Are you using EVE Voice?

For many of us, voice chat in MMORPGs is a must. At Phoenix Labs we've been using TeamSpeak as the de facto software choice, despite the recent release of EVE Voice. We use it mainly for important operations such as mining and hauling. It's a simple and efficient way of working together as a team, and that's the main reason why we use it.

But there is also the ability to roleplay, and in turn this creates some interesting problems. Gents playing female characters and ladies playing male characters. Now, my corp doesn't roleplay, so in a way I don't have this problem, but if they did I would have an interesting delima.

As many of you know, my avatar in EVE is female; Treenara Mazouk is a Gallente, one of the for races in EVE. When I play games I create characters of both sexes with no particular preferences - sometimes males, sometimes females. This poses an interesting problem if I were to roleplay her "and" use a voice chat software like EVE Voice. Now I really do not sound like a Treenara and hearing a 35 year male speaking as a female gallente would surely kill the mood.

Which brings me to the following article over at Terra Nova , which referred to this article over at Wired. Go ahead, take the time to read both articles before continuing here. I'll wait for you.

So if I 'was' able to alter my voice while using a voice chat software would I do it? In terms of roleplaying this would surely provide a more immersive experience, but what would the consequence be? Would I need to tell every new player character I met that I was a man playing a female avatar? Would I wait a while before telling them, until, say we had developed a roleplaying relationship and I would feel weird continuing without "coming out". Which bring me to another recent post over at Random Battle, "Wait, you're a girl?" Cameron's article is very interesting and the tests he's done are very impressive. But what are the implications of using them. With these voice altering software the roleplaying capabilities have been expanded. I'd certainly will give it a try, though as a non-roleplay corp member, the opportunities won't abound. But if were doing more roleplaying as part of my EVE experience, I would seriously consider using such a tool with EVE Voice or whichever voice chat software I'd be using.

What about you?

The recent poll I ran on EVE Voice, showed that almost half of you use a voice chat software while playing EVE. Have any of you had a chance to use these voice altering add-ons? I'd love to know if you did. Are you still using it? How was it when you tried? Did it feel weird? What was the reaction from the other players? I'd love to know.