VOIP Etiquette

I spend a lot of time gaming on Roll20. This means I end up using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) software -- usually Skype, but occasionally Mumble, Teamspeak, Roll20's built in VOIP or Google Hangouts. The various tools each have their own advantages and disadvantages but are generally interchangeable. What I mainly want to discuss is "VOIP Etiquette" something many people don't seem to have any concept of. VOIP Etiquette is basically a set of rules to ensure that people get heard by the other participants (and the GM) and don't have to fight for bandwidth. All too often, a player will start to say something in character or on topic when someone else will break in with an unrelated question, comment, joke, what have you. For more introverted players this causes them to shut down and only attempt to say something when directly addressed...and even then, they get "stepped on" as described above. It can be maddening. In an effort to help deal with this issue, I'd like to propose a set of rules -- guidelines, rather -- for proper VOIP Etiquette for Role Playing Games. 1) The GM is the Moderator. When the GM is talking, everyone else should refrain from interrupting, until he asks for responses or otherwise indicates he is done. 2) If another player has been asked a question, give that player a moment to respond. They may have to think up a proper "in character" response, find their "press to talk" key, finish chewing, whatever. Don't just jump into the silence. 3) Save rules discussion for post game. Roll20 games generally last 3-4 hours and losing 1/3rd to 1/4th of that time to dickering over rules is a waste of everyones time. If you disagree with how a GM rules something, make a note about it and discuss it after the game. If a question comes up, go ahead and answer it or look up the answer, of course, but the general rule should be to keep the game flowing smoothly. 4) In correlation with #3 -- learn the rules of the game, at least as they pertain to your character. The fewer questions you have, the more smoothly the game will run and the more fun everyone will have. 5) In most VOIP games, 1 or 2 players will dominate the talking time. Those players should specifically "make room" for the other more introverted players to have a space to role play. 6) Lastly, the GM should encourage each player to role play. There are many different approaches to this and there have been many great articles written about it. As a GM I try to give each player a "Spotlight" moment as often as possible so they have the chance to be center stage. Other techniques might work better for your game, however. So there we go. If there are rules you think are wrong or disagree with, post in the comments and offer a useful alternative. If there are rules I have not thought of, propose them and I'll add them to the list. Thanks for reading.

Endorsed. Thanks for writing that up with a clear, calm explanation and list of tips. Players reading / following those guidelines would be a boon to my Roll20 voice gaming as well. Most do this naturally already, but some people tend to dominate long-distance voice conversations indeed, and as you described, others tend to stay in the background until they are given the space to speak without interruption. In many cases the Players this affects may not be reading the general Forum, and it will be up to the GM to convey these expectations to the group. For that reason, GM's who see a use for this list could copy the guidelines for sharing with the group.

Gold said: In many cases the Players this affects may not be reading the general Forum, and it will be up to the GM to convey these expectations to the group.  Yes, I'm aware of that. This is the largest audience I could think of, though. I'm glad you liked the post!

This is a great post, and one I've bookmarked.

making a macro to spit this out at the start of any game with 'new players' in it. Thanks!

I've dropped out of more than a few games on Roll20, because of the issues listed here. The amount of games where people don't know how to share the spotlight, and so after the first 30 mins - it's the same two/three people talking constantly, while players that don't want to have to speak louder/talk over people to be heard just fall silent. I feel like a lot of this is down to the players, but also the GMs for not controlling the game properly in some way or another. Having said that, you don't want to reach a point where a GM has to tell someone to stop talking, and let someone else have a chance. Perhaps I'm spoilt by watching things like Swan Song/Mirrorshades, and expect too much from the average group? Who knows.

This should be added to the wiki and hotlinked by GM's for every game they list.

And press to talk is your friend! We do not need to hear your bodily functions, room mate yelling, background music. You get the picture.

I'm going to go against the general consensus of replies thus far and disagree with the list as-presented  overall. Several of your points are dependent on the particular group. For example on #3, some groups and GMs would rather play the game right the first time than try to go back later. On #6, not all groups are as interested in roleplay (some even prefer "roll-play"); there are even groups that split things between chat and text for such purposes. I know I'm more comfortable typing emotes than speaking them over VOIP, even if I'm comfortable with doing my character dialogue verbally. For reasons like this I strongly  recommend holding a "session zero" for each campaign; not just to allocate time for character creation, but also to make sure everyone understands where the group wants to be.  The Same Page Tool can help a lot in this regard as well. Additionally, not everything in this list specifically relates to VOIP games. #4 in particular is often more  important for a text-only game than it is for a VOIP game, as clarifying rules through speech is often much quicker than text. I'm not saying that enumerating VOIP etiquette is a bad idea, I just disagree with this particular list. john b. said: And press to talk is your friend! We do not need to hear your bodily functions, room mate yelling, background music. You get the picture. While I agree with the reasons to use PTT, I'll note that higher-end microphones make it largely unnecessary. I've got a Yeti Blue mic, for example, and I'm capable of adjusting the microphone's gain and capture shape such that unwanted sounds are not picked up. (Granted, if my roommate stood at my door and started yelling that would still get captured, but I don't have asshole roommates who would yell at me from 10 feet away.)

Brian, you're not alone...but then again, I have the fortune of gaming with a group of friends I've known for over a decade (closer to 2 for some of them). We don't use push to talk (which is good, because we can tell when it's time to quit when someone starts snoring—LOL).   While I see value in some of the rules above, I do think it depends on the group. In our group, many of them wouldn't be adhered to anyway (especially the first and sixth), because our primary reason for gaming is to get us all together and hang out with friends. So, we easily flow from gaming to chatting about a TV show, movie or book, and then back to gaming.  We are as likely to role play as roll play without any rhyme or reason. This may be why the few have joined our group for a brief stint end up leaving after a few sessions. <shrug>

This is why I backed away from "Rules" to "Guidelines" -- the longer a group stays together and learns one another's foibles, the less an express list is needed. Still, even with groups that have been gaming for a decade, some of these ideas may prove helpful. 

Interresting list, it can be useful as a newcommer in VOIP games. There is some advice i'm not fond of (like the role play one, i don't really like speaking as a character but not the "he does this or that" type either). But on the other hand, point 5 is a really important thing VOIP or IRL game whatever.

Might want to add: do not chew in my ear ; either mute your mic or move if away from your face.

Coal Powered Puppet said: Might want to add: do not chew in my ear ; either mute your mic or move if away from your face. I play with one guy who, without fail, forgets to mute his mic when he does dishes. Every. Week. Maddening.