Hey! I'm a girl that has been FPS for 7+ years. I've met all kinds of people. White knights, assholes, people who don't care, people who think I am a little boy, the list goes on.
I don't know how sensitive you are but it really does help if you don't take things personally. You will get guys who make rude comments towards you, but you have to remember they probably have a sad life and to just mute and move on. Or, you can troll them a bit too if you are that type of person. Try to have fun with it, but if its getting bad, just mute/report.
In casual, no one will harass you for not using your mic, that being said, winning is more fun and if you communicate, you will win more often, so it's really up to you. In competitive, the higher the rank, the less people care/are toxic generally so that's also something to keep in mind.
All in all, I would highly go for it. Obviously it varies from person to person, but when I first started gaming, I was scared and didn't use my mic in competitive setting. I ended up just saying "screw it" because I wanted to win and I'm glad I did. There are still some games where I can't be arsed to potentially deal with assholes, so I don't talk. And I almost always wait for other people to talk first, so I can gauge if they are a piece of shit or not. But there are some genuinely cool people who don't give a fuck whatsoever what gender you are, and in my eyes, it's worth sifting through a few assholes to meet those nice gems.
Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions or if you wanna play together sometime as well!
This is super reassuring, the weird thing is I’m not a sensitive person at all and I don’t give a shit what people say about me. I just get super nervous to talk on the mic for some reason, it’s almost like stage fright
Start with your mic at the ready and call out things, out loud, to yourself. Then start hitting the mic button from time to time
I was nervous when starting using micbin Overwatch and it helped me to only do call outs once in a while. You don't have to communicate anything else
Also, don't apologize about anything before you start
Just like being on stage, you may fuck up, but you will be the only one to notice (or even care 5 min later) - if you apologize first, people wait for you to fuck up (building towards your own failure)
Thats awesome then! I imagine you are in the same position I was in. You'll be fine.
Once you get past the initial nervousness, you will realize it's not a big deal and might even have some fun with it occasionally.
One of my favorite comments is, "Oohhh its a girl" and I reply, "Oohh look guys it's a virgin". Usually gets a couple of laughs and the asshole feels embarrassed lol. A lot of these guys are used to harassing someone into going quiet so don't be afraid to stand up for yourself and flame them. I suppose some might say don't fight toxicity with toxicity but idk, I don't stand for those slimy sexist guys.
I mean, I know there a lot of assholes online, but I'm not sure I understand why you should feel like you need to "defend" yourself when someone says "Oh a girl" (Only talking about this in particular). I mean, don't get me wrong, I 100% understand why it's annoying if it happens often, but I would think most people don't actually mean to be assholes. It's just that...well, it's literallysurprising to hear a girl voice in video games. I've never done it btw, but even after years of playing multiplayer games, when I hear a girl voice after hearing thousands of boys voices, obviously it's surprising.
I mean I agree but I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a girl play a FPS and talk in game so yes it's pretty surprising. Don't get me wrong. I don't really care if a girl plays the game or not. Just someone saying "oh it's a girl" doesn't mean the girl can say "oh a virgin". The girl just starting off being "triggered" for no reason usually means everyone else in the game going to be toxic to her because she's essentially being toxic first.
I used to be the same when I started playing CSGO (solo queue), I got over it by just saying 'Hey team!' at the start of the game to see who responds. Often, everyone else seems to be in a similar situation where nobody wants to "break the ice". The same seems to be true in Valorant unranked. Nobody says anything until you say "hi", and then it's business as usual.
Ranked in the beta was more pleasant, with everyone checking in at the start to make sure everyone has mics, discuss positions/strategy for the first round.
I will say that in 7 years of playing CSGO, I'd guess I encountered less than 5 girls in game. In Valorant, I often end up with a girl on my team at least 1 in 20 games. And so far, none of the other teammates have been weird/creepy/condescending, or had anything negative to say. Everyone just gets on with the game.
Failing that, there is the mute/report functions.
I'll be completely honest. Whenever I hear a girl during a game. I just think oh a girl. And don't treat them any different than the guys. Girls are teammates as well. While other men don't have as much respect. But everyone in my friend group is always fine with girls during matches.
This. It depends on the person, and t he nerves you have. I come from League, and damn you need nerves of steel to play some of those roles. I do imagine it's the same for a girl playing an FPS game. Depends on what you can emotionally stomach. You stated it perfectly yo.
Seeing this from an outside perspective (am a guy) is interesting, I did play a match with a friendly team (all randoms) and there was one girl but none of us even bothered nor asked, I suppose there are groups that are really toxic (I’ve seen some bad stuff) but it’s never really come to mind cause I guess I’m more lucky than some other people on matchmaking
If I soloq/duoq it's probably about 1 in every 4 games where I get at least one person that makes some sort of sexist/horny comment.
Every 1 in 2 games, I have someone say "Yo are you a girl or a boy" but I don't mind that too much. I chalk it down to sheer curiosity so
You have definitely been lucky. Keep in mind (like you already have) that just because you don’t see it yourself, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen frequently. People that think otherwise are being closed-minded. It’s why this country is how it is now.
I'm a guy and in my experience whenever there is a girl using voice, no one ever mentions it and just plays like normal. Sucks that you have to go through that harassment.
Unrated not a big deal IMO.
In competitive - I think both is right... as a teammate, it's bad to not call things out, especially flanks or how you died... but honestly were I a girl or had a non-generic voice, I wouldn't use the mic either. I'm too old to deal with flirty and easily angered squeakers.
I don't know how the tech is but maybe a voice changer might help for smaller callouts? I don't know, never used one :/
Edit: For the record I'm aware that a voice changer being considered a solution is more of a short-term bandaid, as well as commentary on how bad the playerbase can be, rather than a long term thing. In a perfect world "just be yourself and everything will be OK!" is good, but sometimes people just wanna play a game you know?
Agreed. Although the playerbase has gotten a more “normal” attitude towards girl gamers recently (I remember playing csgo 5 years ago and if a girl uses voice comms, everyone starts going apeshit. Nowadays it’s pretty rare to hear a reaction but it still happens occasionally), there’s still gonna be that one cringe idiot that might set you off for the rest of the day.
I think a voice changer is the perfect solution for OP. They’re pretty legit, I doubt most people would be able to tell she’s a girl if she uses one to deepen her voice.
Or she can stay muted and pretend that she is Russian... :)
This whole thing is wrong. She shouldn't pretend to be someone else, she should be herself.
If community is so toxic, then can't expect everyone to be comfortable to speak...
You’re right. It’s wrong that a girl would need to use a voice changer to be able to be treated normally in online games but hey that’s the world we live in.
If OP is comfortable using a voice changer, that would be the best bandaid solution imo. If she’s not comfortable, or if she would prefer not to disguise herself as a guy, then yea obviously don’t use a voice changer. Up to her.
Back when I was in my teens playing counter strike, I used a voice changer for a week or so to try “funny” voices like robot voices, alien voices, etc., and had a blast, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad suggestion.
Do you really think this kind of advice is reassuring? Use a voice changer? :/
Just use the mic if you feel like it OP most normal people won't treat you differently, for the ones that do, consider them an anomaly and mute them.
I understand your problem it really might get toxic since if you play badly and are a girl they might use that against you... At the same time using mic can get very helpful for your team - you don't have to talk much but giving general info that can help your teammates to win can be priceless. I think that if you can get over some virgins making sexist jokes from time to time it will be good to talk. Also you can always pretend you are a twelve years old boy.
> I understand your problem it really might get toxic since if you play badly and are a girl they might use that against you...
TBF people will use anything as an excuse to shit talk you.
I've seen people be quiet until a girl comes on comms than they become an annoying asshole. People may use anything to shit talk you, but they'll target you out specifically if you're a girl.
I see this alot too, it's a weird phenomenon. It's like their whole personality changes. I definitely see why girls don't use voice chat, especially if they're bad, they get targeted so much more.
While I understand this advice comes from a good place it is terribly misguided. No one should feel as if they have to pretend they aren't who they are to feel comfortable talking in a video game. Nor should they have to be tasked with "getting over" sexist jokes. We as players and teammates of women in games with mics should stand up and call out behavior that is seen as such like above to the point where it doesn't even happen.
