Guild Wars 2

I never talked in TS before, but i listen to commands and etc. Everyone seems around 20-30 if not older, it seems awkward for me talking since im only 15. Do I need to be worried about anything?

Be yourself that’s pretty much it ^^.

Tonszo.9654:

I never talked in TS before, but i listen to commands and etc. Everyone seems around 20-30 if not older, it seems awkward for me talking since im only 15. Do I need to be worried about anything?

1. They could be lying about their age
2. Not everyone is on Teamspeak, the GW2 Teamspeak population is less than 2% of the playerbase
3. So what if you’re 15 ? No one cares. Just be yourself.
4. Why do you care how old they are and why is it awkward ? They won’t eat you. LOL
5. Why do you feel that it’s required of you to speak. If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to. If you want to, you can.
6. Teamspeak is mostly there just so you can listen to the commanders co-ordination and be a good ant in the zerg and do your part
7. I don’t understand the last question, why would you be worried about anything? It’s a video game, you log in, you play it, you have fun and that’s that. Lol
8. If you encounter ageists(old people that think their superior due to seniority), don’t bother with them. They’re more childish than you are, they just can’t see it and you can’t see it either. Yet.

Remember, it’s all in your head and once you’re dead, you won’t remember any of it

So have fun

What the others above said. That said, don’t feel pressured to speak either. I’m 33, but I’m not much of a talker, so I just listen and follow instructions.

2% of the playerbase lol. Where do you get your stats?

Most of the time if your not commanding you don’t need to talk in WvW except to call out enemy actions.

I wouldn’t worry about how you sound, because most people aren’t going to worry too much about what you sound like when there’s five omegas on bay inner.

Tonszo.9654:

I never talked in TS before, but i listen to commands and etc. Everyone seems around 20-30 if not older, it seems awkward for me talking since im only 15. Do I need to be worried about anything?

Girls. You’ll never, ever understand them.

I’m almost 30 years-old, and I get nervous talking on TS (in fact I rarely, if ever, do it). I’ll say this: don’t feel intimidated because of your age. Odds are that a portion of the people in TS are only a couple of years older than you, anyway. So, if you want to add something to the conversation, feel free to. Just make sure you don’t accidentally leave your mic open so the whole TS can hear you typing.

For TS channels with a large number of people in them like for tequatl raids, it’s actually rather important that you don’t speak very much if at all because people need to be able to hear important information from key roles and leaders. I’m 28 and I rarely ever speak up. Most of the time I have my mic just muted or not even plugged in. If there is any stigma against younger players its usually a result of the stereotype that younger players are less competent and less mature. But, if you’re reasonably competent, can follow instructions, and aren’t clogging up the channel with irrelevant non-sense, then you’ve got nothing to worry about. Well, really so long as what you say is relevant/useful information or a legitimate question about what you should be doing, you’ll have nothing to worry about except from maybe the occasional jerk. But there’s nothing you can do about that, and no one is immune from jerks no matter how old they are. Haters gonna hate.

TS isn’t that bad. You only really need to be concerned about speaking in teamspeak if

A)You have a really annoying voice. As it happens, the voice of elementry school kids tends to grate on older people’s nerves. At 15, your voice may be this annoying mid-pubescence tone. The way you tell is if everyone hates you, but only after you’ve opened your darn mouth.

B) You have nothing important or entertaining to say. This also goes into the “annoyance” factor, since if people aren’t informed or entertained, then at best you’re background noise.

I follow these rules myself, which is why in TS I rarely say anything.

Lots of good advice here. As others have said: for the big world events led by guilds you pretty much just need to listen, and in fact speaking is discouraged because it causes more audio chaos. Many large guild-run channels auto-mute you anyways unless you have authentication. Just sit back, eaves drop, and follow directions.

If you’re in a guild TS, obviously the atmosphere changes depending on the guild/which guild members are online. If you’re new, maybe just listen at first and reply in /guild chat as if you had no mic so you get a feel for what everyone is like. Same as any group of new people, it’ll probably take a little while before you get an accurate read on the group dynamic and whether they’re the long term place for you. Be yourself but be respectful, too. Lots of listening at first can help you not embarrass yourself :) Although if they’re a good group, the embarrassment will be part of the fun :D Prepare to laugh a lot once you’ve met the right people.

