How often do you see yourself using v-chat? A more detailed Poll

This is to expand on the previous post as many (including myself) found the questions to be too narrow.

Never. Most of the time, I'm logged in with my fem... ehm... shemale alt Ishtara. She'd sound ridiculous with a deep bass voice. Even with my male alter ego, I wouldn't want to reveal my horrible German accent (and my bad English syntax, which I can repair as long as I type, but not when I speak).

Besides, I can type and read at least three times as fast as I'm able to speak and listen. New forms of communication should be more efficient, not less.

I know what you mean about using another language. I'm the same way with my Portuguese and even moreso with my Spanish.

But what about the prospect of using voice to brush up on your English? What about learning another language? Hell, what about TEACHING? I know there are a ton of people out there that would love to learn German! You could potentially stand to make a lot of $L with that!

I voted never,
BUT with the prospect of learning a new language - I change that to a Maybe...........

I voted "rarely," but it would be more like 1% of the time. I could see using it for one on one voice chat from time to time (provided I ever bought a headset), but not with any regularity.

There wasn't a viable option for me. It would be under 5% if at all, only due to my Never say Never credo. But realistically, I have no interest in it. I'm too cheap to buy the hardware needed, I hate my voice, my dog ate my soundcard.........

I will use it with my partner, if she expresses a real desire to use it, and I have told her thus. So far she has indicated no such pressing desire.

Other than that my microphone will continue to be referred to and used according to it's other name : "Bicycle tie-down strap".

Don't worry, SqueezeOne! So far, you can count on 2.50% of respondants joining you. Oh, wait. That's you who voted there, isn't it?

Well, you'll still get to voice with 7.5% of respondants half of the time or less! That's pretty good. Right? And then, 10-25% of the time, you'll get another 22.5% joining your little party.

Clearly, voice truly is the wave of the future. My eyes have been opened.

I'll have Voice Chat disabled completely. But then again, I'm the kind of person who tapes a piece of opaque white tape over the eye of the unwanted built-in webcam on her mate's new laptop computer, and routes the "microphone" input to a port that has nothing attached to it. I detest the idea of complete strangers staring at me in whatever I am wearing (or not wearing ) at the moment, let alone hearing what I am saying to my mate or my child or my dog while I am on-line.

Thank you for that. At least I can take comfort that I'll never have to hear you talk.

No, my motivations for this thread were to get a more accurate idea of who will do what...and honestly it's been about on par with what I figured it would be.

In fact this actually proves my point that v-chat will NOT in fact polarize the community as so many have prophesiezed and will be treated as an option to be used on occasion and not the harbinger of the text-based holocaust.

I in fact voted in the 40% range simply because it makes it easier for me to build and socialize at the same time instead of having to watch out for text and stop what I'm doing to type a response.

Also, I plan on taking advantage of the language possibilities. I am gifted in languages but cursed with a lack of money and time to learn in more traditional and immersive ways. This will be a godsend to me!

I voted 10-25%, but its more like 1%. I'll be listening in often, because I am in charge of sim security, so that's one more area I need to watch. But I see no particular reason to use it to actually speak. With my co-workers on my current SL project, text would actually be the more convenient medium anyway.

That has been covered repeatedly as well, by language teachers on one side as well as foreign speakers on the other. In a one-on-one with a friend you might be able to convince them to take the effort to speak slowly and properly, but add a third, or someone you don't know and it just deteriorates quickly.
It takes someone who's honestly willing to be patient and lets the non-native speaker set the pace and most people aren't naturally like that (not their fault, it just happens).

(/333/b9/191300/1.html#post1554872 for the long version - Some of the very first voice threads had more discussion about the language issue, but I'm too lazy to hunt for them right now)

Based on the latest poll results, you won't ever have to hear the overwhelming majority talk.

Don't worry -- most of us didn't want to talk with you, either. I disliked you pretty much from the very first post I read. Your behavior is unnecessary, distasteful and obnoxious on a level that even seems to surpass the ex-poster who can ... ahem ... Neva post here again.

Every time you type, you make another compelling argument against ever enabling voice.

I guess SL only has 200 or so people in it at any time. These forums sure represent a majority!



And yet you're slinging the majority of the insults.

It's okay. Keep toting the party line, boy!

One, I'm not a boy, and two, and more importantly, it's well-establised that a poll of a random sample of a given population will tend to produce an accurate picture of the entire population, with of course a certain small margin of error.

