Guild Wars 2

I understand why commanders would kick people who won’t get in TS. They should just go find a commander who doesn’t care.

If your server is not in Discord, it don’t matter.

Great communication is key, whether it is text on screen or via voice chat programs like TS or discord.

Many good commanders will ask their zerg to be on TS and this can stem out to scouts and/or roamers on other BLs.

Like real life and social groups – each server’s community differs in maturity and it isn’t uncommon to have the odd group or individuals whom talk or treat others disrespectfully in TS. Never had to block anyone in TS, there’s a few clowns for sure but they move on or you/your friends do to another channel.

I will state it’s fair if you join a squad or intend to follow a commander that in being kicked for not being in TS as per his/her orders is deserving. Their house, their rules.

It’s nice to know what’s going on in TS instead of relying on team chat for details which may be too late.

All too common I see a zerg having missed potential because a third of the squad is not in TS not having listened to the adverts for TS and therefore, has no idea what movement/callouts will be. These people disappoint me and let their teammates down.

build build build build build build build go-around go-around go-around go-around go-around go-around go-around go-around stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up fight fight fight fight stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up stack-up fight fight fight fight back-up back-up back-up back-up back-up back-up back-up back-up back-up up-the-wall up-the-wall up-the-wall up-the-wall up-the-wall up-the-wall up-the-wall up-the-wall jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down jump-down waypoint waypoint waypoint waypoint waypoint waypoint waypoint waypoint waypoint

yea.. there’s a reason I’m not on TS

Not in TS =/= Rallybot.

If a group wants people to be on TS, then be expected to go on TS and don’t whine for getting kicked. If a group doesn’t care, then also respect those who doesn’t care. Go start your own group or do your own thing with your own rule instead of complaining

Just don’t be a rallybot.

Eater of Peeps.9062:

HazyDaisy.4107:

In the old days, a commander would map switch to throw off an outrageous pug following that wasn’t in TS. Now a days ques make that hard to do, so what is perceived as sissiness could very well be business as usual. If you are a pug that insists on following a tag but don’t want to follow the tags rules as silly as they may seem to you, then you have 1 of 3 options.
1) Join TS then mute everyone.
2) Don’t join TS or the squad, but follow anyway at the back of the line.
3) Do your own thing.

As far as what you could expect to hear in TS, map chat and team chat is usually a good indicator of the seriousness, silliness or vulgarness you’ll encounter.

Your suggestions are incorrect and here’s why: If you join TS and mute it, what’s the point of any of it – even the requirement – its pointless, frivolous to insist people be on TS only to have them completely ignoring it in all regards. Also, following at the back of the line/zerg is the exact same thing as being in the squad and not on TS or as being on TS and muting TS – there’s no difference – as a player you’re following a commander without benefit/distraction of TS and as a zerg you’re getting the exact same experience from the player who follows or is not in TS or is in TS with it muted and as a commander there is no benefit either way because the player will make mistakes or not, flag enemies or not, expose the zerg or not, or die/kill or not regardless of TS (assuming they really want to play and are not just in there sabotaging the zerg). While TS may help some, it hurts others’ play and some people just can’t do it – why penalize people by making a third party app a meaningless requirement – especially when squads are not full and there is only one commander on a map and a que? As to the last suggestion I would say this – if I wanted to roam and kill solo, I would pve or pvp – why are you forcing me to do that on a map which is intended to be played as a zerg – a unique and very fun thing in the gaming world. I want to fight in a zerg with the squad to get the benefits and to help out – keeping me from joining a squad only makes me hate the game and the players – not a good thing for this game which I love and would like to see around another five years.

Your rebuttal is incorrect and here’s why. Points 1 and 2 are troll suggestions.

Generally I roam, when i move into a commanded group with TS I join the TS as a matter of course, it feels right to me. Unfortunately roughly 100% of the time the TS descends into kitten measuring or topics/areas i do not wish to have forced upon me.

As a 56 yr old I appreciate I am not the target audience for TS players and usually leave the TS and the group to play their game in their own way. My blocklist is very very short.

Good luck, I love this game , have roamed scouted etc since it began and I CHOOSE to not follow the zerg much anymore partly due to how voice chat is used by the special few .

I am happy enough to roam solo.

Dubain

Zephyra.4709:

Great communication is key, whether it is text on screen or via voice chat programs like TS or discord.

Many good commanders will ask their zerg to be on TS and this can stem out to scouts and/or roamers on other BLs.

Like real life and social groups – each server’s community differs in maturity and it isn’t uncommon to have the odd group or individuals whom talk or treat others disrespectfully in TS. Never had to block anyone in TS, there’s a few clowns for sure but they move on or you/your friends do to another channel.

I will state it’s fair if you join a squad or intend to follow a commander that in being kicked for not being in TS as per his/her orders is deserving. Their house, their rules.

It’s nice to know what’s going on in TS instead of relying on team chat for details which may be too late.

All too common I see a zerg having missed potential because a third of the squad is not in TS not having listened to the adverts for TS and therefore, has no idea what movement/callouts will be. These people disappoint me and let their teammates down.

I think where it becomes objectionable is when a commander labours under the false impression that the entire map/server is “their house” and hence should play by “their rules”, rather than just the squad. Which you do see sometimes.

henchmen.1856:

Fluffball.8307:

I have a 1 year old that I prefer sleeps rather than is up at like 3 am. If the PUGmander can’t handle that, kitten em.

headphones exist for a reason. no one is saying you have to talk.

holodoc.5748:

TS is not a requirement for effectively contributing to WvW. As a matter of fact a lot of people, myself included, do not join TS because of all the side effects that come with joining a public place like that. Screaming, producing all kinds of bodily noises, publicly sharing personal sexual fantasies, picking fights with other people on TS… No thank you.

what kind of weird as server are you on….

My thoughts exactly XD

On a sidenote. TS is free, it allows for easy, effortless real time communication. If you do not want to listen to the chatter, reduce volume of TS overall, then bump the volume of the commanders only. That way, you only hear what you need to hear.

The point of TS, is also not JUST for you to hear others, its for others to relay info TO YOU. A commander/zerg isnt always able to relay info in text or through links. Having to tie up a scout or another roamer to relay said info to you, because you refuse to use a simple free program to stay in the loop, wastes not just the commanders time, but OUR time.

