The anti-Vent.... diatribe.
By
Bad_Influence,
Posted on: 2010-08-15 20:58 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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These are pretty much my thoughts. There are certain MMOs I'd be playing on and off if they didn't have built-in voice chat.
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Originally Posted by Enfernoe
Plus .... I really ... REALLY do not care to listen to people drone on and on about out of game topics when I'm playing. It is easy for me to ignore in text ... in audio it is almost impossible to ignore. I simply despise Vent and Team Speak and have never used it in Cox nor will I ever.
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Having Vengeance and Fallout slotted for recharge means never having to say you're sorry.
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It was Voo, wasn't it? |
Originally Posted by PennyPA
Going with the others and saying you are not alone in this feeling. Early on I tried it in this game and in other games. Always negative experiences, especially the one time I got screamed at by this one guy for using a power at the wrong time in a mission. We still finished it and no one died and it was no big deal, but he wouldn't stop the complaining.
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Vent is only as good or bad as the people on it. In other games I've played I've seen a large amount of completely inane conversation, but on a small multi-player game (L4D for example) it can be useful and fun.
For CoX I much prefer chat.
Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
It works great on action games because those games are real fast paced and take a lot of planning to be effective. This game does not take that much planning even in the TF's so people just end up using it to chat which I find annoying and distracting. I'm glad to find out it's not just me.
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It doesn't have to be "be a jackass" - when dealing with non-vent users, sometimes just behaving "normal" comes across as rude, cliqe-ish, and, well... like a jackass. When we're almost-naturally talking to half our group, we can forget that the LACK of communication to the other half can really hinder the fun for those teammates. Nobody likes feeling excluded, out of the loop, and chasing after everyone when it's clear that everyone else knows what's going on. The folks on Vent are just doing what comes naturally... it takes some ADDITIONAL consideration to bring the rest of the team along too.|
Originally Posted by Decorum
Well, certainly. Your point isn't "Vent is bad", your point is "If you use Vent, don't be an jackass about it", right? I usually avoid that by not playing with people who are jackasses.
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It isn't just vent--My wife and I play CoH in the same room when I'm at home. We frequently team with rian_frostdrake... and we have to occasionally remind ourselves to actually include him in on the conversation we're having. Of course, he compensates by taking the iniative, rushing headling into the next group, and not expecting any message from us about when we're ready. As we scramble to keep up... well, those are the times we're grateful he can't hear us. :P
Anyway, it's not just a matter of not being a jackass with Vent... its more of a matter of being a little more mindful than normal to keep things enjoyable for everyone.
(That also goes for the non-vent-users. You've got to accept that you won't always be getting timely on-the-fly battle adjustments. You won't be in on every joke. You'll ask a question to one person, and someone else on Vent will answer your chat. You'll run into points where conversations will lapse, and you've got to try not to let it get to you personally. It's a limit of the communication technology-- not a personal slight against you. Be patient & don't read too much into the silence.
Above all else, enjoy the game.
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Voo can scare me just with text lol!|
Originally Posted by Mental_Giant
It was Voo, wasn't it?
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Nah, it was very early and this guy I came across. It got real creepy, really fast.
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Ah, BI, I missed your rants so much...|
Originally Posted by Bad_Influence
Another one of my points, I guess, is this: are you one of those merrily jibberjabbering away on Vent 24/7? Be careful. You might be about to lose a friend or two over it - remember such-and-so? Where IS he these days? Haven't seen him for a while, have you? Did you even notice that person was gone till now? Did you ever consider that sooper-seekrit private channel might have had something to do with it?
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This is not a Vent issue. This is a people issue. If you feel that you can be friends with people by virtue of avoiding their bad sides, then I guess more power to you, but I prefer to see the worst my friends have to offer, and I prefer to see it up-front. And I say this, because I don't put up with things like that. If something people do bugs you, address it with them. If they keep doing it anyway, walk. Simple as that.
However, what I quoted is pure paranoia at work. I don't make a habit of wondering if people aren't talking about me behind my back, because it makes no difference. You can't be everywhere all the time, you can't observe what people are saying every waking minute, and chances are they WILL talk about you behind your back some of the time, simply because you're not omnipresent. In fact, I had a spot of fun on OK's Paragon Unleashed when I was suddenly given access to a forum AFTER people had discussed my pros and cons. Didn't really bother me, and I doubt it COULD have bothered me regardless of what had been said.
