The golden age of guilds is over. There used to be a time when they could get away with the strict requirements, but at this point the guilds need players more than players need guilds.
Not only that, but I'm seeing a kind of backlash against voice, in general, amongst players these days. People who used to game with it have found that it detracts just as much as it adds value to the gameplay.
The solution seems to be so glaringly simple and obvious, I'm surprised nobody has done it already. Let the devs informally label some servers "TeamSpeak preferred", some ":Ventrillo preferred", some "Mumble preferred" and some "Text Only." That simple step would solve the vast majority of problems, both for guilds and perspective guild members.
Yes, let's spread the community once more... Next step : A solo-oriented preferred server and a group-oriented server.
Communication-specific servers don't spread communities. They build communities.
Because the one who won't stick a headset in his ear already isn't in the same community as the person who is on TeamSpeak...even if they play on the same server. Because we can't be in a community with one another if we can't communicate with one another, because of a clash of personal preferences.
The user and all related content has been deleted.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
I was in a guild where everyone was on vent. I kindof liked it at times as it was easy to have a conversation. Sometimes people would all talk at once and it made it difficult.
Another thing is, I think vent and programs like it have made MMOs seem empty as everyone is on vent and not participation in chat like in the old days.
fast communication is a lot more important now than it used to be back in the days of UO/EQ/etc. a lot of the time you can't take your hands off the controls long enough to type something out or you will die / get your party killed, hence voice com.
requiring people to be on com at all times is kind of silly but if you are doing something in a party within the guild, having it be mandatory makes sense. i can't tell you how frustrating it is to have someone in your party that refuses to get on com with everyone else so you have to say everything twice, both over com and then take the time to type it out (potentially screwing over your entire group). efficiency is king now days with raids and gear scores, for better or for worse. the best advice I can give is to find a group of laid back players that share your values and you won't have any problems.
I must be anti social or something lol. I keep reading these guild pages where they require you to be logged into their microphone chat every time you play. I got kicked out of a guild for not doing that once to. I mean seriously, just look at the posts here 90% of them are some one complaining, look at this post its me complaining. Its tolerable to read it in my head in a monotone voice, but to be forced to hear 15 people bitch about something every time i play a game.................
I guess thats what people like though, I will have a hard time playing mmos i guess. I remember the days of UO, and everquest we seemed to manage doing pvp, and hard mob fights with out listening to each other bitch about how our days are going on vent.
I can understand in a game, where voice communication is helpful to make every one work as a team easier. Seriously though every time i play....... I tried it with imperial dreams over at mortal online, which they were one reason i quit the game. Every time i would log into there chat, while i played. It would be 3 of them ethier complaining about something in their lives, or something in the game. So i didnt join it any more, and told them when you want to do something important with me, let me know ill log on.
Here is one from dark fall.
The Originals is a new clan with experienced players seeking members. We are looking for vets and Newer players, we are willing to help you PvE for Prowess and Train you for PvP. We have access to nice cities and nice little alliance. We want to stay relatively small and focus on teamwork instead of numbers.
We Require you have a mic, log in mumble when online, be mature in coms, at least 45k prowess or close so we know you are dedicated to the game.
Thanks and have a great day!
As i said i must be anti social, i really dont want to hear any of you talk about how you think dark fall sucks, or how your day was, or what you think about the world state of affairs. If you want to type it to me, and i can read it when i feel like it sure. To be forced to put up with some one shit talk every time i want to play a game, makes me want to puke lol.
Maybe its because i have kids, and i have to listen to their nonsense every day for hours on end, that i dont want to listen to other peoples i dono. But seriously, i hope i can find a guild in dark fall, that wont require me to sit and listen to them bull shit for 12 hours a day, so i can be apart of a team. All for in a battle, but i really anit playing online games to make friends to hang out with out side of the game it self.
If i wanted to hear people complain about their lives, and bull shit i would go to a bar, where atleast there is pretty women, and beer lol.