We are all in this together. Using TS, lowering the volume so you arent bothered by it. Its easy, its FREE and i dare say it’s simply “good manners”

Prysin.8542:

henchmen.1856:

Fluffball.8307:

I have a 1 year old that I prefer sleeps rather than is up at like 3 am. If the PUGmander can’t handle that, kitten em.

headphones exist for a reason. no one is saying you have to talk.

holodoc.5748:

TS is not a requirement for effectively contributing to WvW. As a matter of fact a lot of people, myself included, do not join TS because of all the side effects that come with joining a public place like that. Screaming, producing all kinds of bodily noises, publicly sharing personal sexual fantasies, picking fights with other people on TS… No thank you.

what kind of weird as server are you on….

My thoughts exactly XD

On a sidenote. TS is free, it allows for easy, effortless real time communication. If you do not want to listen to the chatter, reduce volume of TS overall, then bump the volume of the commanders only. That way, you only hear what you need to hear.

The point of TS, is also not JUST for you to hear others, its for others to relay info TO YOU. A commander/zerg isnt always able to relay info in text or through links. Having to tie up a scout or another roamer to relay said info to you, because you refuse to use a simple free program to stay in the loop, wastes not just the commanders time, but OUR time.

We are all in this together. Using TS, lowering the volume so you arent bothered by it. Its easy, its FREE and i dare say it’s simply “good manners”

I personally believe it’s good manners to assume that if someone isn’t on teamspeak, it’s because they have perfectly valid reasons.

You aren’t letting the side down by not using it or something. If anything I dare say the side is letting you down by trying to force the issue.

=P

Your playing part of the game that takes the most communication and coordination, I believe it’s perfectly normal for someone to insist on use of TS/Discord. Information is shared far faster if all you need to do is press your P2Talk button, as opposed to standing still, typing out a message, then moving.

People want better organized gameplay.

A commander is choosing to tag up. In their squad, it’s their rules. If the commander wants their squad in voice, that’s perfectly fine. You have a choice to join or not.

Not all voice comms are the same. Some are toxic, some aren’t. Please stop painting everyone with the same brush.

Play the way you want. Don’t join voice. But don’t be upset if that choice has consequences.

If you think voice doesn’t matter, then tag up and textmand. Set your own squad rules. That’s your choice, too.

(I couldn’t quote the people I wanted to because my message would go over the word count, but this is not just to the people I meant to quote)

At the end of the day the commander of the squad has a choice. If the commander only wants certain people in the squad then they can make it happen. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the commander is at what they do, or how well people could perform with or without TS communication. If they don’t want you in their squad you are not getting in their squad. TS is never mandatory and there is always the option to form smaller parties with other people who face a similar situation of being blocked from the squad. It is entirely possible to survive without being in the squad or a lone party in large fights, you just have to play differently. It takes some getting used to especially if you don’t know how, but with mistakes you learn. For example, if the commander has been known to run from fights then it is safe to assume you will be going the opposite direction every time a bunch of red names appear. If you don’t know your commander at all or what they want from their group then play to your own survivability. Another example can be veils from a Mesmer. A commander will ask for veils as they wish, but if you are not in TS a Mesmer can still make a veil call or know when to veil based on the commanders movements, and position. Also sometimes commanders will play know very well what people outside of TS will do. A commander may set up catas on a tower, let’s say, and run off to another objective knowing that people who cannot hear them will stay behind to cata. If they die the commander then knows where a force is, big or small. If they do not die the tower is captured while the commander is multitasking on something else. It comes down to whether you trust your commander or not in such a situation, and reading your commander.

Going back to TS I understand it can be a little frustrating when you don’t get a group, but it should not deter you from playing. When I first started to WvW way back whenever I had no idea what was going on because I didn’t know TS was being used, but I followed commanders whether they wanted me there or not. I asked questions about what to do and generally had a good time. WvW can be extremely fun and each commander is different. I have known commanders for remembering names and allowing access into groups despite not being in TS because they have shown they can hold their own and can provide without a voice communication system. Commanders and people in the group will also make suggestions to you via say or team chat (for my server at least) if you ask. So say you are not in TS or squad, and each fight you are getting one pushed; a commander might ask you to tank up even though the commander’s own group is a bit more glassy, let’s say. It is not that commanders do not want to help.

They do not care that you are hearing impaired. As harsh as that may sound commanders use squads and TS as a way of organization. Being in a large squad is about communication. If there is no communication the group falls short of what it can do. From this the commander is going to want to prioritize people who they receive their preferred form of communication from. There will be commanders who do not have a care in the world who joins and then there are those who only want TS users. A commander is going to play differently if they know they can not get commands out to the majority of their group in a fast enough manner and the type of people they have following them. So a commander who has their entire squad in TS is going to communicate faster and more often than a text commander. As a result of this they are going to be more daring in their attacks. It is up to the person to communicate what they are capable of doing though.

A good commander wishes the best from everyone and sometimes that is hard to achieve. Talking (or typing) to the commanders and what you can and cannot do will help the commander get an idea of what both you and they can do. They may make exceptions, or decide whether to or to not avoid certain situations knowing the community around them. There are going to be people willing to help, and it is just a matter of seeing what people have to say. There are going to be some bad people and bad commanding, but TS is not a device used to pull apart communities. Speech is just a common form of communication, so TS takes advantage of that. When someone who is hearing impaired comes along, simply put, people don’t know what to do with them in terms of command relay. They do not know if your are lying (which people do for some reason), or how to get commands out to them in a fast enough and efficient manner.

After all this, again, it is still entirely up to the commander on how to run a squad, but do not let the commander’s actions prevent you from having a good time. I do not personally know what the communication is like on other servers from my own, and it may be drastically different from what I know. WvW does not have one singular way of playing, though. If you don’t want to join TS then don’t. People who are not in TS are not useless. They still matter and by just playing and having fun are still being useful in some way.

TS when it is disciplined is great. However very, very few are and most of the time all I hear is yammering while I am concentrating on my rotations, defensive positioning, enemy reads, etc. It is typically a distraction for me with commanders yelling, people talking over other people or having some fairly inappropriate social conversation.

Too many people need to fill silence with useless words so TS often becomes a public toilet of conversation.

BTW Roamers and Havoc Squads contribute more to the tick than zerglings by a mile and don’t need TS to be highly contributing members of a matchup community.

The point here is play how you want. But that goes for other players, too. If you don’t want to be in ts, don’t be. But don’t expect other players to play your way.

Hearing impaired is a different situation, but that’s not the most common complaint.

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Crapmanders, Assmanders, and Jesusmanders all exist. Its the ppl on the server and what they are willing to tolerate creates the types you get. Im always entertained by t1 commanders that drop down in tiers and throw tantrums in chat because people would rather lose than follow an kitten. Different servers have different flavors. Some servers always singlemand maps other servers have mostly guildmanders, some have primarily servermanders, ect… My reccomendation is follow the tags you like and if there arent any and you are new to wvw you best find a server with a more pleasant community now because it maybe a server culture thing.

