Voice Chat Can Really Kill the Mood on WoW

Take no notice of Brenda - she appreciates not a fine soup ... a FINE soup ... Heinz, right?

Watermelon Daquiris killed my last headset ...

Team Speak ... ok is this any good? My partner used it on Americas Army and rates it highly ...

I doubt that it depends on the type of person you hang aruond with since all my friends so far are not going to be switching it on or buying a mic it wont be a big deal. I also ahve no intention of putting another 60 bucks a week into mics as I am not very good at keeping them in one piece. The world around me which is not pixels is uncooperative and often as I scramble out of the chair to get the phone or the door or do this or that i take the mic with me and trample it into little pieces withing 24 hours of buying it. Lost 5 mics that way and i tried to use one 5 times so for me its not like an economical thing.

anyone insisting i use voice chat has to pay the mic bill for me as well.

Luckily I sat on my mic yesterday and broke it so I have taken that as a sign that my arse doesnt want me to use voice chat.

I used for a little voice with Lineage II… and will never again.

My biggest issues:
- Bad quality of voice.
- Voice lag (voice coming through a lot later)
- Background noises (radio, tv, washing machine, whatever)
- Being part of unwanted conversions (someone shouting in RL “He dear, can you look after the kids, I must pee!”. I really heard this once)
- Not understandable dialects, especially in other languages…. (Hmmm…. I had the biggest trouble with understanding someone from Texas…. But I guess my “Twents” dialect was for her just the same )

No, no voice for me. Rather some typo’s then all the above.

Morwen.

ive been using a program called 'roger wilco' for years.
its fast to set up and get underway.

Oh I do appreciate a fine soup. I make a chicken soup that is to die for. I just do not abide by any soup with cream in it. (Mostly due to Lactose intolerance).

Thanks, can see why. Raid Guilds need quick co-operation from all members. I learned that in the Instance in Stormwind……..

I accept that voice is a potential big issue in any virtual world. My only point is that providing it is opt in (that is the software does not force you to use it and/or is not essential) it could be a good thing.

As I see things in SL, peer pressure will evolve the majority group either way, area-by-area, sim by sim. Those who wish to use voice will migrate to common areas, those who do not will do likewise.

Most people, myself included, will possibly choose to be selective in their day to day options, sometimes using voice when desirable or necessary, other times not.

However another comment I could make is that in WoW it is NOT desirable to turn off your background sound as you can die without warning, in SL some people do without sound, although in my own opinion they miss out in some sims. Just a view

I quite like the idea of voice in SL and will most likely use it all the time. However my experience of voiceon the beta grid was painful, to say the least. Blasts of feedback, 'testing-testing, is this thing working?' and other horrendous blasts of noise in my head..... ouch! I guess I'll get used to it.

And it most likely will also mean the end of streaming music on your land if you want to use voice. Music and voice are a no-go together.

And I mostly play music on my media-set when I play SL (kind of music is depending on my mood).

Morwen.

A very good point Morwen! My younger days saw anguished evenings inhabiting dark, loud, clubs where one had to shout to each other for any kind of communication. Never was and never will be my idea of entertainment LOL

I have played Everquest and WoW since they came out. I have known people in Everquest for years and have been in the same guild for a a long time.
It became a natural progression to try out Vent or TS for raids and became fun. We were a good group of friends that often ended up playing together so jumping on Vent to chat was a natural. Our age ranged I think from 16 - 50+.
I, being shy and female, had no problem speaking over Vent, I am not shy over the phone so transition to mic was a no brainer.
My experiences have only been positive - I finally could hear how Viron sounded when he typed "OoooOooooOhhh !" I could 'melt and sigh' when the Aussies or Brits spoke... I was not surprised or disappointed in the sound of my friends, but I have a majik perceptivity and can see and feel more through online interactions than most people. I could chuckle and say "I knew you would sound like that"...
Anyway - my shoppe will have voice off, but I will have a teleport to a 'voice on' place to chat on my land for those that would like to, relaxing and cozy by my fire pit .

Oh yes .. relaxing by a fire pit is soo much my kind of entertainment.

"Gaaandaaaaaalff!!"

I too use TS when playing EVE or WOW or EQ but I am allways in channels with the same long term group of friends and we have been playing with each other (insert joke here) for many years. SL is different I think because it will involve talking IN the game rather than using a complimentary application outside of the game so you will be required to listen and possibly talk to lots of people that you do not know the majoiry of them being foriegn or idiots or both. Thereore I dont think Voice in SL compares to using channels on TS etc.

Voice wasn't as helpful for raids in WoW as I thought it would be. People get lazy. Instead of typing directly to a healer "hey, I need a quick heal," which clearly identifies the name of the person needing the heal, people start panicking and shouting into their microphones "heal me!" and you haven't the least idea who is speaking. Ventrillo was nice for giving directions, but total chaos during the actual raids, because PEOPLE JUST WON"T SHUT UP. Instead of seeing typed acronyms like WTF, I got to hear the full words, shouted, over and over and over all night long. I discovered that people are not naturally nicer when hearing one another's voices than they are in text. I learned that confirming my female gender produced a gravitational pull that made it next to impossible to enjoy raiding.

