YES or NO - Should LL add this voice chat?

Sure it's not just your land? I've only seen one place in 4 months water doesn't work so I still doubt the 50% figure is correct.

This link offers some examples of what some might consider to be texture failure.

http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/Default.aspx?Search=gray%20textures

Not just my land I have a few friends with the same problum. Point is the things that are offerd as of right now dont work as they are supose to , not just for me but many of us. I also have filed more then one report to the Lindens and surprise surprise I have never herd a thing back from them. Textures are not the only thing that arnt working eather. As you pointed out with a smile , TP's are not working 100% eather not to mention missing inventory items. One can make light of this all they want but it doesnt change the FACTS.

I get around a lot and I can honestly say I also haven't seen water in 4 months. (until I perform the region/estate dance that is)

I agree that there's still way too much they haven't fixed for them to be thinking about adding this voice chat. I've only been here since November, but even since then, SL seems to have more and more lag and issues. I'm terrified of the problems this voice chat will create.

It would seem all they care about is the extra money they hope to get by chargeing land owners extra in there monthly teir for this voice chat. Sad when the numbers are so agenst it but they are willing to go ahead with it anyway. I see a lot of people giveing up on SL after this.

Oh boy.. charges for voice. Don't think that will fly with folks so most will opt-out of voice IMO.

Oh good lord, charges for voice communication in SL. Too bad SL users don't have a free alternative which won't impact grid performance like, you know, maybe Skype or something.

only read two pages but Isablan, Persephone and Colette have all made my points.
If I want speech I have Skype. My fantasy alt does not need a real voice.

How can you 'be what you want to be' when you're stuck with the voice you were born with?

Use a vocoder/modulator. Either hardware or software. There's plenty about.

shall look into that if voice implemeted, thanks Alazarin

I wouldn't use voice myself, since I'm quite shy of it. Also I've been running SL muted for quite some time after all the annoying sound effects and random music when flying started to annoy me, and have no plans to switch it back on.

That said, I think we need to see what happens when it's implemented, so I vote 'Yes'.

WOW look at the total numbers! I wonder if LLabs sees how many that DON`T want voice. Would they not offer it!................. Unreal!

Ok I love my voice and I love to use it so Im sort of torn about this issue. But I decided to research the matter on this forum, and the various third party forums and blogs around the net, and these are the pros and cons I was able to come up with;

Cons:
* Divisive - Implementing voice will divide the voicers from the non-voicers.
* Unfair pricing - Paying Island owning residents will be forced to pay while "unverified" free account members will have access to it for free on the mainland.
* Inability to handle miscellaneous minor AFK tasks at home/work for fear of missing voice conversation and inability to back-scroll to catch up with group or friend chat.
* Inability to peacefully listen to music or watch tv while simultaneously on SL.
* Lack of privacy in voice chat from those in close vicinity at home, afforded by text chat.
* Inconsideration of other family members at home who have to constantly listen to your SL blabber.
* Insensitivity to the handicapped - Deaf and Mute.
* Stigma attached to those who will not use voice chat.
* Noice griefers will abound.
* Attention hoggers will talk louder and faster in order to be heard.
* Immersion will suffer greatly.
* Friendships and partnerships will be strained by pressures to voice.
* Additional strain on servers and system resources (however minor).
* Voice harrassment and inability to save chat and AR when necessary.
* Inability to save voice conversations for future reference.
* Inability to hold multiple simultaneous voice conversations as afforded with text chat/IMs.
* Difficult to understand voice accents.
* Shyness and inability to express oneself verbally.
* Inability to review and ament voice chat prior to transmittal.
* Voice would compromise workplace accessing of SL.
* While SL wants to go to voice, Cell phone text chat is booming.
* The non-stop wearing a headset and talking to a computer while at home/work.
* It's bad enought reading "hey, wanna cyber" umpteen times a day from thriteen year olds. Now were going to have hear it.
* Constand chatter of annoying voices everywhere.
* Potential of voice cyber everywhere you go.
* Non-english speakers who are now able to resort to text translations will be rendered mute.
* Voices, voices everywhere you go.
* Integrated voice is unnecessry - If I want to talk, I can already use Skype or Ventrilo.


