it's already implemented...
ppl just use a third party program on their dual core computer... and actively chat while gaming... and especially on MMORPG

Sounds like a good idea. I know a lot of guilds require TS or vent anyway so I don't think it would cause discrimination. Would also be helpful since our GM has problems with vent on his mac.

how long as this game been out? what took them so long? voice chat is obviously a requirement at high levels of the game.

@ Da Tronics: it's much easier to have integrated voice over Vent for pick up grps.

LOTRO has integrated voice and it works really well, very handy for pick up groups full of people not in your guild.

Why have integrated voice chat? It might be a good thing for pick up groups and the random parties. But, most guilds have a TS or Vent server. Plus, this will tax the servers as well.

Just another thing to crash the game. Use TeamSpeak or Ventrillo. They won't crash the game.

Yet another reason for me to not to go back to WoW. I have never been a fan of voice chat in MMORPG games. It ruins the roleplay aspects and makes it into a more FPS-style game, and I just don't care for that style of gaming.

Majority of people use Teamspeak, or Ventrillo nowadays. And there are other programs that you can use to communicate, especially if they're using dual-monitors.

"Some players are concerned that voice chat could lead to discrimination in picking groups"

This is already a reality. I quest and raid with a guild that does this. No big deal. Without certain addons it is difficult to work effectively as a team. Without voice it can be difficult insuring that everyone understands what is going on in the next battle or to quickly say no you're not ready.

No one has been booted from a group because they sound funny, black, white, or Asian. People will discriminate because the other player doesn't know how to use their character effectively or consistently tries to take all the best treasure.

We are human and to some state we discriminate whether we realize it or not; get over it. Play the game, have fun and group with people that like you and your play style.

Sucks when alot of the people you PUG with dont have vent. Maybe this way people will be more inclined to get a mic.

not that i play wow anymore. that game is THE DEBUL!!

Dude u sound like a noob go play DDO they have had voice chat since day one and it runs a million times faster ... LOTRO also has it and they have no problems

Even though third party program exists, not everyone has a server or the funds to buy a server. This makes it a lot easier since there is no more need to find a server, tabbing out to setup vent/ts everytime you join a new group. Fast and easy and built in as it should be.

For those who don't like using voice chat, maybe they can have an option to mute all in game voice chats.

I can see this as being an alternative to Vent or TS, but lots of guilds will probably stick with the third party programs for a while. There's bound to be problems. And depending on the quality and speed of the program...And then there's just sitting around on your Vent server while killing three thousand super-boars in the outlands, telling jokes over Vent. If you have to be in a party to use this...

I think everyone is avoiding a very problematic issue for Blizzard. How are they going to police this voice chat channel for harassment, vulgarity, illegal activity; i.e. solicitation for drugs,gambling, sex and child predatory behavior. These things are already rampant in the game but there is some loose over site. There are people working online in this game doing virtual sex chat for real world cash. This is only going help this type of behavior.

Yes there are already third party voice channels. but by hosting it themselves Blizzard is taking the liability on themselves.

If they are smart, like LOTRO, it won't add lag to the servers because they use seperate servers for the game and voice.

In regards to those who think this is another thing that will crash their server, has anyone though about the fact that 'voice chat' could simply be a Ventrilo or Teamspeak plugin to their application (WoW)? They could simply have that aspect of WoW go through a different set of servers, not necessarily the ones use to host the realms. I highly doubt this will have any impact on performance, if any, it will be negligible in comparison to WoW TS or Vent.

Regarding discrimination, I believe someone stated it best above. Additionally, I find it fun to chat while in an instance. It does help as well to make sure everyone is on point, as well as the plain fact that it's WAY easier/quicker to talk than to type. Regarding role playing, it makes more sense to me that you can better role play by using your voice rather than typing, IMHO.

I'm interested to see how they implement it. Will guilds have their own voice chat, as well as a "general" voice chat, trade chat, world chat, and other channel chat? When you enter an instance, will it automatically kick you from your guild chat and place you into that instance chat? What will happen if you are in Vent with your guild and you want to do WoW's voice chat. All very interesting.

I'd also like to see how WoW 'monitors' these voice chat sessions. I'll bet GM's have access to these rooms and randomly pop up to hear what's going on. Another way to get banned or have an account suspended. I also hope they have parental control's that allow or disallow accounts/characters from utilizing voice chat.

I think its a good idea to offer as an option. there are some people who wont use it and some people who cant (those in internet cafes, those without microphones etc). But for those who want to use it, having it available could be a bonus.

Crying Game!

Mangina's for teh WIN!

What's this going to do to the people using WoW via dialup?

WoW sucks. This game will suck the life right out of you. Before you know it a whole year has past and for what, to get to the next level. What a waste of time.

>> use third-party programs like Team Speak and Ventrillo

nice job spelling both of them wrong... TeamSpeak is one word and Ventrilo has one l moron.

I'm guessing those suggesting keeping on using vent/TS never played Battlefield 2. That game has excellent voice chat capabilities. The rest of the game programming is horrible, but the voice portion is one of the few stable and effective portions of the game, by far. If EA can program effective voice chat, I have a hard time believing it will be difficult for Blizzard (especially for a game that requires such low system resources like WoW).

Why would you prefer to use vent, when you have to alt-tab and keep adding new vent servers when you join different groups, and set up your own guild servers, etc etc. That makes no sense at all.

second life just launched voice, so i wonder if this is an attempt to win that $.25 bet between designers.

I use voice chat and I basically don't do as much talking...I too focused on completely my part, while others never shut up, but you just zone them our...well...filter out what they are saying, since they might actually have something useful t say. Having chat is critical for running isntances, imho.

the thing is Vent servers arent free, and also, some servers uses different codecs. I know that for some servers, ppl on macs can only connect to Speex server due to software limitation since they havent updated it in a long time. servers cost money, and have limited room.

i think this is great. usually stuff like this is implenented when there's a noticable drop in the community. right now other games are coming out and people are leaving wow faster than people are joining. they should have added this feature when the game first came out though. there's guilds out there that don't even know what teamspeak or ventrillo is, it's kinda sad. the more communication we have, the better the community, thus more players join.

Well, I've heard many many opinions. From the "Brilliant idea" of the naive, to the "It's like giving a rocket launcher to a toddler: The technology works, but you're giving it to the same people who Spam barrens chat" of WoW radios Totalbiscuit.
As for me, I'm a role player, so It'd be nice to see how that works out, of course, Not all RP'ers will like it, especially those who play a different gender to there natural one (Kinda ruins the illusion). Then again, I wont have to suffer under having a high piched voice of a 12 year old.