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Voice Chat Can Really Kill the Mood

Posted by Zonk on from the get-your-squeak-out-of-my-brain-please dept.

Raver32 writes with Wired article about the strange juxtaposition of real life identities intruding on virtual world bliss. Voice chat is becoming a very common component of online games, from MMOGs to FPS titles. Many even bundle a voice chat service into the game client now. That's useful, tactically, but socially it can be downright frustrating, confusing, or awkward. "Recently I logged into World of Warcraft and I wound up questing alongside a mage and two dwarf warriors. I was the lowest-level newbie in the group, and the mage was the de-facto leader. He coached me on the details of each new quest, took the point position in dangerous fights and suggested tactics. He seemed like your classic virtual-world group leader: Confident, bold and streetsmart. But after a few hours he said he was getting tired of using text chat — and asked me to switch over to Ventrilo, an app that lets gamers chat using microphones and voice. I downloaded Ventrilo, logged in, dialed him up and ... realized he was an 11-year-old boy."

2 of 539 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Cue Ender's Game comments! by NDPTAL85 · · Score: -1, Troll

    Seeing as how we just found out male circumcision cuts HIV infection rates in half how could you possibly be against that?

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    Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
  2. Re:Pedophilia jokes in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... by Snaller · · Score: -1, Troll

    I thought only pedophiles thought of such jokes.

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    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating