Been Anywhere That REQUIRES Voice?

I will agree to disagree.

Now in answer to the OP, no I have never been anyplace that would require voice. I wasnt even aware such places exsist.

I see the "Whining about the whiners" movement is still going...


.

They're about as plentiful and significant as age-verified parcels so far. (^_^)y

I don't use voice, but I have it on so I can hear people who do use it. And since voice has been introduced, The number of times i've encountered people using it could be counted on one hand. I meet people on a daily basis through my business, and only once has anyone ever insisted on using it.

It may be popular in some social circles, but not in the neck of SL I live in.

I would love sometime to just hang out where you have this experience, so I can hear voice being used in a way that enhances SL. I can conceive of this being the case, I've just never experienced it. I'd, of course, totally be willing to speak as well.
.

Voice isn't that useful when you are quite often busy in RL.

The lack of a playback or logging feature limits you to real time interaction when you get a phone call.

Plus some will wind up (like me) using a secondary machine to log in and handle IMs and limited stuff in SL while working on RL projects with a main computer.

Some of us get tired of muting individuals and just disable voice, because the conveyance of typing is preferred.

Sure it takes a little effort to type something out, but also buys you time to think before you hit enter.

I tried voice, but by and large I find it impractical to use often. To each her own, but why do people sit there tethered to the mic on SL? At least with text if I leave the computer for a short time, it's easy to catch up on a conversation (or in my case several at the same time in IM). I find more and more I run SL with all the sound muted, and voice becoming irrelevant. If I have a business reason to use it, I will. But if someone told me I am "required" to use voice, I'd tell them to go punt.

Somewhat agree with you.

Voice is like everything else in SL- an option.

Its there if needed. While I wont deny a person's right to NOT use Voice Chat, I won't deny their right to use it either.

It's an 'option'. Some folks make it a requirement. It should stay as an option. Even I, the one who likes Voice, doesnt like to talk all the time.

So you don't really agree with him, then?

I've been many places in SL and frankly I've never seen (or heard) the conflicts that are expressed here. Maybe it's my crowd, but we just don't get stressed over it. I talk in voice with my partner, but even we like to take the headset off and just type chat. No biggie. No stress. We don't tend to use voice in crowded public areas, just with small groups. He and I like to chat in private voice IM too while we are in groups. It's easier to to talk to each other that way while we still type in open chat with others. Much better than getting stuck typing in IM's.

I run a theatre company in SL and voice is essential to both our actors and our audience. The actors speak...the audience does not, but voice must be enabled. We conduct our production meetings and rehearsals in voice, but socially it's a mixed bag and no one gets bent out of shape if some use voice and some don't.

I hope some of you who haven't tried voice, or don't want to, will reconsider and try out some the rich and diverse cultural offerings in SL. There's a LOT of rich content in SL, whether it's live music, improv over on the Cookie sim, lectures, discussions, poetry and short story readings, stand-up comedy, and plays with Act Up, you name it. All you have to do is enable voice and then turn off your mic. No one needs to hear you.

Oh and someone mentioned those who are hearing impaired. My partner started a group called Closed Captioning. They have volunteers (and could use volunteers!) who operate a line-reader at some public performances.

Yes & No.

While folks can complain all they want about it, its here, its staying, it has uses & mis-uses.

A person has a right to decide whether they use it or not. Nothing I hate more than being forced into using something.

Voice is like Sculpties or Flexi-prims. You dont always have to use it.

Er, well, yes, but that wasn't what he said, was it? He said "bugger off if you don't like voice". Quite the opposite to you I might propose.

Do you have any information on this? Does it need you to have a voice or does it work by detecting muscle and nerve impulses and creating a voice?

I get tired of all the, "Can you hear me now?", and explaining to people how to turn up individuals, etc.

Aside from that, I don't use voice because I find it exhausting. To me, it's more like being at a party, with more input and personality required (and it's just physically more taxing).

There's something about silences on voice that seems to require filling,whereas in text it doesn't. And it certainly requires constant attention.

Being on text is quite a bit more relaxing.

coco

Totally agree with this. I prefer not to use voice because when it's on, it tends to be a bit overwhelming for me. Now frequently, I am in a multiple IM situation anyway, and even getting myself to focus on general chat is taxing enough. But at least I *can* scroll back chat.

I find it tiring to individually turn up (or down) specific people each time, there is usually a big echo coming from someone's speakers so I hear myself echo'd, which is annoying, not to mention static. Someone almost always has a crackly staticy connection. I end up having to turn the voice OFF that person so what is the point?

I tried conducting a staff meeting for my club one time in voice. It was fun but it did NOT save time like I'd imagined it would. For one thing, people would get carried away on tangents, laughing and goofing, and because of the way I am in RL, I found it hard to interject and try to get things back on track. Much easier to do in chat. Secondly, several of the people talked quickly with accents that made it more difficult for me to understand. And of course the voice chat couldn't be logged.

I have not been anywhere where voice has been mandatory all the time. Outside of hearing a comedian who used voice rather than a stream, I've never been in a situation where I felt I HAD to use voice. And when I do turn it on, I don't find the commentary any more interesting.

