Voice FAQ for non-voice users anyone?

Soooooooo i read the voice FAQ, it answers loads of questions, but none of them seem to relate to non-voice users. I guess that answers one question, as in how optional is this viewer or how long will it be optional for?
What it doesn't answer is a question like: can non-voice users see who is using voice? Or.... will there be a viewer in which the whole voice screen nonsense can be disabled if you're never going to use voice anyway? At least that way i'll be able to see the people i can't hear.

LL seems to be taking it's usual ham-fisted monkey approach to this issue: Hear no evil, see no evil and of course SPEAK no evil. I guess they believe that if they ignore non-voice users for long enough the problem will go away, or that we'll go away instead.

I truly wish voice fans all the joy in the world, but I'm praying that Nicholaz comes up with his non-voice version of the latest viewer pretty soon, as I doubt the Lindens will give us the option.

Our World, Their Imagination.

Yes to the above. But also..... when i downloaded the optional voice viewer, the last Nicholaz would no longer run, so had to delete optional version and go back to earlier edition, wonder what that is about. (rethorical)

Which begs another question..... if i use a non-voice viewer, can i see where voice is enabled and who is using voice now that it's everywhere?


/me waves at Chas : how's the hair?

Who, and what are his alternative versions?

Love June

Nicholaz Beresford produces his own open source version of the official LL viewer. He's a major open source bug-hunting contributor. His viewer is (IMHO) generally better. You can read about it and find the download at nicholaz-beresford.blogspot.com

Generally better? I don't really do humble opinions. Nicholaz viewers are ALWAYS better.

The hair's the same, thanks Sally. Bad apparently.

1: No, this will only be "Optional" until the next official mandatory release, and then everyone will be force-fed this "option". They refuse to offer an LL-sanctioned non-voice viewer after this.

2: No, if you disable Voice you don't have a clue who is using Voice near you, unless they happen to be using the new Voicing Gestures, and you eventually learn that those actions are not an epeleptic twitch of system glitch.

"Optional". What a sad laugh.

It isn't "Optional" that anyone using the new Client has to waste screen space on that Chattrerbox UI, which is WAY TOO BIG.

Thanks to this new update, I now have to increase my minimum window size from 800 x 600 to 800 x 900, just so 1/3 of my screen can be wasted by their bloated text chat and IM windows, even though I will NEVER use the Voice Chat related "features" that they crammed into the Chatterbox.

My sim has banned Voice, and I also banned it on my parcel.

BTW - The 3rd party Client that Nicholaz puits out is Windows-only. No Mac or Linux versions.

It appears to me that this is just another insentience of a company shoving an upgrade down there clients throte, that most aren't interested in.
Of the people that I chat with regular only 1 in 5 are interested in voice chat. So unless someone has some more official numbers it appears that 80% are getting stuck with the voice chat that only 20% want. Is this another case of a loud minority getting their way over a quiet majority?

If not Nicholaz, lets hope Dale does. Or someone... I personally don't care if it has voice or not, i just don't like how they messed with the chat and friends list, combining them stupidly in hopes to drive us all mad.

The loud minority was LL though. I think LL wanted it as a feature regardless of what the user community wanted or not.

I don't plan to use voice, it doesn't add much to my experience, but I'm fine with it being available for others as long as they don't expect me to use it.

Users who have Voice disabled can't see who is using Voice because the people speaking for them were vocal about not wanting it to affect their experience at all. The whole Voice service is provided separately.

About the Communicate window... Linden Lab said they were going to work on it some more...

I hate the new communications window the most of all of this. I can handle voice chat, but they could have done it over the old multiple window style. This just sucks... The main issue i have with the communications window is they put the friends list in it. The friends list should be in it's own separate window, not vertically combined into a horizontal environment. So to actually see your friends list you have to detach it temporarily till it goes right back, or keep resizing your window every time you change tabs. The communications window is also way too large, as Ceera expressed. It needs a real overhaul and i doubt LL is going to do it. FAIL! I hate the fact that i will have to use a 3rd party client that doesn't support voice chat, just so i can have some usability... I will miss out on this feature a great deal.

But... but.... but....... surely not being able to see who is using voice does affect the experience? I am not anti-voice in any way btw just won't be using it.

I for one would like to be able to see (that is quite aside from the chatterbox thing making me blind anyway) who is using voice around me.

I never use a new viewer until it is mandatory. I am not using voice, but I'm not against iy being implemented for those that want it. That being said, it seems so far that it being optional may be an illusion as what I'm reading so far the viewer is set up to make things awfully difficult for non voicers. I'll wait to see when the viewer is mandatory, then decide if SL is worth my time after that. In the time being, I have put on hold a planned land purchase and other major expenditures in case things aren't to my liking.

..... Hair and shoe makers are packing up their businesses and leaving SL as we speak, or as Brenda speaks.

The way things are looking, I am just about ready to close my store and move on.. This mess called SL is just getting more and more rediculous.. /me shrugs

See, what did I say, Brenda? Think of the pain and suffering you're causing.

no giving up: it's time to fight back.
mmmm... well, not sure how to fight back however...

I don't plan on going with the flow and letting them push things on me and i lay back to accept it. It isn't in my nature. If theres something i don't like, you better believe i will express my feelings about it. Some may think I'm just fighting a lost cause, but eventually LL will make a decision that ticks them off too.

Well, we could try 'voicing' our concerns to the Lindens.

That was our problem.... we voiced our concerns while voice was not a official feature yet.... They never heard us!!!!!!!!!!

Morwen.

I was joking, dear.

I ignored most of the chatter about voice, because I wasn't interested in using it. I did not think it would affect me. From what I'm reading here it may affect me. hmmmm.......

I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out. I don't really think LL will let people walk away with out trying to appease them. Let's face it, even though it seems like they are going through some growing pains...the more residents they have the better. If people start walking they will start changing, fast!

Up 'til now it sounds like many of you have felt that your voices have not been heard. Consider that maybe LL did not value your concerns because new residents were joining at a very high rate.

The thing is if you don’t enable voice you have no dot and no indication that anyone around you is using voice, aside from the gyrations. If you have voice turned on, you then get a dot that everyone else sees and they will assume you are going to talk. I have alts that will not be using voice. So that means I will have to switch back and forth…also if its enabled and I don’t have my headset on….geeezz
There should be an option to enable voice but turn off the dot above your head if you don’t want to use voice.

How can I do that? I looked for the option in "about land" but I can't find it.