Microphone Use (rant)

[Edmaster]

I'm just copy/pasting an old rant I made about a year ago on another forum about online microphone use (or mis-use, depending on your point of view). Glad to see it still rings true today.

Link to original post: http://www.flashplayer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32200

Originally Posted by Edmaster07

Online gaming, quite possibly one of the greatest inventions of mankind, has reached another potential peak with the assimulation of the microphone into its games. While the technology certainly isn't anything new, the fact that more and more games are incorporating microphone headsets is certainly a refreshing sight for sore eyes (especially if the sores were contracted by excessive gaming).

Previously, most online gamers communicated through typing, and most gamers still do. But taking the time to type a message that most people won't even read is not only pointless at times, but puts you at risk when you move one of your hands to your keyboard, as this can leave you vulnerable, especially in a fighting/shooting game.

This is where the mic comes in. You are now able to talk to your friends with just a touch of a button and a few simple words. This method of communication is not only quicker, but more effective. Your message stands a greater chance of being heard by fellow teammates when talking instead of typing.

Sadly, mics are failing as a communication tool in many areas. Anyone that has played an online shooter (ie. Halo or Socom) realizes just how horrible the situation is. Most people that own a mic hardly say a word, other than to curse off a fellow player, or ***** when they get shot/die. Strategy by microphone is at an all-time low. I hardly ever hear someone say something like: "Cover the right door while I cut off their left flank.", or even more expected: "Just saw a bad guy next to you.". Even a phrase as helpful yet simple as: "Oh ****! 'nade at your position! Get away!" is hardly ever expressed anymore, and the guy just sits on his *** while his fellow teammate gets blown to bits by his own grenade.

Even worse is when someone talks, but you can't understand a ****ing word they're saying, because of background noise, or the speaker has his mic too close/far away. And for the love of God, don't try and talk to someone when you have your mother yelling at you in the background. We already figured out you were a 30-something-year-old-living-in-your-mom's-basement WAAAY before that.

And the worst of all is when someone spams/floods the mic. Thankfully, most games have a built-in time limit when it comes to one person talking on the mic (10-15 seconds normally). Still, it's a tad annoying when you have something extremely important to tell your team, but someone else is using the mic line to sing some stupid song. DON'T ****ING FLOOD THE MIC DURING GAMETIME PLZ.

Microphones can offer us some of the greatests opportunities in video gaming to date, but just like anything good, it can and will eventually be abused. All I ask is that those that wish to abuse the mic would just die a slow and horrible death. Kthx.

[Bman900]

Well I find most of this true but my clan does use the mic the way it is suppose to be cause we are a tactical clan but I do hate it when idiot say stupid stuff on the mic in public rooms and cant get important stuff out there.

[Dionysus]

Not much you can do about any of your complaints. It may be annoying, but pointless to get mad about.

[Kung.Pao]

can you rephrase your post in a couple of sentences...i think people would get the point easier

[Dingus-Online]

so so true, i was playing s3 today in citadel nobody was talking besides the odd "dang" or "s***" or even "he got lucky".

I find it so unbeliveable hard to cope with people that use "f***" in every other setence, like the majority of people that play socom. Especially when people come in to the room saying " what's up mother fu****"

[_NIGHTBRINGER_]

Originally Posted by Dingus-Online

so so true, i was playing s3 today in citadel nobody was talking besides the odd "dang" or "s***" or even "he got lucky".

I find it so unbeliveable hard to cope with people that use "f***" in every other setence, like the majority of people that play socom. Especially when people come in to the room saying " what's up mother fu****"

Ah, I just HATE it when people act like that to.

[SUPREME]

LOL...I hate it when KIDS speak on the mic...They talk about cartoons or homework and stuff to their other buddy in the room...we just vote 'em out. I'm in a TERRORIST CONVOY clan, and the only time I speak on the mic is when I have something important to say...When I'm not in the room with my fellow clan members, I just turn down the volume on my headset and play...because people talk WAYYY too much about B.S. on the mic.

[INKSLNGR]

Alot of times when there are **** talkers on the mics, I either just take off my headset or leave the room. That constant babbling breaks my consentration.

[Noodie]

in random rooms wiht random people some of them just shoot the **** on the mic, meanwhile ur trying to call out something important like an enemy location, grenade, order, etc but you cant because the 10 yr olds who pollute this game are just talking about the unimportant lives.

[myghty]

Thank god the game is rated "M" so only 17+ can play the gam..... oh wait....