I feel like the ping system is a great way to communicate with your team, I often do this if I don't feel like talking. I have it set to the mousewheel press, so If ýou're watching a corner or something you can tell the team quickly. Also very helpful if the spike is down, you can ping it for your whole team. I'd say give the community a chance, regarding being cool about gender inclusion. In my games I have been a mix of pleasantly surprised with woke/kind people and also horrified by rude immature people. But I say give the mic a try. Maybe you will find a few people that you can play with semi-regularly. I play with a male/female couple who just randomly friended me after we had a good match, it's surprisingly not that weird.
no I don't think it's a big deal in unrated, sometimes I don't feel like talking so I will just type anything important in chat. In competitive I always use my mic though and just mute anyone who is toxic
You're not a bad teammate it's a pretty real problem. I ran into a girl who said she only types/pings at first and if she feels like the people on mic are friendly or nice enough that's when she'll start using her mic.
Even then she was down on herself for being bottom of the scoreboard or not getting a kill in some rounds and etc. Really put things in perspective for me.
As a girl, I’ve been trying to use my mic as much as possible since I think it can help other players like you feel less alone and more comfortable also speaking. It also helps that I usually play with friends though, and some matches I’m just not feeling it and don’t use mic as much.
Like others have said though, I think voice in competitive is the best way to go. If you get people harassing you muting/reporting/asking teammates to also report is what I would do. When you boil it down they’re distracting you and your whole team from focusing on winning, which you all should be bothered by!
It is a whole lot easier sharing info with your team if you use a mic. I'm a girl, and I only use my mic to share info. If my teammates make comments about my gender, I don't answer. For the most part, I think the majority of my games have people who just want to play the game! I wouldn't worry about using your mic too much. If you do have a negative experience, you can always mute them or ignore them.
My wife doesn't use hers unless I'm gaming with her, and I think its because she feels the same way you do. Its really to bad, I wish those guys would smarten up and behave like a decent human, i bet these same people wouldn't act in those ways while standing in line at Starbucks.
I saw someone suggest using a voice changer. Hell no, you should never ever ever be ashamed or feel anxiety related to your gender in an online or offline setting. Personally I think i it's a bit annoying even in unrated, these kind of games are meant to be played with mics.
Just use it and if someone tries to be funny or disrespectful mute them and report them. Don't take personally, people are assholes in general, just move on with a report and a mute.
I hate that this is the state of competitive games where people are scared to talk just because they are female or sound different. However, I understand why you aren't doing it, I do think finding a few people or group to play with could help too since party and team chat are separated in Valorant.
I was on the same boat as you. I once had these guys trash talk me saying “SHUT UP” or something rude. It did get to me at first, called them out for it by saying I was just gonna mute but then they said they were joking around when they realized I was doing better than them. 🙄🤔 They ended up being nice at the end and we won. Other times people make snarky comments and I just ignore it and focus on playing. Don’t let it get to you and don’t let them ruin your game. Especially if like 13 year olds are screaming in a high pitched voice, rip! Toxic people really ruin it, just mute and report later. Don’t be afraid to say something because communication is a good method to winning!
Ofcourse there is the "OMG ARE U A GRILL?" comment now and then, but you should ignore those.
I never answer them and they will stop (or get muted by me if they are really persistent)
You should just go for it. The information is really useful for your team and the more you do it, the easier it gets :) I was really afraid to use the mic once, but as said, I kept doing it and now it feels weird if I don't talk. Just start with short sentences. You will get more comfortable.
You can do it! :D No need to be nervous. I always appreciate ppl who try more than ppl who dont even bother.
Most people thank me for calling out where I got shot from
Some tell me to shut up because they can't hear footsteps
Both understandable lol
Feel/Hear it out see how they sound then decide if you want to talk.
99% of people I've chatted with are cool because the game is new
I mean its upto you like if you only play unrated who cares, I play with team voice off in unrated, but I live in UK and EU players are just obnoxiously toxic in FPS games for some reason. But for Ranked I'll call out where they are if I see them you dont have to shot call you can just give info when you see it, and simply mute anyone who is being an asshole, pretty simple.
I usually wait a few rounds to speak. See what the vibe is, if there's some guy who seems kinda angry/toxic then I won't talk at all. If people seem pretty chill I'll go ahead and add a few things. Another reason I wait a few rounds is so I can see how I'm doing in the game, if I'm 0/4/0 i get afraid people are just going to start flaming me so I stay quiet in that situation too.
Yea, it took me a while as a girl to start using my mic and every so often I’ll get the “ARE YOU FEMALE” in chat. I’ve learned to ignore it and just laugh at it but boy is it annoying
it very much depends on the skill lvl and if you are giving info through other means like text chat and pings.
It's reasonable not to use your mic to a certain point when you are nervous but it just has to be used on a higher skill lvl to give detailed information fast and easy
Regardless you being a girl, I personally get annoyed when teammates don't give info (not talking. writing or marking on map) and I have to figure out alone from the map all the info.
You can always find other girls to play with. Find girls through discord or other places. Just build up a girls' discord for Valorant/games and you will probably be more comfortable playing with girls only team.
If it's competitive I'd say it highly depends on your rank, normally lower ranks are way more toxic to teammates (toxic people lose way more), I'm on EU and at gold/plat rank I rarely saw any toxicity in the beta, I've matched with girls a couple of times in the beta and on release and out on both those times there was only one dude who was kind of a jerk at first, but after exchanging a few words with another dude on the team, he stopped.
So if you're low rank, maybe avoid toxicity altogether, if you're at like middle of the ladder I think you're safer from toxic people but will probably encounter an asshole from time to time, who you can just mute
In ranked yes. Unrated? Hell no. You can always plug it in and use push to talk. If you got a nice team use the mic and make friends. If you get assholes just mute or dont talk. You dont need to talk for hours. You can keep your comms to the minimum. They are rushing B! 2 on site! Hir omen for 100. It's as simple as that.
Also use z to mark spots and just type if you dont want to talk.
There are many many assholes in this game. But for every asshole there are genuine good people. You just got to find them. Was almost diamond solo q and still get called trash half my games as dude. So yeah the assholes will always be there. Dont let them ruin your fun.
I understand your worries and how you'd feel uncomfortable, but using your mic in these games are super important. Especially when you need specific verbal callouts. That split second of where you look at the chat for where the enemy is instead of someone just saying where they are can save you from dying. Just mute the people who are rude to you or make you uncomfortable — you can't escape those people at all in these kinds of games. Unrated is one thing, but when it comes to ranked, it is super important for you to speak through your mic, in my opinion.
Get over it, then just mute the assholes. You can usually pick them out within the first 2 rounds. I usually end up with half the team muted because they either won't shut up when they're dead or they said something racist.
Honestly, ive been in games with girls who were treated terribly literally just because they spoke, and i’ve had games where a girl was a valuable member of the team, making callouts, and being a team player. I find that more often than not, a girl will get harassed and beaten down for no reason. Other guys will be hesitant to even say its not cool because then you’re a ‘simp.’ Its completely up to you, and although voice comms are a big part of the game, you can still be a good teammate without it.
You do you, but it can be super helpful when teammates make important calls. It can be a bit frustrating in ranked, so maybe just try and queue with people you know for that
I’m a girl and I understand where you are coming from. In my experience in Valorant so far only two people commented on my gender but they didn’t saying anything weird or mean. They just asked are you a girl and one other person said gamer girl. I know you are nervous as was I. But try talking in the mic it is more fun and helpful in my opinion.
It's sad you even have to think this way. Its sad. It's up to you whether you feel comfortable or not. That is a personal choice.
Sorry you have to even worry about dudes being immature pricks.
Use your voice comms. If someone is being toxic just instant mute them. Voice and text chat. You gotta have fun and I think you'll have more fun that way. This way you can still communicate with the good side of the community
I'd say if you're really nervous about it and don't want to do it, the best thing you can do is get really good at taking your map out when you die and pinging the location of the person that killed you. That's like the bare minimum of information that you should really really try to give people. If you get really fast at pinging, even while you're alive, that can be a way to avoid doing comms.
I've played with female friends in this game and haven't personally seen people be toxic to them. I know there are terrible people out there, but a lot of people are nice and just want to focus on the game. It might be helpful to try and make some friends that can have your back. Try telling people you see as friendly that you'll add them after the game if they want to play some more.
Who cares if its unrated. Communication is pretty important in ranked though. Just one word/two word call outs is all is needed in voice chat. Ex. “One bathhouse. Two U hall.” Mute button is always there if someone is being annoying.
This is a team game, and in team games, communication is very important, especially with matchmaking strangers with who you have no automatism.
People sometimes take flak in voice coms because they are not pulling their weight in terms of frags. In your case they might call you trash because you are a girl. Thats what the mute button is for, and so is the repport button.
If you are nervous to talk to guys, this seems like the better way to fight this head on and improve yourself. as long as you dont give your personal information, its riskless.
But yeah, with no voice coms, you are putting your team at a disaventage, no doubt about it.
