When would voice chat for PC an advantage?

Trollwut

Hi folks!

Recently there are many opinions about implementing voice chat for the PC version of the game.

I wondered when this would be an advantage. So I created some szenarios in my head (damn you, Skooma!) and asked myself if voice chat there would be an advancement or even interfering the game play.


Zone voice chat

I guess it's clear that this will not be good in ANY situation. I just wanted to add this title to have it covered.
People will make mess and even if they try to be comfy, there would just be too many voices in your head.


Small group voice chat

I think here would be the highes demand. When you group up, you automatically open a voice chat channel for your group only.
You can arrange faster with your party without having to stand around for some seconds because you're typing.

On the other hand, I find it only usefull when going to dungeons. Who's gonna tank, what tactics, who will replace me on death. This would be a really nice addition!
If people are deaf (turned off voice chat entirely in the settings) they will have a silence icon so that other players see why they won't answer. You can also mute players (maybe only for the next 1 hour) with the interaction circle holding F hovering that player. This will come handy against Deppen. (That's the plural word for idiot in German.)

Then again it's questionable how this system will be used. I for myself have a TS server and always try to invite my party to it. To not say nobody, really a vast minority is joining the voice chat. Why? Most of them admit that they don't have a microphone. This will tell me that even implementing ingame voice chat won't matter that much as they still need a mic, which they won't buy for that only reason.
"Learn resistant" people will quickly mute you, because you won't be gentle all the time and will give them pro tipps all the way. So even then voice chat will be useless. Random people just may not be the pr0 gam3r I use to be, so this idea sounds pretty damn good, but I guess in reality it's more pain in the tail. (I'm an Argonian.)

If I've finally found a nice random group, they nearly always admit to meet on a TS channel. TBH I only discovered two types of random mates:

• "Sure, I'll join TS."
• "Nah, no voice, as I'm listening to music."

So I don't think built-in voice chat will change their minds. Other people do have other interests.


Huge group voice chat

This may also be one nice setup. You group up with some random hot boys, create a raid and fill it. Now you're able to strike the enemies!
But unfortunatelly nobody knows what to do know exactly. You write "sneak and wait for them" and still there are some running around and pulling the enemies to you. Wipe.
Even infight you can't communicate, as you're just not able to concentrate and read the group chat simultaniously.

Voice chat can be very handy here. Maybe a seperate channel for each group, as each group will have other aims. The Crown will have the ability to talk to the whole raid, turning down the volume of others speaking at the same time, so that he lays down the law.

Then again, most random joining players will be in a big raid to leech AP or just not to go on their own. So I'm wondering if team chat really would be an addition.

I'm in an awesome raid guild (all shall hail the honored Decimation Elite), so when I'm going to PvP I always have my group with their own TS channel. So I guess PvP-devoted hot boys will also have their PvP guild, as it really isn't hard to find one.
Sure we also have sometimes big groups with many strangers, but text chat there is sufficient. You won't get emperor with strangers, but it's a good run for wasting time until the Decimation Elite Task Force is finally joining. I don't think that voice chat is an addition here, either.


Conclusion

Sure, coice chat sounds rad. Instant communicating, it's easy and you only have to move your lips for it. But be honest: When will you really use it? When will you not mute half of your party - or when will they really be able to listen to you?

I'm keen on hearing your opinions!

lolo_01b16_ESO

I prefer TS over ingame voice chat. Mostly because it still works when the game crashes and I can have people in TS that are not in my group.

Merlin13KAGL

TS all day long. Free, clear as a bell. Full control of who does and doesn't need to be there without the buffoons in zone trying to add color or asking about selling garlic cloves right in the middle of a boss fight.

Trollwut

I stated TS often enough. Your answers don't stick to the questions. Please be sure to be on topic!

kevlarto_ESO

Not everyone can get access to TS, Ventrilo, Mumble, it would let pugs work together a bit better, in both pve and pvp. Granted not as good a quality as the third party programs but better than nothing, I used the built in voice a lot in LOTRO, we had some good battles in monster play, and was able to give the organized groups some competition, funny thing some of the biggest vocal complainers about the voice chat, were the organized pvp'ers who could no longer face roll the pugs, they said the wanted some competition but when they got some they really did not..:)

anitajoneb17_ESO

Given how uneducated / impolite SOME people can be on zone chat or even in PUGs, I would not use any ingame voice chat. I'll stick to my guildies and TS is perfect for us, with many control and customization options ESO will never have.

