Voice chat...I refuse to use it...am I a terrible person?

Voice is naturally a part of real life. This is second life and it is not easy to separate the virtual from the real when you are forced to use your real voice. I thought about a voice changer that could be built into the viewer, but I don't think that is going to be enough. For now, it is there to get business done and otherwise it is off.

Little insight into me, I am an avid voicer, I love it and always have since I first tried it. Also like chatting on the phone, or on skype or any other means of voice communication.
my hearing is slowly dwindling and for me to be able to hear the voices of the ppl I communicate with is a small miracle, one I do not want to let go of. Now to answer your questions.

1: if someone doesn't want to use voice, then so be it. not up to me, it is up to them.
no it doesn't raise questions of trust, it is their own personal choice.

2: I do not RP in SL, but if I did I would say it can add to the experience (RP in some RPG's and also in RL RP games, and having voice to communicate for me, adds to it.)

I have a voice client and voice is enabled on my land. However, I don't have it enabled in my client. I keep forgetting about it, my headphones keep wandering off on me, and frankly, given that some of the typing I've read.. they could only sound more ignorant in Voice.

The bottom line for me - even though I haven't participated in RPG's in world yet, its ALL role play. Even the avatar I use that looks vaguely like me is far more Hollywood than I ever was or will be in RL. So it's role play.

Some great books don't translate well to film because a writer can use words to let our own imagination do much of the work without our even being aware of it. SL is like that. It doesn't translate well to real life intrusions, at least for me.

In real life some people prefer to watch TV, some to read. I prefer the latter. I get outcast a little when I don't have a clue or care what's happening on Americal Idol. It doesn't really bother me. With reading, the writer's imagination and mine are meeting somewhere in the middle.

I say let businessmen use voice to hold 3d teleconferences if they want, and let people who are trying to use voice as gender verification get whatever it is they are seeking. Leave the romance and imagination of text to the rest of us.

I'm not a huge social bug but i have not even go the voice stuff installed as I'm not intrested in that in my playtime and as of yet have not had any problem. Its possible I suppose that someone has said something or other to me using voice but none of it is on cause I dont want to hear chatter in my sl experience (ruins if for me) so i would not know.

You may come across an individual once and awhile that wants you to use it but I would not worry. I figure if i am not hearing it I likely am not missing anything and vica versa

I listen to music and watch TV among other things I dont want to being a bit older have to have sounds competing for each other cause it makes it hard to hear what you really want to hear.

If someone is angered by me not "voicing" ah well such is life can't please everyone 100% of the time and I wont be trying to

I rarely have the acoustical privacy needed to feel comfortable using the voice feature in SL. I am sure there are many others who have similar situations. So for this and many other reasons there will always be alot of people in SL who are not using Voice.

Most of the time I won't use it and when I do I usually use my Furry/Robo voice Morpher whether it's roleplay or not.
Sometimes voice is fun, strife wrote a script here on the forums which sounds a chime whenever your name is mentioned in text chat, it's very handy even for just IM's
I won't be rude to people by ignoring them if they want to use voice to communicate, it has it's good & bad points, most often it doesn't work anyway.

Being married to a technophobe and PC luddite.. I completely understand some people's preference to voice. Typing isn't a skill taught in schools, and it isn't a natural born gift either, it's either trained for specific career roles or gained through many hours of sitting at a PC in work or social situations.
I tend not to roleplay too much in SL, although I understand there are sim's dedicated to it.. I take my roleplay to LOTRO and other purpose built games... at the same time I don't always voice chat either, I've spent far too many years developing a superfast typing speed to just drop the habit overnight ;P

I like voice chat, it has a place in SL and I welcome it, even though I'm not entirely comfortable with it, I really can see it's potential.
Talk to me about video phones though, and I'd freak! I'd have to get dressed in the mornings! Oh Lord! That's just too much!

Yes, I'm sorry to say, you are a terrible person.

j/k

At first I was skeptical but excited about voice. Now I never turn it on. I found it very annoying and nearly impossible to keep up with voice, chat and IM's at the same time. On top of that I have far too many friends who play opposite genders or are at work so they never have theirs on either.

I'm surprised when others like you comment about all those who have it on. I give mine a fair chance and go around occasionally and rarely find anyone using it. I think the only place I see it used frequently is on Help Island and that's all the noobs fixated on trying to figure it out. Shame to me when I think all the more important things they should be focused on.

I'm not anti voice. Never have been. I am anti voice for me. Fortunately many others (most in my circles) feel the same.

On my side, i have been having some pretty judgemental feelings about some of the voicers that where babling near non voicers, totally ignoring them. Actually we where passing comments about what we where thinking of this babbling and it seems they where'nt even reading what we where typing to them...

Hearing someone in voice is sometimes so disappointing, you think someone look interesting, but after hearing them you discover they just are your normal/uninteresting average person.

