I know the thread keeps going back to voice while RP'ing, but I had a lot more than that in mind when I wrote it.
I'm talking about voice in general and what I feel is the growing preference for it in SL as a social tool for friendships and RP partnerships as well as things like sim management and discussion groups. More than one person has told me they would not enter an RP partnership, collar or companionship, if there wasn’t a voice component for chit chats. Others SAY they don’t care if someone doesn’t voice, but their actions prove otherwise to me, so I almost rather know in advance that it's going to be some sort of glass ceiling on the RP.
I really do believe that as voice becomes more common, more of a preference for many, I'll be missing out on a lot more RP opportunities and OOC friendships. If I was someone who preferred voice, and had the options of joking and laughing away with my group of friends all the time, I do think my friendships with text only people would be limited to an extent. Not purposefully, but gradually it would happen.
Like when I started my family in RL and my friends still hadn't had children, they'd go to bar every Saturday and tell me about it on Monday. Eventually, our friendships sort of faded. I gravitated to mom and tots groups and they went their way too. I see voice doing this same thing to my SL.
It's strange but I used to voice a lot more in SL and on Skype when I wasn't in Gor. For me, Gor is about RPing.. which is based on written words and texts. I would feel that voicing while RPing would totally detract the immersive environment that I seek when I am in Gor. I would personally prefer that people do not voice while RPing. It is even difficult for me to respond to IMs while I am in a scene so I can't imagine what voicing and RPing would be like. That is not to say that I won't ever voice. I have and I will but only with people that I have formed a friendship with and over time. However, I can not voice very often due to RL reasons.
The friends I have voiced with over time, we became very close and even developed a RL friendship after years of knowing each other. I do think it matters as voicing can bring two people closer. However, I do have a friend who I never voiced with and she is close to me as the friends I voiced with a lot.. so I do think that if the friendship is important enough, it wouldn't really matter. So while it might hinder from forming new friendships quickly. There will always be others who are open about having friendships, relationships.. ect without ever voicing. So don't give up hope. While it is nice to hear the voice of an avi you have spent time with for awhile or even just RPed with..... it doesn't have to be the end of and be all.
And for those that make it a requirement. Well, it's a shame because you could be missing out on a great RP partner, friend or relationship. However, on the flip side of the coin, if a person knows what is required to keep a friendship or relationship going and being upfront about the necessity of voicing; it could save a lot of heartache or a potential problem at the end due to that need not being met. IDK. It's a rather difficult subject as I feel that voicing definitely bridges RL with SL, and it is very difficult to keep it separate once that line has been crossed. This has been my personal experience.
ETA: There have been times when I have been in group voice chat and I couldn't voice for one reason or another and I had to type out my responses while others were voicing. I did feel slightly left out at the time (it's natural) but I tried not to let it bother me. I tried to keep up with voice chat via typing. I had to do this couple of times in RL as well for work while we had skype meetings over voice. sooooo... while you can feel excluded... try not to let it bother you much. If you can participate even via typing while others are voicing. Do it.
