[MUD-Dev] Is difficult communication the barrier to community in MMORPGs? (fwd)

[Patricia Pizer]

The interesting twist to using voice in an MMORPG is that it can not
only break immersion but shatter it completely. Imagine, if you
will, the 12-yr-old Ogre saying, "Fear my l33t skills!" It really
doesn't maintain any fiction about who the player actually is.

Oddly, humans can consistently tell a great deal about a speaker
from voice.  These include age, race, relative size; cross-gender
play is academic at that point. (BTW, this is from academic
research, not my fanciful imagination.)

I've tried voice and it's very strange to hear someone's kids in the
background when you're trying to be "in character." Real life
intrudes in a way well beyond OOC comments.

-patricia

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