Not sure why you'd lol at it...makes perfect sense. I have no problem with people that don't use mics or comms...if they want to play that way, that's fine, however, clans that require the communication will be higher quality pvp clans.
Incognito www.incognito-gaming.us "You're either with us or against us"
I must be anti social or something lol. I keep reading these guild pages where they require you to be logged into their microphone chat every time you play. I got kicked out of a guild for not doing that once to. I mean seriously, just look at the posts here 90% of them are some one complaining, look at this post its me complaining. Its tolerable to read it in my head in a monotone voice, but to be forced to hear 15 people bitch about something every time i play a game.................
I guess thats what people like though, I will have a hard time playing mmos i guess. I remember the days of UO, and everquest we seemed to manage doing pvp, and hard mob fights with out listening to each other bitch about how our days are going on vent.
I can understand in a game, where voice communication is helpful to make every one work as a team easier. Seriously though every time i play....... I tried it with imperial dreams over at mortal online, which they were one reason i quit the game. Every time i would log into there chat, while i played. It would be 3 of them ethier complaining about something in their lives, or something in the game. So i didnt join it any more, and told them when you want to do something important with me, let me know ill log on.
Here is one from dark fall.
The Originals is a new clan with experienced players seeking members. We are looking for vets and Newer players, we are willing to help you PvE for Prowess and Train you for PvP. We have access to nice cities and nice little alliance. We want to stay relatively small and focus on teamwork instead of numbers.
We Require you have a mic, log in mumble when online, be mature in coms, at least 45k prowess or close so we know you are dedicated to the game.
Thanks and have a great day!
As i said i must be anti social, i really dont want to hear any of you talk about how you think dark fall sucks, or how your day was, or what you think about the world state of affairs. If you want to type it to me, and i can read it when i feel like it sure. To be forced to put up with some one shit talk every time i want to play a game, makes me want to puke lol.
Maybe its because i have kids, and i have to listen to their nonsense every day for hours on end, that i dont want to listen to other peoples i dono. But seriously, i hope i can find a guild in dark fall, that wont require me to sit and listen to them bull shit for 12 hours a day, so i can be apart of a team. All for in a battle, but i really anit playing online games to make friends to hang out with out side of the game it self.
If i wanted to hear people complain about their lives, and bull shit i would go to a bar, where atleast there is pretty women, and beer lol.
LoL at you OP. Perhaps any other game your little anti voice chat rant would make sense, but NOT IN DARKFALL. You are totally naive to think that any decent guild would want you around if you are unwilling to be in voice chat. It is a fast paced ffa full loot game. By the time you type out anything the fight will already be lost, you will be dead and all your stuff gone. Not to mention that nobody who plays on a serious level even has their chat window open while pvp'ing. Every single decent guild in that game has that rule because of this. Voice chat is the only way to respond fast enough to be competitive. If you want a guild that will allow you to not have a mic then you will need to look toward the sub-standard noob zerg clans, like ZERG. Good clans in Darkfall don't like dead weight dragging them down which is exactly what you are without a mic.
im a keyboard warrior, and if you want to hear me speak you can watch my stream where i sometimes talk to myself.., if i want to talk to people in games i want to do it with chat bubbles... man i love chat bubbles.
CHAT BUBBLES FTW!
If there is some super hard group content... iv never met group content that could not be solved using keyboard and chatbox/bubbles though but still if guild forces me I guess i can listen to the guild leader telling me stuff i already know, just to stroke his/her ego.
I must be anti social or something lol. I keep reading these guild pages where they require you to be logged into their microphone chat every time you play. I got kicked out of a guild for not doing that once to. I mean seriously, just look at the posts here 90% of them are some one complaining, look at this post its me complaining. Its tolerable to read it in my head in a monotone voice, but to be forced to hear 15 people bitch about something every time i play a game.................
I guess thats what people like though, I will have a hard time playing mmos i guess. I remember the days of UO, and everquest we seemed to manage doing pvp, and hard mob fights with out listening to each other bitch about how our days are going on vent.
