Knowledge Base Article of the Week #19: Hush, I’m speaking!
Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 3:23 PM by: Jeremy LindenHey everyone! Are you as excited as I am about the upcoming Support navigation changes? If you’re a regular Knowledge Base Article of the Week reader, I think you’ll love the improvements we’ve made. Make sure to read Maurice’s great blog post for details!
This week I’d like to highlight some knowledge for our voice-enabled Residents, in response to a number of requests on how to reduce background noise when using voice in Second Life:
How can I minimize background noise in voice chat?
You will need to log into Support before viewing the article.
Do you have a great tip you’d like to share? Come tell us at Documentation Office Hours this Friday at 2pm PST at our pier office in Beaumont. We’ve had some great interactive discussions the past few weeks, and I think this week will be no exception.
I’ll see you there!
Jeremy Linden
March 6th, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Along those lines, for us in the non-voice-enabled crowd… would appreciate a way of “silencing” typing on IMs for groups. I’ve dropped out of several groups just because of the sheer volume of IMs interrupting my typing at random times. …elf get-togethers. …hippy pay stuff. …lots of the larger groups have similar IM inundation problems.
Perhaps a way to mark a checkbox so that an IM channel doesn’t echo on screen?
March 6th, 2008 at 6:11 PM
The best thing that I could do to improve my voice chat sessions was… putting my computer under the table instead of over it, so the microphone won’t pick up all the noise coming from its fans
March 6th, 2008 at 6:22 PM
It is good to see you working on the Knowledge Base, although this seems like a less-than-urgent addition. On the SL Forums, we answer questions from residents daily. I can mention off the top of my head two knowledge base articles that are sowing confusion and should be updated:
1. “Alt account FAQ” — In the 2nd section of this article, it says that alt accounts cost $9.95. This is no longer true; in fact, the button to create an alt account from your main account has been removed, so you could not pay $9.95 for a new account if you wanted to. Your only option is to create a brand new Basic account, which is fine. Please update the FAQ to reflect this. If you need to, you could say that LL retains the right to reinstate charging for additional accounts at any time.
2. “Land FAQ” — This is an old article, and completely ignores the existence of islands, or of renting property. It also makes no mention of the fact that residents “sell” Island (as well as mainland Estate land) property to other residents — which is a risky proposition, since the estate owner still maintains ownership in LL’s eyes, and can evict the “owners” at any moment. Please add an article defining an Island (no one inworld uses the term “Private Region”, it would be as well to get rid of it) — if you have one already, I could not find it –, update the Land FAQ to orient residents to the totality of the SL land market, and add a new article on land rentals.
March 6th, 2008 at 7:08 PM
I really like voice chat but do not seem to find many using it
March 6th, 2008 at 7:28 PM
[...] you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Linden Lab are discussing the issue of background noise and voice chat in their ‘Knowledge Base Article of the [...]
March 6th, 2008 at 7:53 PM
I’m glad to see this constructive input!
@nika:
Thanks for pointing these out– I’m actually in the middle of systematically examining every article in the Knowledge Base and fixing issues like those where I find them. It’s a slow process, but ultimately worth every minute.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:58 PM
My care factor about voice is zero. Say a simple “hello” and it seems guys only hear “f*ck me now”. All voice has done is to allow hundreds of guys to try and save on their credit cards and embaraasing charges by attempting to use SL as a substitute for r/l phone sex calls. AR’s are a complete waste of time, Lindens NEVER act. Groans at the memory of the horrendous pick lines that has to be endured if voice is on, so I have turned it off.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:50 PM
nikki bechir Says: My care factor about voice is zero. Say a simple “hello” and it seems guys only hear “f*ck me now”. All voice has done is to allow hundreds of guys to try and save on their credit cards and embaraasing charges by attempting to use SL as a substitute for r/l phone sex calls. AR’s are a complete waste of time, Lindens NEVER act. Groans at the memory of the horrendous pick lines that has to be endured if voice is on, so I have turned it off.
