Prixy chat / Intolerance

I think people who disable proxy are ignorant. Like I look down on them for their gross selfishness. It really disgusts me. This game is based on teamwork and coordination.

If you are too lazy to press that enter key on your keyboard when someone is annoying on coms you really shouldn't be playing this game.

I can tolerate people in my outfit because they are on teamspeak, but I just laugh at them when I yell C4 C4 [Name] C4 and 10 seconds later they just blow in their tank or max suit up because they can't hear me.

It's the #2 thing in this game that really makes me mad.

You obviously don't know how to lower ducking.

Hmm, all you people who complain that proxy chat lowers the game sounds... you do realize you can turn off sound ducking and still hear the game environment while people talk, right? Right???

..... and, you can adjust proxy volume so you need to be next to someone to hear them clearly.

If i wanted to hear chatter about random stuff i would have left my radio on while playing.
Not sure people would be too happy if i decided to broadcast radio talk shows over proxy and make people listen to random chatter.
Pretty much the same thing, but hey. Its not like im being offensive or yelling or being too loud, right? Its just a normal conversation about stuff.

But honestly though you can just /ignore them. Takes 3 seconds.
Its when it happens every 90 seconds that it becomes annoying.

The only thing I can make out on proxy chat is the swear words and MEEEEEDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Occasionally you hear a nice clear voice that is calm and helpful, something like "Zere ist ee Sundourar behindt zee Eeee paint."

They are always German.

the problem is i rarely ever see anyone use it for teamwork - usually its just people complaining about whatever the other team is using (like "urgh shotgun newb killed me") or just random talk about non game related stuff

"I can tolerate people in my outfit because they are on teamspeak, but I just laugh at them when I yell C4 C4 [Name] C4 and 10 seconds later they just blow in their tank or max suit up because they can't hear me."
why are you not on teamspeak? you said it yourself about this game being about "teamwork and coordination" so why are you not coordinating with your outfit by being on teamspeak? its the exact same thing as them not being in ingame voip

i used to have ingame voip on and mute useless chatters but i ended up muting just about everyone and then when they went out of range and then back in i have to do it again, sometimes i have to just constantly sit in the voice page just muting people and remuting them because they went out of range and then back in again, not fun to do when you want to actually play the game - if i mute someone it should be permanently, not just until they go out of range then back in again

for me ducking has nothing to do with it - i can completely turn off ducking and peoples useless banter still interrupts ingame sounds

ingame voip also has horrible quality - even if someone said something useful its hard to understand what they are saying sometimes

with mumble/teamspeak/ventrillo etc they only use voicecomms when its needed, not to talk about zombies etc and it has very good quality so you can actually understand them when they do talk

you should be using a squad chat to discuss things like zombies. not proxy chat where everyone can hear you. to them its just useless noise that takes away from the games inmersion

First, some Voice Chat Pro Tips that a lot of people should know but don't see to:
Shut-Up Button a.k.a One-Button-Mute
Numpad Enter (default)
Did you know that if you press 'Enter' on your number pad it instantly mutes the person currently talking over voice chat?
No radial menu, no fussing with chat. Press button, annoyance removed.

Ducking.
(settings->voice->ducking)
As other have mentioned, you can use this to adjust by what percentage the game lowers your volume when someone speaks in voice chat. Reduce to 0% and the game will not in any way alter your in game volume when someone near you speaks.

Volume Hotkeys
Numpad + and -
Once you have your ducking set. You can further use the + and - keys on your number pad to adjust voice volume on the fly without going into your settings, letting you ensure that you can hear voice without it drowning out your game audio, and can adjust based on the intensity (volume) of the battle around you.

Tips aside:
Communication, and by relation voice chat are very important tools in a game like Planetside 2. It's an irritation when people have it turned off, and I can't alert them when the need arises or pass on immediately relevant info, and I'm completely unapologetic of the consequences of it, even if it might result in a TK. I did my part, if the words go unheard it's not my fault.

That said, don't use proxy chat to have a conversation in the middle of a battle. That's just basic etiquette for public voice chat. You're easy to mute, but people really shouldn't have to. I get that certain things about the internet culture can foster this extreme extrovert necessity to fill gaps with some level of social interaction, but it's rude and inconsiderate to the people around you that simply don't care. It's unwanted noise and distraction, especially when the game has private text chat, and the ability to have private voice chats through the use of squad comms.

I use both. Teamspeak is more for in general information like MAX on A, Down on Stairwell, 5 people on small stairs, 2 magriders coming in south, copy, rez out SCU, etc where informing people in general or at a distance is important. If someone is within 15 meters and the information only pertains to them, there is no reason for me to use teamspeak. It's like using orders chat to target a sundy at a base or platoon chat to tell someone that there's an enemy behind them.

Also, my entire platoon or squad does not need to hear this like non-stop:

"flash at 5, focus on the prowler at, um, 3.... Missed. ... Hit. Wait I'll back up around this rock and then we can hit the sundy. Jump out and quickly repair.... Alright lets go... Hit... I see it. Hold on I got to get an angle on this mossy. Darn, don't worry about it he can't out-damage our repair with that, just don't get shot... I just cleared it... Alright jump out and use your gun. Nice! Backing up and then we can catch up on the repairs... How much ammo do you have?... Alright we'll reload at Crux tower after we take out that skyguard. Try to keep a few rounds in case we run into anything... Hit... Missed, you got it though. Alright we'll head out... Behind! Ignore him focus on the harasser."


As for the game not remembering who is muted, etc. That's most likely a bug (that I have not experienced or know about) that you should report.

I do know that the game writes into your settings file every player that you mute or adjust the volume for using the [Enter], [+], [-] on your keyboard, so it's not like it has no memory. For example my settings file has 93 people in it listed like this:

[VoiceVolumes]
sip:world18.onewhopokesbears-@psp.vivox.com=0.480000
sip:world18.bluedablede-@psp.vivox.com=0.600000
sip:world18.alarox-@psp.vivox.com=0.600000
sip:world18.senorsmoochie-@psp.vivox.com=0.600000
sip:world18.piecesofpizza-@psp.vivox.com=0.480000
sip:world18.g7303h-@psp.vivox.com=0.500000
sip:world18.isam43l-@psp.vivox.com=0.000000

Or better yet make your own chat channel to discuss it. The game has the ability to make custom channels and if your conversation is either private or off-topic make one and talk to them in it.

I usually just hears people yelling ''HEEEEAAAAL HEEEEEAAL HEAL HEAL!!!'' so i think i can live without the proxy chat.

Yeah, for me it's holding Q and mousing over to mute. Works like a charm