I can understand in a game, where voice communication is helpful to make every one work as a team easier. Seriously though every time i play....... I tried it with imperial dreams over at mortal online, which they were one reason i quit the game. Every time i would log into there chat, while i played. It would be 3 of them ethier complaining about something in their lives, or something in the game. So i didnt join it any more, and told them when you want to do something important with me, let me know ill log on.
Here is one from dark fall.
The Originals is a new clan with experienced players seeking members. We are looking for vets and Newer players, we are willing to help you PvE for Prowess and Train you for PvP. We have access to nice cities and nice little alliance. We want to stay relatively small and focus on teamwork instead of numbers.
We Require you have a mic, log in mumble when online, be mature in coms, at least 45k prowess or close so we know you are dedicated to the game.
Thanks and have a great day!
As i said i must be anti social, i really dont want to hear any of you talk about how you think dark fall sucks, or how your day was, or what you think about the world state of affairs. If you want to type it to me, and i can read it when i feel like it sure. To be forced to put up with some one shit talk every time i want to play a game, makes me want to puke lol.
Maybe its because i have kids, and i have to listen to their nonsense every day for hours on end, that i dont want to listen to other peoples i dono. But seriously, i hope i can find a guild in dark fall, that wont require me to sit and listen to them bull shit for 12 hours a day, so i can be apart of a team. All for in a battle, but i really anit playing online games to make friends to hang out with out side of the game it self.
If i wanted to hear people complain about their lives, and bull shit i would go to a bar, where atleast there is pretty women, and beer lol.
LoL at you OP. Perhaps any other game your little anti voice chat rant would make sense, but NOT IN DARKFALL. You are totally naive to think that any decent guild would want you around if you are unwilling to be in voice chat. It is a fast paced ffa full loot game. By the time you type out anything the fight will already be lost, you will be dead and all your stuff gone. Not to mention that nobody who plays on a serious level even has their chat window open while pvp'ing. Every single decent guild in that game has that rule because of this. Voice chat is the only way to respond fast enough to be competitive. If you want a guild that will allow you to not have a mic then you will need to look toward the sub-standard noob zerg clans, like ZERG. Good clans in Darkfall don't like dead weight dragging them down which is exactly what you are without a mic.
UO was a ffa full loot game and none of us used voice chat. we chat bubbled like madmen though.
Sounds kind of similar to being invited into one of those mega guilds that have like 200+ members. You end up tuning out guild chat because nothing meaningful can be discussed with thirty other people trying to hold a conversation.
I think part of the problem today is that the literacy level has dropped dramatically since the UO/EQ era, also. People today(in the U.S. at least) seem much less capable of spelling/reading/comprehending basic words.
Alot of people also type fairly slow, so voice chat is a boon for those folks.
As for myself, I have very little interest in (voice)chatting with a bunch of whiny people I've never even met. I do have the luxury of being able to type exceptionally fast, so I never have had a problem with typing out everything.
The only time I really ever will use voice-chat is for PvP. With the fast pace of PvP combat in games today, it's pretty hard to type out anything useful without standing still and getting slaughtered.
I fully understand how valuable it can be in PvP coordination, but I always avoid any guild that "requires" voice chat. I know right away that it's a guild with which I won't fit in. I always look for guilds comprised of people who mostly text-chat, but have no issue with it being used in certain situations to help out the slower folks.
IMO guilds are just getting more and more elistist these days. Thinking every guild needs to be the top and win everything and do everything "first."
Of course a lot of this could easily be solved by games supporting good voip within them and out of hte box, simple group voice/guild chat in game that you can login to, along with filters and mute options.
I can understand wanting people in voice when you're doing an event or something, but "requiring" it when you're just randomly online playing (not even grouping or doing something with the guild) just annoys me.
Then on the flip side, what about people that are either mute or deaf? It's got to be a pita for them to find guilds in mmo's because of all of these mic requirements.
