About our RP communities, Friendships, Economy, and Voice. Expectations, Concerns?

Next week, huh?

Well, it better not be too noisy. I just spent twenty years raising kids.

coco

That doesn't work. You can still hear them through others mics.

Might even be better to ask...if you're 'required'...why not? The only real reason 'why not' is if you are deaf, mute, or hard-of-hearing. If so, I don't think anyone will complain when you tell them such in text.

This is a real hot-button issue for some residents, and I can see why.

Basically the *point* of having a second life is to make it different than your first!

* * * * *

Here is what the future holds.

1) Voice will take over as the 'norm' in large part, over 12 to 18 months or even faster.

Why? Just because it's possible. Video killed the radio star, and all that. Proof: The There.com experience. It's similar enough to be highly, highly relevant.

2) There will always be text users, even exclusively text users. But they are going to be marginalised badly, left out, run off in large number, and their golden age is over.

Do I personally want this? NO! I'm happy typing, myself. Is it going to happen? Yeah, I'm afraid it will. So I'll end up listening 100% of the time, speaking maybe 5 or 10% of the time as appropriate to the person I'm talking to.

Not sure about that Colette, but if true then this will really be a nightmare.

One anti-voicer simply stated that they wouldn't be using it, and was asked what they were doing on the beta grid, sculpties anyone?

Another typed LOL in chat and a voicer made fun of it.

I was attempting to explain what the red speaker lines meant to someone who was blaringly loud, and was told by another voicer that "I" was the problem. I guess assistance is now complaining if you don't "voice" it.

Maybe some has spoken to this already, but no - there are more reasons than (a) you are actually the other gender or (b) you are deaf, mute, or hard-of-hearing. Lots of reasons.

(Including that someone might not want to be HEARING all the invitations to phone sex - and far crasser - that at least now we only have to read. Your advice just to don't do it kind of overlooks that the spoken assault - hence more intimate than typed - has already occured. Just to name one of many, many reasons why one wouldn't want to use voice in SL, besides the few you listed.)

coco

You must have super hearing, then, because of all the time I was in the beta grid this weekend, that NEVER happened. And I did have to deal with a few people that were either rude or didn't know how to use their sound and were walking around making a loud noise.

That will be one negative to v-chat on the main grid, though. New people to v-chat standing around adjusting their mic setup and getting loud from feedback and whatnot. Hopefully everyone will have the wherewithall to go to the welcome area or help island or whatever with that.

Mr. Shang, I hope you're wrong and am far too afraid that you are right. Suffice to say, yes, it is about mainstreaming. How can I say this nicely? If we are looking at mainstream USA, they aren't the most literate group in the world. They are no doubt drawn to the notion of a loud, mindlessly chattery grid. Lord knows, that's what most popular culture is like.

So, if Linden Labs is in fact hoping to draw that lot in, well, they will do so at the expense of the rest of us. We see this in the Real World, do we not, when formerly artistic areas of town become gentrified and sanitized. The creative leave, with naught but little plaques left behind announcing that Allen Ginsburg slumped into unconciousness here, or that Toulouse Lautrec hung about here, to his family's everlasting shame (in fairness to Montmarte, down the hill is still quite boheme).

But how can they lure Mother and Father Six-Pack into your lands if they ask them for a cover charge? They'll toddle off elsewhere, no doubt

My first night on the Beta Grid, I was present during the encounter you had when trying to explain to someone that their microphone was too loud. To the contrary, people (myself included) had a problem with you talking smack via text about the v-chatters, while we were chatting. We even asked you in kindly to join in, but you chose not to -- which is fine. Instead, you chose to stand there in your bunny suit ridiculing us for talking. I probably wasn't the nicest person to you, but I was irritated that someone would stand around listening in on conversations and mock their words in text. You're worried about the increase of griefers in SL, yet present yourself like one acting in this manner.

I don't understand what the big deal is. If you don't want to use voice, disable it and carry on with text chat.

Desmond you have a legitamate concern. Easily as important as any of the others on Voice chat.


I can not beleive that it costs LL the $100 difference a month to provide voice. They should only pass on the cost to them to provide voice to a region.

Using a key feature like Voice as a lever to force grandfatherd pricing sim owners to pay the current new sim rate is a slimy business practice.

Is the avatar's animation while speaking the only way to determine who is speaking or is there some other identifier for the person speaking? A lot of chat goes on at virtual dance clubs and bars where most of the avatars are using dance animations so if there is no other way to identify who is speaking that can get a bit confusing.

I am a bit baffled as to why Linden Labs would choose to pass the cost of this feature along to sim owners who already pay fees and contribute to the content of the game rather than adding it as a premium account feature to give incentive to free accounts to upgrade. It's not as if free account players are going to leave if they don't get voice for free. If nothing else, it pays for itself for those who use the feature over engaging in long distance phone calls and phone conferences with people they know from distant parts of the world so I could see that as an incentive for at least some people on free accounts to upgrade.

