Voice - positives/negatives

So, we've had voice for a while now. I haven't seen much in the way of discussion on it other than a random statement here or there. So, what do you think, what are the benefits and drawbacks to voice. Here are a few I've come up with.

Benefits:
Helps filter out most GWARB's.
Reduces getting hit on by alts.
Easy to communicate when hands are busy.
Can work in another app and still chat.
Kind of like having a cell phone for SL.

Negatives:
OMG the people who just want to talk but have nothing to say.
Open voice at hubs, nuff said.
lag.
cheap bad mics (including mine)
having people hear my accent and make assumptions.
hearing peoples accents and realizing I'm making assumptions about them.
makes SL more like RL.

Actually there's been quite a few threads about voice lately and most end contentiously. Just saying.

D'oh, and I did a search for Voice before I posted and didn't find any main topics about it.. sigh.. okay.. everyone go back to our regularly scheduled bigboob/small avatar/tall avatar/scary avatar smackdown.

*slinks off to grab a box of vanilla wafers*

Patasha

Sorry, I'm new - and I've found the best way to learn is to admit my ignorance straight away - GWARBs?

Girls Who Are Really Boys

Meh. Patasha that was not an attempt to edit you, just a warning perhaps to brace yourself it tends to be a contentious topic around here - maybe also if it's just curiosity, that the past threads might help.

That's kind of what I guessed, but - doh! - I couldn't decipher the acronym.

I've no interest in voice - it would totally spoil the fantasy and destroy the necessary 'suspension of disbelief' (film studies term).

To me it's mixing up RL and SL and I really don't want that.

And I don't give a HOOTSIE about gender tourism.

No worries.. I was just thinking that a new topic would get everyone off of the avatar appearance thing for a while.

*giggles* ummm.. what threads could we start that wouldn't end contentiously? Someone already did the "name the ways in which the lindens suck" thread today. That's a good topic to get everyone to agree.

Honestly? I don't think any topic is safe at the moment. It seems to be a mood the forum has been in, in general, over the past few weeks.

I use to use voice regularly. Maybe it was the time I was using it but there was always issues. We use to tp around and explore as a group and inevitably one of us would loose voice at the next place we'd go.

Now I sometimes turn on voice just to listen if someone is on it and its easier for them to communicate. I don't see much use in it myself at the moment. I can type just as fast as most people talk anyway. lol. It also allows me to be short and to the point when needed as I build or work on other side projects or businesses.

Typing allows me to do just about everything I need to do as a business in game. Customer service, answering any questions. Other than that I only interact with friends, they don't care if I talk or type.

Me and my spouse are on the same router as well so if one of us has voice on it seems the other one can't turn it on. *shrugs*.

Other than all that I could take it or leave it.

I can see how some people would think its the greatest thing to use in game for communicating with friends. I'm sure it is. I prefer skype over anything if I'm gonna use voice.

Ill use a mix of voice and typing.
Depending on the situation, both have benefits and downsides

I would say that i use both variants equally.

I almost always run SL muted. There's very, very rarely a time when I can devote my listening to SL, let alone speech.

It's difficult for me to imagine how frustrating it must be for the deaf, considering how welcoming a platform SL once was for them, when they had exactly all the same abilities as everybody else.

Voice is also a huge disadvantage in most (not all) meetings, for a number of reasons.

1. If a transcript is needed, it's incredibly laborious to create one from a voice record (assuming one exists).

2. Simultaneous translation to other languages or to the hearing impaired is horrifically costly, whereas (poor) text translations are readily available for free or nearly free.

3. If there are multiple contributors to the meeting, a linear voice channel is bedlam when they all speak at once, whereas a stream of text can be scrolled back and read as an automatic queue of inputs. (It doesn't help that in-world voice is slightly delayed and otherwise lacks social cues about whose "turn" it is to speak.)

On the plus side, I can imagine that voice lowers an initial hurdle to a kind of immersion. Those who are accustomed to text chat and its many foibles can't appreciate this, but for a newbie, it must be pretty difficult to get into a scene when participants are forever typing on imaginary keyboards (or perhaps just as bad, going catatonic for a spell, then blurting out a complex utterance all at once).

I like voice a lot. My favorite use is when a group of friends are together and we are playing a board game like Greedy or Spades or SLopoly. We just kick back and play the game and have a few drinks or whatever. It's SO much easier than trying to type and play the game. Same holds true for when a group goes out shopping or exploring although usually then we would do a private voice conference because then you don't have to worry about being within 25 meters of each other to hear and you can also still talk during TPs.
None of us are trying to pretend that we are something in SL that we are not in RL so that whole suspension of disbelief issue doesn't really come into play.

I never use voice, but I keep it turned on so I can see if other people are using it.