There are far more important issues to be addressed n the game, I'd not like ZOS to spend/waste coding resources on a feature that is already easily available elsewhere and works perfectly. Via third-party software, but who cares ?

Cry_Wolfe

Proximity chat would be kinda cool, and that is something that CAN'T be done with something other than the game client.

danno8

It worked great in LotRO. You don't need a microphone, same as with TS. Leaders just want you to be able to hear simple commands. In fact, most prefer you keep quiet unless you have something important to say.

And also, one advantage in-game voice chat would have is the ability to see WHO is speaking through a small visual icon next to their health bar.

edit: and just to add, in regards to PUG PvP groups, TS makes the difference between getting things done and getting nothing done. Voice chat is a way to ensure that not everyone who joins your group has to go through the steps of setting up TS.

Nermy

danno8 wrote: »

And also, one advantage in-game voice chat would have is the ability to see WHO is speaking through a small visual icon next to their health bar.

Overwolf works fine with TS and I use the overlay (to tell me who's speaking) all the time in Cyro.

danno8

Nermy wrote: »

danno8 wrote: »

And also, one advantage in-game voice chat would have is the ability to see WHO is speaking through a small visual icon next to their health bar.

Overwolf works fine with TS and I use the overlay (to tell me who's speaking) all the time in Cyro.

I looked it up. So is this an extra window that sits on your screen? What if the characters name is different from the persons name in TS? It's a good idea, but it seems a little cumbersome compared to a small icon next to the characters name lighting up whenever they speak.

HWHorathlab16_ESO

I love how so many arguments against ingame voice chat are things like "People will be jerks over voice chat" and "The quality will be awful".

Planetside 2 has it's own custom built ingame voice chat, you don't really get people abusing it and being jerks (except for occasional music and those people are muted with a simple click if bugs that much), and its Codec is brilliant, crystal clear all the time, and the benefits for it are huge, all those public platoons and squads easily commanded, people easily warned etc

Trollwut

danno8 wrote: »

Nermy wrote: »

danno8 wrote: »

And also, one advantage in-game voice chat would have is the ability to see WHO is speaking through a small visual icon next to their health bar.

Overwolf works fine with TS and I use the overlay (to tell me who's speaking) all the time in Cyro.

I looked it up. So is this an extra window that sits on your screen? What if the characters name is different from the persons name in TS? It's a good idea, but it seems a little cumbersome compared to a small icon next to the characters name lighting up whenever they speak.

You can right click someone in TeamSpeak and give them a custom name.

I used Overwolf when it came out together with TeamSpeak and it caused some troubles on some games. Like dxtory keeps crashing GTA V, as it hooks into the graphical layer.

Yet there are good thoughts about voice chat!

Pallmor

Built in voice chat means it's right there and everyone has it. And there is no futzing around with 3rd party software, getting everyone on the same software ("Okay, three of you have TeamSpeak, three of you are on Mumble, and one of you is on Ventrilo--now does anyone know how to set up a TeamSpeak server??").

Built-in is easy, much less hassle, and universal--and the only thing you need to worry about is having a mic. That means way more people will use it.

Davadin

If you're in a group, you're immediately joined to the group push-to-talk (key bindable) voice chat.

doesn't matter if it's small or large.

outside of group, there is no chat (and for the love of everything holy, NO zone/area voice chat).


that's it.


no more. no less.

it's fine to have TS or Vent for guilds or friends, but for PUGs, we *NEED* this.

@ZOS_GinaBruno please take note. Thank you.

Davadin

danno8 wrote: »

It worked great in LotRO. You don't need a microphone, same as with TS. Leaders just want you to be able to hear simple commands. In fact, most prefer you keep quiet unless you have something important to say.

And also, one advantage in-game voice chat would have is the ability to see WHO is speaking through a small visual icon next to their health bar.

edit: and just to add, in regards to PUG PvP groups, TS makes the difference between getting things done and getting nothing done. Voice chat is a way to ensure that not everyone who joins your group has to go through the steps of setting up TS.

^
this.

anitajoneb17_ESO

Davadin wrote: »

If you're in a group, you're immediately joined to the group push-to-talk (key bindable) voice chat.

Oh yes !! and everyone speaks english (or pretends to...) ..... already difficult to form a group outside of guilds, should we add a language filter to the LFG tool... ?

UPrime

Many games have added voice chat, and nobody uses it for 3 main reasons.

1. Unless you're on a laptop, a lot of people don't have a mic setup ready to go unless they are already using a 3rd party voice chat app. And if you are using something else already, why go to voice chat?
2. People do dumb and obnoxious things.
3. Quality isn't always that good.