Try to be mature and put your best foot forward. Sometimes an extra “would saying this thought with this phrasing hurt someone’s feelings/contribute meaningfully” can help, especially at first as you get to know people. Ask questions about other people’s interests and personalities; hearing you talk only about yourself is off-putting. Chances are you won’t be the only 15ish year old, so don’t worry about that either.

As for should you be worried… I mean, no more so than in any other situation online for a minor. Don’t give out your full name, don’t be too specific about where you live, get to know people for a long time before trusting them with pictures and personal details, etc. I speak from personal experience: some people will go to extreme lengths online to keep up a big lie about themselves. If the group makes you feel uncomfortable because of your gender/race/sexuality/whatever and they do not respond to a discussion on why, then just calmly explain your position and leave. There are groups out there who have codes of conduct for this very reason; find one of these guilds and repeat the process. You might think that would make them “stuffy” or something, but I’ve rarely found this to be the case. Policies like these are usually in place to justify the removal of bigots and harassers so they can’t say they didn’t know their behavior was unacceptable and a reason for suspension from the guild. Codes of Conduct in place in large all-ages guilds are often at least partially meant to create a safe space for their youngest players. Age differences in these guilds also, in my experience (I’ve been playing MMOs since I was 13, now 26), tend to be handled better and with more respect. I’ve seen some mean, bitter older people in lawless guilds and I’ve also seen some really rude, arrogant youths (youths! haha)… they tend to lash out less in places they know don’t approve of that kind of meanspiritedness. Chances are you’ll be one or both of these people (“get of my lawn hoodlum”/“in ur lawn smashin ur grass”) at some point because we are all fallible humans, the key is like I said above: take a few seconds to think about what you’re saying and maybe put that energy somewhere else instead of venting it into TS.

A little self-reflection and linguistic analysis will take you far in life, and I think a TS with a positive guild environment really helps hone that. Don’t give up. Don’t let the potential time investment discourage you. Shrug off some of your insecurities. You’re young, you have plenty of time ;) and the friends you make will be worth it.

Anyways, good luck :)

nah dude don’t worry have fun with it. I started TS young too. Its a good opportunity to make new friends/enemies LOL. i miss the days of GW1 guild chats

So long as you don’t have a squeaky voice or perv on girls, you’ll be fine i think.

I’m joking about the squeaky voice, puberty happens to everyone.

RoseofGilead.8907:

Just make sure you don’t accidentally leave your mic open so the whole TS can hear you typing.

Or talk/argue to your parents/significant others, or have some kind of weird conversation with roommate, etc. Sometimes its funny, other times its the opposite, and you think, should we be listening to this?
Have heard all of these in one way or another due to other peoples open mics on either my servers ts or TTS ts.

This is a fairly common problem, that isn’t limited to speaking on a VOIP client. Most everyone has problems with speaking in front of other people, expecially those that they don’t know. So don’t be too worried about it. The ONLY way to get better, and more comfortable, is to just do it. I’ve been a public speaker in the past, speaking before groups of up to 500 people. It is nerve wracking at first, but it does get easier. Now I understand that a VOIP client is different than being a single speaker in a room of 100+ people, but many of the same principles apply. If you feel you have something worth saying, just speak up. No one is going to laugh or make fun of you. And in just speaking up, you will feel more confident in your ability to speak in front of others, and become more and more comfortable doing so in the future. Just don’t hold back. It’s like the song says “You’ll never shine if you don’t glow”.

Good luck!!

skullmount.1758:

RoseofGilead.8907:

Just make sure you don’t accidentally leave your mic open so the whole TS can hear you typing.

Or talk/argue to your parents/significant others, or have some kind of weird conversation with roommate, etc. Sometimes its funny, other times its the opposite, and you think, should we be listening to this?
Have heard all of these in one way or another due to other peoples open mics on either my servers ts or TTS ts.

I remember one of the times the argument in the background happened with someone’s mom. That was awkward and hilarious.