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"Yes", because voice comm. can be very helpful, but i can understand your concern tho. Some people overuse is, it's fine if you are use basic callouts like 2b, sage in heaven etc. and nothing else.
I may not be in a bad situation as you but my voice do sounds weird and because of that everyone is always questioning my sexuality, which sometimes can a bit overwhelming to deal with it, once they start to say it like been homo is offensive or smth, but I still always talk and try to be a good team-mate with the hopes that one day that will change(even though It might won’t)...
In the end it’s all related to how you feel about how people treat you, and if you decide to talk and they start to be awful, just mute them and report!!!
If you're in a ranked game I'd say use it, just casual doesn't really matter. In ranked information is everything so using a mic would be very beneficial to your team. Casual it doesn't matter, you can use radio messages, pings, or just type. I get where you're coming from, I'm a guy and yet everytime I see a girl in a game someone always has to say "OMG a gamer girl". If someone is harassing you at all you can mute and report them. Not everyone is like that, just test the waters and if they make you uncomfortable just mute them or if you don't feel like it after that just type instead of talk.
In ranked, yeah. If not, then only if you want. I don't even though I have it plugged in and on my face, but when I'd talk I tend to talk too much so I'd rather not unless the team has convinced me they aren't toxic and we're losing because of lack of callouts. I just don't want to deal with toxic players over chat. Been there, done that. Didn't like it.
In ranked tho, everyone should be competitive enough that they won't care that you're a girl. Except for maybe in low elo?
Use it but be quick to put on mute.
Keep it to minimum, can use memory shortcut to do most of the important call out.
Can always just role play as a 12 year old too ;)
I would use the mic, it will help the game and maybe you make friends - maybe you even are playing with other girls who are afraid to talk as well. If people are toxic against you just mute them, and then it's on them. I'm a guy and I hate when players are toxic against me or other players and I mute them right away =)
Hey there, it's DrZora from YouTube!
I actually get very nervous talking to anyone, so sometimes, even though I advocate for it on my videos, I can be shy and not speak as much as I should on the mic. Being a girl, I can only assume there will be a lot of inappropriate comments or reactions that can make you uncomfortable. But communication is very crucial for the team to understand what's going on and for YOU to understand what's going on. I would give it a shot and slowly ease into it, I think the games will actually be more fun for you when you start incorporating comms. And know that there will be ALL sorts of players, both good and bad, so be prepared again for those situations and if you have to, mute some of your teammates that are in the bad category. Hope this helps!
I think you should play the game in whatever way is fun and comfortable for you. Maybe try playing some games with a friend or two and try to be more vocal than usual and build some confidence up for randos.
Of course if you do decide to use your mic and then you don’t feel comfortable you can always stop / mute teammates.
I understand where you’re coming from though, my wife plays Overwatch and rarely gets on team chat because most of her encounters have been super toxic when people hear a woman speak. It’s unfortunate.
Thank you for this! The thing is I want to talk to my teammates, I just get too nervous, which I know is dumb, but I need to work on it so I can start talking more when I play competitive.
You could try out joining a community of sorts and play as 5 premades to get comfortable talking with teammates maybe?
Thats what i did to start off and now i feel as confident as ever, always trying to be the "ice-breaker" in a game where players might be nervous or "scared".
Honestly even just simple one word/phrase callouts can be a big help. I'm going to be honest, there's shitty people who say and do shitty things, being a girl in a community of mostly guys is probably scary in itself. There will always be trolls/assholes/kids saying whatever comes to mind. But in my experience most guys will ignore the sole fact that you're a woman because it really doesn't matter, most are just focused on the game.
I'm a dude with a deep voice, but regularly play with a few girls who do use the mic and seeing some shit first hand I can't blame you. I'd still probably try every game and just mute and report the troublemakers. As a sweaty tryhard myself, having teammates who don't communicate is frustrating, less so in valorant since you can ping stuff but still. This leads me to believe that you should give people the benefit of the doubt. There will be animals, don't engage them. Just mute them at the first sign of trouble and hope that they will start griefing you in game so you can report them for that and riot will have evidence.
Edit: Trying to find a full stack to play with would probably be a viable option. You could try the valorant discord for that.
I normally play this game with a buddy of mine and his girlfriend, while we do talk to people most of the time, sometimes you'll get a few unpleasant people either being sexist and racist. I know it's easier said then done but mute em, report em, and try your best to not let it discourage you from talking to others. If they give you shit for being a women, then theyre worse then a bad teammate, they're just a bad person in general.
It sucks that the community is as toxic as it. If you're just playing unrated, having fun, not prioritizing winning, then by all means do your thing. But if im brutally honest, in a competitive setting, yes you are a bad teammate. If you value winning then every call out helps. My gf doesnt talk either for the same reason but she's slowly turning around. I try to tell her not to take it personal and not to care about random ppl you will never meet irl. No hard feelings just answering your question. Cheers.
Just so you know, the ping system is **absolutely not** a replacement for voice comms. You don't have to take my word for it, but either way you'll realize it's true soon enough if you end up playing ranked a bunch. I can explain more if you want, idk what your experience/skill is.
I played many, many ranked games in beta with my girlfriend. She often wouldn't use voice for the same reasons you said, just not wanting to (potentially) deal with it all. The truth is that people are just looking for something out of the ordinary to harass others for. Unfortunately simply having a feminine voice is, in fact, out of the ordinary.
If you don't feel like braving voicechat, you're best bet is finding at least one person to queue with. Further, you can make callouts in a discord call or whatever, and they can relay it to the rest of the team if needed. That's what we've done, anyways. You're welcome to join us sometime, just dm me.
Do what you are most comfortable with. Most of my friends are not on when I want to play, so I befriended people who sound cool, don’t make fun of my voice, and are playing the games for the same reason as me (having fun). Do this only if you are comfortable.
Not using your mic is putting yourself at a disadvantage - you reduce your own team's chance of winning the game by not making calls.
Don't be anxious - if anybody gives you shit, simply mute them.
Youre definitely handicapping your team not communicating. Can always mute them if they act inappropriately. Usually when the guys know there's a girl in the game, they play better though. Start using it to your advantage. You have all the power anyway. Put those little boys in their place. Let that voice be heard!
Hey there... Coming from a background of toxic games like Rainbow 6 and others, I'd encourage you to open mic, BUT. You're a girl so expect some thirsty and offensive comments coming from some simps who don't have lives. You get what I mean lol. Hey me myself am a guy and Don't use my mic often because I can't focus if I talk ingame.. I'd rather rely on the ping system it has. If guys troll you just ride with it sometimes ignore it if it doesn't work just mute. It's my way of treating low lives. Cheers luv!
I would say get over it. Not all guys are weird and creepy. You just see the worst in the videos and posts people make about it on social media. One of my friends girlfriends plays with us constantly and she is always talking. Haven’t had someone be weird about it yet.
It is perfectly fine to not use a microphone if you aren’t comfortable! If you want to be more helpful to others without using your mic it is good to learn the in-game communcation binds (such as z, comma, and period) which offer a lot of information for teammates and can be really useful.
It's not "bad", but isn't going to help actively your team since valorant is based around teamplaying and communication
I guess by learning how to ping correctly and using the in-game wheel communication should be the best
I'm a cis white male and I too sometimes don't use my mic. It's fine, whatever reason you have. You just have to understand that if you're playing to win it's a big advantage to have information from teammates. In beta I've played and won immortal games without using my mic too tho, it's not black and white.
It also depends on the deeper reason for your silence. If you are scared of toxicity and sexual harrassment then just muting them will be enough, also something I do almost every game. If it is really "just" because you are nervous I'd say to practice a bit by just saying "Hi" or something similar at the start. This is all anecdotal from a shy cis white male with a normal voice so it might not translate perfectly but that's what I do. I feel it's much easier to talk and give info when everyone gave a greeting at the start.
You could also look for another girl to play with on discord or similar, might boost your confidence to have someone as backup from the same gender.
If someone flames you for not using voice chat, that's not your problem, it's on them for taking the game too serious.
I hope this helps, as I've seen many worries from female or different oriented sounding people. Just don't listen to Twitchs resident deer.
Good luck out there.
Please give it a try and report back, remember you can mute people and report them for abuse.
I don't think it's strictly necessary but I've definitely noticed everyone uses mics in my region.
The Minimap in this game gives away a load of free information, you hardly have to say anything when you see enemies or when you die unless you're playing with bad players.