Brigand.9502:

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Question and a serious one. What do you do about the hearing impaired? I having hearing difficulties for one (not deaf) but really hard to follow in TS or what have you. Generally I follow in game chat and pin…

If there’s a real reason it’s fine, but after a day of working and listening to people I don’t want to spend my free hours listening to 5+ people trying to talk. No, I will play my music instead. I will TS only with people I know, don’t voice spam and when it’s absolutely needed. You don’t need TS at all to be helpful.

usnedward.9023:

Brigand.9502:

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Question and a serious one. What do you do about the hearing impaired? I having hearing difficulties for one (not deaf) but really hard to follow in TS or what have you. Generally I follow in game chat and pin…

Nobody sane will get on your case for not hearing things perfectly. Not that they would know, or have a right to know anyways. There are many people that just sit in the channel without a mic and generally that’s all most people look for— nobody’s gonna watching you specifically. As long as you put in the effort to be there, and not be 5 miles off from the tag hitting a lord, that’s already a large improvement. Typically an organized group also has visual aids such as markers to go along with the commanding. A group that doesn’t go out of its way to properly confer information and expects peak performance out of pugs is delusional and needs to run closed.

Honestly, if you watch videos that contain comms, you will notice it’s not really necessary to actually comprehend most of it to know what to do. Essentially, it’s about getting more information, not tuning into the dictatorship. Generally, you will need to understand a little under half of what’s being said.

I am not hearing impaired but am incredibly terrible at following verbal instructions. It generally goes fine.

ArchonWing.9480:

usnedward.9023:

Brigand.9502:

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Question and a serious one. What do you do about the hearing impaired? I having hearing difficulties for one (not deaf) but really hard to follow in TS or what have you. Generally I follow in game chat and pin…

Nobody sane will get on your case for not hearing things perfectly. Not that they would know, or have a right to know anyways. There are many people that just sit in the channel without a mic and generally that’s all most people look for— nobody’s gonna watching you specifically. Typically an organized group also has visual aids such as markers to go along with the commanding.

Honestly, if you watch videos that contain comms, you will notice it’s not really necessary to actually comprehend most of it to know what to do. Essentially, it’s about getting more information, not tuning into the dictatorship.

I am not hearing impaired but am incredibly terrible at following verbal instructions.

Describe sane? lol. I have in the past explained why I cannot get into TS and with all the saltiness I have never been salted on about it which gives me hope for humanity.

usnedward.9023:

ArchonWing.9480:

usnedward.9023:

Brigand.9502:

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Question and a serious one. What do you do about the hearing impaired? I having hearing difficulties for one (not deaf) but really hard to follow in TS or what have you. Generally I follow in game chat and pin…

Nobody sane will get on your case for not hearing things perfectly. Not that they would know, or have a right to know anyways. There are many people that just sit in the channel without a mic and generally that’s all most people look for— nobody’s gonna watching you specifically. Typically an organized group also has visual aids such as markers to go along with the commanding.

Honestly, if you watch videos that contain comms, you will notice it’s not really necessary to actually comprehend most of it to know what to do. Essentially, it’s about getting more information, not tuning into the dictatorship.

I am not hearing impaired but am incredibly terrible at following verbal instructions.

Describe sane? lol. I have in the past explained why I cannot get into TS and with all the saltiness I have never been salted on about it which gives me hope for humanity.

Sane as in not expecting strangers to read your mind, and to expect strangers to approach the game in the same fashion.

Then you have to understand that most of us do not have time to run a background check on you or deal with backstory and can’t accommodate unless you speak up.

I mean this goes both ways. When you join a group, then it’s by their rules. If they’re expecting you to join them, the role is reversed and they need to clean it up for the public— or they don’t get anything.

Don’t support those groups. If you really can’t find any other groups, then perhaps the community at that time period is simply too toxic and you’ll have to consider moving.

usnedward.9023:

Brigand.9502:

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Question and a serious one. What do you do about the hearing impaired? I having hearing difficulties for one (not deaf) but really hard to follow in TS or what have you. Generally I follow in game chat and pin…

No reasonable person could expect someone to drive down the road when they are blind (just as an example). If I were in your shoes, I would have to come to terms with the fact that I might not be welcomed in a Commander’s squad because of lack of TS participation and would either have to tag along solo (which I do currently on occasion) or perhaps in a party running adjacent to the squad. Or just find another tag to follow. I main a thief so I have already come to terms with not being welcomed in certain company. haha

On a slight side note, is there some sort of TeamSpeak plug-in that would allow “voice to text” capabilities? I think it would be neat if you could select a user and a plug-in could translate what that specific user was saying over voice coms. The intent of user-selection would filter out all the other extraneous noise from the other people in the channel.

Get hearing aid…turn up the tags mic, lower all volume…right click menus

Note there are just bad commanders. They try to strong arm ppl into ts and then give vague commands or worse yet…on me on me…over here over here….fight….I guess I would rather listen to music too or maybe troll them in m chat (just a little). Noone is saying you must get in ts with every commander.

The best response might be "i was and you sucked so I have decided to farm pips and plug que as a public service to all my server mates who might have the uunfortunate experience of listening to your useless prattle. " rather than creating a philisophical debate about a eutopian wvw community.

Also some tags will insist that lack of victory is their group comp and lack of ts. If you are pugmanding and you can tell that the nuggety center of the blob you are facing is a 25man condi bomb guild and you have a pile of rangers and thieves no ts is gonna help you win that fight. If someone ask why you wont just push and kill them all tell them to go get on a class that has abilities other than “explode on engage 1s cd”.

Tldr. If being in ts works for you great. If you dont use ts dont complain about losing or defensive tactics.

Let me be clear lol. I am not deaf I have a certain hearing loss that does not allow me to hear at certain levels. I can use TS but volume levels need to be to high that everyone in the house would go nuts. I have tried earbuds, muffs and what have you but it is too cumbersome and NOT recommended due to volume that is needed. If no one is home I will use it but rarely is that the case and so I play without TS. If it is needed I move along as there are always others to run with and I am not going to whine out there about it as my issues doesn’t need to be in the game and I deal with it.

