Microphone - not emphasized enough when purchasing the game(and few others things as-well).
Apollo10000
Join Date: 2013-03-02 Member: 183582Members
Join Date: 2013-03-02 Member: 183582Members
Basically guys, I do believe the games doesn't advertise that Mics are a must have, I know currently most games under use Mics as do most people, because most games require very little teamwork and can get away with typing, but people come into this game with the same mentality and then they do go against a team(even half's enough) of people who use Mics and get stomp quite heavily, which as most people say kills the enjoyment for people.
Also the atmosphere of the game dies when everyone is silent, you just feel so disconnected to the team and the action around the map.
Also the long games people crave only seem to happen when mics are abundant, well for me it does.
I just wish the Devs were more upfront of the needs of the game, about it's difficultly, equipment needed and so fourth. Too many enter the game get overwhelmed(unless made of sterner stuff) and never play the game again, and performance as-well, I know someone will moan about it(but it's pretty good if played at the right server number, not above 16).
Also the atmosphere of the game dies when everyone is silent, you just feel so disconnected to the team and the action around the map.
Also the long games people crave only seem to happen when mics are abundant, well for me it does.
I just wish the Devs were more upfront of the needs of the game, about it's difficultly, equipment needed and so fourth. Too many enter the game get overwhelmed(unless made of sterner stuff) and never play the game again, and performance as-well, I know someone will moan about it(but it's pretty good if played at the right server number, not above 16).
Comments
That said, I do believe that the right amount of communication per mic is indeed better than texting. But since I play only in pubs, I don't believe it is necessary. And I have seen awesomely coordinated games in ns2 and other games with text messages. If your team knows what to do, short hints like "pg reactor" are enough.
If we advertise microphones, we should also ask people to invest more than five bucks so the team can actually understand what they are saying. Also push-to-talk is a must. Oh man, I am so happy that the constantly commenting mic spamming kids haven't reached this game so far. I really had some bad experiences.
In short: Yes, mics are a good thing in the right hands, but no, I don't believe they are a must have.
Yea, I would love to talk(hehehehe) to you about it.
Though I do think it's not helping the game, if people aren't given ample warning about the requirements.
You shouldn't Mic spam, just tell people what's up, it's quicker and people don't have to stop to read or even write back, just press a button.
Though this game(and any other game hyper-team orientated requires mics) is for voice communication, not text base, firstly it's too slow and most of the time doesn't give enough information, voice always helps more then text, I don't want to stop every so often or look at the corner when trying to concentrate on thing on the map, or what's around me(I would like to enjoy the game, see what I did there? I used your erroneous argument against you.), so many times I've seen people get taken out, because they were typing.
You said ""pg reactor" is enough, but it isn't, you not saying what lifeforms, how many they are or even if it's worth putting your attention to it, how can you organize a quick counter attack, if you're writing, you can not.
Though a team with mostly mics, wins most of the time.... also a Commander without a mic, going against one seems to lose most of time as-well, because the one with the mic, can micromanage people much more effectively, give multiple orders at one time.
You last paragraph has no weight to it, if people can afford to buy this game and the computer they're using, then they can afford a Mic, in my country the Mics are even cheaper, quite a few only cost a couple of pounds.
Also the "spamming kids"(though mostly a American issue it seems, don't get that on Euro servers very often) are mutable, again a none starter on your part.
Though it helps teams enjoy and win more often using Mics, amount of the times when I've gone on teams, where it's just me talking, and everyone is too slow to react because they're "texting"instead of speaking.
The only time a mic could be considered a "requirement" is for marine commander. Anything else can be accomplished with attentiveness to text based messages and in game audio cues. And even the marine commander, if experienced, could get away with not using a mic; its the players that need to be cajoled into performing. Too many of them aren't attentive enough without being badgered over the mic.
That said, a mic is a huge benefit if used correctly.
I believe you need at-least half the team to have mics, because the commander can not see everything that's going on, also sometimes you need someone organizing other parts, for example if the Commander trying to support through meds or enzyme, he/she can not be using he's/her's mic, that's where other people come to help, also someone just being supportive, like saying "come on guys, just get in there" and stuff of that nature.
Also "texting" takes people out of game for certain period of time, also the cues aren't that useful, it's only for asking stuff, doesn't help team organization.
I've been under mic-less Commanders, they're annoying because alot of times they never tell you their plan, or even if they have one.
People think I want mic spam, no I just want the whole team communicating, when needed. People talking about their day isn't what I want, unless it's before the game, then I don't care, I'll just blank it out.
Though the well oiled machine you talk about, doesn't even happen with actual teams, you'd be surprised how much mic support you need to organize 6v6.
Basically every time where I've been in teams with mics, things seem to be move more smoothly.
Well, I say a few more, but agree people shouldn't be spamming the mic.