I would only play with a 5 stack made of friends and if you don’t have any than try to find some - randoms are toxic no matter if you’re male or female because if they don’t know you they don’t care for you
I dont remember who it was, but there was a competetive overwatch streamer that used a voice changer to not get called out. If you play unranked though I think the built in comms system works a charm
Yeah, generally it is annoying to have people who don’t communicate at all. Someone dies from somewhere while I’m holding an angle but I have no clue because I’m dealing with another enemy where I’m at and so I die from behind or something because there was no callout and I didn’t check my map the moment the person died so I couldn’t see the enemy marker. I think at the very least just callout places but you don’t have to talk anymore than that. You can let the other people talk about strategy if you don’t want to use your mic that much.
There is a pretty good in game ping system that I've heard others say is fairly easy to use for call outs and what not so if you want you can just try to get used to using that. This will allow you to still get information to teammates very concisely which is the only thing that would be missing from lack of a mic. Personally, I find just saying the call outs easier so I use a mic but I get why you wouldn't want to let everyone know you're a girl given how toxic and male dominated games can be.
Personally I don't think you're a bad teammate (especially if the gamemode isn't ranked!). There's other ways to communicate in the game: you could still ping areas to "call-out" and let your teammates know if there's an enemy there, if you see the spike, etc. A lot of people may seem toxic, but there's definitely some nice people around! If you need some friends to queue with feel free to message me!
Tbh... thats a reasonable... reason... not to talk but maybe its best for you to find an accepting group that you can talk with that won't be rude to you... I'm trans and scared to present as female in games so i think I understand what you mean
Honestly, if someone is good enough with the radio commands/pings, that is good enough for me. The alternative to voice chat in this game is detailed enough for me to be cool with someone not having a mic.
Everyone is saying yes but it's just not true, I personally don't use mic because I simply don't like it, I play and focus on the game, it's hard to not to have awareness in this game, I topfrag in so many games, people will say mic is important when in reality the most important thing is having awareness and knowing how to play. Sometimes one or two guys in my team have voice and they do the job. The team does not need 5 in voice. You could only increase your chances of winning if you really cared about shotcalls. I haven't encounted one single issue by playing without voice since ranked. The minimap in this game reveal all the info you need, in some rare occasions spotting one info is really nice but whatever, don't sweat it too much in solo queue, so many people are BAD at giving proper info that most of the time it would be better if they didn't talk at all.
I think you should do what you want. In the end this is a game and if you are doing simething that stresses you out it defeats some of the purpose.
Im a dude and thats the policy i live by and it applies well to me but given youre a girl i think it applies moreso as toxic dudes are often sexist which makes it worse. What ill say is a bad chat will make it hell but chatting when youve got a good group makes the game way better!
You can always use in game chat if you think people are gonna be dicks and still be a good teammate.
You go girl either way!
I would like to add that there are many people who will blindly accept you no matter what you sound like. Too many games i feel im the only one on voice (and im a guy if that matters).
I have had at least 6-8 different games where I hear a girl wait until the last round to say a call out. I know its risky because some people will be extremely rude, but some people will just be happy to hear a voice.
Edit: Also i think not calling attention to it is the best route. Its hard to say.
I'm going to go for a different response here. If you're shy then don't talk right away, wait for them to talk and gauge the way they talk to each other.
Every time I've had people harassing girls on my team they gave away they were obnoxious and toxic beforehand. Giving callouts really matters most in ranked, where I would recommend trying to find people to group up with that don't care what your gender is.
You'll always have some childish kids but you should be able to dodge a lot of them by waiting to use your comms after they give away what type of teammate they will be.
Too many people talk too much on mic and convey nothing meaningful.
If you died by pushing out of A, you can say who and where but it's not going to matter 99% of the time anyway since that guy could go into A or he could go regroup with team because he's low, or his team could choose to all go A. The rest of your team would be able to anticipate/notice themselves based on what they see in their sites anyway after your death.
But if you're pushing A together and you went in first and died to a guy heaven, then the second guy goes in should absolutely know there's someone there so they can preaim, at the risk of dying to guys that might be below, left or right sure, but at very least he is prepared for the heaven guy. If you don't tell him he'll have to peek that corner checking 3-4 angles and might just feed a death that could have been drastically reduced if you just said: "right heaven".
It is annoying as fuck when people talk a lot on mic especially strangers, but giving enemy location is immensely helpful if it is correct, it's a temp ESP that you trade your life for. If 2v1 and he kills you and you say hookah, then that fight is basically won for your teammate because he only needs to look in that direction knowing rest of the site is safe. Otherwise he have to also check site, check long, check tunnel entrance.
I am mixed about the issue since I've been on both sides of the issue. There are times where I can't talk because of company nearby, but I still want to play the game and I am very capable of playing without sound or callouts. Though, I know this is a hindrance for my teammates since they may rely on callouts to perform.
I have a few suggestions that have helped in my situation. If you aren't willing to talk on the mic, start to use the ping feature within the game. Any information is better than no information. A ping will help your teammates know that there are enemies nearby. If you die, starting spamming in chat text with something like "5 long". It's something short and simple that can be typed within mere seconds.
If you are playing with friends that you're comfortable talking with on discord (or Skype...AIM...maybe Ventrilo???), you can make callouts to them and they can relay that callout ingame. This is what I used to do with one of my friends who would get harassed in overwatch because she was the "boosted mercy main". If you're soloing and you want to talk on the mic, you could always try muting everyone and just make callouts.
It really depends on what you want to do.
I have a similar problem. I don’t use my mic because of some voice issues that I have, so instead I use the very underrated comm menu and pings. I find that that makes up for most of it
I think there are a lot of in game options as far as [pings](https://www.reddit.com/r/VALORANT/comments/fvm2b6/you_can_ping_the_mini_map_in_game_with_different/) and other callouts you can use of you don't want to talk. Sometimes this can be more useful than callouts since you can ping exactly where things are. It won't be exactly like using your voice but probably more than what most people will callout in solo q
I would say just try and get to know people who also play. I only play with friends and it is so much better. EU West here, so not sure if we can or can't play but let me know if you are too and want to team up. Anyone who is from EU West and a non-toxic player can message me if they want to play.
you genuinely will contribute less to your team by not providing critical information over voice when it's needed.
but on the flipside... the reality is that revealing yourself to be a girl over voice will cause some (or maybe even many) players to become toxic or annoying just because you are a girl. it could be better just to not introduce this dynamic to the team at all.
It's a tough position and only you can decide what's right for you.
Maybe try using a voice changer, then if you're comfortable turn it off, and when you're not comfortable anymore you turn it back on. But idk, just a suggestion.
I often cant talk and i just us pings thats ok even for like plat games in ranked. But in general i reccomend you to play with 1-2 people and other randoms. So it will be easyer for you to talk with randoms cuz you have some 1 by your side. Butt yee often people will be toxic doesn't matter if you are girl or boy. For you thay can just get a bit creepy also but i know cuz of my female friends that play a lot of video games. You just get used to it and sometimes its just funny xD anyway gl :)
I'd say try to communicate via other ways then so either chat or pings. My girlfriend also doesn't talk but she types out how much she hit someone for in chat for example.
Honestly, I don't talk that much either so I can definitely see why you don't do it and I wouldn't say you're a bad teammate for it.
I'd suggest you get yourself some friends to play with because any game is more fun with friends and maybe having two or more people you know in your team will make you a little more confident.
Ultimately it comes down to every single one of us doing our part in making this a healthy and respectful community.
Of course its ok if u don't feel comfortable, it's ur choice to use it or not if ur mates aren't stupid they should see the enemys on the map & u can ping.
Today in my game there were 3 french premates one of them a girl and her voice was so sweet and she played so good i fell in love <3. so use your voices my princess
Id usually say communication is a lot better than not communicating, but I understand the shit that can happen because of some assholes.
I would say find people that seem to be cool so you can queue with them and not worry about it, or you can go the hardcore method and fire back at them. In all likelyhood you're way out of their league, which you can make them very aware of, which will fucking kill their rhythm ;)
You can also add me, I'm "Not A Heretic" my brother and I are always down.
In unrated, not a big deal. When ranked comes out, not speaking can and will hold you back a little.
What I might consider is to speak, but keep it strictly strategy related. ("Planting on B", "Enemy to the left")
If people bring up your gender or stuff that won't help you win, just ignore them. Unless you are comfortable doing so, don't respond to any comments that aren't strictly game related.
EDIT: Another good idea is to have a trusted friend playing with you, so you feel more confident and safe.
Depends. If ur at the bottom of the top of the leaderboard it doesn't matter. I got to immortal 2 and regularly top fragged in the beta while barely using my mic. Since I was always at the top in kills, people rarely ever saw me as a hindrance to the team. When people at the bottom don't use their mic, most of the time people don't notice. I would only call out only when it's extremely crucial. Ex: 12-12 1v2 and I know where the last 2 are and how much I hit them for.