Some of the worst commanders people complain about actually are some of the better commanders I run with with no issue. I apologize this has taken over the OP so let’s get back to the topic. TS or other software like it need to be in game without a doubt. Not everyone will use it because they don’t want to, can’t or for whatever reason. The more in TS the less death by typing happens. Most commanders I run with I am familiar with their path and how they do things so I cope with it all by following the pin.

usnedward.9023:

Let me be clear lol. I am not deaf I have a certain hearing loss that does not allow me to hear at certain levels. I can use TS but volume levels need to be to high that everyone in the house would go nuts. I have tried earbuds, muffs and what have you but it is too cumbersome and NOT recommended due to volume that is needed. If no one is home I will use it but rarely is that the case and so I play without TS. If it is needed I move along as there are always others to run with and I am not going to whine out there about it as my issues doesn’t need to be in the game and I deal with it.

Some of the worst commanders people complain about actually are some of the better commanders I run with with no issue. I apologize this has taken over the OP so let’s get back to the topic. TS or other software like it need to be in game without a doubt. Not everyone will use it because they don’t want to, can’t or for whatever reason. The more in TS the less death by typing happens. Most commanders I run with I am familiar with their path and how they do things so I cope with it all by following the pin.

We have a guildie who is completely deaf and doesnt feel the need to be on ts either so there are always extenuating circumstances

usnedward.9023:

Brigand.9502:

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Question and a serious one. What do you do about the hearing impaired? I having hearing difficulties for one (not deaf) but really hard to follow in TS or what have you. Generally I follow in game chat and pin…

If you are hearing impaired you are an exception and not the average. When you are in a squad of 45 and have 17 people on TS I guarantee you that the 28 who are not on TS are not hearing impaired.

Unfortunately, this means a bit of extra work for you as far as being closer to optimal effective in a organized / semi-organized group play. But its doable.

What you can do ? First, join 2 or 3 WVW guilds. WVW guilds do not have 100% rep requirement, in fact, many will tell you to feel free to switch unless you run under the guild tag and you do have multiple guild slots.

Then you need to let people in those guilds know about your personal situation, especially guild leaders / officers and commanders. They will work with you. Even the ones that seem abrasive or get frustrated will lighten up for you.

You can play a multitude of roles in a squad and will eventually get fairly good at them and their execution once you become a part of their guild metas. You will still be missing reaction time no matter what, but it will be a huge improvement over what it is now.

The guilds you join and work with will always have a spot for you no matter what, TS or no TS. And heres another thing. As most people you play with have several guilds and they switch between them, over time you will become a regular player on the server and anyone that knows you will have such a spot for you as well regardless if you are in their guild or not.

This does take some commitment, practice and patience though, do not expect for things to happen overnight, but they will.

Duke Dark Hart.1385:

I’ve been on CD for maybe a year now through all types of fluctuations and i stay because i love it. It’s home. both my self and my guild even if we are small have poured our hearts into CD. Tonight a blanket statement was made by someone i respect that’s a major voice on CD even if that respect only goes in one direction. That if you don’t use TS than your not an asset because you aren’t really helping. I’m sure a lot of people feel that way. I know its a big help in wvw. But it was really the first time in a year i felt like wow kitten my server.

Even if we were roamers which we aren’t we are a small ops guild of seasoned vets that responds to all major calls from tags and larger guilds for aid. I feel like that’s a pretty big kitten you to people that put in time and effort but don’t use TS. I guess i just needed to vent because if I didn’t i was gonna seethe about it until i moved my entire guild to a new server.

You “needed a place to vent”? Are you just looking for people to agree with you? Anyone who’s commanded long enough will tell you that being in voice comms (whatever platform) will allow both yourself, and the group to be more reactive and organized. What is untrue about that? If you didn’t like what this person had to say then who cares just ignore it. Why QQ about it to get attention? Whoever this person is was correct to an extent anyways.

Duke Dark Hart.1385:

I’ve been on CD for maybe a year now through all types of fluctuations and i stay because i love it. It’s home. both my self and my guild even if we are small have poured our hearts into CD. Tonight a blanket statement was made by someone i respect that’s a major voice on CD even if that respect only goes in one direction. That if you don’t use TS than your not an asset because you aren’t really helping. I’m sure a lot of people feel that way. I know its a big help in wvw. But it was really the first time in a year i felt like wow kitten my server.

Even if we were roamers which we aren’t we are a small ops guild of seasoned vets that responds to all major calls from tags and larger guilds for aid. I feel like that’s a pretty big kitten you to people that put in time and effort but don’t use TS. I guess i just needed to vent because if I didn’t i was gonna seethe about it until i moved my entire guild to a new server.

Sorry, but its just ridiculous to say something like that. The fact is, I flip towers and camps and I also kill ennemies REGARDLESS of my being or not on voice com. Doing those things help my server regardless of how angry you are.

I even assit tags when I’m around and, most of the time, I think it is worth it for the tag to have me even when I’m not on voice com.

I get the frusttration of being a commander. I really do. But, from my perspective, it is you that give a pretty big Kitten you to people who carry their weight, and more, in an autonomous manner. The success of a server also largely depend on it’s ability to conduct simultaneous attacks by your smaller autonomous groups rather than just carry one huge blobosaurus.

Asking for all to be on voice com is an utopia. It never happened and will never happen for a lot of legitimate reasons. Get over it. or just get mad forever…

What you have control over, and that you can make sure of, is that only those that are on voice com are allowed in your squad. The rest is beyond your reach.

The only thing I really care about is that the other people in my squad are in TS.

I do feel that other major squads, such as guild groups or anyone of say 20+ size should also be in TS for easy communication. It’s a night and day difference to have 2 groups attacking an enemy with co-ordination on pushes. For example, I’m going left, you right; I’m going over the wall, you through the gate; I see you coming from the north, I’ll wait here and hide south, then push out; need some help or vice versa. So many things that benefit commanders being able to talk. It’s nice to have, but not totally necessary

But smaller groups? Roamers? Nah. Not that big of a deal.

“If the commander only wants certain people in the squad they can make it happen. It doesn’t matter how good or bad commander is at what they do, or how well people could perform with or without TS communication. If they don’t want you in their squad you are not getting in their squad. TS is never mandatory …”

So, don’t play with the zerg. That’s my choice? 1 commander, 1 zerg, get out it’s my squad, ur useless even tho squad’s not full. Mean Girls. Makes sense. Go play somewhere else alone, die, but please, by all means, have fun! Think I’ll pass. Game advertised I could run with a commanded squad, no TS needed! TS is mandatory.

“It is possible to survive without being in the squad or a lone party in large fights, you just have to play differently. If you don’t know your commander at all or what they want from their group then play to your own survivability. "

LOL I play to my own survivability, cuz it’s my only choice running solo next to a non-full squad. Makes sense – running alone beside a zerg is exact same thing as running in squad w/o TS – how is cmdr gaining anything?

“It comes down to whether you trust cmdr or not in such a situation, and reading your cmdr.”

