The voice chat beta has been in effect long enough now for people to have tried it, and some of my fears have been realized. Peasan Kuu reports her experience:

• In a group of 10 - 12 people, 2 or 3 dominated the conversation just like RL
• If any one person had microphone issues, like feedback, it affected everybody
• Voice chat effectively kills text chat
• It was difficult to tell who was speaking at any one time
• The spatial effect works well; nearer avatars were louder than those farther away
• The most common comment by those voice chatting: "Whoa, this is so cool"

And it goes on: Hamlet brings up the idea of groups segregated by language, and how established residents' acceptance or rejection of voice might doom its inclusion. There's a lot of talk (no pun intended) over this latest development, and it seems fairly split, both yea and nay. Time will tell, of course, but will it say it in text or voice?

This is the second in our 'Adjusting to a New World' series of articles for beginners - although some intermediate and advanced Second Lifers are also finding little tidbits that they didn't know in them. Last time we talked about moving around.

This time, our topic is communication. You may not have come to Second Life to be social, but you need to know how to communicate. If you can't communicate, you can't get help, and you will need help at some point. We all do. Second Life is so communications-centric that today we'll be focusing on just chat. There's a lot to say.

I was debating this point with a friend the other day, and by 'friend', I mean 'myself', and by 'debating', I mean 'incoherently muttering'. The point I was trying to make to myself was: Does it negatively affect your perception of a resident if they're unable to type well? If, for example, there are a lot of misspelled words, does it create an adverse impression? Initially, when venturing into chat realms, I found the acronyms and constant typos irritating, and they caused me to imagine (perhaps unfairly) that the person behind the chat was of a slightly lower intellectual grade than me.

Over the years, I've found this not to be the case ... most of the time. Word choice is somewhat of a 'tell', I've noticed. The language that we use to express ourselves does tell a lot about what sort of person we are. I also find that I'm drawn more to people who generate the same kinds of references that I do. In general, I try not to let bad chat get in the way of my getting to know someone, but what do you all think? Is it important to type well?

I think, all in all, I'm pretty happy with the sound features of Second Life. I only hear music when I choose to, and the occasional ambient sounds are a nice touch. However, recently I got to thinking about the idea of having live voice chat capabilities the other day, and... I dunno. I think it might be more harmful than helpful. Consider:

When you read a good book, you supply the character voices, so they are ideal. When you see the movie version, or even see a cartoon version of your favorite story, you're usually bound to be disappointed somewhat; 'that guy doesn't sound like what I thought he should!' And I imagine that this effect would carry over to SL. You're talking with a gorgeous avatar, when you decide to enable voice chat. Suddenly, a new dimension to the flirtation enters the picture, and it can go either way. Don't downplay the power of voice: some people have the aural equivalent of 'a great face for radio'. As shallow as it may sound, an unsexy voice (or accent) can be a deal-breaker.

Let's also consider that many of us are simply more glib and witty when it comes to writing. I myself tend toward mumbling and repeating 'Uhh' when speaking aloud. I'm not saying that everyone does this, but when you've known a person through their visuals for so long, you have, realize it or not, come to expect that their speech patterns are exactly the same as their writing style.

I'd like to be proven wrong about this, but it's occurred so often before that it'll be interesting to see (and hear) what happens when voice chat is finally implemented. Sound off in the comments section!