1) The OP should have stated right away that this was for Darkfall, which is a full-loot PvP game.
2) You may be OK with dying and loosing while typing something, but you not being in voice comms makes your guild mates more likely to die and lose gear as well.
3) Anyone comparing DF to UO/EQ/AC is forgetting that back then most people didn't use voice comms. You didn't feel a huge disadvantage typing BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS TYPING. Having to type to teammates while the enemy is in comms is a HUGE disadvantage.
4) If you don't like the rules a guild has, don't join.
In my experience, playing since '99, teamspeak or any other voice software tends to create cliques.
These cliques form and they only talk to/trade with/help/group with/raid with these members. I was in a guild and there were 30+ people on the TS all the time. But, there were "cliques" just like highschool. This led to a fragmented guild in which the cliques would talk crap on the other ones, and be rude and anti-social with them.
I can understand voice software for raiding, or a focused PvP group, but other than that, I don't care to hear Hayley Whisperwind talk in a manly husky voice about his alcohol habits, or hear Jimmy McDikly talk in his high pitched squeeky voice about how cool and uber he is compared to Yukly McDuddlyDud.
Or hear the other common racist, sexist or otherwise juvenile talk that goes on in voice applications.
OR the (soft spoken girl voice) "Hey guys." (then all the sudden it goes quiet in the voice application...or the other very common reaction) "Who said that? Is there a female in here? What is your character name?" (all the sudden all attention is on the poor lady who is in the voice program)
Sure I will get on to chat with a couple friends, but other than that, if you want me to sit there and listen to your garbage, you are right, I will find another guild.
EDIT: Is it odd for anyone else to call a grown man with a husky voice (or any male with any kind of voice) by his female character name in teamspeak/mumble/ventrillo/whatever?
"Hey Lisa/Hayley/Scarlette/insert very girly name, do you want to tank for us?" (husky manly voice replies) "Yea, I will tank for you guys" .... "ok thanks Scarlette." (husky reply) "No problem man".
It isn't terrible, it just struck me as a little odd to call a male a female name. I have been doing it for years, liek I said I have been playing mmos since '99.
Granted there are unisex names, but you MMORPG players know what I mean when I say a man playing a female character with a very female name and then calling them by that female name in voice chat using your own voice and hearing his.
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
I have no qualms whatsoever with using voice chat when I'm participating in a guild activity and I'm social during it but to just be logged in for the sake of being logged in when nothing is going on? Fuck that. Complain about your lives and share your shitty political opinions in gchat so I can ignore your posts and go about playing the game and relaxing while listening to music. MMO's are about social interaction but they're also about solo play whether you like it or not. People don't always want to listen to other people talk. We need downtime where we're going off and doing our own thing by ourselves, especially after a long day at work.
Originally posted by Tyr216 I have no qualms whatsoever with using voice chat when I'm participating in a guild activity and I'm social during it but to just be logged in for the sake of being logged in when nothing is going on? Fuck that. Complain about your lives and share your shitty political opinions in gchat so I can ignore your posts and go about playing the game and relaxing while listening to music. MMO's are about social interaction but they're also about solo play whether you like it or not. People don't always want to listen to other people talk. We need downtime where we're going off and doing our own thing by ourselves, especially after a long day at work.
You can do that on voice too. You can mute the voice chat and continue to listen to your music. I do that all the time. The moment everyone starts rambling i just mute.
I am fine with mics while doing group content like raiding. Anything outside of that I want no part of. The people on Vent/Mumble that talk the most are usually the ones I want to hear the least. I rather be immersed with actual game sound and music, or if I am doing something monotonous I will turn on something like Pandora. I simply make sure I don't join guilds that require it.
I'm the type of person that gets embarassed for people on tv when they act like a fool. You can imagine the mine field things like Ventrilo are for me. I play MMOs to unwind and relax. I find listening to vent stressful so I avoid it as much as possible. Besides, while listening to most of what is said in vent, I am in very real danger of my eyes becoming stuck from rolling them too much.
