Breakfast Topic: Voice chat

I expected Overwatch would come packaged with built-in voice chat. Voice chat is a baseline feature in team shooters these days — the teamwork required in any game mode other than raw deathmatch almost demands that sort of communication. Though I expected it, I admit I was disappointed to hear Overwatch will, indeed, come with voice chat and they’ll be testing it during the game’s beta.

I don’t mind voice chat among friends. Raiding in WoW, I quite enjoyed sitting on Mumble with my best pals. Being on voice chat with strangers, though? The random people I get paired with via matchmaking? Most of them are perfectly fine people — but I’ll be honest and say I probably don’t want to talk to them. And those people who aren’t perfectly fine? Coping with someone being a text-based raging dingus is much easier than coping with someone being a raging dingus out loud. While I’m still excited for Overwatch, and I’ll no doubt play the heck out of it, I probably won’t be playing it as a game to chill out with. Voice chat alone makes me expect the experience will be equal parts fun and frustrating.

How do you feel about voice chat coming to Overwatch? Do you enjoy voice chat? Hate it? Fear it? How would you feel if Battle.net voice chat was added to, for example, Heroes of the Storm?