Is the avatar's animation while speaking the only way to determine who is speaking or is there some other identifier for the person speaking? A lot of chat goes on at virtual dance clubs and bars where most of the avatars are using dance animations so if there is no other way to identify who is speaking that can get a bit confusing.

I am a bit baffled as to why Linden Labs would choose to pass the cost of this feature along to sim owners who already pay fees and contribute to the content of the game rather than adding it as a premium account feature to give incentive to free accounts to upgrade. It's not as if free account players are going to leave if they don't get voice for free. If nothing else, it pays for itself for those who use the feature over engaging in long distance phone calls and phone conferences with people they know from distant parts of the world so I could see that as an incentive for at least some people on free accounts to upgrade.

Oh really? Somehow I wasn't aware that I was a nonartistic, non-Tulouse- Lautrec-appreciating, illiterate, loud, mindlessly chattery six-pack guzzler.

Learn something new every day.

coco

This is a real hot-button issue for some residents, and I can see why.

Basically the *point* of having a second life is to make it different than your first!

* * * * *

Here is what the future holds.

1) Voice will take over as the 'norm' in large part, over 12 to 18 months or even faster.

Why? Just because it's possible. Video killed the radio star, and all that. Proof: The There.com experience. It's similar enough to be highly, highly relevant.



2) There will always be text users, even exclusively text users. But they are going to be marginalised badly, left out, run off in large number, and their golden age is over.

Do I personally want this? NO! I'm happy typing, myself. Is it going to happen? Yeah, I'm afraid it will. So I'll end up listening 100% of the time, speaking maybe 5 or 10% of the time as appropriate to the person I'm talking to.



3) The demographic will change dramatically. This is mainstreaming, folks. The masses getting what they want. The artiste technorati with their creativity, their kinks and their furryness soon to be utterly overwhelmed by Family-in-Vegas-Drawn-by-Sin-but-really-Seeking-Disney-Experience.

The Company is correct: voice is a key element to the platform. Why? Because if the Second Life grid doesn't have it, the eventual competition will. It's not a choice for them, as much as it will be the end of a wonderful era for many of us.



4) Don't *even* get me started on pricing. Current thinking, last I heard, was to leave all 195 USD/mo private regions without voice unless another 1200 USD/yr for each region is paid. This won't fly overall; it will fractionate the daylights out of the grid, create ghettos and divisions, and disrupt some of the best areas in SL.

Once the mainstream culture switches to voice, the last thing SL needs is 1000 crushed dreams as the mainstream population ditches the voiceless lands.

I'm praying they choose voice as a premium feature, not tied to land.

If you already have a 195 USD/mo region, do you want to pay another 100 USD monthly just so unpaid members worldwide can have free phonecalls in your sim? Ouch.

Yes Ive heard the Beta test isnt all peaches and cream too - contrary to what some of the Pro-voicers say.

Im also confident that on the Real grid - it will be worse both in Scale and Scope than on the Beta Grid.

Beta Grid people tend to be more aware whats going on in SL -
Thus as many know - Ignorance breeds intolerance.

Friend of mine went to voice on beta and enjoyed it very much. He said he immediately felt much closer to everyone.

The talk in this thread makes me think I won't be able to hear anything on my 4-year-old Dell desktop. Do you suppose that's true?

coco

Friend of mine went to voice on beta and enjoyed it very much. He said he immediately felt much closer to everyone.

The talk in this thread makes me think I won't be able to hear anything on my 4-year-old Dell desktop. Do you suppose that's true?

coco

Where are you people going that you have constant invitations for sex or being verbally (or alphabetically) assaulted?? I've been in SL for a long time and rarely have to deal with any of that...and I'm not isolated by any means, either!

SL is just like RL as in there are parts of town where you are more apt to be assaulted or solicited. Maybe the issue isn't so much v-chat as much as the company you keep.

Drama seeks drama!

If you have speakers you should be able to.

I've been on the beta quite a bit since the sculpties came out. I've had some nice chats with people there.

Seems (for me) to work better in a one on one setting. One nice guy talks and I text, works fine.

I have an 8 year old set of speakers and a 5 year old soundcard and it worked fine on the speakers...although getting a headset would be preferable.

Also, there are a bunch of settings for you to tweak so the sound works best for you. I recommend having the sound come from the perspective of the avatar as opposed to the camera. The voices are in much better stereo that way. I was able to tell who was talking a bit better since I knew to look to the left of my av to see who's indicator was moving.

Try it out...you might actually like it!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

I don't go ANYWHERE.

I sit on my workshop, building a house. Avatar comes along, sometimes with gigantic woodie sticking out, sometimes not.

Sometimes (but not always) makes a little small talk first, along the lines of, "You're pretty."

Sometimes (but not always), suggests that he WANTS me, and NEEDS me, and would I PLEASE ..... his ..... and right now. Just a little!

This happens on a regular basis.

I really don't want to have to listen to that sort of thing out loud, especially when it is crass.

coco