To each their own. Just make sure you do your research before joining a guild.
My gaming community forces Ventrillo use during game time. We have the main channel for the game, sun channels in each game for specific use or groups doing something and a quiet channel for those that don't want to be actually using Ventrillo or are bothered by the idle chat going on.
I think the forced Ventrillo use is to showcase numbers but it also encourages socializing and getting to know those in the community.
We have had people that don't like it, but it is explained from the get go and of course it is understood not everyone will enjoy that as a requirement.
there are some games where you actually need it. In eve for instance there are 200 person fleets, the voice coms are essential. that kinda game is in the minority though. I see no reason why you should be forced to logon to teamspeak evertyime you play, for instance Eq or WoW. you are in a raid or something, logon, if not feel free to stay off the VOIP.
In my DF clan voip is required only if you're in an unsafe zone (you should be able to announce danger, and you can do it faster talking than typing) but if you're safe zone farming or crafting then you can be off coms. Personally I like to be on coms but in a "quiet channel" so people can ask me a question if they need to by popping into my lil room and asking, then buggering off ^____^
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
"Their guild, their law, their rules. Don't like it? Find another guild.".
For instance, my guild only accepts 18+ years old people unless they are family of one of the existing adult guild members who will vouch for them. The reasons for that are multiple and are our own too. Don't like it? No problem, find another guild.
Now that this is out of the way:
- I do NOT agree with forced usage of headset/microphone each time you're online. That's just plain silly in my opinion.
- I DO agree with requiring players to have a headset/microphone when the guild does group content together.
Seems to me you just encountered a bunch of extremists which you will be better served to avoid anyway.
Agreed on every point, however we don't require you to have a headset with a mic to join the guild but if you don't have you will not be able to play with us on every ocuasion, let just say that 99% gets a headset or leave the guild when they get boared of not being able to join us on bigger stuff.
Wether its type chat or voice chat.. Or in person.. too many people talking at once is bad... Most of us hate global chats or similar, partly for that reason.
But on the point of voice coms compared to typing. Most games Ive tried in the past 15 years dont handle typing too well. There is too much requiring input, to stop and type. Also the action is usually over, one way or another, before you can hit enter.
My biggest problem with voice chat has always been that everyone wants to use a different program. And even having an ingame option doesnt help much since it goes down too if the game crashes.. But its a superior option if you are often grouping with new strangers and arent squemish about letting them hear your voice or poor language skills. Or about hearing others peoples horrible voices and terrible language..
Personally I prefer typing for most tasks. Setting up multiple chat windows so I can easily see when something is being said in /guild /trade /global /LFG /whatever. But I will use voice chat when Im doing solo stuff and want to catch up with a friend.. Or when playing with others and fast communication is needed. Anything that needs to be accurate is still done by typing.
Idk what it was about DFUW but almost every clan AD I saw when i played also did require mics even when it wasn't siege time or event time.
I don't think anyone should be forced on the mic when its not necessary. It's only necessary when you're working as a unit.
If I was to run a guild again, I might require the same...
I wouldnt expect, require or even want people to be chatting in voice coms though... Atleast not in the main channel..
But having people suddenly find out that their program is out of date or that they didnt actually bother getting it in the first place, that they forgot the server password, every time you need them to report for defense or they join a guild group or raid or whatever, is just too annoying.
In many cases you might not even want them to speak on the voice coms.. Just to be able to listen to quick fire orders from the raid leader.
And many people cant figure out how to set up a mic to save their lives.. let alone everyone elses ears.. So speaking shouldnt be a requirement.... unless you aspire to guild/raid leadership.
I'm the other way. I pretty much ignore type chat and don't really want to group with people if they're not on a mic. I don't want to have to type everything out.
