Kilsin said:Community Debate - Text Chat vs Voice Chat, which do you prefer and why? #PRF #MMORPG #MMO #communitymatters
Chat is a tool just a tool. Both are prefered depending on the situation. For pure efficiency it is voice chat all the way. I generally will go to my own channel in voice chat and focus on reading chat when doing my own thing or in small group situations. If someone needs me they can hop into my voice chat channel and talk. So both at the same time for most things. In a highly active situation with a raid, the only chat that I read are things posted by my raid leader in a differing color from the norm.
Text chat only. I do not want to be hearing voices screaming during a raid or instructions on how to play etc. When I played EQ with RL friends, we voice chatted while playing which was OK but I think it takes away from the immersion of the game and reminds you that you are sitting at a computer playing a video game as opposed to BEING (and communicating through) your character.
From many, many conversations I have had (as Class Correspondent, as a raid officer in a huge guild, etc.) I am convinced that the hardcore race-to-the-top players will insist you have to have voice chat for high end raids to work.....which sort of illustrates the culture and attitude I am hoping to avoid (where immersion comes second to uber-phat-lewtz-race-to-the-top-pwnz!!!!).
Text chat all the way. I'm a teacher and prefer some rest when I'm at home. I also appreciate some music while I game (ingame music or my own library). I will of course log in to a voice chat program on raids, but on long raids I will tune out after a while. If a group requires me to use a voice chat, I will drop and find another. I'm sorry but I find most voice chat conversation just not interesting and it breaks my immersion.
I've been in raid guilds all my life and usually people just yeel obvious things during raid encounters. So I know I don't miss much when I tune out. Also, I managed to play, group and raid for 10 years before it became a "requirement" to use a voice chat. I'm pretty confident I can still do this without the mandatory voice chat.
I loath voice chat, but will use it (mic muted) if required to raid.....but will hate every minute of doing so. I really don't understand why this has become such a crutch in MMOs, in EQ1 I was in one of the top raiding guilds on my server, all raid directions were given in text, without issue. Modern players can't seem to even figure out killing boars in a group without needing some form of voice chat.
Imho, there is no biggeer immersion breaker for me then some big hulking Oger with a voice of a pre-pubescent 10 yearold boy. Or worse, they idiot who has to stand out in the crowd and be annoying the entire raid, just for the shock value. The absolute worst is the player that sits with their mic open, eating.....this makes me wish "The Purdge" was a real thing.
Maybe im old, but I prefer to stick with typing my communications.....
Riply said:I loath voice chat, but will use it (mic muted) if required to raid.....but will hate every minute of doing so. I really don't understand why this has become such a crutch in MMOs, in EQ1 I was in one of the top raiding guilds on my server, all raid directions were given in text, without issue. Modern players can't seem to even figure out killing boars in a group without needing some form of voice chat.
Imho, there is no biggeer immersion breaker for me then some big hulking Oger with a voice of a pre-pubescent 10 yearold boy. Or worse, they idiot who has to stand out in the crowd and be annoying the entire raid, just for the shock value. The absolute worst is the player that sits with their mic open, eating.....this makes me wish "The Purdge" was a real thing.
Maybe im old, but I prefer to stick with typing my communications.....
Its always interesting that the text chat people find voice immersion breaking, and voice people like me, find text chat immersion breaking.
However, I disagree with the idea that voice chat is a crutch. I think of it as the obvious progression to modern technology. We didn’t have much voice option available in the oldest MMO days. If it was available, I think things would have been much different.
Good Players will be good players either way. Method of chat does not change this.
Beefcake said:Riply said:I loath voice chat, but will use it (mic muted) if required to raid.....but will hate every minute of doing so. I really don't understand why this has become such a crutch in MMOs, in EQ1 I was in one of the top raiding guilds on my server, all raid directions were given in text, without issue. Modern players can't seem to even figure out killing boars in a group without needing some form of voice chat.
Imho, there is no biggeer immersion breaker for me then some big hulking Oger with a voice of a pre-pubescent 10 yearold boy. Or worse, they idiot who has to stand out in the crowd and be annoying the entire raid, just for the shock value. The absolute worst is the player that sits with their mic open, eating.....this makes me wish "The Purdge" was a real thing.
