the inevitable happened: sound activated incident

so let me start this off right.
i live in san francisco, and am straight. i have to pent up anything that looks down upon our gay community. i could care less. love is love...

so recently while chatting up my neighbor that i've known for a while now, she asks me if i have the capability to do voice chat. (i do, but haven't activated it as i like a certain amount of anonymity in second life) --- plus i'm not looking for that 'special friend' that isn't what they might seem like online.

so she calls and to say hi one day, i get hooked into plugging in my ear/voice piece for voice comms.

sure enough my friendly neighbor has a distinctive african american dialect and super creepy "soft voice" that i had to laugh at outloud, -- like someone barely passing off as the opposite sex, but in a really cheesy obvious "hhhhiiii, hhhhow are you" context...

i so called-it before i heard it... there was this special context to not hearing anyone's voice while just chatting, thus just taking people for who they were. somehow i knew i was headed for this interaction on my first voice chat...

again, i have NO homophobic chip on my shoulder, but i thought it was so trite to hear it on my first audio interaction in 2nd life...

Good Stuff

There is no reason to defend yourself on something like that, it is completely natural for that sort of reaction. They ended the illusion, not you, but still can play along and be a good sport about it

I use voice for close friends in Second Life, and my voice dose not match my avatars! but that's fine by me, if it did match it would probably sound like a playful devil mixed with the monkey king.

living in probably the next most liberal city in California myself, Santa Cruz. So Second Life is much like a end all for what sort of stuff you see here at night! Whatever you do in Second Life flys with me, as long as it's legal and dose not harm others.


By that post title I had thought you had done something really "dumb", like accidentally left voice activated and let out a huge fart / belch. Kinda sad that was'nt the story, then I would at least have someone to share the pain with.... Oh wait what? I mean glad your first voice experience was fun!

down with voice chat let the men be women and the women be men..

Down with tyranous oppression of freedom, let people talk if they want to talk! (Except under my rule of course)

Amen!

This sort of thing is the biggest reason I've never done voice on SL and probably never will.

I am female in RL. I have 3 kids, with stretch marks, baby-chewed boobs, and the gray hair to prove it (lol). I am not at all "butch" in appearance, with hip-length hair and nice nails.

BUT... My voice is very low pitched. Think Cher about an octave down. If I had chosen to do opera I would have been one of the rare true contraltos (that's what my voice teacher tells me anyway. I don't get opera, so I won't be finding out for sure). I am ALWAYS being called "sir" on the phone, and it seems like any electronic transmission of my voice (like over a microphone) enhances the deeper end of my tone.

I choose to look and act female in SL. If I were to use voice I am absoutely certain that most people would think I'm a man masquerading as a woman. I think most of my friends would believe me, but I would rather not deal with the hassles. Of course, if I ever decide to do "escort" stuff, I have been told I would do very well - I can conciously put in the sexy "purr" that drives some guys crazy.

I feel for you with having to be embarrassed about your reaction to your friend. I could see the same reaction happening with me, a lot, and I could also see it causing problems with some people. The saddest part, IMO, is that you and I even have to worry about it.

No voice
No web cam
No email
Simple
That way whoever you are - man woman famous infamous rich poor etc etc stays in real and doesnt infect the virtual aspect of the unreality you are in when you play sl.
And sl doesn't impose upon your world reality

I've been saying for some time now, I take the virtual world at face value. A dragon is a dragon to me, and dragon's don't speak with either Brooklyn or southern accents, even if some drag queens do. So I keep voice disabled and will always refuse anyone who suggests breaking this proverbial fourth wall.

[Edit: Or what Jig says ^]

Nope. Whoever *YOU* are doesn't stay in real, but goes wherever *YOU* go.

Pep (It is *others* that don't get the enhanced experience of *you*)

Not very good with french but does;

"Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!"

Translate to:

"My farts smell and so do yours"

??

It completely ruins the illusion to have voice in SL. I never use it unless at a meeting where it's mandatory or something similar.

awwww! You are very kind.

I have a child's voice.
I only let people hear it when I dj. x_x

just now getting back online.
thanks for the replies. and thanks for not roasting me for the post.
i think i'll keep the chat off for now. (except for close friends as mentioned above)
been decorating the property with halloween stuff. cool ghosts and creepy lost girl ghosts.
cheers all.

You should have seen what happened when I went on voice in the Hanja welcome area. =^-^=

ah
roasting always seems to happen here in the forums, and it doesn't matter what the topic is

as for voice, I use it, I like it, and I see nothing wrong with it


I just do not understand why some people would say we should get rid of voice, after all it is not forced on anyone... I say to each their own, and for folks to stop trying to control my SL (after all by saying get rid of this, or that, they are in effect controlling my SL, and yours)

LL does that well enough for everyone

its a option, nothing more and I choose not to use it, nothing more. Thed only thing that bothers me is when someone tries to convince me I should use it.

and I am the opposite LOL
I get bothered when folks tell me I should not be using it and that LL needs to get rid of it

I have even been told I am a (starts with a C) for using voice...