If I’ve been booted, he’s not my cmdr. If he sent me off to die alone, I will never do anything he asks!

“Going back to TS, … it can be a little frustrating when you don’t get a group, but it should not deter you from playing.”

A little frustrating? When you want to play in a not-full squad, being booted is more than frustrating – it’s humiliating, demoralizing, isolating, maddening – worse than last guy picked on a team. Having a disability I fully understand what it is to get picked on, but to endorse and rationalize this behavior with reasonable articulateness doesn’t make it any less harsh.

“When I first started to WvW way back whenever I had no idea what was going on because I didn’t know TS was being used, but I followed commanders whether they wanted me there or not. I asked questions about what to do and generally had a good time. "

When I started beta WvW and ever since, no one used TS and we all did fine – we won tournaments (2 full zergs vs. our zerg in our keep) and no TS cept a few players. I understand TS is helpful – but it should never be an exclusionary tool – esp when banishing a player to run beside a non-full squad w/o benefit of protections is inane and nonsensical. Doesn’t cmdr want benefits of whatever I bring to the table? Don’t they want me to stay alive and help out? Banishing me to the zerg hinterlands to survive on my own seems counter-productive to the zerg/server goal. I’ve yet to hear good reason as to why TS should be (or if an elitist cmdr desires it) …. mandatory!

“I have known commanders for remembering names and allowing access into groups despite not being in TS because they have shown they can hold their own and can provide without a voice communication system.”

Oh wow, only wish I was good enough to prove my merit and get in a squad. If only I was a better player at WvW (or GW which I’ve been playing since gw1 beta). So wistful. I promise to try harder. Gimme a break. 10 skills, run, hit door, hit/kill players, heal, move, build, supply up, go. Hard stuff. After 5 yrs of WvW 3 x a week, I got it. No one criticized my play; it wasn’t why I was booted. I hope I find a cmdr who sees the good in me, and allows me into their not-full squad, tho I must admit, I don’t think I’ll be able to “provide” anything w/o TS.

“So say you are not in TS or squad … ; a cmdr might ask you to tank up even tho commander’s own group is a bit more glassy. It’s not that cmdrs don’t want to help.”

If a cmdr boots me, I will do nothing to help him out. Makes for bad blood. If a cmdr wants my help, and my heals/skills/kills, he needs to not exclude me from his precious non-full squad.

“They do not care that you are hearing impaired.”

Nice. It’s a casual game. It should be played by all to the best of ability within level of desire/ commitment to play. I want to play. I give my all. Yah, off to the curb I go.

“As harsh as that may sound commanders use squads and TS as a way of organization.
If there is no communication the group falls short of what it can do.”

It is harsh. You’ve just admitted a person trying to play a game that doesn’t advertise it requires TS to play certain game modes as intended gets to face a “harsh” reality of: we don’t want you, go away because your disability or inability to access TS makes you unwanted. It’s not the harshness of words that’s offensive, it’s the harshness of endorsements of non-sportsmanlike, exclusionary, elitist behavior.

“So a cmdr who has … squad in TS is going to communicate faster and more often than a text commander. It’s up to the person to communicate what they are capable of doing though.”

I agree. No one’s disputing TS is helpful for many, and that those who avail themselves of it are arguably helping out the squad more than those who are not on TS (highly debatable). But to exclude well playing, or poor playing eager participants from a non-full squad is elitist, unkind and serves no good purpose. Mandatory TS is unfair and doesn’t achieve the goal of making the zerg better; being in squad not on TS is the exact same thing as running beside squad alone without TS, except then neither player nor squad has maximized play for the greater good of the server/zerg (via protections of the squad). Seems stupid. Mandatory TS in partly full squad makes no sense.

“A good commander wishes the best from everyone and sometimes that is hard to achieve. "

I will try to not dish out a spiteful rant after having experienced an act of exclusion from elitist types – I will try to give them my best behavior, so they can play in peace and have fun with their part-full squad while I go off in a corner and wait to get picked off, thinking about all the bad things I did. Why am I being punished? What did I do? Cmdrs who engage in these practices do not get my respect. They often get derision, non-cooperation, and vocal response.

“Talking (or typing) to the commanders and what you can and cannot do will help the commander get an idea of what both you and they can do. They may make exceptions, or decide whether to or to not avoid certain situations knowing the community around them. There are going to be some bad people and bad commanding, but TS is not a device used to pull apart communities.”

I always follow the best I can. The cmdr is not interested in what I can do. The cmdr booted me for no TS, despite playing the same squad all day. Not a community issue, unless players who don’t like me managed to pressure the only cmdr who took over the only squad to exclude me (and others). Inexcusable, bad behavior when the squad is not full. TS didn’t pull apart the community – tactics chosen did.

“When someone who is hearing impaired comes along, simply put, people don’t know what to do with them in terms of command relay.”

What to do with me? Let me play and help out, doing the best I can.

“After all this, it’s still entirely up to the commander on how to run a squad, but do not let the cmdr’s actions prevent you from having a good time.”

Too late! My day was ruined. I was in tears. What did I do? why did I get grief, when the cmdr’s behavior elicited the rant? Because I was upset? Yah. Better I should go off to an emotionless world so everyone else can have fun without being called out for unsportsmanlike behavior.

“If you don’t want to join TS then don’t. People who are not in TS are not useless. They still matter and by just playing and having fun are still being useful in some way.”

O, g. Thx for that. I feel vindicated as a worthy player. I have some worth after all. I am not “useless.” I am still useful “in some way.” Wow.

Eater of Peeps.9062:

“Going back to TS, … it can be a little frustrating when you don’t get a group, but it should not deter you from playing.”

A little frustrating? When you want to play in a not-full squad, being booted is more than frustrating – it’s humiliating, demoralizing, isolating, maddening – worse than last guy picked on a team. Having a disability I fully understand what it is to get picked on, but to endorse and rationalize this behavior with reasonable articulateness doesn’t make it any less abusive.

“When I first started to WvW way back whenever I had no idea what was going on because I didn’t know TS was being used, but I followed commanders whether they wanted me there or not. I asked questions about what to do and generally had a good time. "

When I started beta WvW and ever since, no one used TS and we all did fine – we won tournaments (2 full zergs vs. our zerg in our keep) and no TS cept a few players. I understand TS is helpful – but it should never be an exclusionary tool – esp when banishing a player to run beside a non-full squad w/o benefit of protections is inane and nonsensical. Doesn’t cmdr want benefits of whatever I bring to the table? Don’t they want me to stay alive and help out? Banishing me to the zerg hinterlands to survive on my own seems counter-productive to the zerg/server goal. I’ve yet to hear good reason as to why TS should be (or if an elitist cmdr desires it) …. mandatory!