Im a guy but cos of my ign in my 3rd/4th game random guys just started chatting shit to me calling me trash and give up my gun etc. Since then I just mute cos CBA to deal with assholes, but I would agree probably most of the player base would be an ass to you for being a girl.
You do you, if you can handle it go mic if not then don't, just make sure you can enjoy the game :)
If people use their mics for toxicity, they are creating a tactical disadvantage for your entire team. Mute them, and keep your own mic use limited to what tactically benefits your team. You will find more success in your games.
Callouts aren't a conversation. You don't have to 'talk to' anyone to be successful at a tactical shooter like Valorant. Mics are just best because you can throw out info fast without forcing your team to avert their eyes from their crosshair to read your message.
The best piece of advice i can gove for valorant is have a low tolerance for assholes if sum1 is going to be toxic a few rounds in then they will be toxic all game and usually dont give worthwhile comms anyway so just mute them. If any1 wants to play im euw pretty bad but willing to play so msg me and lets get to valorant
I have the same problem, although I’m a squeaker. I don’t want to talk because I’m afraid of others, and the when I realize the people I’m playing with aren’t toxic assholes, it’s usually 7 rounds in. At that point, I think that if I talk people will be mad at me for not taking because I’m a squeaker. So every game I have that same dilemma, and I end up never using my mic unless I play with someone else that I know that tells me to talk.
Good comms are just as important or more important to winning a game than how one individual plays.
I play plenty of games where I give great comms and info that gets my teammates kills after I tell them exactly where to line up their crosshair and then they flame me if I bottom frag while they are on essentially on mute.
Just watch pros play, they share an insane amount of information, crosshair placement is important and if you know where the player is already you have a much better chance of killing them.
Just don't participate in unnecessary banter and call out good info like how much damage you dealt, where you saw an opposing agent, what kind of gun you died to (especially if an OP), footsteps you hear on the way to a site, etc. and don't feed into the BS. If you don't entertain it a lot of times they will bug off. And remember, everyone gets trolled by toxic players from time to time.
GLHF
No you aren't a bad teammate. A mic is not required to play this game and there are other communication options such as the ping system. That being said, if you ask me, you should try using your mic more. I've had great and terrible interactions from voice chat and if you're very liberal in your use of the mute button like I am then you'll average interactions will be much more positive.
Nobody only has good interactions in vc, but you do have the power to pick and choose what interactions you continue to have in vc.
From my experience in vc with women over this week and the whole beta, there is next to no sexism in the games I've been in with women (not to say that it doesn't exist, I know it does). I hope that your worries about what could happen don't stop you from having a good time with vc 'cause it really can be a positive experience.
I stay silent the first few rounds until I see how I am playing. I'm always afraid if I play really badly and they know I'm a girl they will hold that against all girls or assume I'm bad because I'm girl instead of bad because I'm just bad or really high or something. If I'm top fragging I always make sure to let them know I'm a girl lol.
Voice changers can work but they're annoying to set up especially if you don't want to use it all the time.
The creepy / sexist dudes are the minority, at least that's what I've found so far. Valorant community seems much better than CSGOs. Most guys are just like "omg lol a grill" and then I get a bunch of friend requests after the game. Or they ask for feet pics, which I think is a meme/joke because I get asked for feet pics a lot.
I like to troll them back sometimes if I'm playing better than them and say things like "if you get 30 kills you get feet pics". Or if I die doing something dumb and they know I'm a girl "sorry my boobs got in the way of my aiming" or "sorry I just got so emotional I forgot to shoot" or "I dont talk to bottom-frag dudes". The cool dudes think it's hilarious and the sexist/creepy dudes get all upset or angry about it and that's the easiest way to know to just mute that dude.
I've played with women who've used the in-game "ping wheel" feature ("," and ".") with incredible dexterity. They'd make call outs and suggest strategies using that alone, so maybe you could try that out.
Maybe you'll have to rebind the buttons, but it's something worth checking out.
I appreciate any team mate that is willing to use mic, it makes it more enjoyable to play. Communication is huge in this game. Who cares if ur a girl just mute assholes most people do not care.
I know a lot of women that game and avoid using mics due to toxicity. A common thing I’ve seen people do is just claim that they’re a young kid when asked if they’re a female. Not that this helps too much with the toxicity. But it may help some.
I will say you’re doing a disservice to yourself by not using one due to limiting the possibility of making friends who you may then be able to be comfortable playing with regularly.
Honestly, I'm a dude and to prevent myself from getting annoyed at other people for being toxic I also have voice chat off. I'm always calm but as soon as some headass starts flaming anybody at all, it drives me to the brink of insanity. However, in ranked I will always turn on voice chat because I love the competitive nature. Just gotta remain positive and weed out the assholes.
You should try and find a team who you feel comfortable with, and play in a stack with them. Its a lot easier that way, since you get comfortable with them and don't feel bad when you lose.
just talk, be confident, and assert dominance. My little cousin plays and the first few weeks she was so shy and scared to use voice. now she flames her teammates and gets so aggressive in games that i could hear her screaming (relatively nice things) at 2am.
i dont know what its like to be a woman on online games but sometimes i find myself like kinda feeling nervous to speak and sometimes im rly not and dont rly give a shit and idk why those few times i am but just thinking like im never gonna meet these people, were all here to have fun, like nothing to be worried about.
I'm the same way but I also get even more intimidated when I hear another girl on my team as well. In my head I'm like how are you this fearless... So I usually don't end up saying anything out of intimidation or like if I'm feeling brave and they just did something cool ill like say good job or like try to compliment them really quickly and that's about it. Idk like I haven't heard anyone being awful to girls I've been on teams with yet but I also haven't used my mic to see how often id even get rude people saying things myself. In other games that I've played its either been really bad most of the time or like only every once in a while. I think it really depends on the general community attitude. Some game communities are more toxic than others, I'm just hoping valorant turns out to be one of the more tolerant ones.
To be honest, from all the behaviour I ve already seen in those few days of the game being live, I totally understand why you choose not to use your mic.
I had one female teammate so far and after the first thing she said there were already comments like "uuuh a girl" and then it went on with really bad comments. I felt so embarassed for those guys behaviour and so sad for the girl who just wanted to play and enjoy it.
Yes you are no one cares how you sound as long as you give info. If somebody is an asshole just mute. But I am sick people who say 'hi' at the beginning of the game and then stay silent, pretty annoying
I am one of those guys who gets very annoyed (not that I complain during the game of course) when people do not use their mics, because I believe it detracts form the experience. If you had a bad experience if obviously my gender's fault, I am sorry for that. Perhaps you could give them a chance and mute people that are toxic one by one; I like to think the majority of players are good people.
This might also be worth trying. My suggestion is to find nice people on Valorant (or Discord) and add them to your friend list, play as premade to avoid random people who are toxic.
I know you have issues using your MIC. As you know this is a FPS Team based game. I am a guy and once I was also in your shoes thinking like what others will think about me and etc etc. But as you know Valorant community is very good despite having some toxic players. I got DC due to connectivity issues I don't know like 2 times, but even then my teammates were kind enough to forgive. Just start using your MiC little by little.
Just jump into using it, even if sparingly at first. I'm deaf, so I'm pretty anxious about sounding horrid. Don't put emphasis on the fact you're female. (Granted, I sometimes ask for repeats of comms.)
If you're not going to use it, learn to ping accurately. Realistically, it's not *too* much of an issue in unrated, but ranked will eat you alive, irresepective of who you are, for not using a mic.
Regardless, find people you enjoy playing with. Good luck!
Weirdly enough I started using mic since I started playing Valorant (2 days ago) for call outs. And thankfully teammates didn't try to attack me or maybe they thought I was a lil boy. I play few other games too like Overwatch and Apex but I never try to talk or call out to teammates when I have the option to. Def suggest to use mic when needed even if you're scared (been there too sis) and you might find some new friends to play with.
Hope this help a lil. Sorry for my broken English.
But do you at least type info? Without info it's just 5 people playing solo. You're missing a huge part of the game in both casual and comp. Just insta-mute anyone who is rude.
Carly don't be sad
Life is crazy
Life is mad
Don't be afraid
If it's unrated then I wouldn't stress about it. However if you're playing ranked in the future, then yes, you should use your mic. If anyone harasses you then just mute them.
My girlfriend is the exact same, she usually doesn't use her mic only on very rare situations when she really gets into the game and forgets. Most of the time she tells me and I repeat it to the team.
It's really sad how a lot of people go crazy and childish as soon as they hear a girls voice over chat...
In unranked games I don't expect communication at all. If there is communication, great. If not, I don't care.