*shrug*

hey I wont do that, its your choice sometimes we all needs to agree to disagree is all

you won't but sadly many do

I guess unless you are a voice user, and experience it yourself, it is hard to grasp it


or maybe it is just happening to me (shrug)

If she is transgender or transexual that has nothing to do with being homosexual
in my humble opinion, it is totally different thing.
If you don't get it, you don't get it.
Was she being friendly or was she looking for sex?
Why does it matter what her voice sounded like, if she had obvious speech
impediment due to be partially deaf or another medical condtion would you be talking about this in same way?
I don't know personally it sounds like you're one of those people who have
friends who are like those people and all but.....
I don't know you but it sounds about not being homophobic but transphobic
and racist personally....
But most people see and judge others by specific traits like skin color, husky voices and penis, facial hair for men, soft, feminine voice, curves with right protrusions in and out female.
Not every woman has soft feminine non-husky voice, Not every Man has monotone, husky voice.
What if she had more masculine voice and was female due to hormonal condition?
Would it still matter? Or is it because she is African American and you're not use
to those type of people's voices so they must be really gay men not women?
If you didn't care about looking for special someone why does it matter what this person
was sound like if you don't have some agenda or prejudice you knowingly or unknowingly know about and want to promote?
Being transexual/transgender is medical or gender condition some may say even form of mental illness.
Homosexuality is sexual orientation.
People don't consider Homosexuals mentally ill any more, at least the medical community
doesn't any more officially.
This is two separate things. Get it it?

Knowing FD Spark personally (a great friend, too bad we are separated by several time zones) and being gay and amazed at the huge quantity of misconceptions about the homosexual and transgender cultures, I agree with every syllable.

I give the original poster the benefit of doubt. But the problem here is not if one should use the voice feature or not, it is a matter of being prepared, in case of a voice interaction, for a different kind of voice tone, accent and delivery. Not everyone is prepared for that but those who are trained in voice interaction (like me, from 199 must consider this, especially while interacting with foreigners.

For instance, in Italy where I was born and in most Latin countries, a female voice should be soothing but doesn't have to be high-key to be attractive, the way most American women use the voice is equivalent to shrieking to our ears. Imagine how long it took me when I lived in the US to get used to all those middle-aged women who -- I am sure -- struggled so hard to sound like young teens because their culture imposes this. But once you know that using shrieking voices is considered fine in one country, you adapt. It's the opposite that never happens, unfortunately, in RL, unless one is well-travelled. We should all take the opportunity given by SL to understand each other's culture.

By the same token, since people can be anything they want in SL, it should be clear that using voice should be a voluntary option, not an obligation. But those who use voice should not be frowned upon if they do, however, as long as they respect the netiquette. Unfortunately, even this is not always true.

My avatar looks like a man in his early forties with an elegant casual look and my voice is very British (I will not get into details as to why it is, too long to explain). I feel comfortable using voice when I need to explain things to others in detail without having to type for a long stretch of minutes. I did just that the other day at Help Island, and a crowd surrounded me, apparently because they were intrigued by my choice of words and "English teacher" accent.

The next thing I know, I was rudely invited by one of the self-proclaimed "mentors" (not an official one) to keep quiet because he did not like my accent and delivery. I did stop talking for the benefit of the newbies, apologized, but nevertheless I was called a retard by that same "mentor" because I did not switch off voice altogether and he could hear my typing. I was really offended and took this as an obvious ethnic slur, leaving Help island without a word.

When I calmed down, I returned to Help Island and realized the mentor's voice was electronically distorted, so I assume he (or she) must be very embarassed at using his or her real voice. Next time he or she complains, I will tell him or her he or she can always mute me and I can do the same. That is an option too.

Sandor

I don't like voices most of time for similar reasons.
Also it seems like there is assumption these days everyone has
the voice on during certain events and often if you're non-voice
user you're not informed before hand or even included.
Some voices are hard to understand or hear for me, while others
are more pleasant but my brain just doesn't always follow or really
able to listen to voice chat in same way if I see words and can
re-read.
I have always against voice I guess because it gives humans new
things to make fun of and judge other people which I don't agree with
be it due to nationality, race, gender or disability.
The person OP is discussing would never probably consider using voice
chat if she had thought she was going to be labeled as some other gender
and criticized.
Perhaps it was naive of her, but I hope she sees the post here and knows
the truth about the situation that the neighbor she had thought was friend
thinks she is a guy.
And reminds those who are non-white, with certain disabilities, hormonal or gender
conditions or even types of accents to use voice with caution or be open to criticism.
Anyway hugs to you Sandor, I am sorry I have not said hello to you recently I have
been very tired and distracted when I am inworld.
I hope you are doing well.

I have been called a guy in RL several times because I don't use voice.Some so called friends even went as far as defriending me after I refused to voice and refused to Dramatize with them over it.
Some people really are rather Pathetic...

I love voice and will voice every chance I get- my typing is a frightening thing But I do like that in type we can look back and refer to prior dialogue. However it is choice- to each his own