I don't really understand the issue with using voice coms. You talk to people every day without worrying about what your voice sounds like yet put a headset on and suddenly it becomes "weird" for them or it breaks immersion...or whatever
No one here has said they have a problem with coms in general, or how their voice sounds, or immersion, or weird...
It has been said simply that we just don't want to listen to people droning on about their boring shit for hours on end. Everyone I have read here has said that they are happy to get on when doing something as a group.
Your post does bring up something interesting though... It does underline how divisive the use of comms can be to a guild, once people stop typing completely and start ignoring people in chat.
I do both. I type and I speak, but then I am an inclusive player.
I agree 100%. I'm not sure what Damon doesn't understand. I'm the same way as you. If I'm doing group content (raids etc). I have no problem getting into mumble or w/e. If' i'm just leveling an alt or doing some solo dailies. I have 0 interest in being in voice chat.
"Their guild, their law, their rules. Don't like it? Find another guild.".
For instance, my guild only accepts 18+ years old people unless they are family of one of the existing adult guild members who will vouch for them. The reasons for that are multiple and are our own too. Don't like it? No problem, find another guild.
Now that this is out of the way:
- I do NOT agree with forced usage of headset/microphone each time you're online. That's just plain silly in my opinion.
- I DO agree with requiring players to have a headset/microphone when the guild does group content together.
Seems to me you just encountered a bunch of extremists which you will be better served to avoid anyway.
Comments
What game has communication-specific servers?
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
I was in a guild where everyone was on vent. I kindof liked it at times as it was easy to have a conversation. Sometimes people would all talk at once and it made it difficult.
Another thing is, I think vent and programs like it have made MMOs seem empty as everyone is on vent and not participation in chat like in the old days.
http://gnomophobia.com
fast communication is a lot more important now than it used to be back in the days of UO/EQ/etc. a lot of the time you can't take your hands off the controls long enough to type something out or you will die / get your party killed, hence voice com.
requiring people to be on com at all times is kind of silly but if you are doing something in a party within the guild, having it be mandatory makes sense. i can't tell you how frustrating it is to have someone in your party that refuses to get on com with everyone else so you have to say everything twice, both over com and then take the time to type it out (potentially screwing over your entire group). efficiency is king now days with raids and gear scores, for better or for worse. the best advice I can give is to find a group of laid back players that share your values and you won't have any problems.
Not sure why you'd lol at it...makes perfect sense. I have no problem with people that don't use mics or comms...if they want to play that way, that's fine, however, clans that require the communication will be higher quality pvp clans.
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
LoL at you OP. Perhaps any other game your little anti voice chat rant would make sense, but NOT IN DARKFALL. You are totally naive to think that any decent guild would want you around if you are unwilling to be in voice chat. It is a fast paced ffa full loot game. By the time you type out anything the fight will already be lost, you will be dead and all your stuff gone. Not to mention that nobody who plays on a serious level even has their chat window open while pvp'ing. Every single decent guild in that game has that rule because of this. Voice chat is the only way to respond fast enough to be competitive. If you want a guild that will allow you to not have a mic then you will need to look toward the sub-standard noob zerg clans, like ZERG. Good clans in Darkfall don't like dead weight dragging them down which is exactly what you are without a mic.
im a keyboard warrior, and if you want to hear me speak you can watch my stream where i sometimes talk to myself.., if i want to talk to people in games i want to do it with chat bubbles... man i love chat bubbles.
CHAT BUBBLES FTW!
If there is some super hard group content... iv never met group content that could not be solved using keyboard and chatbox/bubbles though but still if guild forces me I guess i can listen to the guild leader telling me stuff i already know, just to stroke his/her ego.
Herald of innovation, Vanquisher of the old! - Awake a few hours almost everyday!
UO was a ffa full loot game and none of us used voice chat. we chat bubbled like madmen though.
Herald of innovation, Vanquisher of the old! - Awake a few hours almost everyday!
I think part of the problem today is that the literacy level has dropped dramatically since the UO/EQ era, also. People today(in the U.S. at least) seem much less capable of spelling/reading/comprehending basic words.