Must be hanging out with a bad bunch of guys I suspect, pretty rare event on voice as far as I seen.
If you had a real “carefactor zero” about voice you wouldn’t have posted anything
March 7th, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Tegg I tend to agree with Nikki no matter how brash the comment. I don’t hang with those types and even going into a clothing store for women is only a magnet for guys that can’t keep their hormones in check. Or the time I was looking at furniture and a naked guy shows up to flop on the couch and start his brambling of pick up lines. The gals are tired of it and unless you ARE a gal you aren’t going to see these things going on. One does not have to try to avoid these persons they just tend do show up. Personally it wouldn’t bother me a bit to lose the voice for who wants to find out that Mike Tyson sounds like a little boy? Normally I do not post on these things for the flamming gets redunant, but this is my first post for I felt a need to point out that you may not see these things going on but ALL of my gal friends have experienced it at least a few times if not consantly. I don’t care for a disgruntled attitude on a post but don’t cast a blind eye to what you can’t see. Just because you can’t see all the fish swimming in the ocean doesn’t mean they are not there.
My appologies to any that do not condone this kind of behavior.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:54 AM
Voice it seems is a personal preference, with as many pros & cons, personally I LOVE VOICE…*typo queen* here…and at my place we constantly have folks come in and say wow, you guys use voice…we have discussions on all manner of topics…as far as the Brash pickup lines…voice has a mute function per user same as typing…simply click the *double talk bubble* next to the talk button for active speakers list, click name to put the still, and mute or adjust whomever is bothering you. Unlike rl you DONT have to listen, or walk away…mute is AWESOME
March 7th, 2008 at 2:21 AM
well I have to give my two cents on the voice.. with # 7 and 9. I do agree full heartedly, the amount of men that do that annoys me.. (heaven forbid if Eventide needed voice.. theres a nightmare). but even me going clothes shopping is nearly impossiable without hearing one really overly used an pathetic pickup line…. however.. I do agree with #10. Voice might be a part of SL.. but Second Life isn’t like normal life.. unlike normal life.. you don’t get a assult charge for muteing someone. it’s in the UI and extremely helpful or as I think of it as.. a sanity saver.
March 7th, 2008 at 4:18 AM
I agree with all that’s been said here re the guys, and the mute, etc. I’m also really fond of eject and ban.
A bit of encouragement for the ladies, as your av ages, just as rl, you have fewer insults to deal with. My advice: Kick your av up the social ladder. Use search to get away from the usual noobs. Get to know the people who are really trying to create quality works, activities, environments. In general, the intelligence of the professionals who are working to produce great things for the community is higher in sl than in rl … you know … in my ever humble opinion. This doesn’t help much with the clothing store issues but it’s a beginning … Until they give us roaming “eject” & “ban” powers ;p
… oh and don’t forget … you can record voice and forward the file along to the Lindens. … at least in theory … you are suppose to be able to reply to the initial abuse report auto-response by the Lindens and send more info. Oh, and, when you have to do an abuse report, calm your nerves by ceasing to interact with the people in world. Pull your mind out of there and only interact with the SL viewer (user interface) to accomplish the end goal.
Enjoy have fun,
Marilla
March 7th, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Why do you make people log into your support thing instead of just posting the info right here on the blog….
why make it harder then it needs to be?
March 7th, 2008 at 11:15 AM
I respecfully submit:
Muting your sound will stop 100% of (Second Life) background noise.
Don’t forget that disabling voice is also an option (though it’s prolly not the one you wanted), and it DOES cut the noise out.. Abstinence is always 100% effective. LOL
March 8th, 2008 at 12:53 PM
@14 Ha ha I agree 100%. That’s the best way to stop background noise. period.
An as for the suggestion of telling those around me to be quiet…. I don’t think so. The harassment issue will eventually fix itself. Sooner or later someone is going to record what is being said and turn it over to the authorities.