If you get disconnected and are using vent, you can let your guildies know that you got disconnected and are logging back in, or let them know that your internat has spazzed out and they should look for a replacement. If you use the in-game voice chat, you have no such option, and they have no idea what happened to you. Thus you force them to wait for you, even if you aren't coming back on.

The sound quality of WoW chat is nothing less than abysmal. Ventrilo offers better sound quality, and the option to adjust every individual's volume, as well as options like multiple channels (which can be very useful, even in raid situations) - not to mention, a lot of us like to hang out in vent and chat even outside of raid times, without necessarily having to be grouped up to do it.

The in-game VC is utter shite compared to the sound quality and QOS you get from a properly setup Vent/TS server.

Guild sites are a great way to stay in touch from work, school or the holiday hotel. It's also a way to not alienate members that for one reason or another can't access the game temporarily (e.g. hospitalization).

What I do wish is that there had been a way to access, say guildchat from an external application that did not require the entire game installation, perhaps through a java application.

@Gamer am I

Good point on the benefits of Vent over built-in voice chat, but if your "Internet has spazzed out", Vent's not going to work either, at least in most cases.