Nov 12, 2008 1st Second Life Bloggers Mix'n Match!!!

HALP!! I'z bein' hi-jacked! =P

LOL ... not really. Please give a warm welcome to my guest blogger, Ganymedes Costagravas. And if you'd like, you can read MY entry to this Mix'n Match thang on Rik Riel's "The Click Heard Round The World" OR you can read Cat Magellan wax poetic on the topic I suggested on Tiessa Montgolfier's "All Things Tiessa". Enjoy!

::: starting dialup :::

This blog post was made by Ganymedes Costagravas for n0nSLensical, as a part of:
The 1st Second Life Bloggers Mix'n Match event
Organised by Vint Falken and ArminasX Saiman.
(Topic suggested by Luna Jubilee)

*** *** *** To Voice or not To Voice *** *** ***

That's some question! And it sure is debatable.

I've done it, but lately don't anymore, mostly cuz I lost my microphone and somehow I don't feel like declaring war against the mess in my drawers. (where the hell are those vividly colored gnomes when you want them to appear? C'm 'ere gnomes, azeest me!!!)

Let's whip up a bit of info first: blahblahblah, chit-chat chit-chat... technical info is rather dull, so let's skip that part shall we?

Voice in SL® has been around for over a year now (does that make you feel old or young? I remember the non-voice era and still feel young YAY!), and was welcomed with mixed feelings. Some were very eager to try it, some were sceptic. That's normal human behaviour, so some (but not me) went all "aaww thx Lab People".
Still, voice was fun.

So then, if it's fun, why do you, when you head out to explore, still see most people typing stuff, or typing endlessly for a little bit of stuff, and saying sorry for typos and all that, ey?
*/me places coffee in front of your nose, pls inhale*
Inhaled? Ok: voice has a downside.

Voice is only manageable when just with 1 or 2 other people, either to discuss topics, describe the pair of boots you see hanging on the wall that cause you to drool over your keyboard, share opinions or to "be very very close with each other" (they said to keep the post "safe for workplace", so I try to be creative with descriptions).



Soon as multiple people start to voice, it becomes impossible to have a decent conversation. So it's broader public use remains limited to 1-to-1 (or 2) person conversations and conversations of "the very very close with each other" kind (I don't know about your workplace, but I'm LMAO when typing this, causing people to stare at me. Or maybe that's the effect we're going for? I should probably ask somebody, but... very likely, will not).

All this, of course, is when all can get the voice function to work. Believe me (or don't but it's still true): there are people who have a computer that struggles, or simply refuses, to master the voice function.

Sometimes there's find a way around this by using Skype (thanks Estonians!), Yahoo, MSN Messenger or simply grabbing the phone and... call (when in the same country / state / continent).

Despite those technical difficulties some encounter, and the impossibility to have good discussions with more then a couple people, voice can still reach large audiences.
It has proved it's use at educational and informative gatherings. Also performers, actors, musicians, vocal artists, makers of machinimas and alike, find their gain in using the voice function (sometimes channeled with the help of a stream on the land).
But for that to work properly, an unwritten code has to be followed: only 1 or maximum 2 people are allowed to use voice (the instructors, directors, performers, singers, etc.), the rest has to "use text only", and refrain from loud and long gestures.

Perhaps the biggest downside of the voice function remains drama. What would *any* life be without drama? (Answer to that is "Nirvana" but that's not what we're discussing here today.)
Unlike typing out your frustrations, using voice is much easier for ranting. Alas, it's also much easier to eavesdrop on people who rant on each other this way. You don't even have to be near them (as long as you're in the same sim). All you need to do is pan your camera over to the ranting people (if you have your voice settings placed on "camera position" instead of "avatar position").

The perfect example of this:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZMjP8tx2Q4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChB-3fbCYXA

So, as to answer the question of "To voice, or not to voice", I'ld say at this point in time voice won't manage to replace text when it comes to broad public use, but it can "add to the experience" (whatever the experience may be) or "provide help" at educational stuff and performances.

But personally, I'm not so crazy of it anymore.

::: end of transmission KTHXBAAI :::