Voice & Text Communication

[Stuntmonkey (DayZ) 1]

Global chat was completely unplausible and unrealistic.

Yet putting a car tire into your backpack and walking around with it is? Get serious.

It annoys me when people try and play the "that's so unrealistic" card when the fundamentals of the game are unrealistic. If you get shot 3 times with an AK in the real world, you can't bandage yourself up, eat some beans and move along.

It's a game. Every popular, well designed game provides some form of medium for people to communicate. If you remove that, then you may as well be playing with AI.

[tomfin 25]

People complaining about the removal of global chat are the ones used to a common online experience like a MMORPG. Most of them just registered so I don't think their opinion has any importance.

Well this attitude's pretty churlish' date=' but I don't suppose you reckon my opinion has any importance. Not everyone came here straight from Runescape. Some of us might even have played Minecraft :P

DayZ comes complete with all the difficulties of getting any kind of software up and running on a PC without even considering it's still an Alpha. Things goes wrong and wierd stuff happens. Getting immediate feedback on tech and UI problems can make a big difference, particularly for newbies who don't yet have a clue.

Quick chat answers also turn up the S.N.R. on the forum by helping players before they post dumb questions. Case in point: the hundreds of "side chat is bugged" topics.

Did you ever read global chat and learn something new about the ARMA engine? Maybe to ramp up your 3D resolution to match display resolution? How to use your backpack? What about server-wide discussion of the poor FPS when v1.5.8 arrived? Perhaps that the server will restart and you should find a safe place to hunker down? Or heard that some hacker was handing out hueys and nukes and it would be a good idea to GTFO?

These things aren't game-world problems but we've still got to deal with them. Frustration over an inability to definitely communicate is probably my worst experience in DayZ, and I suspect some of the annoyance is down to having the functionality removed without anything being added to replace it (yet). There's probably quite a few people out there who have [b']never heard another voice ingame and exclusively use text chat.

I still think a per-player option to enable or disable chat would be ideal, that way if you can't stand to read text chat you're free to turn it off. Just be aware that players who don't respond on voice or text are usually considered hostiles unless they start running for their lives at first contact. However I'm feeling pretty appreciative of how things might work out with direct comms in the future, which ought to encourage teamwork and grouping among survivors early on and I'm looking forward to that. Additional comms are confirmed for 1.8 and beyond, but others have posted some good reasons for keeping chat purely as an option on a per-server basis, and much better reasons than I could come up with a few days ago. I hadn't even considered partially deaf players.

And by the way, the best (and worst) thing to happen to this mod surely has to be the explosion in player numbers. Helping new players encourages more new players, and every one of them buys another copy of ARMA to play it with.

Yeah, that's additional load on the servers, but it's also more money for the developers, a larger community and a more active playerbase. As player numbers and revenue increase the probability of DayZ becoming a polished and fully-developed experience approaches one, and you'll benefit from that as much as anyone else.

Ferrard Carson ninja'd me on this post and pretty much said it all already. We're going to get on with it and see how things work out.

The best thing we can do since 1.7.1 dropped is tell every newbie to bind capslock to broadcast on Direct Comms. I just wish it wasn't necessary to get within 80m of them to do so, but perhaps this was another reason why the Makarov was removed ;)

[mansen 1]

Yet putting a car tire into your backpack and walking around with it is? Get serious.

It annoys me when people try and play the "that's so unrealistic" card when the fundamentals of the game are unrealistic. If you get shot 3 times with an AK in the real world' date=' you can't bandage yourself up, eat some beans and move along.

It's a game. Every popular, well designed game provides some form of medium for people to communicate. If you remove that, then you may as well be playing with AI.

[/quote']

It annoys me when people counter one argument with another argument (that is irrelevant). The game is in Alpha. Tires might be gone tomorrow, they might be gone in a year, or they might not be gone at all. Deal with it - Telekinetic global server chat is unrealistic and incredibly immersion killing. Once the direct chat work properly people will have to adapt to it and live with it.

Are tires unrealistic in backpacks? Yes - But that is a topic for a DIFFERENT thread than this. Now go back to playing - Noone is stopping you from joining the Teamspeak server mosts servers run alongside with the game.

[Wüstenfuchs (DayZ) 105]

Once the direct chat work properly people will have to adapt to it and live with it.

Direct communication works 100% since beta build 93040. I haven't had any incidents of it not working since then.