Of course, it's possible that your antics have helped to skew the results by turning more people against voice in the forums than are actually against it in SL proper. Still, even taking that into account, the numbers do NOT look good for voice as a serious form of communication in SL.

hmmm good assumption there, I happen to know Alex very well, a couple years at least and SHE is far from being a 'boy'

You know, actually it shouldn't be at all unexpected that the majority of the people who spend time in a text-based forum for a 3D world probably are already biased in favor of text-only communications. I mean, to participate here, you have to type, and there is no Voice option to communicate here. So naturally the crowd will self-select for those who are comfortable communicating with the written word. Those who are not comfortable typing a lot are probably actually in-world, enjoying the visual aspects, or are doing something completely unrelated to SL, instead of hanging out in these forums.

(I tend to multi-task here while at work, commenting on threads while waiting for a server to compile an application, or a search to run its course. I can't access in-world during my work day, but I can surf the web, and I have a lot of time at work being 'on standby', so I spend my spare time here.)

I figure I'll leave it disabled unless I feel a need to prove my identity/gender to somebody.

There might also be a need for explanations to or from someone that speech might be simpler and faster for, but otherwise... no, and I'd rather not have it at all, frankly. I'd much rather they'd focus on fixing some of the existing bugs in the game.

I like NOT using voice for another reason: It upholds my "Dumb American" beliefs that every country speaks perfect english!!!

But seriously... It does hold a potential for someone with the skills to teach a foreign language.

As others have said, they may not be able to speak english but they can type it. Language has to be heard to be understood. Otherwise no one would complain "I can type it, but can't speak it"

Others would be able to teach someone to do something a bit more complicated like Maya or Blender or Photoshop. Voice will facilitate learning some things. I can see a way to use it to teach scripting as well, with instructions given through voice while the instructor can type the code into chat for students to see.

Saying we're "Forced" to use Voice Chat is like saying all Builders are now Forced to go out & buy Maya to build with only Sculptie Prims.

In the end its just another tool to be used (or abused) like everything else in SL.

(BTW- I really dont care what anyones Gender is. Male being Female or Female being Male. Be what you want!)

I voted for disabled.

I am person who likes quiet Noise makes it hard for me to think.
I even drive with the radio turned off.
Text works better for me. I have time to read it, digest it and respond.
My idea of hell is being in a room with 20 people talking at once.

If SL becomes a voice only ghetto. I can go back to the IRC. Many years on the net and still no noise.

Yap away I won't be listening

Rox

The margin of error being this is by no means a random group of people visiting the forums. I think there is merit in Ceera's (and a few others') thought that the forum crowd is in general more biased towards typing vs. voice.



...again with the childish insults. Let's try to keep this above teen grid levels a moment.



...among the 200 people that frequent the forums...vs. the 40k+ that actually sign in to SL.

You're also looking at it too simply. This poll shows that a decent amount of people will only be using it a portion of the time. It will definitely be a serious form of communication but that doesn't equal being used 90%-100% of the time.

Cell phones are used by most people only about 25%-30% of the time and many don't use them at all. Could anyone say they aren't a serious form of communication??

Furthermore, if the forum was any sort of diverse cross-section of SL then you would all realize that the imminent discrimination and alienation that so many doomsayers predict on these threads will actually never happen since the majority of you don't intend on using voice! This further proves my point that it won't be such a devastating blow to the community.

Then there's the fact that most people tend to surround themselves with people of similar opinions and persuasions...especially in SL. I don't think your friends will suddenly try to use peer pressure to make you take the drug and alienate you if you don't.

As far as lag has been concerned, v-chat is already on the main grid and there are no changes that I or anyone else I know have noticed as far as speed...it's still just as slow and laggy as before! There's also the fact that LL didn't divert any major manpower from the rest of SL to make voice...it was made by another company and runs separate from SL! What a deal!!

I just don't get why the idea of v-chat being for some people and not for others is such a radical and polarizing notion that would drive people like you to such angry and desperate attacks as I have seen (and been the target of).

I simply cant seem to understand why someone would start a poll about this and then claim it means nothing (confusion prevails)

Why not...Governments do it all the time......

I voted rarely, but only because "never" may not be true. There could be a single instance where I deem it necessary.

I don't remember saying it means 'nothing'. Polls on the forum just don't represent an accurate cross-section of SL residents in my opinion.

And even if it does the numbers above point to the conclusion I came to.

Go ahead and give it another read and see...