Pros:
* Good for business conferencing and educators.
* Im pretty lazy so typing is too much of an effort. Voice chat is so perfect for me.
* Even though I currently use Skype and Ventrilo, I want integrated voice too, but dont ask me why.
* Ability to make sure that your cyber girlfriend is really a girl (even though she might only have three teeth, a lazy eye, four patches of hair on her head, and one leg longer than the other).

I'm still undecided though so If you can add anything that can help me make up my mind, please let me know.

If they are as far along as they claim, I'm not sure if not going through with it is even an option. None of it seems to have been done by LL, they licensed techonology from one company and rent servers and bandwidth from another company specifically for voice.

I think it's more about recuperating the funds they threw at it, rather than any extra revenue which is more of a long-term plan/hope.

I just made a post about why I simply don't see it work for any educational purpose (compared to the alternative): /327/05/169189/3.html#post1427753 . Of course, none of us know how it'll end up working so we may all be pleasantly surprised, but somehow I doubt it .

LL Couldn't care less about this poll or any other customer-generated data regarding their plans to do anything. If some staffer at LL thinks something is great, they do it, regardless of how much negative response they get. We're all just talking to ourselves here. They are NOT listening, as evidenced by the complete lack of Linden replies in the blog or in any forum discussion threads where "public opinion" is in any way negative about their planned activities and changes.

LL's been advertizing for a Customer Service Manager. AFIK, the post is still vacant. I know qualified people have applied, people who could, if allowed the resources and support to do so, spin LL 180 degrees about face and make them into a company that excells in customer service. But I'm willing to bet that any qualified people they have talked to either were not offered the support required to succeed, or took one look at the current mess and declined the offer.

Cheyenne's long list of cons is pretty thorough. However, I broke it into into three areas based on MHO: Definitely Going To Happen, Possibly Going To Happen, and Just Turn It Off In That Situation.

DEFINITE Cons:
"* Inability to handle miscellaneous minor AFK tasks at home/work for fear of missing voice conversation and inability to back-scroll to catch up with group or friend chat.
* Noise griefers will abound.
* Inability to save chat and voice conversations for future reference and AR when necessary
* Inability to hold multiple simultaneous voice conversations as afforded with text chat/IMs. (ED: You will be able to type and talk at the same time, though.)
* Difficult to understand voice accents.
* Shyness and inability to express oneself verbally.
* Inability to review and amend voice chat prior to transmittal.
* While SL wants to go to voice, Cell phone text chat is booming. (ED: but so is cell phone blathering.)
* Non-English speakers who are now able to resort to text translations will be rendered mute.
* Integrated voice is unnecessary - If I want to talk, I can already use Skype or Ventrilo.
* Insensitivity to the handicapped - Deaf and Mute.

POSSIBLE CONS:
* Divisive - Implementing voice will divide the voicers from the non-voicers.
* Unfair pricing - Paying Island owning residents will be forced to pay while "unverified" free account members will have access to it for free on the mainland.
* Stigma attached to those who will not use voice chat. (ED: if so many people are against it, it’s more likely the voicers will be stigmatized.)
* Attention hoggers will talk louder and faster in order to be heard. (ED: have you seen how long my post is?)
* Friendships and partnerships will be strained by pressures to voice.
* Additional strain on servers and system resources (however minor).

JUST TURN OFF VOICE CHAT:
*Inability to peacefully listen to music or watch TV while simultaneously on SL.
* Lack of privacy in voice chat from those in close vicinity at home, afforded by text chat.
* Inconsideration of other family members at home who have to constantly listen to your SL blabber.
* Noise griefers will abound.
* Immersion will suffer greatly.
* Voice harassment.
* Voice would compromise workplace accessing of SL.
* The non-stop wearing a headset and talking to a computer while at home/work.
* It's bad enough reading "hey, wanna cyber" umpteen times a day from thirteen year olds. Now we’re going to have hear it.
* Constant chatter of annoying voices everywhere.
* Potential of voice cyber everywhere you go.
* Voices, voices everywhere you go.

