Voice Chat

[WatchMaker]

-My post taken from mmorpg.com-

"Although many MMORPGS shoot this idea down right away because of the many problems it produces, I think HJ should try it out in testing or in beta. I can't really say much for how you can fix its stability in-game, but I can atleast put forward an idea for gameplay purposes.

As an example, in some mmorpgs, when a leader invites a member to the party, he give that certain person -Tags-. Diffrent -Tags- do diffrent things, such as allowing the member to invite others, trade, chat, and even kick people out of the team. So naturally, this way the leader has alot of options with what he can do with his team. In addition to these -Tags-, you could just add a Voice Chat permission. That way, only the leader and who he wants to can speak. No more senseless chatter lagging the felgercarb out of people. This could be adapted for a even bigger scale like raids and PVP events. I even recall reading a artical awhile back about Voice Communication with NPCs, which I must admit, sounds damn cool."

So, yea. What do you guys think of having voice comm as part of HJ rather than using TS or Vent? I think it would be pretty cool. Another idea I thought of would to have the option of playing a custom sound track in your guild houses/homes.

 

[Homeslice513]

Let me start by saying voice chat doesn't break immersion to me in a game but I also feel that voice chat should pretty much be an option and used for certain groups and not be part of the game.

The big thing to me is, once voice chat is implemented in a game every time you group people will expect you to use it and not everyone will want to use and will begin to exclude people just like that. For the most part voice chat is used by guilds to help with raiding, grouping and just getting to know one another in a more personable way. You will lose this once voice chat is part of the game. You will have to use it with your group since no one is typing out what is going on and then you lose touch with your guild or else you really close yourself off to anyone except your guild.

Just my thoughts on voice chat.

 

[Shadow001]

You basically *HAVE* to have voice chat, at least the ability to get on and listen if not to actually talk on it in order to raid in anything more than a 5-man group.

It makes life SO much easier to be able to instantly communicate rather than have to type. In tense situations, not having to divert attention from what's actually going on is pretty huge.

The downside is that a lot of people, for whatever reason, can be a little bit shy to talk on the mic. I've seen it a lot in WoW. I don't really understand it, but it definately could be a problem for people who are more interested in the game itself, like Homeslice says. Some feel that talking breaks the immersion you have in being totally into the game.

I think it's gonna be necessary, there really is no good way to organize a large group of people without being able to talk.

 

[frostydf2]

I've been a gamer since I was 12. I have never played a game where I didn't use voice-chat ever. Why? It puts you over the top constantly, and improves how you play. You have a greater access to information, quicker, and you can relay messages instantly.

When I played Lineage 2 I was in a huge guild. We were all required to be on Ventrilo, and thank god we were. Being able to quickly talk to people, and ask for information was vital. Also being able to call for help instantly was necessary as well.

In Guild Wars you couldn't compete without some sort of voice communication. There was no possible way you would even have a prayer of hope to reach top 100 without voice chat.

Voice chat goes deeper then just in PvP. You can use it to quickly find a group, conduct a raid, and get tips/help/questions on quests. It appeals to more then just a hardcore PvP'er, but to everyone else. There is no way Simutronics could go wrong with putting voice-communication into Hero's Journey.

 

[Arremus]

I've used Teamspeak and Vent in numerous situations, and can honestly say I hate it for several reasons and love it for others.

The primary one being, with no real offense meant, hearing a dozen American accents screaching at once is possibly one of the hardest noises to sit through (as in social guild chat on TS).
All it takes is one person with a really annoying voice to completely kill a good TS community 'vibe', and sadly such an occurance is pretty common (is probably not an issue to the bulk of you with American accents, just as our Aussie and the European accents are probably annoying to you. I don't think anyone finds an Irish accent annoying though. Is too damn funny).
In the last guild I was in with EQ2 there was this young American woman who had a shrill New Yorker type accent, and I literally could not use Teamspeak whenever she was on. It was hideous.

Total upside is having it for raids - if everyone is muted apart from the raid leader and main tank and healer or whatever. HAS to be voice discipline with voice chat in raids. Which equals there must be at least one person who has control over everyone's ability to talk or not.
Cos there is always someone who doesn't have the brains to shut up, or is sure that everyone needs to know their opinion etc.

I've actually been in guilds that have split due to Teamspeak, it's no small matter. And this leads to one very big reason why I hate voice chat.
It is happening right at this moment in the guild in EQ2. I am watching the in-game chat and listening to Teamspeak.
There is a young player asking a question about game stuff in-game, and the others chatting on Teamspeak are too busy gasbagging to realise this guy needs help.
And that's where I see voicechat as being a major negative. It creates a big divide in games. There are those who type, and those who chat. And those who chat very often forget to read Guild chat etc.
I've been in guild 'meetings' where one of the main topics raised has been the need for all the Teamspeak users to remember to be socialable in Guild chat.

Oh, I've also raided a lot with a guild in EQ2 that does not use Teamspeak (is a 100% in-character guild) and we have raided and conquered the best of the best. It's quite simple. You have one person calling the shots (typing) and everyone else reads and reacts.

Voice chat is definitely not the only way to raid or play. And it has a lot of downsides too.
I personally hope built in chat does not become a standard part of MMOs.

2c.

 

[Homeslice513]

I still haven't heard a good reason that a game needs to instill voice chat in their system. In games like BF2 and such I can understand even though it doesn't seem to like my headset and I have less issues using Vent/TS.

I keep hearing that you need it to organize large groups of people to do raids or possibly for PvP but what about in just it's general use? Do you only group with your guild? Do you only want to talk with your guild when you are raiding? A lot of people do pick up groups and do you really want to be chatting with people you don't know? You are basically looking at a higher cost to because of development, bandwidth and regulation. It is also a lot harder for the game company to regulate any abuse from voice chat.