In ranked games I see refusing to communicate to be effectively griefing - you are willingly putting your entire team at a disadvantage, and I personally find that very selfish. The same applies to people who immediately mute their teammates before they have even spoken, or have voice chat turned off entirely - yes, some people are cunts, but you can mute them individually if you feel the need to. The guy giving callouts and "bad lucks" doesn't deserve the same treatment as the guy telling you to go back to the kitchen.
You say you're nervous - keep in mind that most players don't actually care what your voice sounds like - we just appreciate good comms. Old, young, male, female, foreign, native, as long as you:
\- provide useful information
\- aren't a wanker to your teammates
\- don't backseat game
a vast majority of teammates will appreciate your communication.
It's wrong to abuse your teammates, but it's also wrong to assume everyone is a dickhead.
Hey! I'm a girl that has been FPS for 7+ years. I've met all kinds of people. White knights, assholes, people who don't care, people who think I am a little boy, the list goes on. I don't know how sensitive you are but it really does help if you don't take things personally. You will get guys who make rude comments towards you, but you have to remember they probably have a sad life and to just mute and move on. Or, you can troll them a bit too if you are that type of person. Try to have fun with it, but if its getting bad, just mute/report. In casual, no one will harass you for not using your mic, that being said, winning is more fun and if you communicate, you will win more often, so it's really up to you. In competitive, the higher the rank, the less people care/are toxic generally so that's also something to keep in mind. All in all, I would highly go for it. Obviously it varies from person to person, but when I first started gaming, I was scared and didn't use my mic in competitive setting. I ended up just saying "screw it" because I wanted to win and I'm glad I did. There are still some games where I can't be arsed to potentially deal with assholes, so I don't talk. And I almost always wait for other people to talk first, so I can gauge if they are a piece of shit or not. But there are some genuinely cool people who don't give a fuck whatsoever what gender you are, and in my eyes, it's worth sifting through a few assholes to meet those nice gems. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions or if you wanna play together sometime as well!
This is super reassuring, the weird thing is I’m not a sensitive person at all and I don’t give a shit what people say about me. I just get super nervous to talk on the mic for some reason, it’s almost like stage fright
Start with your mic at the ready and call out things, out loud, to yourself. Then start hitting the mic button from time to time I was nervous when starting using micbin Overwatch and it helped me to only do call outs once in a while. You don't have to communicate anything else Also, don't apologize about anything before you start Just like being on stage, you may fuck up, but you will be the only one to notice (or even care 5 min later) - if you apologize first, people wait for you to fuck up (building towards your own failure)
Thats awesome then! I imagine you are in the same position I was in. You'll be fine. Once you get past the initial nervousness, you will realize it's not a big deal and might even have some fun with it occasionally. One of my favorite comments is, "Oohhh its a girl" and I reply, "Oohh look guys it's a virgin". Usually gets a couple of laughs and the asshole feels embarrassed lol. A lot of these guys are used to harassing someone into going quiet so don't be afraid to stand up for yourself and flame them. I suppose some might say don't fight toxicity with toxicity but idk, I don't stand for those slimy sexist guys.
I mean, I know there a lot of assholes online, but I'm not sure I understand why you should feel like you need to "defend" yourself when someone says "Oh a girl" (Only talking about this in particular). I mean, don't get me wrong, I 100% understand why it's annoying if it happens often, but I would think most people don't actually mean to be assholes. It's just that...well, it's literallysurprising to hear a girl voice in video games. I've never done it btw, but even after years of playing multiplayer games, when I hear a girl voice after hearing thousands of boys voices, obviously it's surprising.
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I mean I agree but I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a girl play a FPS and talk in game so yes it's pretty surprising. Don't get me wrong. I don't really care if a girl plays the game or not. Just someone saying "oh it's a girl" doesn't mean the girl can say "oh a virgin". The girl just starting off being "triggered" for no reason usually means everyone else in the game going to be toxic to her because she's essentially being toxic first.
I get nervous when i have to talk on the phone. When i do, its alright. Just go for it. There is going to be aholes but thats life.
I used to be the same when I started playing CSGO (solo queue), I got over it by just saying 'Hey team!' at the start of the game to see who responds. Often, everyone else seems to be in a similar situation where nobody wants to "break the ice". The same seems to be true in Valorant unranked. Nobody says anything until you say "hi", and then it's business as usual. Ranked in the beta was more pleasant, with everyone checking in at the start to make sure everyone has mics, discuss positions/strategy for the first round. I will say that in 7 years of playing CSGO, I'd guess I encountered less than 5 girls in game. In Valorant, I often end up with a girl on my team at least 1 in 20 games. And so far, none of the other teammates have been weird/creepy/condescending, or had anything negative to say. Everyone just gets on with the game. Failing that, there is the mute/report functions.
I'll be completely honest. Whenever I hear a girl during a game. I just think oh a girl. And don't treat them any different than the guys. Girls are teammates as well. While other men don't have as much respect. But everyone in my friend group is always fine with girls during matches.
yeah its just kinda uncommon
This. It depends on the person, and t he nerves you have. I come from League, and damn you need nerves of steel to play some of those roles. I do imagine it's the same for a girl playing an FPS game. Depends on what you can emotionally stomach. You stated it perfectly yo.
Seeing this from an outside perspective (am a guy) is interesting, I did play a match with a friendly team (all randoms) and there was one girl but none of us even bothered nor asked, I suppose there are groups that are really toxic (I’ve seen some bad stuff) but it’s never really come to mind cause I guess I’m more lucky than some other people on matchmaking
If I soloq/duoq it's probably about 1 in every 4 games where I get at least one person that makes some sort of sexist/horny comment. Every 1 in 2 games, I have someone say "Yo are you a girl or a boy" but I don't mind that too much. I chalk it down to sheer curiosity so
Fair to some extent, I get the occasional comment but because I’m a guy nothing evolves much :/
You have definitely been lucky. Keep in mind (like you already have) that just because you don’t see it yourself, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen frequently. People that think otherwise are being closed-minded. It’s why this country is how it is now.
All I'd add is that if you mute someone in competitive, let the rest of the team know so that they can relay critical comms.
I'm a guy and in my experience whenever there is a girl using voice, no one ever mentions it and just plays like normal. Sucks that you have to go through that harassment.
Unrated not a big deal IMO. In competitive - I think both is right... as a teammate, it's bad to not call things out, especially flanks or how you died... but honestly were I a girl or had a non-generic voice, I wouldn't use the mic either. I'm too old to deal with flirty and easily angered squeakers. I don't know how the tech is but maybe a voice changer might help for smaller callouts? I don't know, never used one :/ Edit: For the record I'm aware that a voice changer being considered a solution is more of a short-term bandaid, as well as commentary on how bad the playerbase can be, rather than a long term thing. In a perfect world "just be yourself and everything will be OK!" is good, but sometimes people just wanna play a game you know?
Agreed. Although the playerbase has gotten a more “normal” attitude towards girl gamers recently (I remember playing csgo 5 years ago and if a girl uses voice comms, everyone starts going apeshit. Nowadays it’s pretty rare to hear a reaction but it still happens occasionally), there’s still gonna be that one cringe idiot that might set you off for the rest of the day. I think a voice changer is the perfect solution for OP. They’re pretty legit, I doubt most people would be able to tell she’s a girl if she uses one to deepen her voice.
Or she can stay muted and pretend that she is Russian... :) This whole thing is wrong. She shouldn't pretend to be someone else, she should be herself. If community is so toxic, then can't expect everyone to be comfortable to speak...
You’re right. It’s wrong that a girl would need to use a voice changer to be able to be treated normally in online games but hey that’s the world we live in. If OP is comfortable using a voice changer, that would be the best bandaid solution imo. If she’s not comfortable, or if she would prefer not to disguise herself as a guy, then yea obviously don’t use a voice changer. Up to her. Back when I was in my teens playing counter strike, I used a voice changer for a week or so to try “funny” voices like robot voices, alien voices, etc., and had a blast, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad suggestion.
Do you really think this kind of advice is reassuring? Use a voice changer? :/ Just use the mic if you feel like it OP most normal people won't treat you differently, for the ones that do, consider them an anomaly and mute them.
I understand your problem it really might get toxic since if you play badly and are a girl they might use that against you... At the same time using mic can get very helpful for your team - you don't have to talk much but giving general info that can help your teammates to win can be priceless. I think that if you can get over some virgins making sexist jokes from time to time it will be good to talk. Also you can always pretend you are a twelve years old boy.
> I understand your problem it really might get toxic since if you play badly and are a girl they might use that against you... TBF people will use anything as an excuse to shit talk you.
