Voice hysteria?

Hi,

Judging by some of the threads/posts about the recent additional option (yes, it is optional) of using voice on the main grid, you'd think the (virtual) world had come to an end

1. I don't want voice : don't activate it (see Preferences).

2. Griefer's paradise : see "1" above, or mute, or just add your Friends to the voice option.

3. This is the end of SL : don't think so.

Dave.

I don't think it's the end of Second Life. In fact, I don't think it will have much impact on Second Life at all. Most of the popular places probably won't have it active for their land, given that there aren't enough tools yet to properly handle voice griefing. Many of us will have it active on our lands but not use it ourselves.

*shrugs* I think its the fact that the communications panel is too large and will get in the way of almost everything that really has most people displeased.

I just turned it off, End of problems, SL Business as usual.

Angel.

Judging by some of the threads posted over the past four months about the addition of voice, you'd think these points had never been made before.

on for me no problems SL as usual for me too

hehe same either side of the road.

just have to decide which side of the road each of us wish to travel on

I agree with Angel, "I just turned it off, End of problems, SL Business as usual.".

If someone harasses you about not using voice..to hell with them. *mute*

If you lose friends because you won't voice, you don't need them anyways.

Whether you are pro or con about voice, it's here to stay.

The communication panel, that's something entirely different, hopefully they will work on that.
To me there are extra steps to use it now, but in time, we'll all get used it, more than likely.

Its not merely a matter of turning voice off or on; I dont think anyone would gripe if that were the only issue. The concern relates to a buggy voice client that was not ready for prime time plus a cumbersome communication window.

I dont think anyone claimed it was the end of SL, but if people are forced to use a client that locks up repeatedly and causes crashes it could be the end of some user accounts.

imagine you were to join SL right now, as a new user, never used it before

would voice make a difference to you?
would the communications window be an issue?

I tend to think that if I were to join SL right now, none of these would be an issue with me, just as the ability to stream video or audio is not an issue, or how we search for things, or how the map covers the screen when you bring it up, etc etc etc.

I have been dealing with crashes and lock up since first starting SL, and that was nearly a year and half ago.
Voice is not the cause of the lag, lock up and crashes.

These forums are not a hotbed of Logic and Rationality...

90% of the opinions presented here should be disregarded.

well put

also keep in mind the forums are a very small % of the user base.

(like to think I am in the 10% LOL)
seriously my opinion means everything... to me

to others, it is just that, an opinion, it means little to nothing.

well to be fair - some did say it would be the end of SL.

Its probably an unrealistic thing to think voice is the end to SL.

But it might make SL a little less friendly for non voicers.

To the point where some will log in less often.

The actual figure is 84.97%
- plus or minus something.

it is also unfriendly to voice users, some of those users may not log in

who wants to be told turn off voice, it is the work of the devil, only morons use it...
(I have been told that, on more than one occasion, so it is not just some of the voicers who are pressuring or making it less friendly)

Well that shouldnt be done either.

People shouldnt hastle those who chose to use voice.

I agree colette but it happens

I have turned on voice been chatting and ppl say those things to me and other voice users in general

I have also go to places with voice off and made it obvious my voice was off and was greeted and chatted to normally
no one harassed me telling me I have to turn my voice on, I was made to feel welcome

the only pressure I got was from non voice users demanding us turn it off and degrading us

much like the real world

I've just done a tour of about 15 busy sims which had voice enabled. No one is using it!

Approximately half of the avis had it available as indicated by the 'nearby' list. There was one person with their voice channel left open by mistake - but for open chat not a single person was speaking.

Okay, I will disregard this opinion....


Morwen.

Never thought about this before (which doesn't mean it hasn't already been discussed ad nauseum somewhere, but)... I wonder... if I were new right now, I *think* I'd feel like I had to run out and get me-self a headset right away.

Using the Linux alpha client most of the time, I'm real comfortable with running a "feature-deprived" viewer, but if I were new to world, I think I'd feel like I was really missing out if I couldn't experience such non-essentials as video and shiny/bump and now especially voice.

Completely independently of the good-or-bad of voice, it would be unfortunate if another "barrier to entry" were perceived; the ramp-up is already too steep for many new users. Does anyone know how this is being handled (if at all) in Orientation material?

I've had the same experience. When voice came on, the first day, I went to all the voice enabled sims. I heard nothing. Nobody was talking, except at Bogart's. It was like everybody was "afraid" to be the first one sending their voice into spatial, including myself.

I, for one, am quite a fan of voice, as I was looking forward to hearing the voices of some of my friends (the ones i hadn't heard yet on skype). Lag can make the quality of the voice stream quite bad, actually, and apart from that, it's still very ackward to many. I guess it will all need some time. Also, people still need to learn the difference between a "private" conversation and a "public" conversation, as you can do both. At Bogart's I incidently overheard a conversation between two people, which was clearly meant to be private (in voice). It's wasn't until I IM'd one of them, that they realized everyone else could hear what they said, and I showed them how they could have a voice conversation in private.

If you have a voice dot above your head (as in listening) but are not using a Mic .... You're still using voice.

not sure why you are stating the comment about the dot over my head

when I say turned off, I mean totally turned off voice, disabled, no dot

voice is working? O.o

Last night I had my first encounter with voice in SL.

It was both pleasant and not - I found it added a dimension to be able to voice speak with someone I just met. However nearby where a couple of folks that rudely butted into out conversation, proceeded to discuss us as if we were animals in a zoo as if we could not understand and/or hear them. Then, even after we left the general area they continued to hang about and eavesdrop.

Obviously this has a resolution - the option to speak only to friends or give it up and go back to IM'ing - but it was annoying not to be able to enjoy this fully without the lack of decency that those two were displaying.

I do find the new windows - Communication and such rather annoying in general - take up too much of my limited screen real estate. But hopefully that will be tweaked further. Voice I do believe I will continue to use.