I am just saying that if voice chat is implemented in the game client that people will expect you to use it in every day grouping and who knows when else. Which cuts off voice communication to your guild or maybe just friends if that is whom you speak with. It won't be the exception it will be the rule.


I think that just allowing people to use their own voice system then no one in game has expectations of it. I am mainly against it being used in a MMORPG than any other game as I don't think it fits the same. I use voice chat so I understand it as a useful too just being in a game such as this brings up a whole new set of issues and really just changes gameplay.

 

[Morneblade]

It's nice, but you can certainly get by without voice chat. We never had that kind of thing when I was playing and raiding in EQ, never used in for raids or PvP in DAoC, and only used it here and there in games like DDO, GW and CoH. I dont think HJ needs to try to try to make a ingame version when there are a couple pretty good after-market ones you can get.

 

[Eve_CinVin]

Voice chat can work well in small groups for battles, but is very annoying as a regular thing. Much of what other posters here said, is so true about the problems it can create.

 

[deserttfoxx]

Personally i never needed voice in anything besides FPS, like counter strike and rainbow six, I have never found an MMO that fast pace where i could type in detail what i needed to get across. Often times when i raided in warcraft i ended up explaining a lot of encounters, and since i type pretty fast i never used vent. Personally i feel other peoples voices in my head distracting, i cant stand voice chat.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

I like having the option. Its good for guild meetings and sometimes for missions etc but sometimes I want it off. Especially if i'm in the mood to just do some wilderness adventuring/exploring.

I think it would be best for HJ to not code it into the game though. There's already two very good programs work extremely well and whatever problems the code would have would just unecessarily clog up the support forums. Save the code for something that may laters be wanted or needed.

 

[Rics]

I'm totally against it as a whole. First off, I already play at off-peak hours, so I don't see a lot of interaction and conversations. The last thing I want is the world to seem even MORE dead then it is on off-peak hours. There is nothing more annoying than seeing tons of little groups of people, or a crowded area...and complete and utter silence. So no, I don't want anything that would encourage even less type/talking.

Now, with that said, I will actually get back to the specifics of the OP. I think it would be okay to have a voice chat system in place for raids, and raids only. Mainly, raids take place in their own instance, thus, the lack of socializing does not affect the gaming community as a whole. It might be okay to have a Local Defense/Offense voice chat channel you can join for PvP raids on cities, etc...but only within the vacinity of the said city. Of course that channel would be optional. I say this, because during a PvP raid the action involved takes the place of socializing.

 

[Kuzzle]

I've never used voice chat in an MMO, so I can't really form an opinion... I mean, I remember voice chat in PSO being completely kick ass, but I think that was only because it was on a console. Maybe that doesn't make sense... I dunno...

 

[JonDDA]

This is a toughy.

I think it would be a cool feature to have for raids, but, like it has been said, some people are shy when it comes to actually talking, and if every party they joined expected them to talk, it might make them quit, or just be a loner.

It would be cool if for clans/guilds/great houses it was actually apart of the game, like a little list on the side that can be minimized telling whos on and whos talking. Have some Leader controls.

Voice chat for huge groups would get...hairy. Make it so the Leader and any Officers can choose who gets to talk.

On the topic of immersion, this might ruin that for some people, but than they don't have to use it. Make it optional and it should be fine.

 

[cordy_CinVin]

Hmm this is something I like but don't like. 1st off I love the ability to use voice chat. I think as far as any pvp situations or raids or just any group your in it makes it all that much easier to have it..

But with that said I don't think it should be part of the game. It then becomes almost a necessity for people and if they don't want to use it they shouldn't. But what will happen is group leaders will start making people be on and if they don't want to they'll be sol when finding a group.

The current system of the guild or a friend setting up a TS or Vent server or borrowing off someone elses is fine with me. Integrating into a game like HJ where immersion is everything is a bad move imo anyway. Won't really bother me in any way since I use it but I really don't want those who don't like to use it feel obliged to have to.

 

[Luciro]

I've never been in a situation Raiding, PvP, or grouping in general where I couldn't type quickly what was going on. But then again, I'm a quick typist.
I hate hearing other people. I hate it. I hate it so much, I always refuse to do it. I lead a guild, all the guildies can chat all they want, but they're reading text from me. I follow, that's fine, they don't even have to type with me. MMOs are very simple games to follow. Everyone going that way, main tank assigned, I know my class, yay I help kill mindless mob.
I think it's a cool toy to prank with, but until MMOs get completely real time then that's just it. A cool toy.
I also feel it doesn't just ruin immersion but it kills RP. I can't listen to some fat ass basement virgin barking orders while he buffs us all with his 'hottie elf chick cleric' and then be in the mood to talk / type an in-character comment to a situation. Horrible idea to add in the game for not only that, but the actual programs out there seem to work just fine. Why fix it if it isn't broken by tossing unneeded communication across the servers?

 

[WatchMaker]

Using voice comm with your friends in some games can make it twenty times more fun, but if its random people in a team, I'm thinking its going to just be a hassle. Althought I would like to have the option nevertheless.

 

[Daax]

I like to sing over the mic.


I feel pretty!!!
Oh so pretty!!!

 

[Morneblade]

I like to sing over the mic.


I feel pretty!!!
Oh so pretty!!!

/mute

 

[Homeslice513]

/mute

I say turn it up

 

[Kuzzle]

I like to sing over the mic.


I feel pretty!!!
Oh so pretty!!!

Yeah, I used to sing, hum, and generally talk to myself a lot, especially while playing games. Led to some awkward moments in Phantasy Star Online, let me tell you...