I have only seen that in a few cases; Linden Office Hours, real-time "combat", 4 builders working on a project in a sandbox simultaneously, things like that. As far as everyday recreational use, like what most of us do (come and play, sell a few items and chat some more) it's just an extra toy to me, not that I think SL would be better off without it (lookin to the future).

I'm glad it's been incorporated as a feature, but I don't see a reason for "Voice Nazis", or knee-jerk reactionary flaming, since it's just as counter-productive.

Just to stand in a decent RP Sim for a while, you see how emotes and text are used...it renews my appreciation for the "written" (typed) word a lot more. Emotes can still go a long way in casual interaction.



...exactly my view on it.



See, I love that right there. That's pretty much how my crew uses it, when we do. (I don't talk myself, and can't anyway until I cop a new noise-cancelling headset, but it ain't the end of the world in my group of associates)



Nice...sendin u a PM.



HELL YEAH, see that's what I'm talkin about *h5*.. hell we got handicao ramps in RL, the hydraulic bus crap or whatever to accomadate folks who need it...folks who can't use Voice, as this "metaverse" technology advances, are gonna need special consideration too...that's great Marin.



Amen.



That's true for me too...I hadn't really thought about it, but personally, notice that folks who use Voice develop a much better "phone voice" kinda out of neccessity...it's kinda like acting.

If they just came home from a 12 hour shift at work, and don't wanna use voice, but all thier friends do, they might come off as rude, just because they are tired, and don't have time to type a message, then edit the "chip on the shoulder" out of thier dialog, before they hit the Enter key.

OK, so can someone please tell me where to go to experience this voice phenomenom I keep reading about? I have yet to go any place where anyone was voicing in open chat, if that's the phrase.

Try the Bear Infohub. The group there seems pretty civil and well behaved.

Or if you want sheer zaniness, try the Waterhead Infohub.

Both locations have lots of voice users.

Thanks - Zaniness, definitely!!

/me scurries off with a little white dot over her head

just to throw out another for-instance that I think is along the OP's intent:

I use a Linux client. Voice support on Linux is borked bad. /263/3b/242525/1.html There's about 3 specific audio chip/distro combinations it only partially works with. I'm not so lucky. So I *can't* use voice, at all, either direction (talk nor listen), even if I wanted to. The client doesn't support my system. It doesn't work, period.

So if someplace *required* voice (so far I haven't run into it, but I know there's stuff out there I'm missing) I don't even have a choice in the matter, I would just go someplace else. It's the zealotry that gets really annoying tho.

To me it comes off a bit like this: "I built this beautiful Eight Steps in Marble to Paradise. Why do the people in wheelchairs never put in any effort to come experience them??? Everyone MUST use my stairs to experience true nirvana! They are missing out."

If you require the use of a particular feature, you should be aware of all ramifications to all potential users. Some will choose to require it anyway. Don't be surprised when people affected by that decision don't like you for it. And don't be so quick to counter by blaming them for "resisting change", they may just not have any choice.

You're wrong. I'm deaf, as are most of those I hang out with, on our deaf/disabled sim in SL. Careful now, don't get 'deaf' confused with 'stupid'. It's simply that you're wrong. For some of us, it is, indeed, NOT an option.

Yep, that's a perfect example of what I'm talking about, thanks Vamp.

Totally agree, I don't see why everyone has to bitch about it. I happen to like it too, and, I don't find myself using it all that much either. It certainly hasn't had the impact that the whiners predicted. I hear people complain that they cant go places unless they have voice. Oh really? Then don't go there. Why would you want to go somewhere where there's voice if you don't like it anyways. Personally, I haven't been anywhere where voice was a requirement. If I found myself there, I would simply activate and use it while I was there. The biggest complainers about voice have been people who run the illusion that they are the opposite gender than what they project in world. It sure was funny how many 'lesbians' turned out to be deaf, or unable to afford a headset. Pretty much the only place I ever seem to find voice being used is at welcome stations where people hang out to chat. I said it when it came out, there wasn't going to be a major difference, and there hasn't. Still, people still stump about here in the forums to complain about it. What's the big deal, it's optional, and if you don't want to exercise that OPTION, then simply don't.

They're the same folks that complain about someone like Howard Stern but refuse to turn the knob to another station.

Guess what many that RP with the same gender and no sexual overtones at all dislike it.

Talk to the people that hit places for the original role-playing. they don't like it due to a lot of the reasons I don't. Nobody wants to hear the dragon/vampire/elf sound like some surfer dude with a thick accent... usually.

Many don't like it due to the rudeness of others on voice (mike lock is a necessity), and since it is not logged in anyway many use it rather than chat to avoid logging of the insults and comments they make.

There are venues where listening to it is appropriate, but only with no mike on (listening to performers).

I use it rarely, depends on when and where. For the most part i got tired of having to mute people just about everywhere I wanted to go, or listening to people talk over each other.

As for the number playing other genders, so what? I know a couple out there, where they choose to play the other genders (and females do play males) to see how things are from the other side, explore things they can't in rl, and myriad other reasons. I treat a person on SL as they act; after all you don't see nekos, dragons, vampires, etc in rl... so accept it and move on. If it bothers you so much, might want to stick to RL where you're usually sure the chick isn't packing heat.... but stay away from some places out there.