[MUD-Dev] DGN: Effect of voice chat on game design

[Cosmik]

On Wed, 13 Oct 2004 12:59:01 +0800, Brett Bibby
<research at gamebrains.com> wrote:

> With all the posts recently on programs that allow out-of-game
> voice communications (e.g. Roger Wilco, etc.), it has got me
> wondering if this will severly limit the appeal of many games in
> the future.

> For example, if I want to roleplay a female as a RL male, I
> wouldn't be able to join any guilds that require voice if I wanted
> to maintain my roleplaying.  And what about immersion in the
> world? If I'm supposed to be an old battle-hardened Orc, or
> someone with a known accent, and I'm a young female, it would be
> impossible to actually roleplay.

> Once that happens, just simply declining to join a guild with such
> a voice requirement would generally reveal that the person in the
> game is roleplaying in some way.  At some point, with the majority
> of players using such a communication system, the players will
> roleplay less and less.  It is already hard enough to innovate on
> a large scale and make the world compelling, but imagine if
> everyone is using voice chat....


I don't believe we'll be seeing any problems with out-of-game voice
communications from a roleplay point of view.

Firstly, the guilds that are putting these "Must have teamspeak to
join our l33t forces" restrictions do not roleplay at all. Not even
to make a gold piece. Honestly, a roleplayer isn't going to feel at
home in a guild like this, and won't be sacrificing their roleplay
identity to join the ranks.

Secondly, I'm not too sure out-of-game voice communication tools
will reach a superior level that it will start to kill off
roleplayers. The hardcore PvPers aside, the guilds that use tools
like teamspeak for both PvE and PvP aren't demanding all members use
it. I've been in a number of guilds that used teamspeak, and
roleplayed in all of them.  Teamspeak was not demanded of, and not
even encouraged within any of those guilds; it was just there to use
if you wished. Within the guild I restricted general out-of-game
talk to teamspeak, and roleplayed using the keyboard. The guild, not
a roleplay-centric one, was happy for that to happen, and I even got
many to roleplay along with me as well.

Besides, roleplaying through text allows for more flexibility. It's
there for everyone in a vicinity or channel to see, and most people
would feel comfortable typing their feelings/thoughts compared to
using their voice. Additionally, typing allows for emotes.

And lastly, you have those players that although they may not
roleplay, they do cherish the anonymity that the internet, and
internet-based games, provides them with. These people won't be
giving that up just to join a guild that contains little or no
friends (as I would think/hope friends would let someone join a
guild, regardless of whether they used teamspeak or not).

Still, I wouldn't mind seeing the day when you are able to speak
into your microphone, and through the use of a translating system,
everyone else hears you as the Dwarf Paladin you claim to be,
complete with scottish accent. :)
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