General Discussion

Well I started off playing eq1 where nobody used vent. Killed every raid mob available without it. Then eq started churning out the shotty elf expansions so I moved on to WoW and quickly got to 60. I downloaded this "vent" thing as it was required for the first raid. After setting it up along with my headset I felt like I was either ready to captain the millenium falcon or start my job at AT&T.

The zone itself was amazing compared to the old eq dungeons, I was really getting into it. We proceeded to clear untill we made it to the first boss where I was ready to put my healing skills to the test. The fight started off pretty intense with the boss unleashing a wave of aoe's, followed by adds at 80%, followed by a dog barking loudly,  followed by the guild leader yelling at his dog, followed by some form of a domestic dispute involving the guild leader, his wife, and the dog. Ahhhh true immersement. After three raids of the nasally guild leader and his twelve year old hindu sidekick yelling at people over ventrilo I quit and solo'd in bg's for the rest of the game.

Then came AoC where anything said outside ventrilo was just completely ignored. Anything said in raid chat was generally followed in vent by "hey did anyone see what he said in raid chat?". After spending 10 minutes talking to myself in a different pve group I broke down and asked the leader for the vent info. After an hour of listening to the ranger breathe deeply into my ear as if he just ran ten feet, and listening to the thirteen year old tank trying to hit on the priest for even longer I logged off of vent and started nuking things indescriminatly.

And now there's WAR. Where we have required ventrilo interviews for guilds, and a pvp centered theme where the pace will be considered too quick for typing. There's always the arguement of "you don't have to use vent" which is great if you plan on living under a bridge and giving ****jobs for raid gear. Or "just use headphones" and have your group chat ignored because you don't feel like repeatedly screaming "GET THE DAMN ORC!" in your home at 2am. I'm not saying vent is bad, there's no doubt that it makes things more efficient. I just think it sucks that it's become such a requirement. Guess it's either time to deal with it or go back to making my armor out of toilet paper.

To be honest, I can see where you're coming from, but voice comms just has too many advantages over typing for people *not* to use it as much as they can.

I've had groups/raids in WoW snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on many, many occasions simply because of the speed that vent allows in first communicating there is a problem (so everyone is aware and can react before they get omgwtfbbqfacepwnd), and then communicating a solution back to the party/raid.  Both of which are nigh-impossible to do typing while simultaniously tracking 5/25/40 health bars and keeping an eye on what the mob is doing.

Now I play Eve, and it's even less practical there since virtually all the combat group content is pvp based and you simply can't predict what will happen in advance - fast, effecient communication is vital to winning the fight, and oftentimes even getting to the fight since the 10 seconds it takes for your baitship or scout to type out what's happening may very well make the difference between a successful engagement and them slipping away.

    Yeha my experiences are pretty similar....We downed many, many raid tarets without ever using vnetrilo then all of a sudden people couldnt survive without it......My experience was similar when I tried vent also....There was a baby crying all the time, people yelling at each other, conversations on the phone while their mic was on, etc etc etc.......To me it completely ruins immersion......You can say what you want but if you ahve half a brain and have some experience in raids you can generally get by without it....in EQ2 I often unplugged it and just played......I refuse to use it now as I'd rather go without than have to deal with all the hassles of using it.

I've yet to have a really positive experience with Vent.  The times I've used it has usually involved quite a few of the aspects of games I hate.  The thing is, the way I play games never really lends itself to vent usage anyways since I preffer to run into the wilds and find people who are out there with like mind as I and group with them.  Usually the groups are small and are formed more for giggles and shits then really getting anything done.  That and I really don't care for having someone dictate how I should play my game and yell at me for something that really does not matter.  I have a very low tollerance for asshattery and will generally walk away from anything I don't like or feel is stupid.

Originally posted by Theocritus

    Yeha my experiences are pretty similar....We downed many, many raid tarets without ever using vnetrilo then all of a sudden people couldnt survive without it......My experience was similar when I tried vent also....There was a baby crying all the time, people yelling at each other, conversations on the phone while their mic was on, etc etc etc.......To me it completely ruins immersion......You can say what you want but if you ahve half a brain and have some experience in raids you can generally get by without it....in EQ2 I often unplugged it and just played......I refuse to use it now as I'd rather go without than have to deal with all the hassles of using it.

I pretty much agree with everything said in this thread so far. And this most closely matches my opinion on the matter.

I'm not a big fan either. I just joined a WAR guild and the first thing I checked out was how everyone sounded on vent. Are there any chatter boxes?

Is there anyone who sounds too young?

So far so good.

But I would be happy without it.

One thing I like about CoX is they have some chats bind setup that are useful in groups, like HELP! (with a whistle blow - I love that one) RUN! and a few others. Combining macro with variables like, target, you can do all sorts of things in chat.

Vent and other live voice chat systems ruin immersion. Personally I hate the concept but since they utilize outside software not connected with the game, there is no way to block this phenomena right? The only acceptable option besides refusing to participate, is playing a MMOG that incorporates live speak as part of the game for all players to use. Preferably with a real life voice masking system so I don't hear a squeeky pimply faced kid's voice coming from a burly dwarf fighter.

Personally I have no problem lietening to an experienced raid leader or pvp squad commander over vent.

What drives me crazy is just hanging out in the Vent lobby for general chit chat. The last thing I wanna hear while playing an MMO is how the Tank had an argument with his boss, or the healer is thinking of upgrading his video card. Small talk is de worst

Originally posted by fugue14

After setting it up along with my headset I felt like I was either ready to captain the millenium falcon or start my job at AT&T.

That made my day, funny as hell.

You really have to get used to it, we  used roger wilco back in 2000 for online games its not going away.

The key is too keep it small, have seperate channels in the vent, divide raids into class channels.