@Sidney I think you've got a very valid point, but given the platform it's antithetical to the concept of simplicity and stream lined use. Adding text chat then splinters the community and forces some people to utilize a feature they aren't particularly interested in using.
Consoles are certainly not known for their broad accessibility in terms of communication, and text chat is not a common feature to the platform. If you are looking to participate in a community built around text, I would direct you towards the PC / Mac version of the game.
@Ace-2112, @Shunravi I'm not speaking to the precedent of other genre similar titles, but the platform as a whole. Text is not the preferred communication method on the platform and presents many accessibility issues. Most players don't have a keyboard attached to their console, most players probably aren't seated in a way that it would be effective to have a keyboard, and switching from keyboard to gamepad during high intensity play is pretty damn inefficient.
I don't want text chat, and I don't want to be made to use it when playing a console game.
(oh and I'm a chick)
@Sidney sick might be a little extreme.
I'm suggesting that being aware of the platform standards is generally a wise thing to be. For example, if you typically play console games that rely on voice communication, you would probably assume that other games on the platform would conform to that standard. You might even buy a product on that platform in order to enjoy that experience.
You made a poor assumption, that's not the fault of other people. I want to avoid fragmentation of players, and keeping people communicating through a standard is highly important to avoiding fragmentation.
@Ace-2112 This generation has been out for long enough to establish that voice is the primary communication method on the platform. Both PS4 and Xbox One ship with a headset in the box.
PS3 and Xbox 360 standards are not necessarily applicable, unless you're basing your argument on FFXI?
@Sidney sick might be a little extreme.
I'm suggesting that being aware of the platform standards is generally a wise thing to be. For example, if you typically play console games that rely on voice communication, you would probably assume that other games on the platform would conform to that standard. You might even buy a product on that platform in order to enjoy that experience.
You made a poor assumption, that's not the fault of other people. I want to avoid fragmentation of players, and keeping people communicating through a standard is highly important to avoiding fragmentation.
"Text chat wasn’t added to the consoles because of a number of factors. First, many of our early tests demonstrated what we already knew: it can be cumbersome to type in a text chat with a controller, especially when time counts."
@Ace-2112, @Shunravi I'm not speaking to the precedent of other genre similar titles, but the platform as a whole. Text is not the preferred communication method on the platform and presents many accessibility issues. Most players don't have a keyboard attached to their console, most players probably aren't seated in a way that it would be effective to have a keyboard, and switching from keyboard to gamepad during high intensity play is pretty damn inefficient.
I don't want text chat, and I don't want to be made to use it when playing a console game.
(oh and I'm a chick)
@Ace-2112 ad hominem is generally used as an avoidance tactic when looking to avoid addressing someone's point. This generation has been around since September 2013. Every multiplayer title other than Final Fantasy XIV primarily uses voice as it's communication method. The party system built into the PS4 defaults to voice chat. The advertisements for the platform feature people communicating over voice chat. It's safe to assume that people expect to communicate with voice on this generation of consoles.
I'm sorry but text chat box is one of the most annoying things on Neverwinter please don't bring that crap to ESO. For you all that cant find friends or people to play with try joining an active guild there are at least 20 pages on the NA Xbox forums alone with some threads dedicated to just making friends. Drop your GT on a thread and watch them come to you. Seriously though I encouraged all my guildies to participate in guild chat and I haven't gotten one negative complaint. We enjoy the no hassle communication while doing any and everything. ZoS is working with silver and turning it into gold. Adding text chat is just a down grade.
Try being a GM of 2 guilds in this game, with over 700 people. Unmanageable with single channel voice chat.
Perhaps this game is designed will smaller, more communal guilds in mind. Personally, my preference is to stay away from giant, faceless guilds who will take anybody & play with a select group of folks where everyone knows everybody & enjoys their company.
But, hey - to each their own.
@Sidney Again, this is an attack on character and not a refutation to my argument. I'm making the argument that providing multiple means by which to communicate will most likely result in fragmentation. That it is instead better to try to get people to conform to a standard of communication than offer a means to diverge.