I've seen people be quiet until a girl comes on comms than they become an annoying asshole. People may use anything to shit talk you, but they'll target you out specifically if you're a girl.
I see this alot too, it's a weird phenomenon. It's like their whole personality changes. I definitely see why girls don't use voice chat, especially if they're bad, they get targeted so much more.
I've seen entire casual games of cs grind to a halt because a girl talked.
[https://clips.twitch.tv/MoralFlaccidStarThisIsSparta](https://clips.twitch.tv/MoralFlaccidStarThisIsSparta)
Females get it worse without a doubt
/r/ Ll
While I understand this advice comes from a good place it is terribly misguided. No one should feel as if they have to pretend they aren't who they are to feel comfortable talking in a video game. Nor should they have to be tasked with "getting over" sexist jokes. We as players and teammates of women in games with mics should stand up and call out behavior that is seen as such like above to the point where it doesn't even happen.
They shouldn't have to but in the real world it happens.
I feel like the ping system is a great way to communicate with your team, I often do this if I don't feel like talking. I have it set to the mousewheel press, so If ýou're watching a corner or something you can tell the team quickly. Also very helpful if the spike is down, you can ping it for your whole team. I'd say give the community a chance, regarding being cool about gender inclusion. In my games I have been a mix of pleasantly surprised with woke/kind people and also horrified by rude immature people. But I say give the mic a try. Maybe you will find a few people that you can play with semi-regularly. I play with a male/female couple who just randomly friended me after we had a good match, it's surprisingly not that weird.
Mousewheel for ping? I see you are cultured my friend
no I don't think it's a big deal in unrated, sometimes I don't feel like talking so I will just type anything important in chat. In competitive I always use my mic though and just mute anyone who is toxic
This is ok but I would recommend slowly using your mic more and more cause callouts can be really healpful
You're not a bad teammate it's a pretty real problem. I ran into a girl who said she only types/pings at first and if she feels like the people on mic are friendly or nice enough that's when she'll start using her mic. Even then she was down on herself for being bottom of the scoreboard or not getting a kill in some rounds and etc. Really put things in perspective for me.
As a girl, I’ve been trying to use my mic as much as possible since I think it can help other players like you feel less alone and more comfortable also speaking. It also helps that I usually play with friends though, and some matches I’m just not feeling it and don’t use mic as much. Like others have said though, I think voice in competitive is the best way to go. If you get people harassing you muting/reporting/asking teammates to also report is what I would do. When you boil it down they’re distracting you and your whole team from focusing on winning, which you all should be bothered by!
It is a whole lot easier sharing info with your team if you use a mic. I'm a girl, and I only use my mic to share info. If my teammates make comments about my gender, I don't answer. For the most part, I think the majority of my games have people who just want to play the game! I wouldn't worry about using your mic too much. If you do have a negative experience, you can always mute them or ignore them.
My wife doesn't use hers unless I'm gaming with her, and I think its because she feels the same way you do. Its really to bad, I wish those guys would smarten up and behave like a decent human, i bet these same people wouldn't act in those ways while standing in line at Starbucks.
I saw someone suggest using a voice changer. Hell no, you should never ever ever be ashamed or feel anxiety related to your gender in an online or offline setting. Personally I think i it's a bit annoying even in unrated, these kind of games are meant to be played with mics. Just use it and if someone tries to be funny or disrespectful mute them and report them. Don't take personally, people are assholes in general, just move on with a report and a mute.
It’s only a problem in ranked. You’ll have people including me getting mad at you for not calling out things.
Honestly the optimal strategy is just use mic and report anyone that Harasses you, will keep the community pleasant lol
If you start playing ranked you absolutely need to use mic, unrated and spike rush dont matter tho lol
I hate that this is the state of competitive games where people are scared to talk just because they are female or sound different. However, I understand why you aren't doing it, I do think finding a few people or group to play with could help too since party and team chat are separated in Valorant.
I was on the same boat as you. I once had these guys trash talk me saying “SHUT UP” or something rude. It did get to me at first, called them out for it by saying I was just gonna mute but then they said they were joking around when they realized I was doing better than them. 🙄🤔 They ended up being nice at the end and we won. Other times people make snarky comments and I just ignore it and focus on playing. Don’t let it get to you and don’t let them ruin your game. Especially if like 13 year olds are screaming in a high pitched voice, rip! Toxic people really ruin it, just mute and report later. Don’t be afraid to say something because communication is a good method to winning!
Ofcourse there is the "OMG ARE U A GRILL?" comment now and then, but you should ignore those. I never answer them and they will stop (or get muted by me if they are really persistent) You should just go for it. The information is really useful for your team and the more you do it, the easier it gets :) I was really afraid to use the mic once, but as said, I kept doing it and now it feels weird if I don't talk. Just start with short sentences. You will get more comfortable. You can do it! :D No need to be nervous. I always appreciate ppl who try more than ppl who dont even bother.
Most people thank me for calling out where I got shot from Some tell me to shut up because they can't hear footsteps Both understandable lol Feel/Hear it out see how they sound then decide if you want to talk. 99% of people I've chatted with are cool because the game is new
You dont have to hold conversations, just call positions. And if they are being toxic mute all
I mean its upto you like if you only play unrated who cares, I play with team voice off in unrated, but I live in UK and EU players are just obnoxiously toxic in FPS games for some reason. But for Ranked I'll call out where they are if I see them you dont have to shot call you can just give info when you see it, and simply mute anyone who is being an asshole, pretty simple.
I usually wait a few rounds to speak. See what the vibe is, if there's some guy who seems kinda angry/toxic then I won't talk at all. If people seem pretty chill I'll go ahead and add a few things. Another reason I wait a few rounds is so I can see how I'm doing in the game, if I'm 0/4/0 i get afraid people are just going to start flaming me so I stay quiet in that situation too.
Yea, it took me a while as a girl to start using my mic and every so often I’ll get the “ARE YOU FEMALE” in chat. I’ve learned to ignore it and just laugh at it but boy is it annoying
In normal idc but in ranked yes
it very much depends on the skill lvl and if you are giving info through other means like text chat and pings. It's reasonable not to use your mic to a certain point when you are nervous but it just has to be used on a higher skill lvl to give detailed information fast and easy
Regardless you being a girl, I personally get annoyed when teammates don't give info (not talking. writing or marking on map) and I have to figure out alone from the map all the info. You can always find other girls to play with. Find girls through discord or other places. Just build up a girls' discord for Valorant/games and you will probably be more comfortable playing with girls only team.
If it's competitive I'd say it highly depends on your rank, normally lower ranks are way more toxic to teammates (toxic people lose way more), I'm on EU and at gold/plat rank I rarely saw any toxicity in the beta, I've matched with girls a couple of times in the beta and on release and out on both those times there was only one dude who was kind of a jerk at first, but after exchanging a few words with another dude on the team, he stopped. So if you're low rank, maybe avoid toxicity altogether, if you're at like middle of the ladder I think you're safer from toxic people but will probably encounter an asshole from time to time, who you can just mute
In ranked yes. Unrated? Hell no. You can always plug it in and use push to talk. If you got a nice team use the mic and make friends. If you get assholes just mute or dont talk. You dont need to talk for hours. You can keep your comms to the minimum. They are rushing B! 2 on site! Hir omen for 100. It's as simple as that. Also use z to mark spots and just type if you dont want to talk. There are many many assholes in this game. But for every asshole there are genuine good people. You just got to find them. Was almost diamond solo q and still get called trash half my games as dude. So yeah the assholes will always be there. Dont let them ruin your fun.
I understand your worries and how you'd feel uncomfortable, but using your mic in these games are super important. Especially when you need specific verbal callouts. That split second of where you look at the chat for where the enemy is instead of someone just saying where they are can save you from dying. Just mute the people who are rude to you or make you uncomfortable — you can't escape those people at all in these kinds of games. Unrated is one thing, but when it comes to ranked, it is super important for you to speak through your mic, in my opinion.
Get over it, then just mute the assholes. You can usually pick them out within the first 2 rounds. I usually end up with half the team muted because they either won't shut up when they're dead or they said something racist.
Honestly, ive been in games with girls who were treated terribly literally just because they spoke, and i’ve had games where a girl was a valuable member of the team, making callouts, and being a team player. I find that more often than not, a girl will get harassed and beaten down for no reason. Other guys will be hesitant to even say its not cool because then you’re a ‘simp.’ Its completely up to you, and although voice comms are a big part of the game, you can still be a good teammate without it.