Alot of people also type fairly slow, so voice chat is a boon for those folks.
As for myself, I have very little interest in (voice)chatting with a bunch of whiny people I've never even met. I do have the luxury of being able to type exceptionally fast, so I never have had a problem with typing out everything.
The only time I really ever will use voice-chat is for PvP. With the fast pace of PvP combat in games today, it's pretty hard to type out anything useful without standing still and getting slaughtered.
I fully understand how valuable it can be in PvP coordination, but I always avoid any guild that "requires" voice chat. I know right away that it's a guild with which I won't fit in. I always look for guilds comprised of people who mostly text-chat, but have no issue with it being used in certain situations to help out the slower folks.
IMO guilds are just getting more and more elistist these days. Thinking every guild needs to be the top and win everything and do everything "first."
Of course a lot of this could easily be solved by games supporting good voip within them and out of hte box, simple group voice/guild chat in game that you can login to, along with filters and mute options.
I can understand wanting people in voice when you're doing an event or something, but "requiring" it when you're just randomly online playing (not even grouping or doing something with the guild) just annoys me.
Then on the flip side, what about people that are either mute or deaf? It's got to be a pita for them to find guilds in mmo's because of all of these mic requirements.
1) The OP should have stated right away that this was for Darkfall, which is a full-loot PvP game.
2) You may be OK with dying and loosing while typing something, but you not being in voice comms makes your guild mates more likely to die and lose gear as well.
3) Anyone comparing DF to UO/EQ/AC is forgetting that back then most people didn't use voice comms. You didn't feel a huge disadvantage typing BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS TYPING. Having to type to teammates while the enemy is in comms is a HUGE disadvantage.
4) If you don't like the rules a guild has, don't join.
(Uzik ibnYaraq in game. Always willing to help.)
http://www.youtube.com/user/UzikAlJhamin
In my experience, playing since '99, teamspeak or any other voice software tends to create cliques.
These cliques form and they only talk to/trade with/help/group with/raid with these members. I was in a guild and there were 30+ people on the TS all the time. But, there were "cliques" just like highschool. This led to a fragmented guild in which the cliques would talk crap on the other ones, and be rude and anti-social with them.
I can understand voice software for raiding, or a focused PvP group, but other than that, I don't care to hear Hayley Whisperwind talk in a manly husky voice about his alcohol habits, or hear Jimmy McDikly talk in his high pitched squeeky voice about how cool and uber he is compared to Yukly McDuddlyDud.
Or hear the other common racist, sexist or otherwise juvenile talk that goes on in voice applications.
OR the (soft spoken girl voice) "Hey guys." (then all the sudden it goes quiet in the voice application...or the other very common reaction) "Who said that? Is there a female in here? What is your character name?" (all the sudden all attention is on the poor lady who is in the voice program)
Sure I will get on to chat with a couple friends, but other than that, if you want me to sit there and listen to your garbage, you are right, I will find another guild.
EDIT: Is it odd for anyone else to call a grown man with a husky voice (or any male with any kind of voice) by his female character name in teamspeak/mumble/ventrillo/whatever?
"Hey Lisa/Hayley/Scarlette/insert very girly name, do you want to tank for us?" (husky manly voice replies) "Yea, I will tank for you guys" .... "ok thanks Scarlette." (husky reply) "No problem man".
It isn't terrible, it just struck me as a little odd to call a male a female name. I have been doing it for years, liek I said I have been playing mmos since '99.
Granted there are unisex names, but you MMORPG players know what I mean when I say a man playing a female character with a very female name and then calling them by that female name in voice chat using your own voice and hearing his.
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
You can do that on voice too. You can mute the voice chat and continue to listen to your music. I do that all the time. The moment everyone starts rambling i just mute.
I am fine with mics while doing group content like raiding. Anything outside of that I want no part of. The people on Vent/Mumble that talk the most are usually the ones I want to hear the least. I rather be immersed with actual game sound and music, or if I am doing something monotonous I will turn on something like Pandora. I simply make sure I don't join guilds that require it.