I hop on TS as well, I’m 29. Typically I don’t speak unless spoken to or if I have a question. I’m not one of those people that likes to just blather on and on narrating every detail of what they are doing. This system has equated to me speaking in TS a total of 6 times or so. It’s mostly listening for me.

I wouldn’t sweat talking in TS. Honestly.

As someone who commands often in WvW and uses TS, this is what i have to say:

Im a quiet person, i dont talk much and my voice is also somewhat similar to a quiet mans personality. I even dislike my voice quite a lot. Heck i even get chills down my spine when i hear my own voice echo through someone elses mic.
Ive even heared comments saying “Your voice has no enthusiasm at all” and “that voice, eww” similar comments from time to time.

What i usualy have done is say to myself and rarely to the person itself “hell with it, im da commander whose getting you loot and if you dont like it then gtfo and find someone who has a Freddie Mercury voice to follow”. This has helped me out quite a lot for some weird reason.

But yeah in commanders case people usualy start to care less and less about the voice and focus more on what good actions the commanders do to the people following them.

So with my crappy voice and my good will towards the people following me, i usualy get 15-35 (very rarely 40+) people following me every time i tag up.

I can promise you this that even if your voice makes peoples ears bleed or even if it will makes people laugh at you then you still will slowly start to gain more and more respect towards yourself from the people youre talking to, depending on how useful you are in teamspeak.

You should not worry about your age, I’m 16 and for many months (until the megaserver) I have been the main Teq commander of my server with 80-90 people following me on TS and I never had problems. If what you say on TS is useful (if you’re trying to help), many people will probably like you.

I’m 30. I don’t get nervous about talking on TS, but I still rarely do it. I guess I grew up with WC and SC and chatting through text, so that’s the form of communication I prefer while gaming, even though talking can be less intrusive. I even attribute learning to type and eventually getting 80+ wpm to my gaming on SC.
I hate when wvw commanders want everyone to be in TS, then require you to talk to prove you’re actually on the map and not a spy.

Mystic.5934:

I hate when wvw commanders want everyone to be in TS, then require you to talk to prove you’re actually on the map and not a spy.

What on earth are you talking about? I seriously dont understand in which server you play on but what you just said made me do a serious facepalm for obvious reasons:

1. We want people mostly to talk to give some information about ongoing events that commanders simply can not see closely if we are on the other side of the map. In other words we want scouting details such as “AM blob at SM”, “30 man blob moving to…” and so on.

2. How on earth can you prove on TS that youre not a spy by talking???? Also do people even give a kitten if there actualy is someone spying since most experienced commanders are not interested in karma trains but rather are interested in whiping out blobs. Furthermore the tournament is over aka nobody cares about the score.

3. Also commanders want people in TS so the blob fights would be more organized on your side. Do you think blob fights are all about random fights everywhere around? Heck no. If your blob wins then its strictly cause the commander is giving orders on where to go with the group following him, what to do, who to attack, what skills to use, what to build and so on and so on.
The success of the blob fights, fliping towers/keeps/castle depends on the commanders leading skills and most of all- the people following him and listening what to do in TS while also giving some information about things that the commander cant see.

Now do you see the priority of TS in WvW?

eekzie.5640:

bhcbose.9615:

2% of the playerbase lol. Where do you get your stats?

86% of all statistics on this forum are completely made up.

can I put that in my signature? I really want to put that in my signature.

OP: what others have said. if you want to talk, talk, if you’re like me and anxiety and such is “keeping” you from talking, then you really don’t have to. I run in wvw with an organised guild and more people are annoyed by me being a ranger than me not talking :P

Tonszo.9654:

I never talked in TS before, but i listen to commands and etc. Everyone seems around 20-30 if not older, it seems awkward for me talking since im only 15. Do I need to be worried about anything?

As long as you don’t act like a juvenile on TS there shouldn’t be a problem. Considering you are posting your concerns on these forums, I’d say you are mature enough to handle TS just fine.

Now if the chat you’re in is mature… that’s another matter.

If female you have nothing to worry about unless there is another female.
if male stop being such a female:D Hop on and stay quiet. Talk when you feel the need to. laugh and such. Before you realise it you will be talking and laughing your way into their hearts.*

Also ignore that silly nonsense about not acting like a juvenile! Be yourself. Dont put up an act just to fit in with people or you will find those people dont really like you but that fake creation and you will be faking for the rest of your ts life.