“I have known commanders for remembering names and allowing access into groups despite not being in TS because they have shown they can hold their own and can provide without a voice communication system.”

Oh wow, only wish I was good enough to prove my merit and get in a squad. If only I was a better player at WvW (or GW which I’ve been playing since gw1 beta). So wistful. I promise to try harder. Gimme a break. 10 skills, run, hit door, hit/kill players, heal, move, build, supply up, go. Hard stuff. After 5 yrs of WvW 3 x a week, I got it. No one criticized my play; it wasn’t why I was booted. I hope I find a cmdr who sees the good in me, and allows me into their not-full squad, tho I must admit, I don’t think I’ll be able to “provide” anything w/o TS.

“So say you are not in TS or squad … ; a cmdr might ask you to tank up even tho commander’s own group is a bit more glassy. It’s not that cmdrs don’t want to help.”

If a cmdr boots me, I will do nothing to help him out. Makes for bad blood. Makes me hate the game; Anet allows it and silently endorses it. If a cmdr wants my help, and my heals/skills/kills, he needs to not exclude me from his precious non-full squad.

“They do not care that you are hearing impaired.”

Nice. They must all be proud. Pick on the disabled, elderly, stupid, w/e. It’s a casual game. It should be played by all to the best of ability within level of desire/ commitment to play. I want to play. I give my all. Yah, kitten me, off to the curb I go.

“As harsh as that may sound commanders use squads and TS as a way of organization.
If there is no communication the group falls short of what it can do.”

It is harsh. You might want to rethink your priorities. You’ve just admitted a person trying to play a game that doesn’t advertise it requires TS to play certain game modes as intended gets to face a “harsh” reality of: we don’t want you, go away because your disability/inability to access TS makes you unwanted. It’s not the harshness of your words that’s offensive or cruel, it’s the harshness of your endorsement of prejudicial, unkind, and abusive behavior.

You’re taking what this person said waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too personal (equating usefulness to joining Teamspeak). If you don’t like what the person said just maintain your dissenting point of view and try to enjoy the game. If you don’t want to join Teamspeak then don’t. After all, you bought your own copy of the game, just play WvW the way you want to. Other people cannot control whether or not you join Teamspeak. Why are you letting one persons opinion bother you so much?

usnedward.9023:

Let me be clear lol. I am not deaf I have a certain hearing loss that does not allow me to hear at certain levels. I can use TS but volume levels need to be to high that everyone in the house would go nuts. I have tried earbuds, muffs and what have you but it is too cumbersome and NOT recommended due to volume that is needed. If no one is home I will use it but rarely is that the case and so I play without TS. If it is needed I move along as there are always others to run with and I am not going to whine out there about it as my issues doesn’t need to be in the game and I deal with it.

Some of the worst commanders people complain about actually are some of the better commanders I run with with no issue. I apologize this has taken over the OP so let’s get back to the topic. TS or other software like it need to be in game without a doubt. Not everyone will use it because they don’t want to, can’t or for whatever reason. The more in TS the less death by typing happens. Most commanders I run with I am familiar with their path and how they do things so I cope with it all by following the pin.

I always follow cmdr. Apparently, that’s not good enuf. All I can say to you is that you will one day be booted for not having TS and then you must do something else, and you cant play the way you paid for the game for.

HazyDaisy.4107:

Eater of Peeps.9062:

HazyDaisy.4107:

In the old days, a commander would map switch to throw off an outrageous pug following that wasn’t in TS. Now a days ques make that hard to do, so what is perceived as sissiness could very well be business as usual. If you are a pug that insists on following a tag but don’t want to follow the tags rules as silly as they may seem to you, then you have 1 of 3 options.
1) Join TS then mute everyone.
2) Don’t join TS or the squad, but follow anyway at the back of the line.
3) Do your own thing.

As far as what you could expect to hear in TS, map chat and team chat is usually a good indicator of the seriousness, silliness or vulgarness you’ll encounter.

Your suggestions are incorrect and here’s why: If you join TS and mute it, what’s the point of any of it – even the requirement – its pointless, frivolous to insist people be on TS only to have them completely ignoring it in all regards. Also, following at the back of the line/zerg is the exact same thing as being in the squad and not on TS or as being on TS and muting TS – there’s no difference – as a player you’re following a commander without benefit/distraction of TS and as a zerg you’re getting the exact same experience from the player who follows or is not in TS or is in TS with it muted and as a commander there is no benefit either way because the player will make mistakes or not, flag enemies or not, expose the zerg or not, or die/kill or not regardless of TS (assuming they really want to play and are not just in there sabotaging the zerg). While TS may help some, it hurts others’ play and some people just can’t do it – why penalize people by making a third party app a meaningless requirement – especially when squads are not full and there is only one commander on a map and a que? As to the last suggestion I would say this – if I wanted to roam and kill solo, I would pve or pvp – why are you forcing me to do that on a map which is intended to be played as a zerg – a unique and very fun thing in the gaming world. I want to fight in a zerg with the squad to get the benefits and to help out – keeping me from joining a squad only makes me hate the game and the players – not a good thing for this game which I love and would like to see around another five years.

Your rebuttal is incorrect and here’s why. Points 1 and 2 are troll suggestions.

I disagree. I don’t think either point 1 or 2 were promulgated in jest or as troll suggestions. I think the person meant them, as I heard this all day the day I was booted from squad. IF the person did mean them as troll suggestions, shame on them. I am being serious about this issue as it brought me to tears the other day.

Sarika.3756:

A commander is choosing to tag up. In their squad, it’s their rules. If the commander wants their squad in voice, that’s perfectly fine. You have a choice to join or not.

Not all voice comms are the same. Some are toxic, some aren’t. Please stop painting everyone with the same brush.

Play the way you want. Don’t join voice. But don’t be upset if that choice has consequences.

If you think voice doesn’t matter, then tag up and textmand. Set your own squad rules. That’s your choice, too.

If the commander wants their squad in TS, I have no choice. See the flaw in logic? I have no choice. I cannot join, and that’s what I want, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed in to a non-full squad. I can’t play the mode I want. I am upset. Their rude choices yielded bad consequences for me and everyone else in TC that day. I can’t tag up – I don’t have 300 gold lying around. It’s not my choice. I don’t have it. I don’t want to lead a squad anyway. So now what? I go off to the corner to play some other mode or by myself? Well, how great for me and everyone else similarly situated.

Eater of Peeps.9062:

Sarika.3756:

A commander is choosing to tag up. In their squad, it’s their rules. If the commander wants their squad in voice, that’s perfectly fine. You have a choice to join or not.

