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Sunday 9 January 2011

True to form, we never talked about not talking

So a few of my guildies have decided that now is the time to get chatting to each other in the game through Ventrilo in the hopes that running heroics will be easier if the healer (me) can shout "get out of the fire" rather than attempt to type it and therefore in my slowness that person dies...great plan I thought!

So the other night I downloaded vent and although I didn't have a microphone I could hear all that was being said and got really enthusiastic about how great it will be to talk, so the following day being Saturday, I made my husband promise me we would go into town and buy headsets...we did and they are great.

Now, I'm not a quiet person as I'm sure my husband will tell you and having worked part time when I was younger in a call centre and spent pretty much all my life on stage, I'm not afraid of headsets and microphones.

I spent the whole of yesterday excited about getting the microphones set up and it working, and then when it came to actually speak to my guildies, I managed 'hello' and that was it. Something clicked in me and I suddenly was overcome with a nervousness and shyness that I never expected.

When I first started playing WoW, for a short time my character was in a  very good guild that were my husband's friends and I felt awkward, I felt like I couldn't say anything because I thought they would laugh at my newness and as soon as I could I pleaded with my husband that we leave that guild because "everyone is laughing at me behind my back" they weren't, of course they weren't but I felt self-conscious and lacking confidence. Over the last couple of months that has changed. I'm confident in my abilities as a healer, and due to spending hours online I feel like I'm fairly well geared and my stats are what they should be or close enough, and I can keep people alive without going OOM, but being faced to actually speak to people that belong to my guild, I have those same feelings again. I am new to the game, how can I possibly lead people? and the massive hurdle to overcome? what if I say something really stupid?

I think overtime, just like my guild fear, this one will also go away... however, this time I'm not going to run away like I did before. I'm going to try really hard to conquer my fear.
If anyone has any tips or remember how you felt the first time you used vent I would love to hear them!

3 comments:

Nuad said...

I remember what is was like for my first time too. Before using vent all communication is done through typing and it can take a while to adjust to the idea. I am still not quite used to it but with time I'm sure it will be perfectly natural.

Anonymous said...

My first time on Vent was SO overwhelming. It's funny because I'm also not a shy person, but for some reason talking to a group of people who have never met me/can't see me made me extraordinarily self conscious.

However, all of my guildies are super nice and really funny, and they were excited to speak with me on Vent. But, I have a wacky sense of humor, and they're not quite used to it yet, so I mostly stay quiet unless I have to yell "FIRE BAD!" or let our tank (who is also a pally) know that I've used Lay on Hands.

As long as you keep everyone alive, I'm sure it's not a problem. And you'll start to feel more comfortable the more you do it. :)

Itsmeh said...

Vent is just like wow it just takes time to overcome shyness ... in my experience Ive found girls to find it harder in vent due to the fact they are usually hugely outnumbered by the opposite sex .... in actual fact when u do start to build confidence ull see there is nothing to be worried about most of the guild are friendly people all interested in the same as u having fun while gaming ...

as for the being new and unsure how or what to say when needed ... there is only 1 way to overcome this and that is to simply ask others for guidance :D there are a fiew ppl in phantom council such as myself who have been hardcore raiders in the past and run their own guilds... all u need to do is send a /w and if i know the answers u seek id be more than happy to help u out ..

Itsmeh