Perfect intro
“Hi I am Dave exclamation mark Yognau(gh)t and I have the balls”

*Female advice is same as male advice.

Oh you may also want to make sure it is widely known that you are 15 and that you have parental permission and such.

DonQuack.9025:

Also ignore that silly nonsense about not acting like a juvenile! Be yourself. Dont put up an act just to fit in with people or you will find those people dont really like you but that fake creation and you will be faking for the rest of your ts life.

How was my comment “silly nonsense”? If you join TS acting like nothing but a juvenile delinquent and a kitten – then the whole “Be yourself” argument will only get you so far. There are, whether you seem to believe it or not, people in TS that do have standards of conversation. I’ve seen people kicked from TS for misconduct.

But apparently my comment was nothing but “silly nonsense” – Where your comments about how to behave depending on the person’s gender is not nonsense?

Whatever. * sigh *

Not my daughter – check.
Not my son – check.

You got nothing to worry about.

Just don’t ever let your parents listen in to the chat or wake them up by yelling something when you really should already be sleeping.

The rest is really up to you. For some people it’s more important that other people like them then for others.

Have fun!

Azhure.1857:

DonQuack.9025:

Also ignore that silly nonsense about not acting like a juvenile! Be yourself. Dont put up an act just to fit in with people or you will find those people dont really like you but that fake creation and you will be faking for the rest of your ts life.

How was my comment “silly nonsense”? If you join TS acting like nothing but a juvenile delinquent and a kitten – then the whole “Be yourself” argument will only get you so far. There are, whether you seem to believe it or not, people in TS that do have standards of conversation. I’ve seen people kicked from TS for misconduct.

But apparently my comment was nothing but “silly nonsense” – Where your comments about how to behave depending on the person’s gender is not nonsense?

Whatever. * sigh *

The difference is I wasnt serious hence the footnote

Juvenile delinquent come come now. You said act juvenile. Nothing about delinquency. He/she/it simple needs to be sure he acts with a reasonable level of balance.
Furthermore it depends on the group no?

Or does no one in these mature only groups crack stupid jokes, act stupid, troll, or ever behave childish.

I know im 28 or 29 i cant remember and I yolonoscope360tacodipgetgudskrub sometimes. And so do people (who are waaaay older than me).

If thats what it means to be prim and proper in you people ts then op simply find a guild that can appreciate “you” a bit more. Unless you like talking about taxes and politics all day. Like them grown ups.

If you had said dont be annoying I would have fully agreed

Someone else above said don’t have an open mic. THIS IS #1 and really the only important thing to know. Use push to talk. If the program bugs out or your computer does and it opens the mic then mute it right away or shut the program down. This does happen to me on occasion.

I don’t care how old someone is, how they sound, or what they are talking about (most of the time), but please use PUSH TO TALK.

Be yourself and have fun.

KOPPER.1458:

Someone else above said don’t have an open mic. THIS IS #1 and really the only important thing to know. Use push to talk. If the program bugs out or your computer does and it opens the mic then mute it right away or shut the program down. This does happen to me on occasion.

I don’t care how old someone is, how they sound, or what they are talking about (most of the time), but please use PUSH TO TALK.

Be yourself and have fun.

Or set up a toggle to talk button. This way you don’t have to keep the button pressed down to talk when you’re trying to maneuver during a fight, for example. Press the button once, your mic is open. Press it again, it’s closed. Just remember to keep it closed most of the time or when there’s background noise on your end (dog barking, others in your household talking, etc.).

Shufflepants.9785:

For TS channels with a large number of people in them like for tequatl raids, it’s actually rather important that you don’t speak very much if at all because people need to be able to hear important information from key roles and leaders. I’m 28 and I rarely ever speak up. Most of the time I have my mic just muted or not even plugged in. If there is any stigma against younger players its usually a result of the stereotype that younger players are less competent and less mature. But, if you’re reasonably competent, can follow instructions, and aren’t clogging up the channel with irrelevant non-sense, then you’ve got nothing to worry about. Well, really so long as what you say is relevant/useful information or a legitimate question about what you should be doing, you’ll have nothing to worry about except from maybe the occasional jerk. But there’s nothing you can do about that, and no one is immune from jerks no matter how old they are. Haters gonna hate.