I enjoy joining my friends on Ventrillo when I can, which is to say when I feel like it, don't have guests over, am not watching TV and am not listening to music. However, when I DO join Vent, there are two things I CANNOT stand:
1. Dead air. Nothing is more depressing than joining a voice chat server and being met with deafening silence for fifteen minutes thereafter, a few customary "hellos" notwithstanding. If I join a voice chat server, it's because I want to chat via the medium of voice. If I didn't, I wouldn't.
2. Dry, boring organisational chatter. "Next mob to the left." "We're stealthing this one." "OK, pull to here." This! Is! BORING!!! *kicks microphone into a pit* I thought I joined voice CHAT, not voice mission control. Not only is that kind of organisation detrimental to the game in general, it also puts me to sleep and doesn't need voice chat at all. If I can type out messages fast enough to not die in Alien Swarm, I can more than manage in City of Heroes.
I've said it before - if I ever play (and, by extension, chat) with other people, it's because I want to be in the company of other people, not because I want more warm bodies or because I want an easier way to spoil my suspense of disbelief. It's the same as when I was a kid, and me and my friends would go out to arcades or to Internet cafes to play games together and basically hang out. That's what I want out of Ventrillo (and Skype, and MSN, and Team Speak), and it really kills me when spoilsports try to turn it into some kind of minimalist despotic game-only, instruction-only soulless comm channel.
If I go to chat with people, I want to chat with people, whether we're playing the same game or not.
*edit*
And English isn't even my native language.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I used to play another MMORPG with built-in voice chat. I hated it. Adjusting the volume of it against the game volume was fiddly and my reward was people either randomly yammering or else barking orders as though we needed General Sherman in our ranks to take on three goblins. Since it was built into the game, people would get very upset if you didn't have it on.
These days I have family reasons for not wanting to use it as well. My computer is in a "public" spot in the house and my wife doesn't want to hear some dude talking about Ghost Widow's boobs. She does want me to hear her so headphones aren't a great idea. So I just go without and tend to drop out of the "silent" groups who are all obviously on Vent since soloing in a group isn't much fun.
I have on occasion been dragged into Vent/Skype; some fine, some bad but none are 'outstanding'. For me it doesn't add to the gaming experience.
"Voice is good for Mo run coordination". Well every successful Mo run I have been on, didn't use voice, every unsuccessful one did use it; whether I was on call or not. As I yelled in team chat once "I'm not on voice, so give me some instructions, I'm not psychic". Leading my own Master runs I never use voice. My wall o' text instructions worked fine. Undoubtedly better than seven people trying to understand my accent or being distracted by whatever TV show they watch.
Unpleasant convos; I have actually put the phone down on people. Off colour 'jokes' with people you know well is fine, but I just got here. Perhaps ascertain I'm not pre-pubescent before commencing with the potty jokes?
Plus if things are going badly, you do NOT want to hear some of the words I'm using. My family are truck drivers; I have an expansive and inventive vocabulary on occasion. I can restrain myself from going ballistic in team chat, but on voice I assure you I'm questioning the parentage and grand-parentage of a team member who is displaying some particularly rear hatting behaviour.*
For me I also find it difficult to work out who is speaking. "To me". Ok and you are .....
Sometimes I just don't want to wear headphones. Or hear a voice. Yes I'm anti-social. 
Voice works for some, not for others. I'm one of the latter.
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Scanning through I didn't see this explicitly mentioned
Ventrillo itself does not enforce a password change every 2 weeks. The SG vent I use has been the same Password for over a year now, it think closer to 18 months.
The 2 week change is a people (being odd) issue not a vent issue
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
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I simply assume they are. People talk behind other people's backs. It's normal and natural.
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Samuel_Tow doesn't worry, bes happy: I don't make a habit of wondering if people aren't talking about me behind my back, because it makes no difference. |
Dec out.
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Oh, that's something I wanted to comment on, too. People keep saying "It's odd to hear a male voice coming out of a lady." and my question to that is "how can you tell?" I NEVER know which character the person I'm speaking with "is." Can not sort it out. I chat with people, not their characters, mostly because I CAN'T do it the other way around.
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Originally Posted by Capa_Devans
For me I also find it difficult to work out who is speaking. "To me". Ok and you are .....
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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*Why must the password change every two weeks? For those of us reluctantly on Vent, this is very offputting. I have to jump through hoops of fire every two weeks...