Voice is invading my world. I am not in the least happy about it.
Up to this point, SL has been MY world. Everything in it is exclusively mine: my hair, my eyes, my clothing, my skin. Now, something that is my animator's, and only my animator's, will be coming from my body (actually from this silly new dust speck floating above my head). I don't really want his voice, higher pitched and somewhat unsure of itself, coming from this new dust speck that seems to be part of me.
Voice is so overpowering that it dominates that avatar. Suddenly, I will become less important. His voice will become *me*, and I will, effectively, cease to exist. And yes, there are voice modulators that can change tone, making old men sound young, men sound like women, women sound like men, and anyone who wants to sound like Darth Vader. But these modulators can only do so much. They can't "act" for the person. They can't make a voice sound confident or assertive when it isn't. They can't cure a stutter, or keep words from coming out awkwardly, or backspace and unsay that which has already been said.
And my animator is not happy with voice either. My animator has ADD, and this make paying attention more difficult for him. Reading and typing are one thing...history is invaluable, but there is no "voice" history. And, should my animators attention drift off for a bit (as it does with regularity), he could lose large hunks of conversation, and have no way of retrieving them. What's more, he will have less time to ponder his words. I will become more as he is, and both he and I like me as I am.
Oh well. I can bitch all I want. It won't change things. My animator will likely invest in some kind of microphone, and perhaps a voice changer, just to make his voice sound a touch deeper and more consistent with my look (I thank him for that). He will use it only rarely, however, and will hope that others will do likewise. There are times when voice is invaluable, such as meetings and such (although the loss of transcripts will be deeply felt). And perhaps the soft, gentle voice of a quiet, caring soul will be more soothing than the written word, at times.
But if that voice gets overwhelmed by that of a griefer, shouting obscenities, I truly feel that the effect may be lost.
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2 comments:
Your spirit can only be overtaken by your animators voice if you let it, but I know that, like you, I will struggle mightily with that, but I fear that I will lose the battle. Though I know not if I will leave voice enabled in the village or not, you can be assured that there will be a refuge for us somewhere in the forest... :)
http://www.screamingbee.com/
Used by many a rl man who is an sl woman.
And yes, typing and talking can be confusing. But I will never leave anyone out.
And I will never call anyone a "mutie."
Never.
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