Twitch has just announced the formation of a new Safety Advisory Council, comprising of four streamers and four professionals working in the areas of anti-bullying, online privacy and reputation, and inclusion. When reading up about the new council our attention was drawn to the profile of FerociouslySteph, a Twitch partner who fights for inclusivity. Her profile states that she is "vehemently opposing non-inclusive mechanics such as voice chat." This begs the question, is voice chat really giving certain players an unfair advantage?

Voice Chat's Advantages

Voice chat does give players an advantage when used correctly. You can easily convey important details to teammates without needing to attempt to type or use in-game marker systems and can also listen out for other players' advice while keeping your eyes on the action. While written chat can have its uses, any streamer will tell you that trying to read and process it without messing up your game can be difficult. It's for this reason that many online team games have introduced public voice chat channels.

Teams of friends have long used VOIP apps such as Team Speak or Mumble as well as the more recent Discord. These have allowed quick and easy communication to develop, especially amongst MMORPG players and anyone playing Battle Royale games or other team-based strategy or shooter titles. In these games, quick communication can be vital so why would anyone be so against it?

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Gender Issues

The main issue with voice chat is that its use increases the likelihood of a sadly common gaming problem: sexism. When a female voice comes over the mic it can cause huge issues. Sadly the unfounded belief that "women suck at games" is still prevalent and many can find themselves targeted once their gender is revealed.

FerociouslySteph says "The only way to have a level playing field at the highest level of play is to... not have voice chat, to not have people give up their linguistic profiles." Experience and studies show that she may be right.

Warriors player Chiquita Evans, the first woman drafted in the NBA 2K Pro League, was outspoken about her negative experiences with voice chat during the Combine before Season One saying “I’d get on the mic and say, ‘I’m open, I’m open,’ and they’d be like, ‘That’s a girl?” She then stated that she would “get iced out the whole game.”

The scene at a 2019 NBA 2K League Tournament in Las Vegas.
via: NBA 2K League
The scene at a 2019 NBA 2K League Tournament in Las Vegas.

Her experience isn't uncommon either. A study of gender differences in esports, conducted last year, also looked at women's experiences online and on streaming platforms. The survey discovered that 26% of women had been accused of cheating, 54% had been asked for sexual favors and 69% considered quitting due to harassment. The statistics also showed that over 70% avoid voice communications entirely due to these issues.

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Unbalanced Chat Channels

If these statistics are truly representative that means that public chat, in particular, is very heavily male-dominated. In fact, the main opponents to FerociouslySteph's stance she says are a "lot of people with Cis white male sounding voices" who simply don't understand as they "have voices that aren't marginalized."

As far as she is concerned this means that men have an unfair advantage by being able to freely use voice comms, something she feels can mean women may fall behind in competitive play. Steph says that in order to be at the top you need to "squeeze every bit of advantage you can possibly get," resulting in her opinion that "Voice chat is unfair, period."

via YouTube

So, Is Banning Voice Chat The Answer?

While we can understand the stance, we believe that simply removing voice chat isn't the solution. A voice comms system can be integral to gaming and chat between squads who have an existing friendship can be a safe space for female gamers. Many players socialize with friends and family through gaming and voice chat is a great way to do this. As such we need to look for alternatives.

Instead of blaming the tools, we need to shift the focus to where it belongs, onto those who feel women "don't belong" in voice channels. Calling out sexism, harassment, and abuse over voice communication needs to become commonplace and penalties for this behavior should be properly implemented. In short, sexists need to get over themselves already, then we can all compete on a level playing field, based on skill, not gender.

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