Concern with Pc Players and Console Players

[Alcyon_Densetsu]

I'm really sorry but the argument that voice chat doesn't improve coordination and team play is just fallacious. Even if it could be done as efficiently via text chat, it takes away your attention from the field. It would be like asking a football team to read/write SMS texts from the captain and the coach during a match. It's just not possible. Communication by text is just not as efficient as communication by voice, we've known that for thousands of years…

• Can you manage without voice chat?
  —> Probably, depending on the difficulty on the content and the pre-existing experience of players and initial level of team play.
• Is text as efficient?
  —> Certainly not.
  Just look at other very competitive (hard) games based on team play, such as FPS/RTS/MOBA team and the likes: do you see any of these teams using text chat instead of voice chat? No.
• Is it nice, does it please everyone to hear/speak during combat?
  —> Arguably, no (though some like it very much). I say it comes with playing in a team, like you do in reality.
  And once you're used to it, it's certainly simple, and quite appreciable, to be able to just "say something", like "I can't <do action X>, can you <player Y>?" or "beware, <event Z> is coming". And even short of hard content, it's just a nice way to have fun during play, with your friends, casually talking and making jokes. It has a lot of this old feeling of just sitting with a friend and a couple of controllers in front of the screen. Personally, it gives me that old console feeling on PC.
• Is there a better alternative?
  —> Short of sitting in the same room and talking through air, I don't know of any.

That being said, is it SE's fault that there's no in-game voice chat? I don't think so, since in most MMO's players prefer third-party solutions anyway (better quality usually). And the PS3 just wouldn't be able to do it since the FF XIV client already pushes it to its limits.

It also falls within FC leaders responsibility to make sure that everyone can access their tools, such as voice chat. This is why we chose Mumble in my FC, because it's available on smartphones and as an open-source program it's usually cheaper (could actually be free).

From a strictly theoretical standpoint, there could be possibilities to allow a smartphone/tablet to do that job. A Mumble or TeamSpeak app + headphone/mic + some input device to be able to push a button to talk could theoretically do the job (like a button you'd stick on your controller, or a pedal or something — i don't know of any though, though pedals exist for PC's and work wonders to free gamers' hands for push-to-talk).

I think MMO's are rather new on consoles, and until this gen (PS3, X1) they weren't up to the task of multitasking apps; and as such voice chatting during games is a feature very much in its infancy on consoles. Therefore as far as reality is concerned, you're better off with a PC for now (if you wish to do competitive content or simply facilitate and improve your team play). I sincerely hope either smart devices and/or consoles will step up their game to allow for players to be as competitive, team-play wise, as PC players, in the near future. I really do. The sooner, the better. Until we figure out telepathy or something, voice chats aren't going away. It's been 15+ years we use them, and there hasn't been a better alternative found yet.