Does Anyone Actually Use VoiceChat?

I'm still very interested in seeing what it's like, but it sure appears that no one ever uses it. I only hear voices (insert punch line here) when I'm at a club with a live DJ.

I don't want to use it myself, but I am curious about the effect of it on social interaction and even in-world classes or seminars.

I don't think I'm trolling, but after all the drama here in the forums about it's arrival, it seems to have simply fizzled out on its own accord. Yes? No?

Are there any places one would suggest I visit to hear it in action? Thanks.

I use voice chat.

I use it all the time when I'm building and my friends are around. Stopping to type was a pain in my arse. Also, I talk to a bunch of people usually when just hanging out. And guess what? I still manage to type to those that aren't using it. So much for the big "if you don't use voice you'll be left out" conspiracy

I don't even have the voice client intsalled, thanks to Nicholaz

I use it all the time--if I run into someone with a dot over their head, I engage in voice chat (that is, if they are willing as well).

Hah, well, it always works out like that. Nothing is ever quite as dramatic as it is made out to be. It seems to have turned out that some people use it, most people don't, and it hasn't really had much impact on the grid at all.

I have never used it and never will. Haven't even downloaded the voice wizard. Most of the time, I completely forget the grid even has voice chat unless it's mentioned on the forums somewhere. I kind of like walking around in that little cloud of oblivion. I work in inside sales in RL, so I talk, talk, talk all day. Just typing in SL is fine with me. Besides, if I want to talk to my hubby, I can just yell into the next room (in RL....lol)

Which is good...a lot of drama for nothing. And it's nice to have the option when you want (which turns out, isn't as much a problem as previously speculated).

I find it invaluable when talking to clients and colleagues--so much more can be covered, and misunderstandings are far and few-between. Plus you get that warmth and intimacy which only a person's voice can provide.

I'm an advocate, most of you know. But I respect texters just as much.

i set it up and spoke to kitten when it first came out, and then turned it off and forgot about it.

mostly because i tend to be on later at night and the rest of my household is trying to sleep, and talking going on would get the dogs going and...oh boy you dont wanna know what 12 miniature schnauzers sound like when they all start yappins!

otherwise i wouldnt mind...though it sort of kills my favorite types of RPing...kind of odd to be saying "/me blah,blah,blah... etc... hehehe

That's about right. It didn't become the big disaster some thought it would be.

Let me clarify my post, because reading it back, I sounded rather negative. I do think that there are times where it's a definite plus. And I think that it's great that there are people that can use it to foster SL relationships, be they business ones or personal. My husband and I just made the decision for ourselves when it was introduced that it was something in which we just weren't interested. I avoided even downloading the client with the voice feature until I absolutely had to. Especially because I read the horror stories about the communicate window (which, IMHO, is not that bad at all...I actually like it) Some people are so adamently against voice chat while others are so gung ho for it, that things got very heated in prior discussions. And like others have said, I think it's here to stay with very little of the actual drama that was predicted. I think to those that use it, it's invaluable. To those that don't, most are probably like me and forget it's even here.

LOL. No, you're right...I don't think I do. That's a lot of little barks going on.

People who work in a chocolate factory generally don't go home after a long day of work and tear into a Hershey bar.

I work in customer service on the phone all day. The last thing I want to do in my off time is talk into a headset.

I don't use it because I just don't have the inclination to purchase a headset that would only ever get used for this one thing. I also just don't have the privacy in my house to be yacking while others are around. It's one thing to talk for a short while on the telephone but quite another to be going on for hours in SL.

But, I do have several friends that DO use it and enjoy it very much. And, they are quite
willing to tolerate typing to include me in their chat's. (though I have no idea what they are saying about me that I can't hear )

Anyone that would refuse to talk to me just because I don't have voice enabled is probably not someone I would want as a friend anyway.

/me shrugs

Same ting happened when AOL added voice IM a bajillion years ago. Lotsa people got up in arms about it, an when it came out, it jes fizzled.

It's a feature really, IMO, geared towards business users. Those with a vested interest in it - an a few adventerous people who wanna use it for dat other stuff - will use it. The rest'll not. No biggie.

Mari
(Who said someting about dat a couple months ago)

I don't use Voice normally, have a couple of times privately to other residents, but I have found it great for some of the university lectures etc. But most of the time I just have it disenabled and it's no drama.

I don't use it. But there have been a few times when I am out and about and have seen (and heard) other using it. The first time it actually scared me, as I thought it was someone in my house lol. Despite the fact I think it breaks immersion completely, I do have to say it's one of the highest quality VOIP applications i've heard. The voices are very clear and lifelike. The only thing I noticed was, you can hear voice a *long* ways away from the people speaking. Unrealistically so. They need to turn down the radius or something.

Never use it. Mine is never turned on. When everyone was bitching upon it's arrival I speculated that in 3 months we'd all be using it and wouldn't be able to imagine life without it. Boy, was I wrong. I don't have mine turned on. I don't like it, and it seems most don't either. I'm glad it's there for those who like it but they seem few and far between.

Pretty much same as Bradley. Sometimes I turn it on, sometimes off. Doesn't seem to mater - rarely run into anyon using it.

I use it with my RL roommate (who is my SL neighbor too!) when we are building or exploring places like Octoberville, always in a private call. Other than that I rarely see anyone with the dot over their head and no one else has ever attempted to send me a call or voice in open chat.

Voice chat? What's that?

Hey, welcome back, Michael!

I have no desire to use it for a couple of reasons, although I have.

First, my laptop has a terrible habit of picking up bad feedback. That in itself is a huge issue. I've had people actually scream at me to turn mine off.

Second, is I always have things on in the background.

Third, right now I have a bad problem with my voice - I'm in the middle of trying to figure out what is going on with it, specialists and all. No need to inflict that on anyone. Might sound sexy to some, but it's freaking annoying to me (one of my vocal cords not working right, blah).

I have used it in lecture settings, it was ok to hear the person giving the information, actually maybe better than waiting for them to type it out. But overall, I prefer typing everything I need to with friends. If I wanted to pick up a phone, I have one. SL isn't RL, and I'm used to typing for a living, so I have no issues doing so.

I want to follow up my post with why it hasn't caught on in my social circles. Personally, I just plain did not like it. I found it damn annoying and next to impossible to follow who was speaking. I think it'd be great in an education setting, but I haven't had that come up yet.

The reason it's not used in my circle of friends is because of other people around the person in SL. Most of the people I hang out with are either at work or at home with family. None of them will ever be able to use voice for those reasons. I'd guess that's a reason for many others out there as well.

I love voice when I'm in a meeting with a presentation and the speaker uses voice and the audience uses chat. It works very well for that...the speaker isn't interrupted and the ideas fly back and forth in chat and serve as a log.

I love IM voice to use with my partner when we are exploring in different parts of SL and want to share what we see...typing can be awkward then.

I love typing when the folks I'm communicating use it as their preferred method.

It just a matter of the right tool at the time.

I've basically lost one friend who basically has become "too lazy" to text.

Another is also "too lazy" but she makes time for me texting so we can catch up.


More people are using it than the forum's impression, perhaps they arent the same type of people who enjoy Forums.

I say this because everyone I know personally who is voicing doesn't participate in the forums and only one even reads the blog.