We had a regular at a club I worked in. He was very big, muscular and a intimidating looking demon. He eventually was hired as the DJ and the entire facade fell apart when I heard him and he sounded like a little girl.

I sound like Mini mouse with a Boston accent. So I tend to stay away from anything voice related.

The only voice chat I've heard on SL was in a sandbox on the Beta Grid. it reminded me of recordings of old moon missions and the chat between astronauts and Houston!

I haven't downloaded the voice version of main grid SL yet so for me it's just as though it's not there.

Luckily, voice isn't supported on the Linux client, so I'm able to hide what a terrible person I am. Given the vagaries of Linux sound, and the several target releases that have been missed already, I'm guessing my secret is safe for a while.

I don't know how many times I've read stuff on this forum and thought "phew, it's not just me" but here's another one.

I am at home in my living room with RL partner etc using my laptop while they watch tv or something, or at work (ssshhh, say nothing) when I'm online, so it's just not practical for me to use voice.

Even if it was though, I don't really want to hear people's voices, I'd much rather have them remain as they are in my head not as they actually sound. It breaks the illusion for me. And I'm a bit shy.....I don't want to have to compete with loads of other voices to be heard.

You're a terrible person and obviously hiding something ..........just kidding

I flat-out refuse to use voice, don't have the technology, not about to get it and have no interest in it. My friends all know this and it's not a problem. Others get the simple answer as described above, takeit or leave it. I see voice a) as an invasion of my privacy and b) I really don't want to know what other people sound like, kinda spoils the imagination. I also spend a lot of my social time at live music venues where everyone is forever being asked not to use voice during the concerts, I even have my typing animation turned off for that purpose. I have been asked to voice chat a few times, but it's not going to happen.
Very much to each their own as far as i'm concerned.
I'm not against voice btw, just won't be using it.
FWIW: I do find the introduction of voice has changed the social landscape a bit. One of my favourite places has voice enabled, and I do find the communication with people who do use voice more difficult. At the same time, I can also have a hearty giggle at people standing around like zombies while they're busy voice chatting

Well I finally downloaded the voice client, quite awhile after it came out. It takes getting used to. Instead of "Friends" button it is now "Communicate" and its a bit different. When sending a group notice I always open group chat first (So irritating), I can not get used to the info button.

As far as voice chatting, I myself probably wont do it. If i meet someone I want to voice with i`ll give them my cell phone # and they can call me.

Ive never actually heard people voice chatting yet either, maybe cause i dont go into crowded places often. Though voice is enabled on my sim, im not here to conversate audibly with people, nor am I interesting in hearing people yap away. I am here to mind my own business, create, and answer customer IMs. I will revert back into the "real world" when i feel like being audible.

I guess for me, its not that im *against* voicing with people I meet online (Whether it be on yahoo, skype, or in SL) but rather i come online to just have some quiet time you know. I guess for some theyre so into it voice is good for them, but for me i come here as kind of an oasis in a way...in my mind atleast. where all is quiet, and I can create in peace.

For the first few days after the First Look client with voice came out, it seemed to work. I never actually talked to anyone, but I listened. After the first few days, the sound got choppy. Since then, I will occasionally enable voice, and try to listen. At this point, the novelty has worn off on me, and I will probably just not enable voice any more.

Yes,

Your unwillingness to listen to lame jokes, karaoke, heavy breathing, hacking coughs, people's dogs, kids, pet monkeys. And last but not least cheesey Borat Impressions.

Makes you a Bad person.

Ha! I'd completely forgotten there was voice in SL till I read this post :0

Haven't used it at all since it was released, obviously that isn't causing me any issues in interacting with other people since I forgot it was even an option...... I'm not even sure how many of my friends are using it to be honest.

Definitely not a terrible person for not using it. I wasn't interested in it for the mere fact that my RL is going on around me all the time while I play SL - listening to music, talking to other people, back and forth from the PC doing stuff. Voice would just be too intrusive.

lol..

oh the gross mouth breathing....

I'm also still using the pre-voice client. I Installed the Voice client, and had instant game problems (Intense lag, Crashes, Building Bugs) Not everything related to voice of course, But still, Enough irritants that i could not Coexist along side a System i will never use.

From everything i've heard, So far voice in SL is Flying in much the same way Cows Don't. I expect it really won't gain in popularity simply because it removes the Element of fantasy that SL Promotes.
What's the point of having an Avie that looks like Conan the Barbarian, voiced by someone who sounds like Don Knotts? It just spoils peoples Illusions.

Angel.

I don't even like to talk on the telephone.........why would I suddenly want to talk on my computer?

Nope..........you are not a bad person for not wanting to use voice.

Can I borrow your voice? As I seem to look a lot like The Incredible Mr Limpet.

/me swims off

I'll just chime in here (Hi, Royce) and say I love voice, I just hate the immature idiots who use it to talk about how 'fucked up' they are while drunk or start cackling about the fart widgets they're spreading around, etc.

I wish more mature people used it.