Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: To talk or not to talk on Ventrilo
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 19th 2009 at 8:00AM
I like Ambrosyne's Vent chart, even if it is a little harsh. It's true, when you're not part of the raid leadership (and especially when you're a talker like me), it's sometimes a little hard to tell whether it's ok to try and crack a joke in the middle of the raid on Vent or not. Usually: no. I've learned the same thing by my own experience -- no matter how easy the fights are or how your guild is doing, the raidleader probably won't appreciate you trying to play some "Safety Dance" over Vent during Heigan's dance-off.However, in my experience, there usually is a place for joking during raids, and it's the guild chat channel. Actually, that's where I do most of my communicating -- I leave the Vent chat open for raidleaders to address the whole raid with the actually important stuff, and the rest of us hang around in the peanut gallery of raid chat, grats'ing each other on good loot and slipping in some commentary for the raid. You've got to have fun, right?
Raidleaders, are there any good times to open up Vent and let everybody talk? And everybody else: have there been problems in your raids thanks to an unwanted Vent outburst, or does your guild pretty much understand that silence is golden?
Filed under: Fan stuff, Guilds, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Breakfast Topics, Raiding, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Murdax Mar 19th 2009 9:29AM
In my guild vent when a raid is going on its not that uptight as most are, we crack our jokes and humor evryone with laughter so as to not get bored and the main reason we play is to have fun. But this only during easy trash pull and what not after we have had a good hang of the place, other from that when we are in a boss encounter we all no that fun and joke time is over time to be more focus and allow the raidleader to explain the fight to someone that might have never done that boss before or just have never been in the place before. After that it would be back to happy fun time ^.^...
Derick Mar 19th 2009 9:30AM
During boss fights, It's business time.
If we are fighting the trash in naxx for the nth time, we spam our keys and giggle it up in vent.
I wouldn't want to be in a guild where it was as serious as this flow chart describes.
It sounds like a waste of the social fun that WoW facilitates.
Excelion Mar 19th 2009 9:32AM
In our 10 man raids we normally have a few brew then continue to make fun of each other during the boss fights (especially deaths during the dance). We have had Naxx on farm for weeks now so we have fun on vent and still get things done.
Hope Mar 19th 2009 9:43AM
As somebody who doesn't raid yet, I haven't used much communications in WOW other than chat. My question is why does everybody seem to use Vent instead of the built-in voice chat in WOW?
Tridus Mar 19th 2009 9:53AM
Voice quality. Vent's voice quality on a good server is very good. The built in voice chat is not.
Kylenne Mar 19th 2009 9:58AM
The built in voice chat pretty much sucks for anything other than chatting with a friend while questing. It has a tendency to be wonky and not work correctly, and it's also pretty inflexible. Everyone uses Vent/Teamspeak because you can do things like set up different channels, set passwords, etc. Using an external voice chat also has the added bonus of not being beholden to the game server, so if you're about to get tossed from the game you can let your group know. Before the latest patch I had the annoying tendency to get disconnected every time I tried to teleport into Dalaran, and because we used to hop on Vent a lot, I could let my then-partner know to log on my account and move me.
Vetali Mar 19th 2009 9:46AM
I wish WoW had in-game voice with multichannels like EVE Online. Then you could have a radio channel with music, an open channel for joking, a raid leader channel for instructions etc. all in one stream. Raid leaders would automatically be heard over everything else. And each player could mute the joke channel, turn up/down the music channel, adjust individual player volume, etc. just for them.
Swurds Mar 19th 2009 9:47AM
We use our vent to explain fights and crack jokes during Mobs. We also use it as a toold when the DPS is screwing up(Im a Rogue, I mess up too) We actually had a fight on Heroic KT where one of the DK's and pallies kept standing in the middle of the two groups of DPS we had. So instead of 3 people in 1 group getting icetombed... we HAD all the melee being tombed at once. Finally I shouted in vent Either stack up with your groups, or please just go in a corner and sit out the fight.
The Pally died(thank god) and the DK started arguing(but did in fact listen to what I said) The Raid leader asked us to play nice.... and we downed him. Sometimes vent is a good thing to call out people when they aren't being smart... kinda gets them to realize people actually are watching them.
Oh and in Naxx... the following fights can result in deaths when the melee DPS is NOT always at fault: Loetheb, Saph, KT, Grobbulus, Patchwerk, and Maexxna. AOE damage, poisons... DPS cant doo too much about it. In most fights, we can avoid cleaves and stuff... but please stop assuming that the DPS is always at fault when they die. Could just be a tank or healer not paying attention.