Maybe im old, but I prefer to stick with typing my communications.....
Its always interesting that the text chat people find voice immersion breaking, and voice people like me, find text chat immersion breaking.
However, I disagree with the idea that voice chat is a crutch. I think of it as the obvious progression to modern technology. We didn’t have much voice option available in the oldest MMO days. If it was available, I think things would have been much different.
Good Players will be good players either way. Method of chat does not change this.
Can't really argue with any of that. Maybe crutch is not the correct wording, but it definitely feels like many players treat voice chat as a must have to accomplish even the most mundane tasks. I don't believe method of chat has anything to do with the quality of player you may be. But I still find it way more annoying then I do beneficial. That being said, there is no putting the voice chat cat, back in the bag, but I will still stick to text chat as much as possible.
I vote to leave chat based and paople can use other chat systems like discord to communicate maybe there could be like an official community channel in discord with tabs for what ever zone your in would be cool if everyone could get on bored with it, but i dont think the developers should waste recources and time installing there own it just doesnt seem necessary and if it is in the game people become reliant and forced into it. i want to focus my attention to sounds in the game and its ambiance and maybe some music in another tab most times. not feel forced to listen to people all the time, but only when neccessary
Reichsritter said:Voice chat absolutely ruins immersion. I will be using text chat the vast majority of the time. I will only use voice chat for raids and only if necessary.
i don’t think I will ever understand how staring at a chat box, watching words come across a screen, then having to type back, while not watching the action is more immersive than watching the action and talking naturally.
I avoid voice chat where I can..specifically when I am grouped ...many years of being a captive audience to someone's head banger music, chewing noises, baby crying in background, garbage truck backing up..etc. Due to people leaving their mic wide open instead of push to talk. It is distracting at best. And the other thing..that has gone on over the years...YOU'RE FEMALE????? and that starts the trolling..oh real "gurls" don't play online games. Enough already.
Cana
CanadinaXegony said:I avoid voice chat where I can..specifically when I am grouped ...many years of being a captive audience to someone's head banger music, chewing noises, baby crying in background, garbage truck backing up..etc. Due to people leaving their mic wide open instead of push to talk. It is distracting at best. And the other thing..that has gone on over the years...YOU'RE FEMALE????? and that starts the trolling..oh real "gurls" don't play online games. Enough already.
Cana
I have never really had those problems. Occasionally, someone accidentally leaves a mic open shortly, but usually fixes it when notified.
Spunds like you need to team with a higher quality’s set. Hopefully, they can be found here, amongst us founding players.
text chat, much more immersive on the plus said people will not be able to judge others because of their voice, age gender etc. However for raids or guild purposes 3rd party voice can be easier for management and coordination. Voice chat will be used regardless in todays era but it does take away from the game environmetal sounds and music mood.
They already said they are going to have voice chat. I disagree with having it and would prefer it being used 3rd party if people want it.
My objections are:
1) If it is provided in game, some people may demand it be used and because the game provides, it they may think it justified to demand it.
2) Regardless of how clever you are with its implementation, it still eats up resources on the realm. It means they have to have facilitate it with a server component and it will take up bandwidth to the server to have it, not to mention it will be one more thing they have to manage and troubleshoot, taking up resources in management.
Most people who are fans of using voice aren't going to use the in-game one anyway because I doubt it will have the level of features of organization and management that the 3rd party ones will. So it will end up being the crappy voice program that most will turn off anyway (so wasted resources spent).
I have mostly always relied on text chat. Back in the day when I used to do some raiding, I was forced into adopting voice chat, but I mostly kept my mouth shut as the sound of my own voice makes my teeth hurt. Besides that, I have quite a strong regional accent, and few people could fathom what I was talking about anyway.
Beefcake said:Reichsritter said:Voice chat absolutely ruins immersion. I will be using text chat the vast majority of the time. I will only use voice chat for raids and only if necessary.
i don’t think I will ever understand how staring at a chat box, watching words come across a screen, then having to type back, while not watching the action is more immersive than watching the action and talking naturally.