It's not going to stop you playing the game, but it is going to hurt any real chance of true organization. When you see a no mic team go against another team who has active mic uses you can see the difference straight away, they move in packs, they attack in numbers and so fourth.
Same, I just want people in general to communicate more, sometimes a team barely write, which compounds the issue it even more.
Some are probably thinking, Apollo maybe you should play gathers and I do, but only pubs give you regular games.
though the Server(Yo-Clan) I mostly frequent has quite a few mic users, it's just when I go on other servers it becomes quite annoying.
I would love to set-up a mic only server it's how I think games should be played, also the proper size as-well 6v6 maybe 8v8, but alas I am too poor at the moment.
Agreed, but it doesn't devalue the importance of voice communication, that's a failure on the people's part, people can still clog up the text with rude and silly comments and that you can not remove.
Keep it short, clear and concise.
You'll find this invites others to do the same..
I've even had games where i'm looking out for the mic-less commanders by relaying messages and being more situationally aware than him (read: map open)
All it takes is a few coordinated individuals and it makes a world of difference not only for winning but for that fun that comes from teamwork and coordination.
Literally any team game can be assumed to be enhanced with a mic, either through in game systems or 3rd party VoiP programs.
I basically do the same, people seem to be more responsive if you use your voice, because all they have to do is hear, they not impeded in anyway, unless they spammed, but that I am against.
And my point is really summed up by this - "All it takes is a few coordinated individuals and it makes a world of difference not only for winning but for that fun that comes from teamwork and coordination"
I just wish a few more join in.
This game is quite a lot about communication then most realize.
My main point was that UWE didn't advertise the great importance of the mic in their game. But just read some of the comments, some do disagree with your point.
Though their advertisements does leave a lot of things out.
Are team games greatly improved with mics? Yes.
Is this a team game? Yes.
Therefore this team game will be greatly improved by a mic.
And no I don't believe most people under use mics. Almost every game I've played for the last decade supports mics in program and have people using it constantly. I guess that's why I feel this thread is so silly. It's not a requirement, it's been a standard in team games for years, and in fact I'm more surprised when a game doesn't support mics natively than when they do.
Typically if I start talking on a quiet server I find people talking back who were previously quiet for minutes.
I've almost never had a problem with my team communicating. Perhaps you should join servers with a more active community. For example, Tactical Gamer requires you to be able to communicate with the team or you will be kicked (you can type or mic but you have to be able to hear your allies and respond to them) and run games that are 8v8. OldF is similar in my experience but I don't think they have the communication rule laid out officially.
Also, I don't see anyone saying that team games are made worse with voice communication. I see people hating spam, and people who think it's not necessary....if someone thinks a mic does not directly improve team play they are welcome to call out my lack of reading comprehension so that I may call out their complete lack of common sense.
Ahh, a person that talks to themselves and likes building straw-men, to prove he's point, very common.
But I wasn't talking about the system in place, your reading skills need improving, quite badly. I said people should be warned that non-use of the mic will hurt their ability to enjoy the game fully and not help with the team orientated stuff, this requires advertisement.
And I've played on most servers within all continents except AU and SA, is about 4/5 at most using Mics that to me when most servers are 20 or more, is quite low.
Again your reading skills is in dire need, I said the server I'm on is quite fine for active mic uses, it's other servers that have the issue with it.
And talking about active, the server I go on there's about an hour wait sometimes, lucky for me I just join through the Admin, through Steam most of the time.
A few have said that Mic isn't necessary, though none of said it's detrimental, well maybe one.
My main point was UWE didn't hype it's very impressive voice communication compared to other games, and didn't show how using will greatly help people experience of the game.
I don't use a mic at all and I do just fine, even when commanding. Regulars from Mavick server can attest to that.
If you have a team of people on a pub server who know what they are doing, you don't need anyone with a mic at all. Unplanned assaults on bases without using voice or text chat happen on their own.
I did not say continuous chatter I said short but informative updates, everyone could have a Mic and still not over use the voice system, but again you'd be at a massive disadvantage against a Commander who has a mic, and especially at the same skill level, also the team without the Mic will not be to react that fast in comparison.
I've seen many matches where one has the Mic and the other doesn't, it usually never goes well for one without it, because he's unable to micromanage people at the basic level.
But another point, "Unplanned assaults" never happen on the server I'm on, because there's a minimal of a Commander with a mic, maybe there's just a different set of players in Europe, who don't just go running around, hoping it will work out.
But your point about knowing what they're doing is full of holes, then pro(or whatever you want to call them) teams wouldn't use them, and they only have to organize a small team, where actual "texting" would be an option, but as you get greater numbers the Mic becomes even more important.
But to say Mics aren't needed in a TEAM game, is very silly and a point you seem to hold because you don't have a Mic, please have points that don't relate to you, but positives about not using a Mic.
Gahh, people... in most things that require organization in any field the Microphones wins out, it's why we stop using the telegraph, also I believe this enhances the games attraction of being a team game.