Raiding with my guild is not the problem. We have our own VOIP. Often though pug raids do not use voice especially for the easier content like story mode EV or KP. I was recently in an Operation like that where we were able to clear all of EV and most of KP without using voice. We ran into an issue with fabricator though. It isn't a difficult fight, but there are a lot of mechanics going on during the fight, and some in the raid had not done it before. Having voice would have really helped get through it easier.

 

Now I know that some would say that it is up to the players to supply voice communication, but we all use something different and it is difficult to convince pugs to download ventrilo, mumble, TS3, or raidcall. I have all of those programs installed but some just will not download the programs. Perhaps they think you don't need it to complete endgame content. Sometimes though you kinda need to be able to speak to the other raid members to explain things. It is just easier then typing it during the fight.

 

Other games have ingame voice. Lotro and APB are just two examples, but I am sure there are many others. When you are grouped with total strangers and have no control over how much they know about the mechanics of the content., having that feature would be really usful.

 

The pug raid ended there at fabricator, but it didn't have to. Lack of communication was the only reason it failed. There is no reason Bioware shouldn't add this feature to the game. It is a casual feature, and the casual players would get a lot of use out of it, and it would make the game more enjoyable for pug groups.

I remember when they released in game voice on WoW.

 

I don't think i ever used it.

 

Vent servers are cheap and from what i hear mumble is too, maybe invest in a few bucks a month to have your own server.Well worth avoiding the agravation of avoidable wipes.

I remember when they released in game voice on WoW.

 

I don't think i ever used it.

 

Vent servers are cheap and from what i hear mumble is too, maybe invest in a few bucks a month to have your own server.Well worth avoiding the agravation of avoidable wipes.

 

Agree!!

 

or failing that there are quite alot of people out there that have large VOIP servers that are not used all the time and are willing to let Pugs use small pre selected parts of it

The kind of people who play an MMO and do not have a VOIP installed on their computer are the same people you should avoid inviting to a raid.

 

Also, there are so many more features this game could have that cannot be supplemented by an outside program. Voice chat is so easily supplemented by outside programs that it would be an utter waste of resources for them to spend time on an in-game version.

I loved SWG in-game voice. It was SO good and clear when it worked. WOW and Lotro in-game voice... not that great.

 

It'd be nice, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

SWG had in-game voice communications?!? Must of went in after NGE since I was goen by then....

 

What Bioware needs to do is make clear indications of what is going on in the fight, for example fabricator, Tanks need to glow or something when they hit the 5 stack mark so the other tank knows when to taunt, although a good tank will watch the other tanks health and when it starts to get really low taunt him at that point...

 

People also need to pay attention to when stun droids spawn.....

 

True its a lot easier if everyone is on Vent or Mumble but it can be done without them, people just need to pay attention to whats going on, and if Bioware would add a few more visuals cues it would make it a bit easier for people who don't use voice programs..

Edited June 18, 2012 by Monoth

i have vent and ts installed. both i know how to operate very well but i refuse to download any more. two is enough for me. if i have to use a different service ill get another pick up op.

 

eq2 added a voice chat several years ago. it took a month or so to get a few bugs out but it worked as well as vent or ts. for groups it was great. for adding a person or two to your raid it was great. for a pur it was great. it even had a guild chat feature so guildies could chat on it. it also worked great when the paid voice channel was down. most of the time i would be in both voice chats as would several guildies.

 

is it needed for this game i dont know. but i do know this if you like to invite people you dont know into your guilds voice chat and not update your passwords every so often, you can be asking for trouble. it only takes one of these people to frap something with your voice chat info plainly legible for all to see to make a raid night really miserable. yes this has happened.

I think one of the major arguments against in game voice is that it can't really be moderated. I don't think bioware could support that argument though considering what I have read in general chat.

Mumble has several free servers available to the public. My guild used these for month's untill someone decided to pay for 1 to support what they do.

I'm all for using voice, but I guess I get the reasons why BW doesn't have it (namely, people being people).

I, as a first-time mmo'er assumed that it had voice and that I just couldn't find it for about a month before learning about Vent)

 

I agree, though, with one of the previous posts that what's really needed (and in keeping with what BW alleges to be aiming for) is clear indications of what's going on. They are getting there already--Cast-bars are decent, and I've noticed that all of the effects bosses cast have visual components to them as well. The target-of-target thing they added is great for seeing where the aggro is going, and AoE circles are pretty obvious.

 

There's still some things, though, that seem to benefit most from voice. It's hard to revise a strategy, paint/switch switch target, send a teammate to a certain spot, etc without voice. I've connected with an awesome guild and Ops team, and we are often able to run fights silently because everybody gets each other. But yea, as soon as something goes awry, voice chat is a must.

 

So...I guess I'm not sure where I stand on it. Back when I pug'd very frequently, I just got Vent because everyone was using it and it made sense. But I'd love the game to not be so obscurely confusing that it actually requires someone who "knows the fight" to call out every phase. But when instant communication is needed, voice just works. But if you're pug'd for end game ops n' stuff, that might be the wrong way to go anyways due to the team coordination required (regardless of voice). ...So I dunno. Not "desperate" I guess, but a viable thing.