They almost never are, and when they are, they are not saying much of interest (to me).

I think that even when you have voice turned off, there should be some indicator that other people are voicing (maybe the green squiggles...get rid of the pointless white dot).

Voice verified, but really could care less about it. It's usually people forgetting it's on and yawning or slurping into their mic.

One place I used to go, another person told the same stories repeatedly. It was expected everyone would be on voice, so everyone had to listen to it. Let's just say I did not stay long.

That is a new term for me. I usually hear them called a GIRL, as in Guy In Real Life. There was a thread about this across the street a couple of months ago. You would be surprised at what some of the voice changers can do now. Also, someone posted a couple of videos of a layman voice coach. She was a tranny with a sweet alto voice but was born a man with a typical rough baritone. But now we are getting to another topic all together. Let's stick with voice here.

When I first came to SL I was open and wide eyed. I loved voice chat. It had the same odd quirks as today, but I came from using Ventrilo for MMORPG groups anyway so it was a natural transition. Over time I got bored with random chatter and just turned it on as needed. Trying to describe a problem or help/get help with different building techniques. My SL self was forming to be separate from my RL self. Going to voice was like turning off the computer and talking on the phone. And I have never been one for idle chatting.

So by the time Rhonda was born, I pretty much had stopped using voice without really making any decision, it just happened normally. When I started using the Emerald viewer, the LL proprietary package did not want to extract on my 64bit Vista machine. Considering how much I use (or rather don't use) voice it just did not seem like a bother to go without it. Recently I have been hearing the term Immersionist and I guess that is what happened to me.

The problem with voice is when someone else *expects* you to use it - no one should pressure anyone else to go on voice, or insinuate anything if they do not. But there are plenty of controlling personalities out there who will try.

I do what I want, but resent having to explain myself. It should not be taken for granted everyone loves to voice.

For me it's the opposite. I couldn't possibly work in another app and still chat. How could I possibly focus on what I'm trying to accomplish and still catch everything that's being said?

That's the major advantage of text for me. I don't miss a thing. If I get distracted by an IM (or anything), I can still catch up on what's been said in public chat. If I'm waiting for someone to respond, I can take a quick trip to the bathroom and not ask him to repeat it. Or I can read another thread in the forums or delete another email.

Another disadvantage of voice, for me, is that hubby and I are typically online side by side. He's been forced into voice by some of the places he goes, but it would be impossible if we were both talking simultaneously.

I like voice... even though I hate telephones!

I don't use voice actively. I will keep it on so others can talk to me if they prefer, but that's all. It is of course a useful tool, for instance when guiding someone through stuff, playing games, kicking back with friends like someone else mentioned.

I completely fail to see it as useful at clubs though. How do people combine voice (from many at a time) and music? I have a minor hearing problem and struggle with just keeping track of, and adjusting volume on individual talkers. It must be very frustrating for those with more (or complete) hearing loss. I was once invited to a club that promoted use of voice heavily, even having a "funny" sign claiming noone was typing "cause everyone is on voice making fun of you". Didn't stay long..

Positive:
Being able to walk, look around, or do whatever, and talk at the same time

Negative:
Unable to have two conversations at once

Voice is great for teaching/helping folks who are new. It amazes me that most new folks have voice activated but not Music. Voice is also great within friend settings where we are all joking and playing games. I have no problem with folks using it or not.. the biggest drawback to me is that I hate the sound of my own voice lol

We always turn Voice off at our club during events. When we go on Family Adventures, we often do a group voice private chat session for ease of communication. We started doing that during the IAL [I Am Legend] FPS sessions and it worked great with some very funny convos running like this...


"Oh here come the Zombies, SW.. somebody come help quick, I'm alone here... ok they are almost here.. HELP HELP.... too late I'm dead again!!"

I'm not a huge fan of voice, although I will use it occasionally if I have to explain something complicated. I find it particularly annoying when it's done in a large group and I can only hear some people or others complain my cheap mic is hissy. I also hate wearing headsets which is another reason why I'll only do it grudgingly.

Many of my SL friends don't speak English as their first language so it is generally much easier for someone to read text in a foreign language than to hear it. I'm sure there are instances where someone may prefer voice due to some form of disability which makes it harder for them to manipulate their keyboard. So depending on the circumstances, use of voice or not can be more inclusive or potentially divisive. Mixed use I find generally doesn't work very well in social settings.

One interesting thing I've found is voicing with someone you've known for awhile but only via text. It can sometimes be a bit shocking to actually hear someone's voice after you've known them for quite some time as you develop a preconceived notion of what they should sound like. There have been people I've found a bit annoying just chatting via text but they were lovely when we've gone on voice - and vice versa.

I think it is because voice is activated by default when you dl the viewer but you have to go into preferences to activate the ability to hear a stream.