Cheyenne's Pros:
* Good for business conferencing and educators.
* I'm pretty lazy and I don’t want to spend time typing. So voice is perfect for me.
* Even though I currently use Skype and Ventrilo, I want integrated voice too, but don’t ask me why.
* I cant get the attention I want with text chat. With voice chat, I can talk louder and faster and get that attention.
* Ability to make sure that your cyber girlfriend is really a girl (even though she might only have three teeth, a lazy eye, four patches of hair on her head, and one leg longer than the other)"

Here are additional PROS from AckAck:
• * Added emotional weight of voice conversations. One word said in a certain tone, can replace a paragraph of typed chat.
• *Faster communication so you can talk to more friends in less time.
• *Deeper communication, in content and understanding.
• *New dimension in role play. What does a talking wolf sound like? Or a dragon? Or a cyborg from Moosylvania?
• * You can now play games that require voice, like Apples to Apples, SL Pictionary (I just invented it: It’s where you describe/draw the “word” by using prims.), etc.
• *Improves the enjoyment of all games in SL. More people would play.
• *Improves the enjoyment of all sports in SL. More people would play and WATCH.
• *Foreign language classes can be held in SL.
• *Practice foreign languages by going to a sim filled with people from that part of the world.
• *Verify underagers more easily in casual chat.
• *Voice ID used to keep griefers from returning. Every voice is unique, even if you try to alter it. Once someone is banned from the game, they wouldn’t be able to get back on because their voice would match the banned voice. (like a DNA match.)
• *MST3K-like events would be more fun. It’s fun to sass back to a screen, but it’s hard to get it typed fast enough.
• *People who cannot physically type can enjoy SL.
• *People who cannot see can enjoy SL.
• *Quicker responses from Help Desk. (They can cycle through more requests because speech is generally faster than typing.)
• *Animals can talk! How much fun is that!
• *Voice creates a strong emotional bond with friends and Significant Others.

This poll isn't really viable as quantitative proof regarding the desire amongst us SLers for or against Voice Chat. Besides this being an opt-in poll by people with verified accounts, it also does not require one person, one vote. If I had the time, I could create a few dozen registered alts and vote no and make this a runaway poll. I'm pretty sure the Lindens know that too.

The critical thing is that people who post are more passionate about SL and I pray the Lindens realize that. I would hate to see anyone leave because of a new "improvement" to SL. Especially the ones who care so deeply for it. They keep it going and without them (YOU) it's going to be ghost sim after ghost sim.

However.

Currently, 90% of the people who "sample" SL don't come back. Is that because they are simply griefer alts that aren't needed but for a few hours? Or are there some serious customer satisfaction issues LL should dig into? (Okay, quit snickering.) Maybe LL has actually done the research and discovered that it would retain more customers with this added feature. I highly doubt it, since LL isn't the savviest customer care specialist. But I can dream, can't I?

All this Poll really does is help the Pro voicers understand those with concerns arent just a couple of complainers 'with something to hide". And while many of the Pro - Voice people still dimiss all concerns, theres a few who might actually stop and think.

I imagine the Lindens who still read the forums do skim these posts but like said they dont matter as to what they intend to do.

Obviously disagreeing with the Lindens never mattered - One of the reasons stated for closing the bulk of the discussion forums (general, etc) is that their employees felt bad after reading them. Shutting up your crittics is a great way to boost your ego, but it doesnt much accomplish much as far as customer servie.

As for being unscientific - thats meaningless - Since a scientific poll would hold the same , ZERO , weight with the Lindens on this or any other issue.

Talking wolf: Truck Driver from Sheboygan

Dragon: Nineteen year old in mom's basement

Cyborg from Moosylvania: Housewife with three kids in the background.

Hope dat answers your questions.

Mari

I broke AckAck's additional list of pros into into two areas, "Use Skype and/or Ventrilo," and "SL voice integration is needed for these because Skype and/or Ventrilo lack the capability."