Zargorius

Neverwinter Nights have voice chat, used it in PVP, most of time it was very useful and muting people was not an issue
Planetside 2 voice chat is great and helps a lot
Red Orchestra 2 voice chat is absolutely fundamental and works like a charm

I would love an integrated voice chat, it should be standard feature these days. Typing is cumbersome, especially if you don't have a keyboard handy (I play with mouse + G13).

I think it would help the pugs a lot, especially in PvP.

I fully expect some people who are in guilds and use TS regularly to oppose this vehemently as it would diminish their advantage by levelling the playing field.

In short: BRING IT ON!

Trollwut

Pallmor wrote: »

Built-in is easy, much less hassle, and universal--and the only thing you need to worry about is having a mic. That means way more people will use it.

Are you sure? Because I play a lot Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where voice communication is essential.
I play in mid-range-ELO (Master Guardian, if that's a thing) where people begin to play concentrated and focused on gameplay.

Still there are many people who don't use voice chat, mute at the beginning at the game or simply won't listen. Others who tend to using voice chat will use them and come to TeamSpeak anyway.

So it's more like a "if I want voice chat I use it, otherwise I don't" attitude.

Trollwut

Oh and just to state it again:
It is not about your wishes if it comes to the game or not! I want to hear pros and cons about voice chat and when it's useful!

Sure, personally I want voice chat enabled, as I like social gaming and would use it. But then again there is no real use for it for me, as I have my workarounds.

Davadin

UPrime wrote: »

Many games have added voice chat, and nobody uses it for 3 main reasons.

1. Unless you're on a laptop, a lot of people don't have a mic setup ready to go unless they are already using a 3rd party voice chat app. And if you are using something else already, why go to voice chat?
2. People do dumb and obnoxious things.
3. Quality isn't always that good.

give me examples.

most MMO i know that has them (almost all of them) uses them in one form or another.

we go to voice chat because we, the players, joined with random people (PUG, they say).

being able to LISTEN to instructions is very crucial for group content in most MMO.


stop being a TS/Vent-elitist and try join the common folk for a bit.

Davadin

Trollwut wrote: »

Oh and just to state it again:
It is not about your wishes if it comes to the game or not! I want to hear pros and cons about voice chat and when it's useful!

Sure, personally I want voice chat enabled, as I like social gaming and would use it. But then again there is no real use for it for me, as I have my workarounds.

You do.

Many people don't.

This is proven by the existence of such feature in most MMO I know and testimony of people who uses it.

UPrime

Davadin wrote: »

UPrime wrote: »

Many games have added voice chat, and nobody uses it for 3 main reasons.

1. Unless you're on a laptop, a lot of people don't have a mic setup ready to go unless they are already using a 3rd party voice chat app. And if you are using something else already, why go to voice chat?
2. People do dumb and obnoxious things.
3. Quality isn't always that good.

give me examples.

most MMO i know that has them (almost all of them) uses them in one form or another.

we go to voice chat because we, the players, joined with random people (PUG, they say).

being able to LISTEN to instructions is very crucial for group content in most MMO.


stop being a TS/Vent-elitist and try join the common folk for a bit.

From my experience, games that have voice chat from day one have it used, games that don't have the people interested in voice chat already use something else. But, to be honest that's from MMO's in 5+ years ago.

Davadin

UPrime wrote: »

Davadin wrote: »

UPrime wrote: »

Many games have added voice chat, and nobody uses it for 3 main reasons.

1. Unless you're on a laptop, a lot of people don't have a mic setup ready to go unless they are already using a 3rd party voice chat app. And if you are using something else already, why go to voice chat?
2. People do dumb and obnoxious things.
3. Quality isn't always that good.

give me examples.

most MMO i know that has them (almost all of them) uses them in one form or another.

we go to voice chat because we, the players, joined with random people (PUG, they say).

being able to LISTEN to instructions is very crucial for group content in most MMO.


stop being a TS/Vent-elitist and try join the common folk for a bit.

From my experience, games that have voice chat from day one have it used, games that don't have the people interested in voice chat already use something else. But, to be honest that's from MMO's in 5+ years ago.

im playin MMO for a little over 15 years now.

you're right. there are cases like that.

but more often than not, games who don't have it on day one, does not mean everybody wants it already using TS.

a lot of player are reluctant of using a 3rd party software. they'd rather just have NO voice at all.

suddenly having it released would make a big difference for them, and even marketing.

Pallmor

Trollwut wrote: »

Pallmor wrote: »

Built-in is easy, much less hassle, and universal--and the only thing you need to worry about is having a mic. That means way more people will use it.

