some off topic background chatter all the time!
I find VO chat is ruining the fantasy immersion for me.
Alas, with no VO chat activated people treat you like a Pariah these days. In many guilds when you don't voice chat, you are VERY much alone. So the ascent of voice chat has ruined a lot of community spirit.
Also, voice chat is part of a new mentality of "gogogo" and rushing through the world and speedruns and all that. I hate it. I want to take my time. I want to look at the landscape, make a break to chat, maybe RP a bit. Something other than just making profit as fast as possible! I say MMOs need some serious slow-down. Simply said: I don't want to play a MMO with people who don't take the time to type.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Sometimes it is needed but I really hate voice chat and avoid it as much as possible. The only time I want to be in vent is with friends I've had for years. Kids today, no scratch that because it's just about everyone now, people today think that the anonymity the internet provides gives them license to say just about anything. There have been more than a few times that I've actually told strangers that I'd beat them mercilessly for saying what they've said if I could reach them. Kick me from the group, ban me from your vent, I don't care if your a little prick I'm going to beat you down verbally since I can't do it physically.
Comments
Yeah, I also find voice chat to be something I do not like. If someone requires it, I leave.
Voice chat for me depends on the game. Overall I dislike using vent or teamspeak. When I play with my friends we usually get on a google voice call or something similar, because these are people I know, and that way I can completely turn off voice chat in games that have it as a standard. ( Like Global Agenda).
I'm somewhat social in game, I like to help others and get in on some conversations, but I prefer to know the person a bit more before I get into a voice conversation because much of the time it ends up being awkward sitting in a conversation when not much is going on.
I'm not against voice chat, but its not something I just jump into willy nilly. I mean, can they just buy me dinner first? Maybe a movie? Whats with all of this pressure?
I love voice chat, especially some newer clients coming out (like Dolby Axon). Personally the ability to hear laughter, tone, and speed to speak vs type (given type time, latency, and read time) I find it more fluid and enjoyable overall. It's not to say that text chats weren't great back in the day, nor that terrible people voices or terrible microphones cannot ruin a chat...I just personally have had so many great vent & axon moments, I'll never turn back.
Give me text chat during the work day and voice chat during the game night, on everytime. Kudos on another decent article though
A great topic! Thanks for bringing it up!
I too and an old speed typer who never had a need for voice comm in MMO's.
Then again I'm also an FPS player and for a while I was in some competitive groups (WAY back in the Q2 days.
) so voice comm was a big thing for me. So at least I had early experience in using those things. (We set-up conference phone calls on in the dorm. It was hilarious.)
Now a days I have two voice comm programs (Vent and TS) for WoW and WoT respectivly. I turn it on for Raiding and training and that's pretty much it. Luckily there are voice overlays (so you can see who's speaking. Thank god!) and chaps I get used to hearing so I don't get lost so much on the "Who needs what now?"
As for the Accents and Gender things my Wife is an Aussie. (Yep that Brittish but not Brittish accent.
) So everytime she is heard on vent she had folks wondering what she was saying etc. (Luckily we have several women in our guild so the "ooh your a girl" thing was a non-starter.) So she mostly lets me do the talking. It really annoys her that we yanks don't understand what she's saying even though she's speaking English. What's even funnier is she speaks fluent Spanish (lived in South America for a few years) and she complains that the Mexicans can't understand her either! 
In WoT most of my Clan are Europeans and Russians. So I've learned to deal with a LOT of wierd accents. Hell they make Voice comm FUN! Especially when one of the guys sounds so much like Chekov from Star Trek it's not even funny! (Seriously! He had us guess where he's from and he sounded so much like a characature of Russian I didn't have the heart to guess it!
)
Though for daily use typing is my prefered method and it doesn't wake the daughter up from a nap.
Current Game: Asssasins Creed 2(PS3, Gamer Tag: Happy_Hubby)
Current MMO: World of Warcraft and World of Tanks
Former Subscribed MMO: Star Trek Online, Aion, WoW, Guild Wars, Eve Online, DAoC, City of Heroes, Shattered Galaxy, 10six.
