Raiding and Teamspeak.

[Bixillarla]

I know this may be seen as insensitive and I apologize, but I seriously don't understand online voice stigma.

I personally don't see it as any different than talking to somebody in real life. Do the people who are too shy for VOIP just never talk to people IRL either?

Umm yup. If a person is shy they shy both in and out of game and find communicating by typing much easier. I am one of those, I don't do voice chat. I am very shy in real life and find it hard to talk to new people in person or on the phone, voice chat would be the same.

[Beckett]

It's a great tool, especially for progression. It's not *necessary*, but it does help a ton.

I will say this, if a group you join is using voice and you are not, you better not mess up a lot (especially on things often called-out, like who is stunning which add in A3S.)

Related to this, I don't think anyone should feel shocked or or be upset over joining an existing group that uses voice chat, and expects you to use voice chat, if they're using it as a key element for their group. Yes, they could set up macros to call out things in party chat they would normally say over TS, but which makes more sense: 7 people creating callout macros or 1 person setting up voice chat? It's not so much a matter "Is voice chat necessary for this fight?" and more a matter of "Should the new person conform to the existing group, or should the group conform to the new person?"

[CrimsonThunder]

I know this may be seen as insensitive and I apologize, but I seriously don't understand online voice stigma.

I personally don't see it as any different than talking to somebody in real life. Do the people who are too shy for VOIP just never talk to people IRL either?

Many see voice communication as breaking a notable social barrier and for those with social anxiety it can be very taxing on them.

[FoxyAreku]

Many see voice communication as breaking a notable social barrier and for those with social anxiety it can be very taxing on them.

Social anxiety sure, that's easy to see, but I see this from people who don't even have such things. That's the kind of people I don't understand. Especially when you're playing a game that is literally made to be social..

[Savvy]

I know this may be seen as insensitive and I apologize, but I seriously don't understand online voice stigma.

I personally don't see it as any different than talking to somebody in real life. Do the people who are too shy for VOIP just never talk to people IRL either?

Some people aren't social butterflies that want to essentially sit in a room of strangers and talk during what is in a lot of cases a stressful situation. If you like listening to a bunch of people chit chat in your ear then that's fine, but it shouldn't be so hard for you to understand why other people might not like it. Why do you see it as a stigma instead of a preference?

For me it's distracting, unnecessary and annoying listening to people bicker, shout and call out things that I already saw for myself well before it was announced. I'd rather just listen to my game and pay attention. Voice chat wasn't a thing in online games for a long time. Somehow people still managed to figure things out, work together, progress and communicate.

[FoxyAreku]

Some people aren't social butterflies that want to essentially sit in a room of strangers and talk during what is in a lot of cases a stressful situation. If you like listening to a bunch of people chit chat in your ear then that's fine, but it shouldn't be so hard for you to understand why other people might not like it. Why do you see it as a stigma instead of a preference?

For me it's distracting, unnecessary and annoying listening to people bicker, shout and call out things that I already saw for myself well before it was announced. I'd rather just listen to my game and pay attention. Voice chat wasn't a thing in online games for a long time. Somehow people still managed to figure things out, work together, progress and communicate.

I would hardly call it distracting. If you can see every last detail and mechanic at all times and you literally never miss anything that is happening, sure, you might not need it as a DPS, but no one is perfect and no such player exists, and ensuring no mistakes are made is pretty good.

Plus it helps people work together, saying "I'll take this add" or "I'll heal so and so, you get so and so", just as an example. There's nothing bad about this.

[AskaRay]

Social anxiety sure, that's easy to see, but I see this from people who don't even have such things. That's the kind of people I don't understand. Especially when you're playing a game that is literally made to be social..

I'm not sure if you know anyone with phone anxiety.
I...well I do mind talking to people face to face, but I'd rather do that, or text/type chat, or ANYTHING ELSE other than talk to someone on the phone.
Voice chat to me is literally the same thing. It's extremely stressful. Is it a personal problem? Sure it is, but that doesn't make it any easier to do.

[Beckett]

Many see voice communication as breaking a notable social barrier and for those with social anxiety it can be very taxing on them.

Social anxiety sure, that's easy to see, but I see this from people who don't even have such things. That's the kind of people I don't understand. Especially when you're playing a game that is literally made to be social..

As someone with social anxiety, I understand that that is a limitation I need to get passed if I want to play an MMO and cooperate with other people. I've never raided in any other MMO I've played, precisely because I feared interacting with people on anything more than the most casual basis. When I decided I wanted to raid in this game, I realized I needed to suck it up and overcome my fears if I wanted to do this content.

FFXIV is an easy game for someone with social anxiety to play for 90% of the content, but if you want to do the 10% of the game that does require interacting with people for more than 30 minutes at a time, then either realize that content is not for you, or attempt to overcome your own issues. Don't expect other people to do it for you.

[Savvy]

I would hardly call it distracting. If you can see every last detail and mechanic at all times and you literally never miss anything that is happening, sure, you might not need it as a DPS, but no one is perfect and no such player exists, and ensuring no mistakes are made is pretty good.

Plus it helps people work together, saying "I'll take this add" or "I'll heal so and so, you get so and so", just as an example. There's nothing bad about this.

That's your opinion, and your preference, and if it helps you and the other people you're in voice chat with to play better, or to have a better time then use it. But you are stating what you feel and think as though that's just how things are for everyone, and that is some serious generalizing. What is for you isn't for everyone, and what is for me isn't for you. This applies to everything in life so how is this really hard for you to wrap your head around?

[Tint]

I'm not sure if you know anyone with phone anxiety.
I...well I do mind talking to people face to face, but I'd rather do that, or text/type chat, or ANYTHING ELSE other than talk to someone on the phone.
Voice chat to me is literally the same thing. It's extremely stressful. Is it a personal problem? Sure it is, but that doesn't make it any easier to do.

i have the same thing :O

i almost never use a telephone (traveling for example to the dentist just to make an appointment for the next day instead of using the phone). voice chat with a whole group of people is even worse