Are you sure? Because I play a lot Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where voice communication is essential.
I play in mid-range-ELO (Master Guardian, if that's a thing) where people begin to play concentrated and focused on gameplay.

Still there are many people who don't use voice chat, mute at the beginning at the game or simply won't listen. Others who tend to using voice chat will use them and come to TeamSpeak anyway.

So it's more like a "if I want voice chat I use it, otherwise I don't" attitude.

Well, if someone is determined not to use VC, then obviously nothing will get them to do it. But, generally, making something a lot easier encourages people to use it. "Just plug in a mic" is a lot easier to explain to someone in your PUG or raid than "Okay, you need to minimize ESO, go download this particularly 3rd party software that we use, register for a new account, and follow these 3 pages of instructions on how to set up and test the software, and when you're done come back and we'll start in on how to connect to our particular guild voice server."

For that matter, every party member wouldn't even need a mic to benefit. Even if the leader is the only one with a mic and the other party member just have VC enabled, they'll still benefit greatly just from being able to hear him.

Davadin

Pallmor wrote: »

Trollwut wrote: »

Pallmor wrote: »

Built-in is easy, much less hassle, and universal--and the only thing you need to worry about is having a mic. That means way more people will use it.

Are you sure? Because I play a lot Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where voice communication is essential.
I play in mid-range-ELO (Master Guardian, if that's a thing) where people begin to play concentrated and focused on gameplay.

Still there are many people who don't use voice chat, mute at the beginning at the game or simply won't listen. Others who tend to using voice chat will use them and come to TeamSpeak anyway.

So it's more like a "if I want voice chat I use it, otherwise I don't" attitude.

Well, if someone is determined not to use VC, then obviously nothing will get them to do it. But, generally, making something a lot easier encourages people to use it. "Just plug in a mic" is a lot easier to explain to someone in your PUG or raid than "Okay, you need to minimize ESO, go download this particularly 3rd party software that we use, register for a new account, and follow these 3 pages of instructions on how to set up and test the software, and when you're done come back and we'll start in on how to connect to our particular guild voice server."

....just don't do any typo, make sure you include the port, and here's the password too!


Uh oh, didn't work?


Let's troubleshoot it.


Said no one ever.

Trollwut

Pallmor wrote: »

Trollwut wrote: »

Pallmor wrote: »

Built-in is easy, much less hassle, and universal--and the only thing you need to worry about is having a mic. That means way more people will use it.

Are you sure? Because I play a lot Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where voice communication is essential.
I play in mid-range-ELO (Master Guardian, if that's a thing) where people begin to play concentrated and focused on gameplay.

Still there are many people who don't use voice chat, mute at the beginning at the game or simply won't listen. Others who tend to using voice chat will use them and come to TeamSpeak anyway.

So it's more like a "if I want voice chat I use it, otherwise I don't" attitude.

Well, if someone is determined not to use VC, then obviously nothing will get them to do it. But, generally, making something a lot easier encourages people to use it. "Just plug in a mic" is a lot easier to explain to someone in your PUG or raid than "Okay, you need to minimize ESO, go download this particularly 3rd party software that we use, register for a new account, and follow these 3 pages of instructions on how to set up and test the software, and when you're done come back and we'll start in on how to connect to our particular guild voice server."

For that matter, every party member wouldn't even need a mic to benefit. Even if the leader is the only one with a mic and the other party member just have VC enabled, they'll still benefit greatly just from being able to hear him.

Well, most people don't only play ESO but other games and they have TS or not.
Then again I guess when a majority of people use voice chat and show that it makes everything a bit easier, people tend to use it themselves. There you're right.

Short question: What does PUG mean?

Lenikus

Group chat, no matter how big the group is will SURELY helps when you're in a group of pugs/randoms in cyro or in daily pledges. TS is for guildies ~
Please oh god no /Zone voice chat, and also; Not sure how i feel about /say.. Probably better not as well, given places like the infamous rock in Rawl'kha, or the ERP at Bandari Trade Post's houses. (AD thing..)

Zeni will eventually implement it, if it becomes a thing in the console.. they don't prioritize it because, well, TeamSpeak.

anitajoneb17_ESO

PUG = Pick-Up Group.

= group made of people grouped "randomly" via zone chat or LFG tool, as opposed to guild groups or friends' group.

Acronym has evolved nearly to verb : "I PUGed the vet dungeon today" = I made the vet dungeon with people I found randomly instead of doing it with my regular friends / contacts / guildies.