StrikeFear

Nah. I agree with Az. It's impossible.
I have more important things to put my attention on.

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AzrealDarkmoon

In the CO screen I have two sensory input devices, my ears and eyes, my eyes are monopolized on making sure that the plan is going well and are my squads correctly intelled on enemy locations, objectives ect. If my UAV/Scan is down I might have time to check on the txt msgs.

My ears is for communication, its 10x faster, 10x effecient and the only way I can effectively command is bidirectional communication.

Az

Pokerface

No. You don't.
If you're not watching the text, that's as bad as not listening to the audio. That's a problem. Fix that.

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Tempus: Pokerface is nailing it right on the head. Everyone who is arguing against him is simply arguing against reality.
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Cpt.Destructo

Why would you play without a mic AT ALL? I mean...I've seen servers where the in-game chat is turned off completely.
It makes no sense...mics cost a whopping $5 at the least. Go buy a freakin mic cheapskate! :P

Kedge

Some people have valid reasons for not having a mic- these reasons may have nothing to do with money.

As an SL, if the CO isn't on the mic in the first few minutes of the game or responds to requests through chat, then I know he doesn't have a mic and I need to pay extra attention to the chat. I can't get them all but I can pay attention to get enough.

I've had mic-less CO's and they've worked out fine.

And, I believe mics are strongly suggested on TG servers, not requirements.

TG_Rizzo

I don't have a problem with SL's not using VOIP as long as they use the commo rose to good effect.

As for text messages, I *never* read them.

Pokerface

This is correct. What IS a requirement is communication, which is a two-way street. If you're able to type "I never read text messages" and have it be true, please realize: That is a problem. Fix that.

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NS Game Officer. TF2 Admin. BF2 Admin / Scripter. PM with issues.
Tempus: Pokerface is nailing it right on the head. Everyone who is arguing against him is simply arguing against reality.
<anmuzi> it is not permitted to have privacy or anonymity
<LazyEye> yeah when I play on TG the server digs though my trash
Arm yourself with knowledge: TG NS TF2 BF2

Telorn

Then for whatever reasons those individuals don't want a mic, they can stay off the CO and SL positions, as well - especially the SL role. I can see the CO role getting by...But the SL needs to communicate with his squad to be effective, to keep them in line, and to motivate them.

And until EA fixes the bug I have with my console, making me unable to read it, don't expect me to catch all text. This game has a lot of problems

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Telorn

Telorn

You along with probably 90% of the population..and that's TG population! Half the time I can't even see that text has occurred because of DICE's poor setup of it.

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Telorn

AzrealDarkmoon

Is there an option to filter out all msgs except those typed?

Az

Telorn

You know, that would be a smart feature, like any MMO would do, but I sure don't see it.

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Telorn

AzrealDarkmoon

I would actually pay attn if it would only pop up typed msgs.

Az

TG_Rizzo

That, and also if it had a "nonsense" filter...

SmokingTarpan

Crappy in-game text message setup aside, there's a major issue at hand here: communication evolution.

Games have evolved a long way from Pong, and with that comes this simple fact: the modern way of communicating in games is via VOIP. Text, while probably not going completely extinct, is quickly becoming obsolete. Fewer and fewer games use it as a primary means of communication (including single player games, which now use audio files to tell stories). I hate to be the bad guy here, but really, it's time to get with the times and use a microphone.

Granted, some people will be playing from cafes, or don't want to be yelling out "HE'S OVER THERE!!!" while their baby is asleep next to them. That's fine, that's what the commo rose is for. It's perfectly adequate; two of my squad regulars (Evil Lemon and Robocop) have never used a mic, yet they perform just as well as someone that does. However, nobody should expect to have any detailed conversation or information via text in this game, especially when it's 1/8th of an inch tall, fuzzy as hell, and stays on screen for all of .5 seconds.

If a CO got pissed at me because I didn't follow his text message of "Squad 7, I want you to move to the west flag and meet up with Squad 4, then proceed to the north flag", I would tell him that he either needs to simplify his orders down to waypoints only, or get a mic.

FUNKED1

$0.99
Best mic I've ever used.

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"It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way."