Voice chat in games -- a good thing?

[Sultan]

Wired has an interesting op-ed up about the pitfalls of using voice chat (Ventrilo) in online games like WoW.

 

http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/..._frontiers_0617

 

Basicaly the author thinks its fine to text chat with people, but when he logs on to ventrilo and finds out his guild mates are 12 year olds, its a little too weird. And also he thinks girls will be turned off gaming by voice chat.

 

We have quite a large age range here, and probably a bunch of people who play games with voice chat.

Anyone here have an opinion on this?

[Diso]

I played a lot of FPS online and find voice chat to be a good thing. Though yea, it can get abused by flamers, squeaky kids, and people who feel the need to share their music tastes over the microphone, but otherwise, it's just a fun feature people can use because you hear their expression rather than the "lol, stfu newb, rofl, omgz" text. I still prefer to use text myself because I feel I can type out faster than I can talk (with no problems with understanding). And from what I saw so far, I see girls using the voice feature, and there usually aren't people that hit on them, but you know, different servers, different people.

 

Lets be honest here too. Some People type slow as molasses and will usually have broken grammar and typos all over the place. Voice communication allows these people to play without taking the time to type. Granted they will swear a lot or may talk funny, there's always the ignore/mute button.

[Ahmad89]

If a game is rated R and kids are playing it then its really the parents fault if anything happens. If its for everyone to play then parents shuold have like a password thing to lock voice chating. Really young kids should not be playing these R rated games if their parents are affraid of anything happening. And if you have enough sense not to get yourself in trouble join people your own age (whispers "you pervert").

[Mooney]

I think voice chat can be useful in some games (games that require a whole lot of fast-paced coordination) but for other games, it really can get annoying. As for girls, if they don't like being hit on, they can:

1. Change servers or quit the game.

2. Stay silent.

3. Use some voice masking software.

[cody56]

Man I've been using Teamspeak and Ventrilo for about 3 or 4 years. I love them. I love meeting new people on everyone I go to. You make a lot of friends that way if you just try it. It's the same as walking outside and meeting people. There are a lot of 12 year olds and seeming not enough girls . But yea, I'm met dozens of girls that use these programs.

[cody56]

Oh, and as for the annoying people that just biatch and moan about everyone hacking and all that crap, just get off the server or vent or ts. I think some people get to involved and forget about the big red X in the corner of the window. Hmmm, maybe they should put it right in the middle of the window .

[Lucandrake]

If your playing a game competitively then voice chat, WILL ALWAYS, no matter what's the age range, be a good thing.

 

If your playing a game for kicks, and you don't like voice chat, then don't use it, I personally don't mind the 12 year olds (then again I'm 17), and it makes games like WoW or Guild Wars (when doing instances when your a beginner and such), become a lot easier with a voice client.

[Wizard]

It's really helpful at times in WoW. Like really helpful, like when we cleared Karahazan.

 

 

Yeah.

 

Also it's fun to socialize with folks, like in Zombie Master with servers with All Talk on. Good discussions arise while we are trying to get the bloody gas can.

[OverlordMondo]

I think voice chat is great. People knowing your age and gender is a good thing, it automatically gives out some of your information and tightens bonds. Also, sometimes it just isn't practical to type things out. And the girls thing? Women should be less shy really. Men should perv less, too. Not all of the women I know from online have suddenly shut up once they get on a voice server though.

[ken_cinder]

I don't like hearing other people blab while I'm playing, and even in a fast paced FPS like UT games, it's not hard to throw out a quick text message.

I guess for people who have a VERY hard time playing a game, and typing (Those with pathetic typing and grammar skills) voice chat is the way to go.

 

I've tried it with Tactical FPS like the Rainbow Six games, and quite frankly I find it useless there too. Tactical FPS plays slower than other shooters, so typing is NOT a big deal at all and I can be clearer with typed words than speaking on the fly.

[Smilee]

It's a double edged sword. You get the efficiency you need to communicate and execute strategies with teammates. However you also get the screaming, whining, racist kids/adults that also inhabit the game. That's not to say that everyone you meet online is like that, but you'll find them nonetheless.