I agree, once people get used to direct communication channel, eventually no one will miss the global chat anymore. Plus we'll be getting cell phones or radios soon anyways which will allow a bit more realistic "global" chat. :)

[jelly2m8 14]

We need to be able to disable ingame VOIP if desired. When someone uses ingame VOIP it kills ingame sounds for ~8-10 seconds and usually that's right when your trying to be sneaky and listen for something.....

And there's the assholes that insist on using it all the time for no reason, with the latest message kill feature you can't even see who that asshole is so you can mute him. Ever try to mute 45 people in the middle of a tense situation because you don't know who the asshole on VOIP is?

[Wüstenfuchs (DayZ) 105]

We need to be able to disable ingame VOIP if desired. When someone uses ingame VOIP it kills ingame sounds for ~8-10 seconds and usually that's right when your trying to be sneaky and listen for something.....

This is odd, what do you mean it kills in-game sounds? Are you talking about global voice chat or direct communication? If you are talking about global, it is already disabled since 1.7.1. If someone talks in VOIP, it shouldn't affect other sounds at all. In direct communication you should hear his voice coming from his character when you are within 80 meters of him.

[jpoo78 1]

Sorry to say but I definitely think there needs to be some way to communicate. The game is already lonely as hell, removing the only form of communication severely limits a players ability to play peaceably and creates hostiles out of all players. I know you guys want the mod to be hardcore and all but come on, at least give us some way to keep our sanity on those dark, rainy nights...

[mansen 1]

Direct communication works 100% since beta build 93040. I haven't had any incidents of it not working since then.

Let me rephrase - Once everyone is forced to use the beta patches, the direct communication works 100%. Everyone can hear each other on the direct lines, which isn't the case right now (Only one side of a two way conversation has side chat - never a fun event)

[jelly2m8 14]

This is odd' date=' what do you mean it kills in-game sounds? Are you talking about global voice chat or direct communication? If you are talking about global, it is already disabled since 1.7.1. If someone talks in VOIP, it shouldn't affect other sounds at all. In direct communication you should hear his voice coming from his character when you are within 80 meters of him.

[/quote']

Either or, take your pick. When someone uses ingame VOIP, my game effects sounds are attenuated for some 8- 10 seconds. I do not need or want to hear some noob saying ' Hi ' and 'can you hear me' or the horrible garble it usually is thats totally irrelevant to the game and plain just takes away from the gaming experiance.

Maybe I have an ingame audio option missed? the only sound slider I have above Zero is effects. Either way I along with other I know would prefer not to hear the built in game VOIP.

[goblinshark 5]

Opinions on sound: Proximity-based, player-activated voice is a great idea. If you don't want to deal with it, you can simply turn it off. I think more people than not though wouldn't mind having it on, so long as the proximity of the voice is fairly close. Chat, however, I should be more broad. We're in an online video game, with a rapidly developing community. It's nice to be able to talk to people on the fly and ask for assistance with my zombie-slaughtering nights. It's also great for communicating an aggressive player-killer. Blindly running around the map hoping to run into other human beings, and if so, having to player Russian Roulette with whether or not you should fire upon them, is not fun.

Suggestions: As said above, close proximity voice chat, directional, as listed in the OP's post. 50m or less, if anything, and it must be enabled by both parties for either party to hear it. A server-wide global chat that players can optionally join or leave. This facilitates communication among people so they can coordinate groups and find griefers, hackers, or other issue giving characters. Voice chat is imperative, and I think something more games need to do is get it implemented into the client. I know that this is not easy, but having a clean in-game interface for managing voice chat capabilities is GREAT for "pickup group" player interaction and organization.

Imagine, you log on and run into an arbitrary group of 4-5 other people in Elektra. You guys band up, hop on voice chat, and are suddenly exponentially more powerful. You roll into town like you just paid the lease on it and take shit out like it's owed to you, zombie matter scatter about. Hell yeah.

[lazermatt 3]

The only real thing that bugs me about Direct Comm VoIP in this game is that it shares the same volume meter (Effects) as gunshots/footsteps/basically everything else. After asking people on the coast if they were friendly I could barely hear them over the rain/ocean. I suppose this may add to the realism though so I guess I'm willing to put up with it.

[SubstanceP 0]

A lot of people are saying they would like some form of global chat. Know this...Wustenfuchs and other people who have been READING the posts have seen that in the future 1.8 patch there will be some sort of global chat implemented albeit...something we have to find though.

I am excited about this because although I am definitely "for" the immersion and realism, not having a way to communicate globally does make it lonely. Though a Zombie Apocalyptic World...should be lonely. But, as in real life...making communication with a friendly is just that much more rewarding.