Tried: Too many to list
I only voice chat with the people I've known for a long time, my guild is both funny and mature so voice isn't a problem. I'll listen when it comes to raiding but I wont participate, luckily the raids I've attended have been strictly quiet except for the raid leader so very few experiences of audio excrement in that setting thankfully.
There is one big problem I have with VoIP - cliques forming amongst the users, those who don't voice chat get left out of decision making, I've seen it happen a couple of times.
I used to avoid voice chat, but now I see the benefit. I don't mind not having to type, even though I'm very good at it. What matters most is that I am comfortable with everyone on the mic, so as long as the people I am teamed with are friends or at least close acquaintences, I'm happy to voice chat whenever possible. I'm not really looking for the level of immersion that comes from RP typing or envisioning a girl toon as an actual girl.
I prefer text chat too for most things.
Also if there is an issue with harrassment or similar its much much simpler to report it as its all logged. But with voice chat you have to be activly recording.
I am Partially Deaf. Voice Chat for me, is something of a nightmare. really dont like to use. THAT SAID, I do recognise, it sometimes needed and damn useful to have. I will use it in group ops, but that only if proper protocol is followed. which can be a bit harder. Nothing like trying to figure out what the FC is trying to say, while some git going, OH WTF! I JUST GOT KILLED, THAT STINKS! at the top of his voice.
Well I cant Type or spell if my life depended on it and yet I wont use voice chat either. I will log on to hear instructions but that is it. If the chatter gets too inaine I turn it off. For me its more about the disconnection it brings to the game. Its hard to feel like I am in a different world when some IDIOT is talking about Glenn Becks latest rant!!
I usually log into voice, talk only when needed. I tend to tank and as a tank it really helps to be able to call things out, but I rarely talk. And I do tune out blabber until I hear my name.
Heck, there are plenty of occasions in which I'd prefer to type to someone sitting in the same room as me than to speak to them. Sometimes its just easier. Not much needs to be said and the answer should be short? Just type.
Though, I can honestly say I've always found it "cool" to play with a female gamer. Its really mostly that I like to listen to female voices over male voices. Its less about the fact that you're female for me and more that your voice is more pleasant to hear. Accent or not.
And I flirt only if flirted with.
Voice chat has its benefits but it also has disadvantages. For example, the quality of the mic people uses can vary greatly so where as some you hear just fine, others are barely audable.
Then you have the issue with some people having one volume set so high that you get ear damage where as others so low that you can barely hear them.
Finally there is the issue of non native english speakers, like myself, that can type just fine but their accent is so bad that you can barely understand them.
So I personally prefer typing and reading...
My gaming blog
During our raid having to listen to a screeming married couple go over their divorce proceedings because of him getting to involved with a fellow female guild member ..
(After taking several aspirins).. I decided that voice chat is not for me at this time, if ever again!
"Huntress"
Another point-on read. I couldn't agree more.
If I am going into a large raid and there is a set leader(s) in place I don't mind Vent but I definetly don't want to live there. As said, Vent can be useful but for general gaming I have zero use for it...and I'm not a speed typist by a long shot.
I can't imagine having to listen to a bunch of people from 12 tp 70 jabber on about things I have no interest in while I'm trying to play a game. I'll take the typing path thanks.
Had to chuckle reading about the early phones. Whew! Those puppies were huge..and heavey. It would have been more accurate to call them and the early 'portable' PCs, lugables.
I agree 100%. Maybe it's because I'm older now, but I really don't like listening to people babble. In fact a lot of time I just turn the sound off completely. I know i lose a lot of the immersion, but the extraneous sound really bothers me. It kind of reminds me of talking to my daughter, non stop blather, oops did I just say that.
I'm on the fence myself.
I CAN type at demon speed, which I have to anyways as it's my primary form of writing (hands hurt like hell when I try to actually write)
I love talking as it relinquishes the wall that texting creates when you're in the middle of actually playing a game. But I also hate talking when some idiot is constantly asking questions though would only need a second of brainpower to answer for themselves.
Then there are the kids on voice chat. Now, don't get me wrong, some of them aren't too bad and have learned to speak like adults. But it's when you get the serious high pitched voice from some little brat, or the kid starts smack talking.