Yes, I've used Skype here on occasion, but this will be much different.

Not good to panic when surrounded by demons (quote from the original Doom game) but people do, and its surprising (and fun) how much people identify with their online avatar, especially when they need a quick heal in the height of battle.

But yes the above is my point; adding speech to SL will add another dimension, as I know it can do in WoW. It is only natural some folks will have concerns over that.

Going forward (x) number of years, has anyone read Arthur C Clarke’s 3001?

In that book he talks about a "braincap" that sits on your head and completely fools the mind, transporting you into a virtual reality world

Quote

2025 Neurological research finally leads to an understanding of all the senses, and direct input becomes possible, bypassing ears, eyes, skin, etc. The result is the metal "Braincap." Anyone wearing this close-fitting helmet can enter a whole universe of experience, real or imaginary.
The Braincap is a boon to doctors, who can now experience their patients' symptoms (suitable attenuated). It also revolutionises the legal profession, as deliberate lying is now impossible.


http://www.arthurcclarke.net/?scifi=3

I can just imagine what the SL BBs would be saying about that (if it happens) and SL is still up......

I think one the biggest negative impacts of voice will be on DJs. Personally, I'd find it irritating that people might be constantly yapping over the music or, even more annoying, trying to "walk over" the DJ when they're trying to make announcements and such. I've been thinking about taking up DJing on a casual basis but the thought of competing with vocal griefers and people who just like to hear themselves constantly talk is turning me off to the idea. It's definitely gonna kill my mood at the clubs.

I thought Age verification was the bringer of doom.

Gee, I dont log on for a few days and Im so out of the loop.

Yeah, why did he go and ruin it with croutons for?

looking forward to it? its been here on the main grid since the weekend

i love it!

Or howabout DJ's who just don't have the voice for it? In text they are prince charming, when talking it's Homer Simpson?

At the club I help run, it has already been decided that the club itself will be set to no voice, to prevent exactly that kind of problem. I storngly suspect a lot of clubs will do the same.

In The Sims Online, people would voice.
I remember being Invited to a party at a friends home. About Twenty people showed up and it was a Good crowd, But it soon became apparent that the hostess, Her boyfriend, and two or three others were in Voice together while the rest od the party was in text. Good Luck trying to speak to the hostess. She was completely ignoring the majority of her guests. We had, after all come at her invitation, but she was so wrapped up in voicing that no one texting her got more tham two or three words out of her if she would deign to respond at allMeanwhile, she, and her Tiny group of voicing friends were having a Good time. After perhaps 45 minutes, or an hour, i was one of the last texters to leave. I made my Polite goodbye's and left her to her talk. I have to say, that was definately one of the less enjoyable parties i have ever gone to. I thought the hostess's behaviour was astoundingly Rude, as did many of her friends that had attended.

Now voice is coming to SL, and i don't really see any difference between that, and what we had in TSO, I think it Will Stratafy people in SL, and i Don't see it as a Good developement at all.

Angel.

You get points for the grace and manners the hostess lacked. I would have been out of there in a half hour max, taking as many as my text friends with me as possible, and I would have probably not so politely told her why.

have a feeling this is the sort of thing that will happen a lot in SL.

----------------------------------
In addition, now that the beta has come out -

Over the past few days I have had complete strangers ask me to voice with them. They act pretty much disappointed when I say no. I wouldnt give strangers my phone number, so I am not sure how much different this is.

Voice has been on the Internet for a decade. I have only used it with close freinds. Thats not going to change for me just becuase someone decided to integrate it with the client.

I, personally, am scared of the future in general and change in particular. I have bumpiness and shininess, local lighting, water ripples all turned off and I plan on turning off windlight when it comes online.

I also worry that people will be able to have the opportunity to express themselves in a more natural and social way. I'm afraid of human contact so it's important to me that everyone else be as limited and uncomfortable in SL as I am in RL.

There is also the issue of SL actually having the ability to enhance peoples' RL through education and other opportunities voice may bring. Everyone should know how to type English already so I don't see the point in using voice to potentially learn a different language. This is an area of great concern.

I see a race war happening between the "talkers" and the "typers" because there is no way the two will be able to get along. The talkers will discriminate against the typers because they'll feel superior with their fancy "ability to talk" when they should know that typers probably read books otherwise they wouldn't be able to type so well.

I have to say, though, I think the typers will have an advantage as the talkers will be so divided from in-fighting because they'll be able to tell that the other people are from different parts of the world and may have birds or kids. No human alive can handle such differences.

Regardless, SL VoiceChat is a harbinger for RL death and destruction. Dead, bloodied and broken avs will be strewn about the main grid like the insides of a bratwurst after being microwaved for too long. The owners of these avs would take to the street up in arms if it wasn't for the fact that it's really hard for them to be motivated enough to go outside.

Nothing good can come from v-chat. I'm not alone in this conclusion. The fact that I've seen someone else say similar things means the majority of SL residents feel the way I do.