Voice Chat Woes In Tamriel: The Elder Scrolls Online

Voice Communication is a critical aspect of this game. It helps teams communicate quick commands to each other during high tension battles, it allows new friendships to form, it enables long conversations to not have to be types out via Xbox's antiquated controller based keyboard. Without voice chat, much of the social aspect of the game is lost, and let's face it, outside of the main quests of this game, the rest of the game requires come socialization and team work to get through.

In a game where so many aspects of the game rely on a solid foundation of communication (guilds, questing, dungeons, trials and Cyrodiil) it is surprising that The Elder Scrolls Online built-in chat is as dysfunctional as it is and not conducive to a positive gaming experience from a user perspective.

THE PROBLEMS:

Since voice chat remains an ongoing problem that Zenimax seems to have done very little to resolve. I am going to focus on four main pain problems with in-game chat, things that just about everyone has experienced problems with. All four of the problem areas tend to contribute to the others problems as well. The four points I will address are;

1. Group Chat
2. Area Chat
3. Chat Controls
4. Chat Bugs

Group Chat
There are several problems with group chat, but I will focus on two main issues. The first problem is when loading into a dungeon, half the time (if not more frequently) you will get dropped from Group Chat, making group chat not very reliable, especially if running with the same four people for the Undaunted Daily Dungeons. This has been a problem for so long that many people either use Xbox Parties or Guild Chat.

This leads to the second problem with Group Chat, when you join a group, everyone in the group is automatically forced into the glitch-ridden, problematic Group Chat, whether everyone was already in a guild chat or not. Not everyone needs to be forced into Group Chat automatically. This issue is exacerbated by the number Chat Bugs discussed below.

Area Chat
Area Chat is trash. Nothing more, nothing less. People blasting their music (hint, your cheap ($9) Wish.com headset mic doesn't pick up any bass and your music sounds like the left Walkman headphone shoved in an empty spinach can; yes it sounds that shitty), people talking shit about everyone and everything; overtly sexual and misogynistic language used in degrading manners. If people wanted to ask for help in Area Voice Chat, they wouldn't be heard.

Area chat is not moderated. It is the wild, wild west of chat channels... and it is ridiculous. The only saving grace to Area Chat is the occasional auction, which is held in the remotest of area in Tamriel to prevent the issues described above from ruining the auction.

Outside of the action aspect, is area chat this even useful anymore?

Chat Controls
Zenimax has provided absolutely no chat controls. A group leader can't communicate the need to go to BRK in Cyrodil with a group of twenty-four people having ten different conversations at once in group chat and no option to mute all mics.

A group leader can't mute an individual that has walked away and left their mic next to a squawking bird or next to their television speaker. Group leaders lack any control around voice chat and this needs to change.

Players have to endure listening to others playing music in group/guild chat, or listen while stuffing their faces with potato chips/crisps or one of my favorites, when a player doesn't mute their mic when their significant other comes in the room to pick a fight with them or when they yell at their kids... that's always amusing. We have no way of muting another players except to mute or block via the Xbox Live interface and we may not want to have to resort to Xbox muting or blocking because they are just forgetful about muting their mic.

Chat Bugs
When a group forms and half the group loses their group chat and have to restart the game one or more times to get chat back.

The game forces a player from guild chat into group chat (but not 100% of the time because it glitches, see above bug), then if the players choose to join guild chat again, because group chat sucks (see issues identified above), guild chats disappear, requiring one or more game restarts to get the guild chats back.

If someone joins an Xbox Party Chat they have to hard reset their Xbox to get in-game-chat back, but not all the time.

How about the thing I call the "Domo Arigato Mister Roboto" Chat Effect; an effect that is specific to in-game-chat. Where packet loss causes the voices of everyone in a chat channel to sound fragmented, robotic or overly digitized. This is not a client-side issue, as everyone in the chat channel experiences it at the same time. I know it is specific to in-game-chat because not only do I hear it, but others in the party hear it and it affects everyone, regardless if they have fiber-optic, cable or DSL internet and if we move into an Xbox Party Chat voice coms are crystal clear. This is a MegaServer side issue. 

ZENIMAX FIXES:

Give us options...

• First and foremost... fix the Chat Bugs. 
• Don't force us into Group Chat when we join a group. Prompt us and ask if we want to join group chat, just like we are asked, giving us the option, if we want to travel to the group leader right after joining. DO NOT blend the two. Keep each prompt separate, ask if we would like to change to group chat, wait for our response, then ask if we would like to travel to the group leader.
• We have two unused radial menu options (Down and Left Hold) that could be put to use. Why not use one of them to add some Voice Chat Controls for players and group leaders. Just a thought; mute all mics (except the leaders), mute player, also adding a voice chat ready check requiring people in group voice chat to confirm the leader's need to for chat to be clear, especially in Cyrodiil, and only after they have confirmed or the group leader manually unmutes them can they have an active mic in group chat.
• How about giving all players the ability to mute others in the chat channel, say via the group interface; if someone is playing music in a chat during dungeon, or has an excessively barking dog, crying kid, squawking bird, talks non-stop (without take a breath) or just an annoying voice, we should be able to mute just that player via Voice Chat Controls without going to Xbox, leaving the game, to mute or block them.
• Do something with Area Voice Chat PLEASE. It needs to be moderated by Zenimax staff or turn it off altogether. 

What do you think? Does voice chat work fine for you? Did I miss some bugs or suggested features? Share your thoughts in the comments below.