No, I take that back, I just hate when people start smack talking fullstop. Kid or Adult.
Then you have the people with naturally annoying voices.
The great part is, you can usually set the people you DON'T want to hear to mute/ignore/whatever. If you really can't stand listening to those twits any longer fullstop, you just turn voice off.
Voice just has the benefit of being able to type orders/status updates/info without having to stop moving when you're getting mobbed by a swarm of enemies, or stuck in a spot under constant fire (this isn't limited to MMO's) and need help. If you stopped to type it out, you'd be dead (or seriously wounded). Regardless of how fast you can type.
MMO's played: Ragnarok Online (For years), WoW (for a few weeks only), Guild Wars, Lineage 2, Eve, Allods, Shattered Galaxy, 9 Dragons, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Star Trek Online (Got someone ELSE to pay for it), Champions Online (Someone else paid), Dofus, Dragonica, LOTRO, DDO and more... A LOT more. I've played good AND bad. The bad didn't last long. :P
Well, in WOW (example pic you showed) you can take yourself out just by clicking the speaker opposite your name. You ca unjoin the channel as well ... and even mute those you want to .,,,, just like in the more popular ventrilo. So you can pick who can hear you and who you can hear ,,,,, it is a bit tedious but hey, you sound pretty much of a multitasker .... immagin typing a get lost msg to some geek in reg chat, while you are talking to your best friend in voice,
I noticed a lot of women's comments about not wanting to endure the "flirting with the server don juan's. My sister plays wow. She is happily retired (almost 70) but sounds 35 so no one knows. She gets invited to many more raids ,,, and free equipment and even one of them out of game pets ,,,, just for being female. I don't mean she tries to finagle stuff, it is just offered. I play mostly frmale characters and voice chat immediately lets folks know I am not a female. However that is good cause I am not tryin to be, I have had guys give me stuff tho on the typing chat even though I TOLD THEM i wasn't a girl. One guy told me "you have to be a woman by the words you use'. I went ahead and took the sword and said thanks. Felt a little wierd tho ... but hey feelin funny (and havin fun laughing about stuff) is part of why I play this stuff. It can be a hoot.
If Ya Ain't Dyin, Ya Ain't Tryin
Voice chat has its uses. I will happily log into my guild's voice chat...pug raids I usually am fairly quiet unless it's absolutely necessary for me to talk. I'm a fast typist as well, but let's face it, in situations where I'm having to kite or something it's easier.
Our siege leader (in AoC) never hesitated to tell you to shut the hell up in situations where only one or two people should be talking. Which is what people should be doing with the mouthbreathers/the two women who talked about their kids, etc.
I deal with the female/accent thing as well. Except mine's a country twang instead of British-esque. I much prefer people I don't really know just assume I'm a dude.
I actually LIKE voice chat.....for RAIDS. But, I should qualify that with saying that in the games that I raid in (yes, there are more than one, or two, for that matter) I am in guilds full of adults who BEHAVE like adults. They're funny, sometimes uproariously so....but they are never morons, loud, obnoxious, annoying, etc. I've raided with these guilds for many years now. Most of the people are the same ones I started raiding in those games with, and the guild vets pretty much set the tone for new guildies, so....I have almost NO issue with voice chat for raiding.
HOWEVER......
I refuse to sit on voice chat ALL DAY LONG and listen to ceaseless NOISE, because that is what it would be to me when it serves no purpose. We can all converse just as well via text (and do), and it's not racket to my ears....and my mind. I have anxiety disorder and stillness and quiet are important to me.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
dinosaur here too, much prefer typing and writing
voice chat, bleh
There are MANY things that annoy me about voice chat.
1) It has hurt the skill of players -- people can't even perform their class role without being told who to heal,etc -- it is a crutch.
2) Voice people are often "elitists" in that they are inflexible with regard to non voice people. You want in the guild or the raid -- you have to use voice or else.
3) You lose all of the ambient sounds of the game.
4) You have to focus on the voices instead of focusing on the game.
5) Some people are very hard to hear and some people are very loud.
6) It demolishes immersion.