Not all voice comms are the same. Some are toxic, some aren’t. Please stop painting everyone with the same brush.

Play the way you want. Don’t join voice. But don’t be upset if that choice has consequences.

If you think voice doesn’t matter, then tag up and textmand. Set your own squad rules. That’s your choice, too.

If the commander wants their squad in TS, I have no choice. See the flaw in your logic? I have no choice. I cannot join, and that’s what I want, and their is no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed in to a non-full squad. I can’t play the I want. I am upset. Their rude choices made bad consequences for me and everyone else in TC that day. I can’t tag up – I don’t have 300 gold lying around. It’s not my choice. I don’t have it. I don’t want to lead a squad anyway. So now what? I go off to the corner to play some other mode or by myself? Well, how great for me and everyone else similarly situated.

What is your primary reason for being so reluctant to join Teamspeak? Why can’t you join it even if you don’t want to say anything? If it’s some form of social-anxiety, you could just join, listen in, and you’d be able to be a part of the squad without any pressure. That seems like a fair compromise, doesn’t it? To me it seems like you just have a case of the “Burger-King mentality” you want it YOUR way and if it’s not YOUR way it’s not acceptable. That is very narrow-minded.

Haven’t gotten back on TS in over a year. Roaming just fine without having to listen to kids swearing every third word.

Running with a squad that has a decent commander can be like night and day if you are on TS or not. There are timing based tactics that you CANNOT be part of if you cannot hear the commander. Coordination of the squad’s skills and location cannot be inferred or communicated in chat.

Say for instance the commander wants to feint left and then hit for real to the right. Everyone not in TS hits left and then dies as those in TS hit right. All the ‘pugs’ die and rally the enemy, making the rest of the squad have a much harder time. If the enemy has a decent commander with everyone in TS, you will lose to them every battle. Watched it happen countless times just this weekend. This is why some commanders run tagless, to prevent the ‘casuals’ from following them.

Eater of Peeps.9062:

Sarika.3756:

A commander is choosing to tag up. In their squad, it’s their rules. If the commander wants their squad in voice, that’s perfectly fine. You have a choice to join or not.

Not all voice comms are the same. Some are toxic, some aren’t. Please stop painting everyone with the same brush.

Play the way you want. Don’t join voice. But don’t be upset if that choice has consequences.

If you think voice doesn’t matter, then tag up and textmand. Set your own squad rules. That’s your choice, too.

If the commander wants their squad in TS, I have no choice. See the flaw in your logic? I have no choice. I cannot join, and that’s what I want, and their is no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed in to a non-full squad. I can’t play the I want. I am upset. Their rude choices made bad consequences for me and everyone else in TC that day. I can’t tag up – I don’t have 300 gold lying around. It’s not my choice. I don’t have it. I don’t want to lead a squad anyway. So now what? I go off to the corner to play some other mode or by myself? Well, how great for me and everyone else similarly situated.

So you should be allowed to play the way you want but the commander shouldn’t be allowed to play the way he wants? That sounds pretty kittening selfish.

Puck.9612:

Eater of Peeps.9062:

Sarika.3756:

A commander is choosing to tag up. In their squad, it’s their rules. If the commander wants their squad in voice, that’s perfectly fine. You have a choice to join or not.

Not all voice comms are the same. Some are toxic, some aren’t. Please stop painting everyone with the same brush.

Play the way you want. Don’t join voice. But don’t be upset if that choice has consequences.

If you think voice doesn’t matter, then tag up and textmand. Set your own squad rules. That’s your choice, too.

If the commander wants their squad in TS, I have no choice. See the flaw in your logic? I have no choice. I cannot join, and that’s what I want, and their is no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed in to a non-full squad. I can’t play the I want. I am upset. Their rude choices made bad consequences for me and everyone else in TC that day. I can’t tag up – I don’t have 300 gold lying around. It’s not my choice. I don’t have it. I don’t want to lead a squad anyway. So now what? I go off to the corner to play some other mode or by myself? Well, how great for me and everyone else similarly situated.

So you should be allowed to play the way you want but the commander shouldn’t be allowed to play the way he wants? That sounds pretty kittening selfish.

That’s always seemed like a particularly stupid argument when I hear it trotted out.
“I want everyone around me to play my way” and “I want to play my own way” are not the same degree of “want”.

If you’re on TC, just join one of my squads when I’m tagged up.

Ah yes. Ask for so much, criticize so much, and offersso little..

Commanding is stressful which is why I don’t do it. People busy moaning about the commander but nobody gives a kitten on how the commander’s feelings are. All tbe harassment, sniping, and this.

I will bet 50 gold these people would probably would not last 30 minutes. And then thus thst is why they are reliant on the dorito for a reason. They aten’t doing it so someone has to.

So yes, break the dependence or play along. Either is benificial. You don’t get bags from posting though.

usnedward.9023:

Brigand.9502:

I am a 100% supporter of voice communication in games where player cooperation is key, such as in GW2 WvW. I can imagine the hilarity that would ensue if a football team never talked to each other during a game, or if a LoL team couldn’t hear call outs, or if you’re office staff never talked with each other to land that big client.

I don’t use a mic so I don’t talk but it is a huge help to hear what the Commander is saying. It’s amazingly obvious how successful a team is that is in TS versus one that isn’t.

If you find another TS user to be abrasive or distracting, mute them and you never have to listen to them again. If someone is being hateful, you are well within your right to ask them to stop (hey just like real life!) and I would even encourage you to bring issues to the TS Admins and they can permanently ban someone who is harassing other players or being hateful. Most (maybe all?) of the TS Admins I know would do that.

Good luck!

Question and a serious one. What do you do about the hearing impaired? I having hearing difficulties for one (not deaf) but really hard to follow in TS or what have you. Generally I follow in game chat and pin…

To answer your question, here are some personal tips. I’m not native English speaker so I have a hard time listening to different accents of the commanders I most follow- British, Taiwanese, Spanish, Thai, etc. So, what I do is to focus on the short codewords.

Symbol: staff symbol 3k for guard aka. Be ready on the move.

Empower: staff 4, quick Might aka. Ready to engage the enemy. Everyone stays on tag.

Stab Up: stability up. Charge. Frontline stays on tag, backline avoids the enemy charge and bomb.

Bomb: bring down all the dps, cleave, aoe on tag or the target. Sometimes commanders will use squad marker to indicate where they want to bomb. If not, it means they want you to bomb on where frontline goes, aka. On Tag.

Haze: lay down AoE (necro mark, lava font) in front or above the group to deter or whittle down the force that is about to cross. Stay behind tag and wait for Empower.

