The downside to typing messages in boxes as opposed to voice chat is there is no tone of voice, for example "can you slow it down please" could either be read as a request in a suitable tone, or a sarcastic tone, or an angry tone, depending on who is reading it. The person who reads it may not read it in the tone you are typing it in. If I ask anything I normally put lol at the end or smile, that way it hopefully gets read in the tone of voice I would use if I were using voice chat, not aggressive, not whiny, just a polite request. It doesn't work 100% but most people will get the gist.