7) RL intervenes far too often. I dont want to hear the dish break in the background followed by a string of curse words.
8) Voice chat is ephemeral. If you duck out to the bathroom for 45 seconds you lose it. If you did the same thing during a strats discussion on typing you can scroll back.
9) People sound nothing like their character.
10) Voice chat annoys other people around you if you are not in a private setting.
11) Explicit voice chat doesnt self-censor and could happen at ANY time.
-----
Voice chat will not be any good until it is translated into text as it is spoken. I would even take it doing best guess word by word even if it comes out like chicken english.... "Heel me. I have too hit points left. " I can figure out heel was heal and too is two.
I have no trouble with talking over voice -- my problem is listening over voice.
Like many of today's more modern "improvements" the benefits that voice chat brings comes at a cost that some of us prefer not to trade.
Role playing is much better when there's no voice chat IMO, had a great time in DAOC in an all Kobold clan that took RPing to the point of having our own written kobold language which we always had to stay in character. (Ugh dir lat pinkii, mih iz bubbosh kobo) That all pretty much has gone away with the prevalence of voice chat in most modern games.
We used to be able to raid, pvp etc without voice chat back in the day and had few issues coordinating our activites. I suspect we moved at a bit slower pace however, and in game time sinks permitted us the time to properly prepare for fights and recover which lead to some great conversations, even between strangers which I find totally lacking in this current generation of MMO's.
All part of the transformation of MMO's from virtual worlds to fast paced action games which the newer player base seems to favor.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I know...
I really don't know why...
I just never talk much when voice chat is required. I actually don't even like to use it that much. I tend to have much better conversations over the internet with the use of text.
However, playing many of the newer games, typing when fighting is a lot more difficult because combat is a lot more active. Many games nearly "require" a voice chat. Either that or great situational awareness between team members.
You milady have my 100% agreement!
No. I don't dislike voice chat, I HATE it. I extra emphasis the word "hate" in connection "voice chat". While I am no "girl" (so pathetic that for some men every woman is a "girl"; why are they "boys" or what?) I know the foreigner issue. I play on US servers often, basically because it fits my sleep cycle more. But I know the issue. Once people hear you are foreign, they seem to want to know EVERYTHING about you, and indeed I too sat all too often like "doh, let's just kill stuff".
I too am introverted and dislike voice chat for the same reasons. I sort of erases the distance I prefer to people. I DON'T want to hear the grumpy dwarf having the voice of some 12 year old, I don't want to hear some off topic background chatter all the time!
I find VO chat is ruining the fantasy immersion for me.
Alas, with no VO chat activated people treat you like a Pariah these days. In many guilds when you don't voice chat, you are VERY much alone. So the ascent of voice chat has ruined a lot of community spirit.
Also, voice chat is part of a new mentality of "gogogo" and rushing through the world and speedruns and all that. I hate it. I want to take my time. I want to look at the landscape, make a break to chat, maybe RP a bit. Something other than just making profit as fast as possible! I say MMOs need some serious slow-down. Simply said: I don't want to play a MMO with people who don't take the time to type.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Sometimes it is needed but I really hate voice chat and avoid it as much as possible. The only time I want to be in vent is with friends I've had for years. Kids today, no scratch that because it's just about everyone now, people today think that the anonymity the internet provides gives them license to say just about anything. There have been more than a few times that I've actually told strangers that I'd beat them mercilessly for saying what they've said if I could reach them. Kick me from the group, ban me from your vent, I don't care if your a little prick I'm going to beat you down verbally since I can't do it physically.
I "hear" you loud and clear Isabella...i feel much the same way myself.
in fact in my main game..lotro...i found a kinship where everyone feels pretty much the same...
imagine that...a kin/guild/clan where 99% of the members prefer typing to voice.
thats not to say we never use it...we we have a kin meeting we turn it on so we can listen to our leader speak about tthings
and when in a particularly tough instance/raid we will turn it on in order to hear whomever is leading the raid.
in fact i dont even own a mic anymroe...i just use my headphone from my days as a on-air dj..
on a side note..those 16yr old studio headphones produce far better sound then any gaming headset out today.