Voice Chat Can Really Kill the Mood on WoW

I too like to be able to scroll the chat log. For business related things, very useful to be able to maintain a log of who said what for records.

I'm kind of "blah" about voice myself. For some functions I think voice is a great thing. For classes and conferences, announcing at social functions, talking to a good friend etc.

However, my experiences with it on the beta grid have been quite so-so in larger social groups. It is hard to follow the conversation once the group has reached a certain size. Foreign speakers are often left out because they're not quick enough or unable to follow fast enough the speech of native speakers. Also the voice griefers and others who just like to be generally annoying haven't made the experience better. I've discovered that I don't feel that comfortable talking to strangers via voice. I've been hit on because I was talking in voice, was very creepy to say the least.

So yeah, I think I'll be very sparing in my use of voice. I will use it, but will I use it all the time? No, I don't think so.

If you truly believe that, then you just volunteered to be the person who gets to explain to other voicers why voice is a choice and why people have the option to not use it and that they shouldn't care at all that the other person doesn't want to voice with them .

You'll be doing everyone an invaluable service preaching your wisdom . Of course, I doubt you'd get past a few conversations like that before you'd have to swallow alll your claims and realize that peer pressure is already happening right now and the only valid reason to not voice after you've been asked is: "waiting for First Look to finish downloading".

The fact that people will pressure you to use voice even though you dont know them from Adam .. is one of those arguments that have no merit and can be defeated by even "basic logic"

Nevermind the fact that it actually happens - and that the people can get to be nasty about it. Thats besides the point.

This will be one of those nagging things that will lead SOME people to log on less. This is my opinion and my prediction before the anti-anti-voicers come and say I'm reactionary.

'psst, hey baby ... you wanna voice? ...'

that sounds too much like a question.

Youll never force people that way.

You need to make it sound like a demand.

"Hey baby how come your not voice enabled? Shy? Its okay - Im nice , are you ignoring me? Well I cant help it that you are stuck up, geez"

You are react.... oh no, you are not. I agree with you.

Morwen

In my own view WoW is an extremely complex GAME, there is far more "content" to it than just battling the environment and/or other players. To me that IS the attraction, in other words there is no blurring of the lines between Second and First life. In a similar vein I also enjoyed playing Doom (original DOS version) and Microsoft’s Age of Empire series.

I suspect it may hold my interest for a year or so, perhaps longer if further expansion packs/options are made available.

SL is as alike WoW as chalk from cheese, although having said that some groups within SL have a role-playing structure that includes formal battle.

You have though an extremely intelligent and perceptive insight into voice within SL, and I am not taking the micky. One big reason why some folk’s don’t want voice within SL is that they have concerns about too big a link between First and Second Life. In short to quote another poster from some time ago "What happens in SL stays in SL and has no relationship with my First Life". "When I log into SL, First Life stays behind"

I am sure many folks would agree with that statement.

Voice would bring First Life into Second Life and a lot of people do not want that as they feel it would breech their personal barriers. There are other issues connected with greifing, computer equipment and software performance.

I think that is the essence of the debate. I think that some anti voice avatars, while accepting voice has some attractive uses, feel they are going to subjected to peer pressure to either accept voice against their will, or be forced to leave SL.

ONE of WoWs attractions to me is that I do have spare time on hand and am prepared to indulge myself in what amounts to a hobby. Bit like Golf really. With the exception of the Gold salespeople there is no real First Life economic link into WoW. When I log into WoW I am a Night Elf Druid, it’s a clean and simple entertainment.

SL is a parody of First Life, many folks see that, hence the bar on too close a link between the two

This is a good thought. I know nothing of WoW so I can't comment on the comparison to SL. However that is the essence of the argument. Many DO NOT want their First Life encroaching into Second Life, for a number of reasons. Why is that so hard for SOME people to grasp. Why must you default to Paranoid Suspiscion, and assume they are "hiding" something? And even if they are, SO WHAT? If you need certain assurances from the people you interact with, then there are ways to obtain that. If not then find another friend, or business associate or whatever. If typing will be a burden to you, then politely decline a non voicer's invitation to text, just as I will politely decline an invitation to voice.Enjoy your Second life, and don't prevent somone from enjoying theirs. (This goes to both sides.)
Non Voicers: No one can force you to use voice if you don't let them. And no one can force you to leave SL. (At least no one will force me out). Yes you will be excluded from some things. Big deal. There is so much available out there for you to do, sometimes I spend a day in SL and hardly talk to anybody, or it's all IM based I imagine the Veterans can speak to this, every change with social ramifications has been heralded as the end of SL, and it hasn't happened. This willl be the case again, in my opinion. We'll ride it out and find a happy median. Live and Let Live.

Good message, Brenda



I guess is the same when I say that I am against certain (anti-terrorist) measures of the government because they endanger my privacy, certain people will ask what I have to hide. They just don’t understand.

Morwen.

What this thread boils down to is this;

Age of Conan is coming out in October, and that will be better than World of Warcraft.

Voice is rubbish too.

I could not agree with you more on that one.

Using "voice' is the future of gaming. Many games already out are installing it and many games soon to be released are also having it. This is technology moving forward whether you like it or not.