I don't care how people play or what people do in their time while playing. I believe the nuance to this argument is specifically one related to streamlining of an experience outside of specific details of how we play. Having to communicate across two methods means you're adding complexity to a group of players who previously only had to deal with one. It's an easy stance for people to take who aren't fans of voice because they probably wouldn't want to utilize both. As someone who likes voice, you're forcing me to then communicate over two means, and I think that's less appealing.
Subjective opinions are lovely.
@Sidney Again, this is an attack on character and not a refutation to my argument. I'm making the argument that providing multiple means by which to communicate will most likely result in fragmentation. That it is instead better to try to get people to conform to a standard of communication than offer a means to diverge.
I don't care how people play or what people do in their time while playing. I believe the nuance to this argument is specifically one related to streamlining of an experience outside of specific details of how we play. Having to communicate across two methods means you're adding complexity to a group of players who previously only had to deal with one. It's an easy stance for people to take who aren't fans of voice because they probably wouldn't want to utilize both. As someone who likes voice, you're forcing me to then communicate over two means, and I think that's less appealing.
Subjective opinions are lovely.
@uberkull yeah it works for me, in other MMOs I spend just as much time ignoring and blocking other people in chat. Yes there are some annoying flaws (like being dropped from channels, or being put back into ones you don't want to be in) but flaws can obviously be fixed with time.
I'd rather ZO try to build a great voice chat pattern for the future vs run back to text chat because it's easier conceptually.
NewBlacksmurf wrote: »It seems like an anti-social perspective in the thread. Or those who are anti guild store and feel that text chat is their place to use as a market.
Ppl pay to block pop-ups and adds...why would they put this into the game for an alternate communication purpose. Maybe a limited 25 character chat bubble but nothing more (with a limit on how often the chat bubble could be used)
I get the response to players who don't use etiquette with their mics but after mute it's not an issue.
I just ask nicely or let them know everyone can hear their background noise and ask them to mute their mic.
If they are rude, I mute them. If they are over the top and intentional or do so with malice I report them on Xbox.
Otherwise, it's a great feature that's far better way of communication.
Yes muting people repeatedly is a blast... No, wait, it is not; what happens is people just get fed up with it and remove themselves from the voice comms completely; leaving exactly 0 ways to effectively communicate (I'll concede those quick chat options as communication when you can describe a boss with mechanics with it) with these people, or with other people if you remove yourself from the voice comms.
No communication channels is never better then multiple communication channels. Many people are abandoning voice chat with randoms in this game; my social guild (http://alessianorder.enjin.com/, 145 members currently) has many people who instantly remove themselves from Area chat.
Finally, you must be ignorant if you do not see that text chat and voice comms both have pros and cons, and there are scenarios where one option is obviously superior to the other. For example, text chat has voice comms beat hands down when it comes to multiple channel communication. I can have 1 chat window showing me messages from multiple channels at once; I can also type to multiple channels at once. With these voice comms, I can hear only 2 channels at once, and can't communicate effectively through those channels without monkeying around joining/leaving channels. There, off the top of my head, I can name at least one scenario, common to MMOs, in which text chat is the superior option; nullifying your last statement.
Last note; I've been lurking on this board since PC launch, just an idea, but stop speaking for "console gamers"; I've seen you do this way too often when there were no console gamers here (because we couldn't post until we owned a copy of the game); limit your opinions to yourself, I am a console gamer and disagree with almost everything I've seen you stand for on this site.
@Sidney I disagree with your opinion, and you disagree with mine. Welcome to internet arguments, we're not going to convince one another.
All we can really do is state our opinions and offer reasons why we have those opinions in the hope that they lend perspective to others.
@Thumbdunked I would rather try to come up with voice emotes that people could use (similar to the text emotes) vs revert to a feature set I think is more cumbersome, but again that's my opinion.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NP4MvKy8p8