Craythur: The Reluctant Raidcaller

By: Craythur

I'm a reluctant Voip user. Such programs are invaluable for organization & communication of course. So I'm not against them. I'm simply on the fence about them personally.

One reason is my voice. It's naturally deep. When I hear myself I think I sound like Eeyore.

I have a touch of social anxiety. So I'm always a little too concerned with what I fear people are thinking about me. Since I can't see non-verbal cues in Voip I often end up feeling a bit nervous.

Surely I'm not the only one who is afraid to interrupt or talk over some one? Politeness often keeps me quiet even when I have something to say or the answer to a question. This is especially true if the channel is being very active or being monopolized by one or two persons. So by the time I do overcome my manners and break in I may sound impatient or curt. Then my anxiety kicks in.

Empathy is a two edged sword and I've got it in spades. While I think it's generally a good thing to care about what others are feeling it can sometimes be a distraction. If the voices coming through the speakers are unhappy then I become unhappy rather quickly. So I either leave voip all together or put people on ignore. If the latter then my desire to never interrupt others kicks in and I fall silent.

If I could only get the darn Raidcall GW2 overlay to work I could mitigate this a bit.

So why would I ever subject myself to all this?

When the folks in raidcall are happy then I become a little happier myself. When folks are joking around and having a good time I'm able to overcome my awkwardness and eventually join in the fun. Those moments are golden for me.

Laughter in vent is like a ray of sunshine burning through a protective layer of gloomy clouds. I can never get enough of it. :)

I suspect there are other folks like me out there. So keep us in mind when you have that push-to-talk-key held down.