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Do you hear what I hear?
MMOG's have jumped on the Voice over IP bandwagon.
World of Warcraft is leading the charge and a multitude of MMOG's in development also seem to be incorporating this feature into their releases.
It would appear the whole purpose, of this add-on, is to bring added value and "voluntarily" complete your immersion into their virtual world.
The amount of auditory features future MMOG's could offer are limitless. MOBS may be alerted due to the PC's voices or ambient wildlife noises (e.g. birds) may silence themselves when in the presence of a hostile PC gank squad. Such feedback would allow astute PC's to pay more attention to their surroundings and use these auditory clues to their advantage. The online gameplay experience could also be enhanced by giving hohum ambushes and monotonous MOB pulls a new element of danger. Imagine having your loud mouthed adolescent guild member blow your group cover, suddenly your organized dungeon pull turns into a mass MOB nightmare.
The technology, as I described, may not be applied in that fashion. However, I would like to think that future generation MMOG's continue the development of interactive audio and voice chat systems to enhance the MMOG experience.
Unfortunately, all is not a bed of roses, if you think of the
ramifications of having in game chat being regulated (read: monitored) by your MMOG
publisher.
Currently voice chat is handled with aplomb by a multitude of 3rd party vendors (Ventrillo, TeamSpeak, Skype, et al.). These applications allow for high quality communications outside of the host MMOG and their small digital footprint limits any system performance hit.
Voice communications have been staple in the FPS genre since Roger
Wilco was released in 1999. Years have gone by and yet MMOG's failed to
pick up the VoIP standard however now its beginning to roll out like gangbusters.
Perhaps the publishers have seen the light and determined that VoIP
technology has a role in the development of MMO games and
perhaps the scenarios I painted may be possible in future games. However, I cringe when I think of the
access and control that publishers (or third party MMO Voice Chat providers) gain by having voice communications routed
through their systems.
Color me cynical, but when I factor in the financial need of lower tier MMOG's to increase revenue streams outside of subscription costs and in game advertising. I see a potential market avenue ripe for these organizations to exploit.
"Hey guys brb BIO break"
<insert commercial>
"Buy Charmin Paper Towels Today"
<end of line>
"What the hell was that"
<insert commercial>
"Hellraiser VII at a theatre near you"
<end of line>
Voice chat and communication systems are a potential storehouse of MMOG development. Will it used for the good of MMOG's or for the good of Publisher's bottom line? Only time will tell.
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