I can explain it with ease. Male players playing female characters guess what happens with voice chat? Or how about a huge ogre warrior male sounding like an 8 year old girl? With text I get to imagine how each character would sound. Sure maybe there is some oddball guild out there who roleplays in voicechat but from what I have seen in all the raid guilds I've been in most do not roleplay at all, especially in voicechat! I'm not a voice actor so I just talk normally in voicechat. When it comes to controls/typing/etc either that stuff comes second nature to me it's muscle memory, there is no harm to my immersion using a mouse and keyboard. Every single MMO player is using a mouse/keyboard/controller so if that harms your immersion just playing the game takes you out of the game...you'd basically need to only watch the screen and shout commands at your character to move it or maybe use some kind of Matrix style VR device.
I have to give a dichotomous answer and say that I prefer each at different times for different reasons. I like voice chat for situations where quick communication is critical, and it can also be fun with friends. I prefer text chat for random groups because, hey, they can be boorish, obnoxious, and ill-mannered, and I don't really want to have to listen to them if they are.
For me, it's nice to have both options available...but as some have said above, I'd be perfectly happy to use a third party voice chat for those situations that require it.
Well I haven't heard before that there will be IN GAME voice chat - that does make me a little bit concerned - i'd rather use different source like TeamSpeak or Discord rather than in game one. I also hate to be forced to take active part in voice chat - it's OK if i HAVE TO listen to leaders commands, but actively take part in all conversations? Naah it ain't for me...
I was quite surprised to learn that I seem to be the minority on this issue. When I first learned of VC, I was nervous and resistant to using it, but the more I have used it, the more I have come to prefer it, at least while grouping with folks. I don't see the need for an in game VC as there are many great 3rd party options out there. And I definitely don't want to be walking around the world and hear other people chatting. While I understand people's objections around VC, I haven't found them to be much of an issue. In regards to immersion, I find the more I can focus on the game world and less on the GUI, the more immersive the world feels to me. So VC really helps in this regard as I spend less time looking at the chat window. With character voices, I play Pathfinder on Roll 20 once week. We have had many different types of characters. Good role players will find creative ways to convey their character regardless of gender or voice differences. Often these choices just help to enhance the personatily of the toon and add to the role play experience. For bad behavior, like chewing while on the mike or loud background noise, I treat this the same as any unwanted player behavior. If a few polite tells don't fix the problem then I just don't team with that person any more. But the vast majority of people I have found are considerate. The benefits of VC to me, faster communication, the ability to fight or do other activities in game while still communicating, and for me at least, the more immesrive feel outway the some of the hassles and issues that VC bring about.
Text Chat
However I generally have to install several voice chat apps as every guild and or group seems to use a differant one.
IF I was going to voice chat I would prefer an ingame chat but I have yet to find a guild or group using one even though games have them. And thats a shame as some people are not computer literate enough to install and configure 3rd party software, so they just don't and get left out/behind
Zorkon said:Text Chat
However I generally have to install several voice chat apps as every guild and or group seems to use a differant one.
IF I was going to voice chat I would prefer an ingame chat but I have yet to find a guild or group using one even though games have them. And thats a shame as some people are not computer literate enough to install and configure 3rd party software, so they just don't and get left out/behind
It is because most of the ingame voice systems are garbage.
The 3rd party ones have numerous features that would require way too much effort on the part of the game to develop. So, you get some garabage half arsed gimmick of a voice system that nobody uses.
It is a modern world and the ease of using Discord amongst your friends seems to be the norm. I do require push-to-talk on my channels to avoid noise pick up which helps. But even then, some people just can’t stop talking and eventually I have to take a break from it. I prefer texting as it allows me to not get distracted by real life things, as people tend to not always talk about game-focused things when using voice. But with the way gaming works nowdays, so much easier just to talk.
But, I really want a sophisticated chat system to encourage more text communication. Being able to click names in chat for functions like reply, invite, being able to macro messages, it all helps and is great. I would use this over voice until we need strategy.