Raiding and Teamspeak.

[Eothas]

VOIP > Skill is just never something I've witnessed.

It does happen, not sure how frequent in FFXIV though. I remember when playing Wildstar, whenever using "duty finder" there, It was quite common to enter a dungeon with a premade group that would demand you to enter their TS/Mumble server or else they would kick you. I got kicked a few times for not wanting to enter TS with a bunch of randoms even though I could do the dungeons perfectly.

[Zenji]

Here's the thing, voice chat is invaluable during progression, sometimes you have a lot to say, discussing strategies and such, there's been times where it's way easier to say it then to type it. Especially on Ps4 where typing is a pain.

[GleepWurp]

I encountered this quite a bit in Lord of the Rings Online, which had optional voice chat built in as part of the game. There was a fair amount of pressure in some groups, to the point where I actually started wondering if it would be easier to just say that I was deaf rather than try to explain why I didn't want to use voice chat.

[AskaRay]

I encountered this quite a bit in Lord of the Rings Online, which had optional voice chat built in as part of the game. There was a fair amount of pressure in some groups, to the point where I actually started wondering if it would be easier to just say that I was deaf rather than try to explain why I didn't want to use voice chat.

I feel like doing that sometimes...but it won't fly with my friends, who know I use more sound than visual queues in the game as is

[Bixillarla]

Here's the thing, voice chat is invaluable during progression, sometimes you have a lot to say, discussing strategies and such, there's been times where it's way easier to say it then to type it. Especially on Ps4 where typing is a pain.

Get a keyboard and plug it into your PS4, problem solved.

[HaelseMikiro]

I feel that VOIPs are optional for a lot of things, but I think that the SE design team decided to make it essentially mandatory for high end raiding. For most raids it can be bypassed entirely as the fights are extremely scripted, but my static actually had to replace our non-voip member once we got to AS3. Having to coordinate stuns/silence on 4 mobs that spawned in random spots with the party members also randomly positioned when that happened simply could not be typed out on the fly, and we weren't going to give 1 person zero added responsibilities for the encounter just because they didn't want to voip. My group now does have 1 person who doesn't voip, but he lives in a house with another member, and the both of them are also on PS4 chat, so orders can be relayed in worst case scenarios.Because sometime things go wrong in progression or even farm fights, and telling the BLM to put Apoc on someone or Lethergy the Liquid gaol can be the difference between a wipe and a clear.

TL : DR I think the VOIP is optional, but endgame is designed with it in mind

[PArcher]

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.)

[Judge_Xero]

Many believe that these two are one in the same, that surely how could anyone be a decent progression raider without using VOIP? This is where the issue comes from and it's more prominent in FFXIV because half the community is playing on a console, not a PC.

Well to that end, why would you want to be a decent progression Raider and not use voice chat due to the level of coordination required.
I'm not referring to those who do endgame while over geared with Echo. I mean those who progress while a given Raid is still relevant.

I see some from various "Healer DPS" threads here who also seem to disregard VOIP as a valuable tool and I get the same impression of "I should not have to do more than the bare minimum."

That mindset would create more toxicity than any VOIP service usage.

- Unfortunately in your case with your fiancé being hearing impaired and unable to properly benefit from the use of VOIP and from the sound of your initial post, this has caused issues within your raiding static, possibly due to handling mechanics I assume otherwise it would be a non-issue simply due to being unable to use it.

So really it shouldn't even be about whether people use VOIP for Raiding but rather, if someone is unable to use it, but still enjoys Raiding and doesn't want to be hindrance to their team, what are some possible ways to accomplish the same thing though visual communication.

Fortunately there are many options available in this game in that regard:
- Waymarks
- Marking
- Macro Commands to warn of Mechanics in Chat
- probably more if actually looking into it

But that is up to you as a Teammate and any static you join to work out, because if you are not able to communicate on the fly with VOIP then you should have initiated a battle plan ahead of time.

[Morbid]

Someone already stated getting to know others on a whole nother level...

Well what if I don't want to? I can agree that having voice comms is 'easier' for communication since you just speak instead of typing but I still don't/won't qualify it as some necessity. You can play and progress in this game perfectly fine without it. Like many of us have been doing for years in MMO's..

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

It pains me that my FC's old leader was obvious in her refusal to use it (without ever explaining why), and worse others began to demonize it and cite it as the reason why our FC chat was so quiet at the start of Heavensward. It was quiet for entirely different reasons, and now that I'm running the FC, I see the good and bad reasons for that silence. Still, the damage was done, and voice chat has become some unseen boogeyman to far too many in our mostly-PS4 player FC.

On a personal note, when I got into raiding I was the ONLY one in my FC who raided well until Second Coil, and the static I'd been in used TS. . . I felt closer to them than I did my own FC at the time, and after we parted ways (the majority of them transfered servers), I created - not bought, created - a TS server for my FC that proceeded to go almost entirely unused. The same again with Discord, though it's seen just a little more use than the old TS one, due to the rise of a raiding static within the FC, and many other friends from other FCs whom I invite/am invited by.

I get that people have reasons not to use VOIPs. And I never enforced it at all. Still don't. But it's VERY useful, and for many different situations. Sometimes, often times in a battle/raid, you don't have time to type out what you could call out in less time. I mean, for that very reason, that's why these options exist. What I couldn't accept were the ones who criticized or blamed others for using it or the programs themselves, without ever giving it a chance, or arbitrarily taking a stance against it for whatever given reason. I'll be the mean person and say it - most of the critics within my FC are the ones who DON'T raid, or DON'T attempt content that requires more of them and a party beyond your typical roulettes, and generally are less proactive about progression and/or challenge. That's fine for them, and I'm not saying they're wrong to not try to run content that would make VOIPs a good resource, but I am saying it's wrong to treat it so secondhand without knowledge.

Metaphorically, it'd be like trying to have this same conversation via email or hand written correspondence, while complaining about why a forum like this isn't useful or necessary.