If you're an avid gamer chances are you've already used voice in one or more of it's many different forms such as Vetrilo, Skype or many others. And you already know it's not such a big deal as they're making it out to be.

As technology moves forward you either move with it or you stay behind, it's your choice.

Wrong wrong wrong. What matters is what the majority decide. Technology does not drag people with it - people decide whether technology fails or succeeds. If the majority of people decide not to use a certain type of technology, it dies. Look at 8-Tracks and VCDs.

Technology cannot move forward whether people like it or not. Technology only moves forward if people like it, and won't if they don't. The majority will decide the fate of this new technology just like they do with everything else.

People matter, technology does as it's told.

yes, and usually with even more nasty remarks if the woman was once voicing to her friends and then turns the guy down who came onto her, very brusquely.

Yeah, I can see all the noob prick guys taking on this activity with glee. Open voice chat in public with strangers - big thumbs down for me. Voice chat is for special occasions, as far as I am concerned.

All roleplaying clans, guilds or whatever they have been called in the games I played turned voice down.... simply because voice kills roleplaying, it destroys the imagination/fantasy part....

If you are talking about raid-clans/guilds, then you are maybe right... For roleplaying it is a different story.

Morwen.

Quite right Morwen. When they introduce raids to SL then I'll use voice.

So never then.

Yes, no raids in SL... well... maybe one exception...

*raids Bilbo's refrigerator*


(but I need no voice for that either ;P)

Morwen.

Quite the opposite - that kind of sneaky stealth requires absolute silence lest you alert Bilbo.

I may use voice for doing customer service work for my shop. I've found it's much harder for people to be abusive when they are actually talking to me than if they are just sending an IM. So, that's one area I can see using it quite extensively. I might also talk to those I feel like entertaining. But everyday things? Not at the moment.

My downside to Voice.. my husband and I can be very entertaining. (NOT IN THE SECCXORZ WAY!!) When we are both online, we'll keep up a running dialog of what's going on or get into serious discussions. Sometimes, this can be pretty funny, as we'll start randomly calling each other all kinds of names, some of which that would be quite offensive to anyone else. And then we'll just burst out laughing.

And the deep discussions are good for glazing eyes and putting you to sleep.. or driving you crazy.

So, yeah.. the mike's gonna be turned off a lot.

I agree with these two totaly "reactionary" comments.

People who wont readily voice will be accused pretty quickly by the subset that is really not interested in "excuses" (we call those reasons In the real world).

Basically the defualt voice refusal usually results in the following accusations:

Female Avatars will be accused of being men.

Male Avatars will be accused of being married.

Of course not everyone will accuse, they will either switch to text or go off and do someting else. But plenty will accuse, since they are already plenty who do.

Again another reactionary comment. Becuase its not like strangers have been trying to get me to voice chat with them for YEARS or anything.

The real issue with integrated voice is it give a lot more encouragement to the people who feel like they should make these assumptions about whether or not you voice.

i think americans might not be prepared for the things foriegners will say to them after hearing the yankee accent.

reminds me of the laser disc. basically lp-sized dvds in the mid 80s. the technology was there, but people preferred vhs for another decade.

good point.

Also in a less political tone -

Many people who text in english now - wont be speaking in english in voice. They will seek out others who speak languages they can converse in easily.

Do you mean an American or a Yankee accent? I am American, but I sure as hell don't sound like a Yankee.

That is not what I said or implied. My point is that there are people who bring limitations due to past experiences that make them value their anonymity. Dismissing that possibility and chalking up every situation to 'an excuse' is lazy and unfair. Voice chat itself is not the experience I was referring to. And yes, I am one of those people who has had past experiences that make me reluctant to expose my RL.



Actually I think I was fairly clear about why I think you are mocking people. You were. Is there another word used to describe faking a slip of the tongue while referring to people's stated reasons for not wanting to voice and labeling them all excuses? I used 'mocking' uhh - ahem I mean, "suggesting in a comically insulting way that those reasons are nonsense".



Once again, I didn't ask you about suffering a bad experience in voice chat. I speculated about your reaction to being mocked while expressing a need for anonymity due to previous bad experiences. I did not limit those experiences to voice chat or even the internet. There are countless ways that people could have their trust undermined that could lead to them being hesitant about exposing any part of themselves. The refusal of pro voicers to see that these people are already being treated with disdain does nothing to make it less true. For most people, logging on one day and suddenly being treated with disdain based on their desire to not use a new feature does not amount to "life in SL going on as usual".

Even as you attempt to explain yourself, you still to this very paragraph cannot bring yourself to use the word "reasons" to refer to what people say about not wanting to use voice. You have insisted on attaching negatively slanted words such as "excuses" and "alibis". Do you know what alibi means Carlos? I thought we were free not to use voice? How can that be when the word you use to describe any reason for not doing so is one usually reserved for defense against accusations of criminal behavior?

You can say what you want about what you think I need or don't need, or what people do or don't care about. The undercurrent of every paragraph you write here tells a different story than the one you're trying to sell on the surface. And until that changes you do little save to justify the belief that refusal to voice will be far from "A-OK".