You've been traveling alone, barely making it by finding a couple of cans of beans and soda here and there. There have been near death experiences with the zombie hoard, but you managed to give them the slip or fend them off with a side arm. You find yourself almost to the brink of no hope...ready to put the last bullet in your head when suddenly you hear footsteps just outside the building you're in that don't sound like zombies. The door swings open...startled, you point the gun at the figure in the doorway. He suddenly ducks back around the door frame for cover yelling, "Friendly! Don't shoot!" You hesitate a bit, finger tightning around the trigger, afraid that this could be a trap. He steps back out into the doorway slowly, you see he is armed with only a flash light. He's no threat to you...so you drop your weapon at the side and communicate back...perhaps making a lasting friendship.

AMAZING..if you ask me...i'm gonna go hang out at the Church now to try to re-enact this scene...I have chills just thinking about this...

---

Plus...there are plenty of 3rd party programs...Team Speak, Skype, etc. that people have mentioned that you can use to find someone to play with and have constant communication if you wish. Although I push for realism...I still Skype with my close friends IRL who play the game so we can meet up quicker or strategize our route through loot runs in the NWAF or big cities.

[goblinshark 5]

You've been traveling alone' date=' barely making it by finding a couple of cans of beans and soda here and there. There have been near death experiences with the zombie hoard, but you managed to give them the slip or fend them off with a side arm. You find yourself almost to the brink of no hope...ready to put the last bullet in your head when suddenly you hear footsteps just outside the building you're in that don't sound like zombies. The door swings open...startled, you point the gun at the figure in the doorway. He suddenly ducks back around the door frame for cover yelling, "Friendly! Don't shoot!" You hesitate a bit, finger tightning around the trigger, afraid that this could be a trap. He steps back out into the doorway slowly, you see he is armed with only a flash light. He's no threat to you...so you drop your weapon at the side and communicate back...perhaps making a lasting friendship.

[/quote']

And that, is why voice communication is critical. In other games it's not critical, not for normal play. But in a game that simulates an environment in which foul communication gets you and everyone you know killed, hell yeah we need it! We LIVE for those moments described above in this game. You've been on all day, looting, killing, rewarding yourself. You stumble into a building, and there he is, the person that can make or break your day. And you cannot communicate with them? You have to risk everything at the mercy of typing something out they might not even see?

Sure, proximity-based voice chat isn't the "end all" of confusion and manipulation, but it would definitely make things simpler for two moral players just trying to live.

[WaxMan (DayZ) 0]

Very happy that global chat has gone :) disturbed by the range increase in direct though. Using direct chat with a 40m or even 80m :o is suicide in any environment where you do not have clear los greater than that range. I have personally been involved in ambushing a few groups using direct chat around towns nice and easy to identify their locations with and follow waiting for a nice safe point.

There have been a number of times for my self in towns where I hear some one close by who I would prefer to talk to with out alerting every one around that I have either hidden from or just shot because using direct chat is to likely to alert other people further away.

I would like to see a choice of 'direct channels' with ranges like 10m (talking quietly) 30m (chatting) 100m (shouting).

[Wüstenfuchs (DayZ) 105]

Direct communication works 100% since beta build 93040. I haven't had any incidents of it not working since then.

Let me rephrase - Once everyone is forced to use the beta patches' date=' the direct communication works 100%. Everyone can hear each other on the direct lines, which isn't the case right now (Only one side of a two way conversation has side chat - never a fun event)

[/quote']

Beta patch has been a mandatory requirement for DayZ since version 1.7.1, thus everyone on the server must have a working direct comm now.

Sure' date=' proximity-based voice chat isn't the "end all" of confusion and manipulation, but it would definitely make things simpler for two moral players just trying to live.[/quote']

That's why we have fully working proximity-based built-in voice chat in the game already. Direct Communication channel is all that you need. :)

[mansen 1]

Ah nice - I haven't been able to play for a week and a half. Graphics card is RMA'ed :/

[goblinshark 5]

Sure' date=' proximity-based voice chat isn't the "end all" of confusion and manipulation, but it would definitely make things simpler for two moral players just trying to live.[/quote']

That's why we have fully working proximity-based built-in voice chat in the game already. Direct Communication channel is all that you need. :)

Thanks, I agree with that. The proximity one I have been experimenting with and I really enjoy it. But like I mentioned in an earlier post, I see the benefits of a server-based chat as significant. It's great for on-the-spot assistance from other players, as well as organization.