Kylenne Mar 19th 2009 9:51AM
Man, I am so glad I've never been in a stick in the ass guild the way some of you seem to. Half the fun of getting on Vent in the first place is cracking jokes at inappropriate times. Never mind playing the song, my old guild used to actually sing the Safety Dance over Vent during Heigan. I guess I've just been lucky in that the couple of guilds I've been in have consisted of mature adults for the most part that know not to talk over the RL when we're going over strats, or during hard boss fights, but don't have sticks up our asses and remember the game is supposed to be fun. Granted, I don't cut up and act a fool if I'm in a PuG full of people I don't know, but Vent to me is as much a social tool as it is a way to dispense info.
It's all about the personalities of the people you raid with, tbh.
Ozma Mar 19th 2009 9:55AM
Haha! i toally did that saftey dance thing. Well actually i sang it.
Treep Mar 19th 2009 1:27PM
The guild i'm in is hardcore with a casual attitude, as dumb as that sounds that's the best way to describe it so even our Raid Leader is always making jokes, but we feel that all encounters are pretty easy.
Anyways about 2 weeks ago we started forming Alt Naxx raids and we started pugging to fill in a few spots that we couldn't fill with alts, and of course we ended up with some random player that would not shut up in vent. Definately a guy in early to mid teens with a voice that you weren't sure if it was a guy or a girl. After the first wing more than 1/2 the guild that was on this run had him muted, and he did not take the subtle hints people where saying on /ra. at the end of the night we where just thankful for the raid to be over.
seanfury Mar 19th 2009 9:57AM
I don't use vent. Ever. Why should I? I know every fight in-game and I'm a fucking rogue. It's not like I have any important things to do for anybody, right?
And how long would it seriously take somebody to type "dps more"?
Mad Mar 19th 2009 10:00AM
as a guild leader and vent admin i've found a way to mute everyone except for key people when we need to get down to business. most of the time i leave vent open for anyone to chat. i love jokes music or whatever anyone can play to make me laugh. but sometimes we need to get something done and people will not shut up despite politely telling everyone to be quiet.
so what i did is assign ranks in vent to everyone. it can be applied to registered members and guests. then all i have to do when i need to mass mute is set the channel to mute everyone below a certain rank. presto! instant silence and my officers can continue leading the raid.
RetPallyJil Mar 19th 2009 10:17AM
I absolutely detest voice chat.
Fantheria Mar 19th 2009 10:28AM
No one is allowed to talk on vent in my guild except for the raid leaders.
Moltare Mar 19th 2009 10:29AM
It's really not hard to mix tactics and socialising over Vent.
1) Has the RL asked you to clear Vent? Then do so.
2) Is a coordination-heavy fight in progress? Then give the appropriate people some quiet to communicate.
3) Otherwise, apply common sense and common courtesy.
...and to be honest, (1) and (2) are just specific subsets of (3).
Erogroth Mar 19th 2009 10:53AM
"the raidleader probably won't appreciate you trying to play some "Safety Dance" over Vent during Heigan's dance-off."
LOL. Guilty. Actually I did it after we got the achievement during loot distribution. But it was still funny. The GL said I could but it drives the RL nuts which makes it even better. Of course I have been playing with these people for 3 or 4 years so we have a good groove. Everyone knows when its OK to talk or not. Last night during Anub'Rekhan we were all talking about the old days of MC and even UBRS. Some fights are just so simple you are on auto pilot while doing it. Of course I think that having some fun conversations on vent while not in harder fights that require more organization, can be good for moral. Everyone ended up in a real good mood after that last night and we owned in the raid. It turned out to be one of our best nights ever.
Balius Mar 19th 2009 10:55AM
It's not a matter of "Shut the hell up all the time" as knowing when it's OK to talk and when things need to be more serious.
It's one hell of a boring raid when it's all dead air except for healers coordinating.
Candina@WH Mar 19th 2009 10:58AM
Vent has the ability to mute individuals.
Mute everyone who is an Asshat.
Profit.
Makes my 25 man runs MUCH more enjoyable when I mute the kiddies.
David Mar 19th 2009 10:59AM
It really depends on the type of guild you're in. How hardcore are you? Our guild is fairly casual and as such we're a bit laid back about vent chatter. Obviously you don't talk over the RL if they're explaining something, but that's not a problem with vent chatter so much as it's a problem with common courtesy. Our vent rules are fairly simple. Unless it's the RL calling out something urgent, you don't interrupt if someone else is talking. And yes, during farm bosses we chat and crack jokes and talk about our days all the time. During progression bosses, well, everyone's usually too focused on the fight to talk about random stuff.