Voice in SL

I would like to see a new forum item named Voice issues.

Along with Current Version issues and First Look etc there should be a forum for Voice.
Since this is a system running next to Sl, that would make sense to me.
Now I need to search all threads to look for answers. How do I set up voice, why is my voice never stabile, stuttering, poor quality. Best headsets to use , you name it.
And yes sofar I havent been able to have a decent voice chat, not public nor private. Always this stuttering... I'd really would like a private voice chat with my best friends. There must be others out there who feel the same.

A hint for you 20% of users who want voice chat: use skype and let the majority of residents speak in their second voices - the ones you cant hear.

I think that’s a good idea Herbie. Not sure if it will happen but still a good idea. As far as setting up and trouble shooting voice. Have you been to Help Island Public to see if there is anyone there that can help you? Usually there are SL Mentors and Voice Mentors available there.
Also you can IM me, I’d be glad to help.

lol. That's funny.

Only 20% of SL citizens (in-world) want voice? I'm not a statistician, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say this percentage is highly skewed, bias, and inaccurate.

Voice works great on my end...and the majority of clients and friends I've used voice with have had zero problems.

Using third-party software atop an already established technology is like wearing two condoms...it's just ridiculous. Sorry about the strange analogy, but it seemed to work. If, however, voice isn't working for you, then you can choose to use a third party solution. But for the majority of users, voice works fine.

Problems arise in a wireless environment--especially with MACs.

Michael, are you suggesting it's higher? At risk of starting a voice/anti voice war thread again I really have a hard time believing it's not much lower. Regardless of my opinion of voice, I look around and find it rarely in use.

It doesnt matter which of you is right. Has nothing to do with this thread.

The OP's suggestion is a voice related forum.

Great idea. People who are having difficulties getting voice to work on their system can find help in one spot.

As well as a place to tell people good voice enabled venues etc.

I agree Michael but the OP does make a good point about how difficult it is to find helpful information in the Forum. Most attempts at assisting anyone with voice advice in the Forums get hijacked with tirades and misinformation. Best to seek help in-world.

Thanks for putting it back on track, Colette. I agree. A voice thread is an excellent idea.

Another excellent reason for a voice forum. spell out its not for discussing the merits of voice only technical aspects , places its used, etc.

Voice isnt going anywhere now. And it doesnt work right for everyone.

If someone want to voice chat and cant figure out where or how to get it to work -

Saying "Works great for me" isnt helpful

Saying "Who needs voice" isnt helpful

*Of course*

The last couple "voice doesnt work threads" sure didnt become flame wars. They didnt get really answered either. I do not know why this is.

But with a voice forum you could have getting voice to work stickies, voice enabled venues stickies, please be kind to voicers stickies, please be kind to non-voicers stickies, etc.

Which would be cool for the prospective voicers.

I think they should add a 'GENERAL' forum, not a voice forum.

Are you all sure there isn't a FAQ for voice? If not, then I think an extensive FAQ and troubleshooting guide would be much more cut & dry than a forum. Voice doesn't need a forum, it needs an extensive FAQ.

By the way, thank you Collete for getting us back on track, and being so diplomatic--you're a scholar and a lady.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Voice_FAQ

also all Voice Mentors should have Voice Help Notecards in several languages.

Bingo!

That would work too, since then voice questions in Resident Answers would be less likely to become discussions on voice - since those would take place in General.

But General is a evil name with an evil history so wed need a different name for it I guess.

"Second Life Discussion"

would work.

Thanks for all your replys, I think we are on the same level here.
Voice is here to stay, and i sure don't want that discussion here. I need answers, tips etc.

Don't know what name it should have, but it should be clear it is about technical voice issues, whether good or bad experiences.

ps 1 : is that true about wireless and MAC, that would explain some of my problems with voice. I use a pc myself but my friends are not.
Calling all MAC users for a reaction.

ps 2: I know about the Voice FAQ, nothing there about poor quality for instance. Install the voice viewer, push a button and go.. Seems to be more to it than that.

My apologies for the off topic. The fact is voice issue has been a turning point in the spirit itself of SL, dramatically changing in-world behavior and - once again - killing imagination, raping freedom to be whatever you want to be, splitting the community in voice-chatters/typers and enabled/disabled.
ALL polls say only 20/23% of users want voice. This is a fact.
Before leaving i'd like to post these last words:


#4 "...it's just ridiculous"

Ridicolous is using first voice in a second life

"#14 "Voice is here to stay"

Are you sure?

Hmm, so you are off topic.
This is not about who likes voice or not. Public voice is a menace for sure, but thats just a opinion.
It is not going away no. 23% is almost a quarter, not neglectable.
Ridicilous? Well, ridicilous is saying that this is another life, this is not another dimension, it takes RL time to be here, therefore as real as using your voice, or reading a book for that matter. I can fly, breath under water, make buildings, take a shower, why not talk?
Saying yes or no to the topic would be more helpfull. No offense just my opinion.

Excuse me for being an arse here, but....
MAC is the Media Access Control of a networking device.

If you mean a Macintosh computer it's spelled Mac.

And you all-caps-ed a name, but left the abbreviation "PC" lower case instead of capitalizing it like it should be?

Its the computer abreviation police!

Okay simpler way:

- Any Mac users experience problems talking to PC users in SL Voice chat?

(Seems weird that this would happen though since it all goes to the same voice servers somewhere, right)

Grammer police. The computer abreviation police are Mac users who get irate when people spell it "MAC."

Their computer is named after a Raincoat and they get huffy?


LOL

I've seen it happen.

I beleive you - thats why the LOL

Excuse me....but this thread is going downhill very fast.

It looks like it's going to be awhile before people can have an open and frank discussion without getting hairs to stand on end. It's a shame too because it is here to stay for sure.

Oh that I could give it! I'm a volunteer Help People! VIP at Help Island and I find that voice chat makes SL run so slowly its virtually unusable (and this on a G5 iMac with 1.5 GB RAM and a 2Mb broadband connection). This is partly because Help Island Public is such a laggy environment anyway.

After disabling Voice, the typing lag almost completely disappears and I can start helping people again.

This is why I rarely use voice - the quality of the end-product in public spaces and the lag effect make the SL experience quite miserable while using it. If it were to improve ... fine, no problem.

Sorry to muddy the waters even further, but in the UK MAC is also the Migration Authorisation Code that enables users to switch from one broadband supplier to another.