Voice Chat Dropped from Splatoon Over Toxicity Concerns - News
by Craig S , posted on 09 April 2015 / 4,176 Views
In an interview with Edge, Splatoon's co-director Yusuke Amano confirms that one of the key reasons the game is missing voice chat functionality is because of the rampant negativity and general toxicity found in online gaming communities:
"This is coming from personal experience... When I played online games, I didn't like the negativity I got and people telling me, 'You're crap. Go away.' So we wanted to focus on the positive aspects of online gaming."
In the interview Amano accepts that some gamers will find this to be a limitation, but the development team felt that having a friendly in-game environment was more important than being able to plan and coordinate with teammates using voice chat.
Splatoon will release on the Wii U on 29th May in North America and Europe.
Source: [GameSpot]
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Wouldn't it make more sense to implement a mute button rather than cutting out voice functionality all together? Especially, when this looks to be a team-focused multiplayer game?
So...rather than make robust end-user controls over voice chat, let's just eliminate voice chat in a game where cooperation is integral? Seems legit.
Thanks shooter community. Its cuz of the toxicity of them that we cant have chatting in this game... >: /
If you have to use a mute button, or block people, that creates a fear of online gaming. It makes the experience negative when you KNOW you need the mute button to enjoy playing online. When you know the community is ugly. It isn't fun when you have to take measures to protect yourself.
But yeah, keep saying he's an idiot.
I use the mute button without any issues. And never just jump into a game and just assume everyone is gonna be crap. That's just dumb thinking.
or maybe it just gives you options, but that could be crazy talk
Pandering like this is why kids nowadays are so weak-willed and soft. All this can happen right here on the internet. Nintendo is doing no one a favour.
He's a idiot, and more important, he is lazy, cause develop a form of voice chat on a hardware like the Wii U is far from be impossible.
I'm okay with this: it takes little effort to set up a skype as I play this. I also recall playing online MP of Call of Duty and Gears of War and almost never using the in-game chat. Very few people used it as a matter of fact.
Mute button. Parental controls. Heck, party only and friend only chat. I mean, that last one would have been fine other shooters have done that. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Er... Why can't we manually opt into voice chat via a party system? This is stupid.
They could have easily done what Destiny did if they fear about negativity. By default have the voice communication turned off, but allow the player to opt in with the press of a button or two. This gives people the option to chat if they choose, or ignore it as if it never existed in the first place.
Don't worry guys, when this series gets its 3rd game in 2022 Nintendo will finally have voice chat in their games =D
Overreaction much? I've had this problem 0 times playing Destiny.
Why not just have the game default to off for voice chat and give people the option of turning it on? Having the ability to use voice chat in multiplayer is surely a good thing. They could even make it hard for sensitive kiddies to turn it on by burying it in the settings in some obscure place.
They should've at least given an option. I don't think that the people who say negative things in those games are the type that would ever want to play this game, what with it being "kiddy" and stuff.
To me, this game have two great flaws, not having a voice chat in a competitive and strategic shooter like Splatoon is already one but, not having the ability to make or to chose the rooms where you will play (since the game will put players of the "same level" automatically together) is fucking ridiculous.
Nintendo have to stop this kind of treatment for the players, like if everybody is a child, that needs to be guided by their hands.
Wrong. Being able to coordinate with team members is at least as important as having a friendly community. You can always find friendly people and mute the rest. Especially on Wii U. That's the friendliest community I've ever been a part of. Even in games like BO2, which is rampant with trolls on the other platforms.
maybe they really are trying to aim this at children? if they are then they are more out of touch than i thought.
Did you really think a game based on squid children shooting colorful paint like ink at one another was going to sell to adult US males in large numbers?
OF COURSE this game is aimed at kids. It should be obvious by now. That's not a bad thing imo, but yeah, seeing people miss that entirely and get angry about something like voice chat being stripped is a little surprising. No one wants their 7 year old getting sexually propositioned at some pervert.
so you made a CO-OP 3rd person shooter but dont think its important enought to be able to communicate? ok
Understandable, but I would've like Nintendo to give the option to mute voice chat.
That almost sounds like a co-out. I'm sure they had the ability to do so on the Wii U, that cannot be the reasons cause that is right down idiotic. Voice chat is optional and if you can hear others talk, use the mute button! I hope they change their minds and patch it in at some point.
I can see why they did this but I feel they should allow voice chat to at least your friends like in Super Smash Brothers. Also the idea of a mute button is another good way to deal with harassment and such.
More toxicity concerns in miiverse drawing thing, but that is controlled and monitored. Report button goes long ways, mute buttons, we can deal with it. This gonna hurt splatoon (probably)
Either 1. the people who like voice chat are less popular but write comments to voice their opinions, 2. The people who like voice chat don't use the thumbs up/down or 3. Voice chat is unpopular according to the feedback on the comments here
i think you know option 3 isnt even a factor, not with this kind of game.
While i don't care for voice-chat in public battles, there should at least be an option for premade teams.
Well, skype it is.
AKA this guy is a moron. None of this would be an issue if you had to manually opt in to voice chat.
Target demograph is kids... not you. They're doing this to protect the age group they're aiming for. I don't see why people are completely missing that point.
Looks like everyone will be using Skype then eh
look Leage of Legends: Team game without voice chat but very toxic the comment
By the reactions and comments, not only on Vgchartz but elsewhere in the internet, I´m starting to wonder how many players actually use voice chat for shooters....
Good idea, Nintendo. Just hope that people don't think that online gaming is all about voice chat.
If you have to use a mute button, or block people, that creates a fear of online gaming. It makes the experience negative when you KNOW you need the mute button to enjoy playing online. When you know the community is ugly. It isn't fun when you have to take measures to protect yourself.
But yeah, keep saying he's an idiot.
I think fear is an exaggerated term you are using. I play league just about every day, and while there is no dedicated voice chat for it, I am never afraid of being called out on shit, i just ignore it and keep doing my thing and report those who are toxic. If strangers only cause you to have a bad time and you let them get under your skin, it sounds like a "you" problem. The world is a mean place, we gotta get thicker skin.
Is he a fucking idiot or what? With that logic then he better not go outside.
One day Nintendo will get multiplayer right. One day...
Yeah because mk8 is terrible? No!
Come back to me when these people find the code for Mute buttons. This BS from Nintendo figure heads is old.
GJ nintendo, i think its good that they want to protect children from these cod players. If i would have kids i would buy them a nintendo first.
Translation? This game is aimed with children in mind, not for you. If you're a grown up and want to play this game, you have to understand this and accept that we made these decisions based on the fact that this IP was created to allow CHILDREN a place to play FPS games online. Thank you, and prease understan.
No, nobody has to accept anything they object to. Just another example of why Nintendo finds themselves in the position they do.
I noticed that you hide your age from your profile. I'm guessing your a child as only a child would write the comment above,
I'm not saying it's a bad game, bad idea or anything like that. What I'm saying is, when you make a cute, bright little game about squid children, shooting paint like, colored ink at one another, where no one "dies" or "loses a life" and doesn't have voice chat... one should easily be able to deduce that it's target demograph is not "adult male".
No one should be outraged that voice chat was canned because this is a game made for kids. Most parents don't want some 35 year old guy calling their 7 year old a slur or making sexual references to them. Nintendo knows this, and thus, no voice chat.
So again... if you're going to play a game made for children, you should expect it.
