After tons of angry and disparate responses to the recent mining update patch, CCP is testing a new QoL feature to help smooth the typical “grr change”. Banking on the success of proximity voice chat in other popular games such as Escape from Tarkov, CCP hopes to improve dispositions by implementing a radial-range, capsuleer-to-area voice broadcast.
Currently the proximity voice is unbound to any hotkey, but a Capsuleer can enable the Proximity Voice Channel in their settings, and bind it to a key with Push to Talk (PTT) or Toggle On/Off. Other players with their Proximity Voice Channel enabled will be able to hear broadcasted voice communication in real time from any Capsuleer within the range. The range is restricted to 1000km, or “small gang grid” size according to update notes; however, possible system-wide Voice Broadcasts have been hinted at in the blog post, with possibilities of being tied to Citadel modules.
CCP reminds Capsuleers that the same rules and ToS apply to voice communications as with in-game text communications, and discourages any hate speech or harassment via the Proximity Voice Channel. Its goal is to open dialogue and encourage interaction within the MMO, which is in keeping with the implementation of AIR and NPE improvements recently. When Onion asked what sort of impact the voice channels will have upon server and client performance, especially in large scale engagement/TIDI scenarios, community management on the forums declined to comment.