I'm the type of person that gets embarassed for people on tv when they act like a fool. You can imagine the mine field things like Ventrilo are for me. I play MMOs to unwind and relax. I find listening to vent stressful so I avoid it as much as possible. Besides, while listening to most of what is said in vent, I am in very real danger of my eyes becoming stuck from rolling them too much.
To each their own. Just make sure you do your research before joining a guild.
My gaming community forces Ventrillo use during game time. We have the main channel for the game, sun channels in each game for specific use or groups doing something and a quiet channel for those that don't want to be actually using Ventrillo or are bothered by the idle chat going on.
I think the forced Ventrillo use is to showcase numbers but it also encourages socializing and getting to know those in the community.
We have had people that don't like it, but it is explained from the get go and of course it is understood not everyone will enjoy that as a requirement.
there are some games where you actually need it. In eve for instance there are 200 person fleets, the voice coms are essential. that kinda game is in the minority though. I see no reason why you should be forced to logon to teamspeak evertyime you play, for instance Eq or WoW. you are in a raid or something, logon, if not feel free to stay off the VOIP.
In my DF clan voip is required only if you're in an unsafe zone (you should be able to announce danger, and you can do it faster talking than typing) but if you're safe zone farming or crafting then you can be off coms. Personally I like to be on coms but in a "quiet channel" so people can ask me a question if they need to by popping into my lil room and asking, then buggering off ^____^
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Currently Playing EVE, ESO
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Wether its type chat or voice chat.. Or in person.. too many people talking at once is bad... Most of us hate global chats or similar, partly for that reason.
But on the point of voice coms compared to typing. Most games Ive tried in the past 15 years dont handle typing too well. There is too much requiring input, to stop and type. Also the action is usually over, one way or another, before you can hit enter.
My biggest problem with voice chat has always been that everyone wants to use a different program. And even having an ingame option doesnt help much since it goes down too if the game crashes.. But its a superior option if you are often grouping with new strangers and arent squemish about letting them hear your voice or poor language skills. Or about hearing others peoples horrible voices and terrible language..
Personally I prefer typing for most tasks. Setting up multiple chat windows so I can easily see when something is being said in /guild /trade /global /LFG /whatever. But I will use voice chat when Im doing solo stuff and want to catch up with a friend.. Or when playing with others and fast communication is needed. Anything that needs to be accurate is still done by typing.
Idk what it was about DFUW but almost every clan AD I saw when i played also did require mics even when it wasn't siege time or event time.
I don't think anyone should be forced on the mic when its not necessary. It's only necessary when you're working as a unit.
Played-Everything
Playing-LoL
If I was to run a guild again, I might require the same...
I wouldnt expect, require or even want people to be chatting in voice coms though... Atleast not in the main channel..
But having people suddenly find out that their program is out of date or that they didnt actually bother getting it in the first place, that they forgot the server password, every time you need them to report for defense or they join a guild group or raid or whatever, is just too annoying.
In many cases you might not even want them to speak on the voice coms.. Just to be able to listen to quick fire orders from the raid leader.
And many people cant figure out how to set up a mic to save their lives.. let alone everyone elses ears.. So speaking shouldnt be a requirement.... unless you aspire to guild/raid leadership.
I agree 100%. I'm not sure what Damon doesn't understand. I'm the same way as you. If I'm doing group content (raids etc). I have no problem getting into mumble or w/e. If' i'm just leveling an alt or doing some solo dailies. I have 0 interest in being in voice chat.
This was my exact thought when I read OP's post.
my first online game was AgeofEmpire II then in the same we were using voice chat ...
i can't imagine playing a multiplay game and not using voice chat .
yes sometimes i dont want to speak, then i mute my microphone, if i dont want to listen i go to any afk room ...
also modern MMOs tend to be action combat which forces the player away from typing while playing ...