However, I can also see that element of era that you guys are trying to create here, so I understand why not having one is also beneficial. I suppose from a interface-based / practical standpoint I would like to see global / server chat, but from a lore / aura / aspect / game immersion perspective it is better not to have rampant scrolling text on your screen.

[mikhail 65]

I'm just going to echo what many have said already.....

There's a fine balance between "realism" and "playability." No chat...

- makes it MUCH harder for newer players

- you have to assume everyone is hostile because the direct voice/chat doesn't allow for communication at a distance. You are forced to shoot first ask questions later (which you can't even do that now)

- makes it virtually impossible to be able team up or coordinate

- makes it virtually impossible to meet new people

I just started playing this mod about a week ago and have been able to meet a few people. The best times I've had was when I was able to team up with others. Now that I can't communicate my intentions I won't be able to do that. I've really enjoyed playing the game (almost obsessively) prior to this latest patch. I wasn't fond of the no gun, zombie buff, etc but I could live it. However, being forced to essentially play the game by myself is the last straw. If the chat changes stay, I'll be forced to move on.

[Andrej Dudev 50]

Hmm maybe those servers have set disableVoN = 1; in the config. That setting would disable voice from all channels though. I'm not sure if server admins are allowed to do that on DayZ servers' date=' probably not.

[/quote']

I don't know if they are allowed or not but I feel like reporting this server FR9

I can't tell why someone would want to remove the direct voice chat.

[mansen 1]

If the chat changes stay' date=' I'll be forced to move on.

[/quote']

Bye! :D

[GameJeff100 1]

..

You've been traveling alone' date=' barely making it by finding a couple of cans of beans and soda here and there. There have been near death experiences with the zombie hoard, but you managed to give them the slip or fend them off with a side arm. You find yourself almost to the brink of no hope...ready to put the last bullet in your head when suddenly you hear footsteps just outside the building you're in that don't sound like zombies. The door swings open...startled, you point the gun at the figure in the doorway. He suddenly ducks back around the door frame for cover yelling, "Friendly! Don't shoot!" You hesitate a bit, finger tightning around the trigger, afraid that this could be a trap. He steps back out into the doorway slowly, you see he is armed with only a flash light. He's no threat to you...so you drop your weapon at the side and communicate back...perhaps making a lasting friendship.

[/quote']

Mine usually goes similar but a few changes. I am normally the guy with a flashlight trying to make contact.

...I see the guy in the building that is armed. I shout "friendly?". However, he hears "Come shoot me please". Shortly after that I get 2 to 3 shots in me from my new found friend. I found Zombies to be of more help lately than any survivor. At least Zombies may try and kill the guy shooting at me while I am armed to the teeth with my flashlight :P

I still have hope that I might find a friendly that will not try and kill me when I make contact.

[boggy 0]

My 2 cents:

I think that the decision to remove global chat communication was idiotic. I am not too keen on this obsession with "realism" because IMO attempting to implement so-called realistic elements such as proximity-based communication cripples the player unnecessarily. The player is not in the game - he has no 20-20 vision, limited hearing, no body language ability, no sense of smell. Plus, he can run nonstop at high speeds. If you limit his communication to chat at 80m range and give him a gun he is going to shoot on sight, it's a no-brainer.

Not to mention the sense of boredom and limitation. This is an ONLINE game, so by definition it should have a social aspect. Now I know that there are players out there who enjoy this kind of solitude but for me (and I hope that I am in the majority on this one) the lack of global communication really makes the game boring quite quickly, particularly cause none of my IRL friends have DayZ.

I claim that befriending a random player with the 1.7.1 beta is impossible. What do you think?

[mansen 1]

I disagree.

[boggy 0]

I disagree.

Thank you for contributing to the discussion, that was some fascinating insight you put forth there.

[mail@borisk.biz 28]

That is 100% right... Without chat is without fun :(

I'm just going to echo what many have said already.....

There's a fine balance between "realism" and "playability." No chat...

- makes it MUCH harder for newer players

- you have to assume everyone is hostile because the direct voice/chat doesn't allow for communication at a distance. You are forced to shoot first ask questions later (which you can't even do that now)

- makes it virtually impossible to be able team up or coordinate

- makes it virtually impossible to meet new people

I just started playing this mod about a week ago and have been able to meet a few people. The best times I've had was when I was able to team up with others. Now that I can't communicate my intentions I won't be able to do that. I've really enjoyed playing the game (almost obsessively) prior to this latest patch. I wasn't fond of the no gun' date=' zombie buff, etc but I could live it. However, being forced to essentially play the game by myself is the last straw. If the chat changes stay, I'll be forced to move on.

[/quote']