USE SKYPE AND/OR VENTRILO:

• * Added emotional weight of voice conversations. One word said in a certain tone, can replace a paragraph of typed chat.
• *Faster communication so you can talk to more friends in less time.
• *Deeper communication, in content and understanding.
• *New dimension in role play. What does a talking wolf sound like? Or a dragon? Or a cyborg from Moosylvania?
• * You can now play games that require voice, like Apples to Apples, SL Pictionary (I just invented it: It’s where you describe/draw the “word” by using prims.), etc.
• *Improves the enjoyment of all games in SL. More people would play.
• *Improves the enjoyment of all sports in SL. More people would play and WATCH.
• *Foreign language classes can be held in SL.
• *Practice foreign languages by going to a sim filled with people from that part of the world.
• *Verify underagers more easily in casual chat.
• *Voice ID used to keep griefers from returning. Every voice is unique, even if you try to alter it. Once someone is banned from the game, they wouldn’t be able to get back on because their voice would match the banned voice. (like a DNA match.)
• *MST3K-like events would be more fun. It’s fun to sass back to a screen, but it’s hard to get it typed fast enough.
• *People who cannot physically type can enjoy SL.
• *People who cannot see can enjoy SL.
• *Quicker responses from Help Desk. (They can cycle through more requests because speech is generally faster than typing.)
• *Animals can talk! How much fun is that!
• *Voice creates a strong emotional bond with friends and Significant Others.

SL VOICE INTEGRATION IS NEEDED FOR THESE BECAUSE SKYPE AND/OR VENTRILO LACK THE CAPABILITY:

* Umm...

Cheyenne you are right. I totally agree. Touche'. Uncle!

But Skype and Ventrillo cost extra and are not easy to implement, I believe, and SL is too expensive already for me to forgo tuition and pay for it. IF the SL version is free (except for the headphone/mic) AND OPT OUT IS THE DEFAULT, I might try it.

I certainly don't need voice. But there could be cool things from it in certain situations (see my lovely list).

Of course, we know why LL is really doing this: to take business ($$$$) away from Skype, etc.

Well there you have it LL. It is obvious that a majority of us do not want voice chat in SL, and are fine using 3rd party programs for it instead. We know what the risks are and even if you do add it, we will have to deal with them. As i last recalled there is numerous voice chat software out there. Skype, team speak, ventrillo, yahoo, roger wilco, Iraqi, google talk (i think it has it), gizmo, exc... Why should we lower our quality of lag in SL for something we already have? Also i beleive there was a voice chat client made for SL a year back. It was called SecondVoice. Not sure if it's still around, but it was pretty good.

I believe Skype is free for comuter-to-computer calls. Ventrilo and TeamSpeak are both free (They even have not-for-profit server software for free so you can make your own server), and the voice capabilites built into the major IM programs are free also.

The *ONLY* thing that SL voice would bring to the table would be the 3D spacial effect. And that is only for local talking. I think most people would prefer to chat with their friends as they wander SL, so they'll be using the conference mode of SL Voice, which might as well be any of the above programs/services.

Whats it say about a company that ignores the will of the majority and isolates a great deal of its core of paying clients? Why a business that is digging its own grave of course. Its clear to me that they realy need to provide the appearance of good customer service , even if it doesnt exist.
There are many of us that are paying customers, now just think how offten have you ever recived a discount or at the very least a thank you for putting up with the glitches that effect your game play as a land owner? Never thats how offten. Now just think if your phone line or some other service for which you pay had a glitch or wasnt working at expectd performance you would recive some form of rebate or something but not with sl , instead what do they do ? Why they implement a very unpopular feature that will radically change the hole game experience for many of its base of PAYING clients. This could very well be the catalyst that brings forth the next MMORPG. I can say that I will be paying very close attention to how things play out and I will not hesitate at the thought of selling my big plot well the selling is still good.
One thing I as of yet that I havent seen mentioned that struck me..... How will clothing sales , bling & animations sales aswell as many other things be effected when all they RL guys out there cant play as there girl avie anymore ?? I am willing to bet that they are some of the biggest shoppers. SL is out of touch and has no concept of market analyst of its core of paying clienst or the needs of its paying clients.
Time will tell but one thing is forsure there is no turning back. So good luck to all the people that have invested in RP sim's , Mall sim's and gender based products.