Actually there is something you can do about that. Right click the jerk’s screen name in TS and select “Mute”.

Mystic.5934:

I hate when wvw commanders want everyone to be in TS, then require you to talk to prove you’re actually on the map and not a spy.

I actually had this happen with my wife and me just the other night….went to wvw, the commander was demanding everyone get on TS, then when we did…one of the players on TS started wondering if we were spies…..lol(and we had been in their zerg several times before….not like we were total unknown strangers)

We both left TS and just did other wvw stuff, as that group got way too paranoid, obnoxious, and cliquey…lol. It happens sometimes.

My wife was really miffed about it….I just explained to her “Hey, these people spend all their gaming time out here, and don’t get out much except in WvW…..so they get a bit paranoid at times….lol”

Don’t sweat it, I’ve been in ts with people talking who are 16-60+ years old.

Nobody cares if you are young, they care if you ACT young.

Dark Dark Binks.8210:

You should not worry about your age, I’m 16 and for many months (until the megaserver) I have been the main Teq commander of my server with 80-90 people following me on TS and I never had problems. If what you say on TS is useful (if you’re trying to help), many people will probably like you.

My son (14 at the time) and I joined a group back in Season 1 and when the commander started speaking, it was obviously a young teen. My son muted and hollered across the house “it’s a kid!” I said “shut up and listen where he assigns you”. Successful event, kid or no, is successful event. And it was.

Age means nothing – competence and actual leadership characteristics go a longer way.

Shpongle.6025:

Tonszo.9654:

I never talked in TS before, but i listen to commands and etc. Everyone seems around 20-30 if not older, it seems awkward for me talking since im only 15. Do I need to be worried about anything?

1. They could be lying about their age
2. Not everyone is on Teamspeak, the GW2 Teamspeak population is less than 2% of the playerbase
3. So what if you’re 15 ? No one cares. Just be yourself.
4. Why do you care how old they are and why is it awkward ? They won’t eat you. LOL
5. Why do you feel that it’s required of you to speak. If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to. If you want to, you can.
6. Teamspeak is mostly there just so you can listen to the commanders co-ordination and be a good ant in the zerg and do your part
7. I don’t understand the last question, why would you be worried about anything? It’s a video game, you log in, you play it, you have fun and that’s that. Lol
8. If you encounter ageists(old people that think their superior due to seniority), don’t bother with them. They’re more childish than you are, they just can’t see it and you can’t see it either. Yet.

Remember, it’s all in your head and once you’re dead, you won’t remember any of it

So have fun

2%? you are on planet earth right?

ITheNormalPerson.9275:

eekzie.5640:

bhcbose.9615:

2% of the playerbase lol. Where do you get your stats?

86% of all statistics on this forum are completely made up.

can I put that in my signature? I really want to put that in my signature.

OP: what others have said. if you want to talk, talk, if you’re like me and anxiety and such is “keeping” you from talking, then you really don’t have to. I run in wvw with an organised guild and more people are annoyed by me being a ranger than me not talking :P

Sure.

Can also put -Bill Clinton behind it.
Very legit statement.

While I have not seen this topic before I have seen something similar firsthand. Things like this always make me ask questions like “Why should anyone feel nervous about this?” and “What have I done to alleviate these feelings in others?”. To a certain extent I believe it to be the abrasive internet culture that sets the standards for behavior in voip and that the issue is compounded by a persons relative introversion or extroversion. Regardless of how these doubts/fears are grown I hope that I and others can lessen some of anxiety felt with communication in this type of environment by staying positive and patient with people regardless of circumstance. Hopefully you encounter some like minded people and aren’t berated right out of the channel.

Tonszo.9654:

I never talked in TS before, but i listen to commands and etc. Everyone seems around 20-30 if not older, it seems awkward for me talking since im only 15. Do I need to be worried about anything?

Heck, they all sound like the 15-20 age group to me, I feel awkward because I’m 43 LOL