In case you cannot make out of these codewords by the sound of it, learn the visual cue of the skills to follow up appropriately. If you absolutely cannot join voice communication and cannot read your commander’s movement (fake veil, bait turn, sustain through choke, abrupt turn after choke, portal bomb), then it’s best for you and the squad to pick up a tanky backline build. Call target the tag and keep distance from him so you don’t get rolled over in a big fight.

Rashagar.8349:

Puck.9612:

Eater of Peeps.9062:

Sarika.3756:

A commander is choosing to tag up. In their squad, it’s their rules. If the commander wants their squad in voice, that’s perfectly fine. You have a choice to join or not.

Not all voice comms are the same. Some are toxic, some aren’t. Please stop painting everyone with the same brush.

Play the way you want. Don’t join voice. But don’t be upset if that choice has consequences.

If you think voice doesn’t matter, then tag up and textmand. Set your own squad rules. That’s your choice, too.

If the commander wants their squad in TS, I have no choice. See the flaw in logic? I have no choice. I cannot join, and that’s what I want, and their is no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed in to a non-full squad. I can’t play the I want. I am upset. Their choices made bad consequences for me and everyone else in TC that day. I can’t tag up – I don’t have 300 gold lying around. It’s not my choice. I don’t have it. I don’t want to lead a squad anyway. So now what? I go off to the corner to play some other mode or by myself? Well, how great for me and everyone else similarly situated.

So you should be allowed to play the way you want but the commander shouldn’t be allowed to play the way he wants? That sounds pretty kittening selfish.

That’s always seemed like a particularly stupid argument when I hear it trotted out.
“I want everyone around me to play my way” and “I want to play my own way” are not the same degree of “want”.

I want to play the game the way it was designed and intended to be played by those who purchased the game. I don’t want to be excluded from advertised content because some cmdr decides he wants to ban people unreasonably (especially when the squad is not full). I don’t want anyone to play my way. I want to play the game in my own way. I want you to play the game in your own way. But I want to able to play what you play, especially when there is zero sum gain/no negative effect if I am in a not-full squad w/o TS or I am running solo beside it w/o TS – I do the same thing either way but get no protections, which makes me die, which ends the heals, which hurts the zerg, which fails the server goal. Makes no sense.

Also, the commander is the one who wants everyone around him to “play his own way (while he plays his own way as well).” As far as I’m concerned, the commander can play any way he wants, as long as it doesn’t punish me. And if it does, I will keep calling out this unsportsmanlike behavior each time I am subjected to it because its bad form without regard for the feelings of others.

Eater of Peeps.9062:

Rashagar.8349:

Puck.9612:

Eater of Peeps.9062:

Sarika.3756:

A commander is choosing to tag up. In their squad, it’s their rules. If the commander wants their squad in voice, that’s perfectly fine. You have a choice to join or not.

Not all voice comms are the same. Some are toxic, some aren’t. Please stop painting everyone with the same brush.

Play the way you want. Don’t join voice. But don’t be upset if that choice has consequences.

If you think voice doesn’t matter, then tag up and textmand. Set your own squad rules. That’s your choice, too.

If the commander wants their squad in TS, I have no choice. See the flaw in your logic? I have no choice. I cannot join, and that’s what I want, and their is no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed in to a non-full squad. I can’t play the I want. I am upset. Their rude choices made bad consequences for me and everyone else in TC that day. I can’t tag up – I don’t have 300 gold lying around. It’s not my choice. I don’t have it. I don’t want to lead a squad anyway. So now what? I go off to the corner to play some other mode or by myself? Well, how great for me and everyone else similarly situated.

So you should be allowed to play the way you want but the commander shouldn’t be allowed to play the way he wants? That sounds pretty kittening selfish.

That’s always seemed like a particularly stupid argument when I hear it trotted out.
“I want everyone around me to play my way” and “I want to play my own way” are not the same degree of “want”.

I want to play the game the way it was designed and intended to be played by those who purchased the game. I don’t want to be excluded from advertised content because some elitist joker decides he wants to ban people prejudicially (especially when the squad is not full). I don’t want anyone to play my way. I want to play the game in my own way. I want you to play the game in your own way. But I want to able to play what you play, especially when there is zero sum gain/no negative effect if I am in a not-full squad w/o TS or I am running solo beside it w/o TS – I do the same thing either way but get no protections, which makes me die, which ends the heals, which hurts the zerg, which fails the server goal. Makes no sense.

Also, the commander is the one who wants everyone around him to “play his own way (while he plays his own way as well).” I’m afraid its the same degree of want (coercion maybe better?), and its one-sided from the commander. As far as I’m concerned, the commander can play any way he wants, as long as it doesn’t infringe on my right to play too. And if it does, which apparently Anet condones, I will keep calling this rude and demeaning behavior out each time I am subjected to it because its bad form without regard for the feelings of others.

As I’ve said, if you’re on TC, just join one of my squads when I’m tagged up. Most guilds encourage TS, very few actually demand it. I don’t do either. I prefer to type short one word commands, so as long as someone knows how to follow a tag and play their class, they’ll do fine.

Eater of Peeps.9062:

I don’t want to be excluded from advertised content because some elitist joker decides he wants to ban people prejudicially (especially when the squad is not full).

Other players are not “advertised content”, they are people.

You have no “right” to a squad. You have no “right” to a commander. The only thing you purchased with the game was the right to log in, create a character, and do these things for yourself.

A squad is just a group of players. They are under no obligation to include you in their group. What’s next? Demanding people invite you to their guild because guilds are “advertised content”?

Admittedly, Teamspeak is often not needed. There’s no need for it when roaming, scouting, PvDing or when you’re steamrolling the enemy. But when it comes to big fights, anyone who thinks they’re just as efficient without TS as with it, is simply ignorant of what a well co-ordinated group is capable of achieving. Being ignorant doesn’t make you stupid, it just means you’ve never been shown.

Be open to being shown, and you’ll discover.

I was the same when I started, it never even occurred to me that the game could even be played at a level so astronomically above what I was already doing. No, I’m not talking about loud-mouthed children shouting “BOMOMBOMBOMBOMB”, I’m talking about the difference between dropping your bomb within 2s of your team, compared to dropping your bomb within 0.2s of your team. One of these will result in the enemy popping defences and healing up, the other results in a pile of bags.

You may think you’re 100% efficient without teamspeak, but you simply haven’t considered how much more efficient you could be. If you’re happy being 50% efficient, then fine, but that doesn’t give you a magic pass to insert yourself into groups who want to strive for 100%.

Coms help in coordination. Relay can support it and give that shared participation.