Voice chat coming in 2.2.0
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 5th 2007 at 10:01PM
Coming in 2.2.0: Integrated voice chat.Tigerclaw, who I've never heard of either-- is he a dev? He says he's "in a whole other building than the CMs"-- has bad news for all of those Teamspeak and Ventrilo hosts. Apparently come 2.2.0, you won't need to run any extra programs, as players will be able to speak to each other via the normal client. Tigerclaw also says a PTR for the patch is upcoming, but he definitely does work for Blizzard: he doesn't give any clues at all as to when this might happen.
So let the rampant speculation begin! Lately I've been playing a lot of the Halo 3 Beta (traitorous, I know), and I love the way voice works in that game: you can push a button to talk over a radio to your whole team, or just speak into the mic without pushing anything, and only players near you ingame will hear what you're saying. I doubt WoW will be that complicated (not to mention that a lot of players don't like that "feature"), but it's a cool effect, and here's hoping Blizzard comes up with some interesting ways to use voicechat onward. What if Hakkar's whispers were heard only in your own personal voice channel?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Macuser Jun 5th 2007 10:18PM
Tigerclaw is usually the guy on the mac tech support forum.
Beartoes Jun 5th 2007 11:02PM
A little behind on news are we? That information was released like two weeks ago.
Niru Jun 5th 2007 11:03PM
Tigerclaw is not only the guy usually on the mac tech support forum, he DOES tech support. He follows every single post to completion. Look at the forum sometime, place is COVERED in blue posts.
Savok Jun 5th 2007 11:28PM
I think we're all pretty terrified at the prospect Tony.
Tabi Jun 5th 2007 11:43PM
Tigerclaw does more than tech support. He's a dev/coder too.
bill gates Jun 5th 2007 11:50PM
thank god!!
Devilmachine Jun 6th 2007 12:53AM
If Blizz do a good job on it and works how it should, then I cant wait to use it :)
However, if they make a mess of it and has limited usability, like the LFG window, then I'll stick with Vent.
Acariquara Jun 6th 2007 1:37AM
NOOOOOOOOOO that will be the end of the ROFLCOPTER ALERT ROFLCOPTER ALERT SOI SOI TCHE TCHE TCHE madness!
right square bracket, left square bracket
right square bracket, left square bracket
right square bracket, left square bracket...
NeoWolf Jun 6th 2007 1:47AM
TigerClaw's one of the Mac devs and one of the most active, community wise, developers I've ever seen.
Though as a member of that trailing supply of dial-up users I find this prospect rather troubling. (And before anyone mouths off, some of us simply have no choice other than satellite and dial-up. The prior being even worse for gaming.)
Chad Jun 6th 2007 1:51AM
Here's to hoping they do it right. I wonder if they will completely build their own voice chat service or if they'll just partner up with someone. It kinda seems to me that building their own from scratch is kind of a big undertaking.
Then again, maybe they will acquire someone who has the technology already. This is obviously a big part of grouping and raiding, and maybe they'll plug it into Starcraft 2 also.
The best part, though, if it doesn't work well, it can be turned off and ventrilo will still work.
dcmetrocoaster Jun 6th 2007 1:57AM
Hopefully they will use Cisco telephony hardware. If they do then we shouldn't have any problems lag-wise.
HotSauce Jun 6th 2007 2:17AM
I wonder how far blizzard will take it with this voice chat thing within WoW. Say you speak into your microphone, your character will probably animate like when you do a regular /say motion when you're speaking into the mic.
I'm pretty sure they will play around with it alittle bit. Perhaps they'll even have mouth mimicking movements?
All Blizzard will be missing after this setup is having your PC shoot water at you so you wouldn't have to quit WoW for a quick bath.
LordyLordy Jun 6th 2007 4:27AM
I personally hate the idea of voice chat. I often play at times when my baby or my spouse are napping etc... The computer is in the bedroom. So after voice chat it's going to be "byebye WoW" :(
Trollyboy Jun 6th 2007 4:56AM
LordyLordy, I'm sure it will have an "off" button, but then again knowing Blizzard....
Savok Jun 6th 2007 4:54AM
No one said you MUST use voice chat, plenty of times people won't/can't use it. God knows I won't always be on it.
Also I'm buying a Mac and playing WoW on that, the Mac forum is a sea of blue, it's like.... it's like real customer service.
Tigraine Jun 6th 2007 4:55AM
I can't see how voicechat will end your wow Career just because you can't talk.
Either way, you can play with a headset, and still use the chat to communicate with others.
They won't remove the chat from the game, they will just add an alternative.
And you will always be able to be muted on VoIp and just listen.
Xiphus Jun 6th 2007 5:49AM
I, for one, welcome this new system. There shall no longer be any excuses to not have Ventrilo, since, well, there's already a Ventrilo built-in.
And I sure hope there's a system allowing voice chat activation by means of voice only. Then, it will be easier to yell out orders or incomings or etc. etc. in PUGs, Raids, Arenas and BGs.
No more configuration, no more setting things up, no more additional installations. Boot up your WoW and yell into your mic. Just don't overdo it.
But of course, this might bring trolling to a whole new dimension...
Lori Jun 6th 2007 6:41AM
@18 be careful what you wish for. Some ppl can make some pretty gross noises without thinking that the whole group will hear them.
Duromiir Jun 6th 2007 7:23AM
Microphone mute ftw!!
All joking aside, my only concern is that of DU users. I'm on cable, and was running a TS server on my machine with only a slight bit of lag during raids, but others aren't so fortunate.
My (random, uninformed) guess is that you'll have an On/Off toggle in your Interface Options, with a few extra features (bitrate, for instance) under it.
Hopefully they'll get it done well and it won't be an addition burden on memory ala Vent and TS.
Lunada Jun 6th 2007 7:37AM
I would never, EVER, use this chat for PUGs or any other such grouping with strangers. Ive met people who's incompetent babble has turned me away from events such as instances and BGs, so why, in the good world of warcraft, would i want to actually HEAR them.
Although, it does pose for some opportunities make fun of such morons -grins evilly-