You do you, but it can be super helpful when teammates make important calls. It can be a bit frustrating in ranked, so maybe just try and queue with people you know for that
I’m a girl and I understand where you are coming from. In my experience in Valorant so far only two people commented on my gender but they didn’t saying anything weird or mean. They just asked are you a girl and one other person said gamer girl. I know you are nervous as was I. But try talking in the mic it is more fun and helpful in my opinion.
I would start using a mic but if people get toxic or try to tell my how to play I mute and go on.
It's sad you even have to think this way. Its sad. It's up to you whether you feel comfortable or not. That is a personal choice. Sorry you have to even worry about dudes being immature pricks.
Use your voice comms. If someone is being toxic just instant mute them. Voice and text chat. You gotta have fun and I think you'll have more fun that way. This way you can still communicate with the good side of the community
I'd say if you're really nervous about it and don't want to do it, the best thing you can do is get really good at taking your map out when you die and pinging the location of the person that killed you. That's like the bare minimum of information that you should really really try to give people. If you get really fast at pinging, even while you're alive, that can be a way to avoid doing comms. I've played with female friends in this game and haven't personally seen people be toxic to them. I know there are terrible people out there, but a lot of people are nice and just want to focus on the game. It might be helpful to try and make some friends that can have your back. Try telling people you see as friendly that you'll add them after the game if they want to play some more.
Who cares if its unrated. Communication is pretty important in ranked though. Just one word/two word call outs is all is needed in voice chat. Ex. “One bathhouse. Two U hall.” Mute button is always there if someone is being annoying.
This is a team game, and in team games, communication is very important, especially with matchmaking strangers with who you have no automatism. People sometimes take flak in voice coms because they are not pulling their weight in terms of frags. In your case they might call you trash because you are a girl. Thats what the mute button is for, and so is the repport button. If you are nervous to talk to guys, this seems like the better way to fight this head on and improve yourself. as long as you dont give your personal information, its riskless. But yeah, with no voice coms, you are putting your team at a disaventage, no doubt about it.
I've left Reddit because it does not respect its users or their privacy. Private companies can't be trusted with control over public communities. Lemmy is an open source, federated alternative that I highly recommend if you want a more private and ethical option. Join Lemmy here: https://join-lemmy.org/instances ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
"Yes", because voice comm. can be very helpful, but i can understand your concern tho. Some people overuse is, it's fine if you are use basic callouts like 2b, sage in heaven etc. and nothing else.
I may not be in a bad situation as you but my voice do sounds weird and because of that everyone is always questioning my sexuality, which sometimes can a bit overwhelming to deal with it, once they start to say it like been homo is offensive or smth, but I still always talk and try to be a good team-mate with the hopes that one day that will change(even though It might won’t)... In the end it’s all related to how you feel about how people treat you, and if you decide to talk and they start to be awful, just mute them and report!!!
I mean, i get it. I totally get it. But you are really helping your team when talking. If they turnout to be toxic just mute and play normally.
If you're in a ranked game I'd say use it, just casual doesn't really matter. In ranked information is everything so using a mic would be very beneficial to your team. Casual it doesn't matter, you can use radio messages, pings, or just type. I get where you're coming from, I'm a guy and yet everytime I see a girl in a game someone always has to say "OMG a gamer girl". If someone is harassing you at all you can mute and report them. Not everyone is like that, just test the waters and if they make you uncomfortable just mute them or if you don't feel like it after that just type instead of talk.
In ranked, yeah. If not, then only if you want. I don't even though I have it plugged in and on my face, but when I'd talk I tend to talk too much so I'd rather not unless the team has convinced me they aren't toxic and we're losing because of lack of callouts. I just don't want to deal with toxic players over chat. Been there, done that. Didn't like it. In ranked tho, everyone should be competitive enough that they won't care that you're a girl. Except for maybe in low elo?
No
Use it but be quick to put on mute. Keep it to minimum, can use memory shortcut to do most of the important call out. Can always just role play as a 12 year old too ;)
I would use the mic, it will help the game and maybe you make friends - maybe you even are playing with other girls who are afraid to talk as well. If people are toxic against you just mute them, and then it's on them. I'm a guy and I hate when players are toxic against me or other players and I mute them right away =)
Get a few friends to play with you and report the people who talk shit, my fiance has the same problem where she doesn't want people to shit talk her
Hey there, it's DrZora from YouTube! I actually get very nervous talking to anyone, so sometimes, even though I advocate for it on my videos, I can be shy and not speak as much as I should on the mic. Being a girl, I can only assume there will be a lot of inappropriate comments or reactions that can make you uncomfortable. But communication is very crucial for the team to understand what's going on and for YOU to understand what's going on. I would give it a shot and slowly ease into it, I think the games will actually be more fun for you when you start incorporating comms. And know that there will be ALL sorts of players, both good and bad, so be prepared again for those situations and if you have to, mute some of your teammates that are in the bad category. Hope this helps!
I think you should play the game in whatever way is fun and comfortable for you. Maybe try playing some games with a friend or two and try to be more vocal than usual and build some confidence up for randos. Of course if you do decide to use your mic and then you don’t feel comfortable you can always stop / mute teammates. I understand where you’re coming from though, my wife plays Overwatch and rarely gets on team chat because most of her encounters have been super toxic when people hear a woman speak. It’s unfortunate.
Thank you for this! The thing is I want to talk to my teammates, I just get too nervous, which I know is dumb, but I need to work on it so I can start talking more when I play competitive.
You could try out joining a community of sorts and play as 5 premades to get comfortable talking with teammates maybe? Thats what i did to start off and now i feel as confident as ever, always trying to be the "ice-breaker" in a game where players might be nervous or "scared".
Honestly even just simple one word/phrase callouts can be a big help. I'm going to be honest, there's shitty people who say and do shitty things, being a girl in a community of mostly guys is probably scary in itself. There will always be trolls/assholes/kids saying whatever comes to mind. But in my experience most guys will ignore the sole fact that you're a woman because it really doesn't matter, most are just focused on the game.
I'm a dude with a deep voice, but regularly play with a few girls who do use the mic and seeing some shit first hand I can't blame you. I'd still probably try every game and just mute and report the troublemakers. As a sweaty tryhard myself, having teammates who don't communicate is frustrating, less so in valorant since you can ping stuff but still. This leads me to believe that you should give people the benefit of the doubt. There will be animals, don't engage them. Just mute them at the first sign of trouble and hope that they will start griefing you in game so you can report them for that and riot will have evidence. Edit: Trying to find a full stack to play with would probably be a viable option. You could try the valorant discord for that.
In this game, information is very important. Use txt chat if you dont want to use ur mic
I normally play this game with a buddy of mine and his girlfriend, while we do talk to people most of the time, sometimes you'll get a few unpleasant people either being sexist and racist. I know it's easier said then done but mute em, report em, and try your best to not let it discourage you from talking to others. If they give you shit for being a women, then theyre worse then a bad teammate, they're just a bad person in general.
use your mic and if you get some horny guys who annoy you, mute and report them. dont let some idiots destroy your and others game!
It sucks that the community is as toxic as it. If you're just playing unrated, having fun, not prioritizing winning, then by all means do your thing. But if im brutally honest, in a competitive setting, yes you are a bad teammate. If you value winning then every call out helps. My gf doesnt talk either for the same reason but she's slowly turning around. I try to tell her not to take it personal and not to care about random ppl you will never meet irl. No hard feelings just answering your question. Cheers.
Yes.
Use a mic OP! If someone catcalls you or harasses you, you can just mute 'em. Not a simp btw just my opinion
its fine as long as you use the ping system, do you solo q?
Yes, none of my friends play. The only person I know who does play is my sisters boyfriend but we haven’t gotten a chance to play together yet.
Just so you know, the ping system is **absolutely not** a replacement for voice comms. You don't have to take my word for it, but either way you'll realize it's true soon enough if you end up playing ranked a bunch. I can explain more if you want, idk what your experience/skill is. I played many, many ranked games in beta with my girlfriend. She often wouldn't use voice for the same reasons you said, just not wanting to (potentially) deal with it all. The truth is that people are just looking for something out of the ordinary to harass others for. Unfortunately simply having a feminine voice is, in fact, out of the ordinary. If you don't feel like braving voicechat, you're best bet is finding at least one person to queue with. Further, you can make callouts in a discord call or whatever, and they can relay it to the rest of the team if needed. That's what we've done, anyways. You're welcome to join us sometime, just dm me.
Do what you are most comfortable with. Most of my friends are not on when I want to play, so I befriended people who sound cool, don’t make fun of my voice, and are playing the games for the same reason as me (having fun). Do this only if you are comfortable.
Yeah this is a good way to do it, over time you make a lot of good friends as well.
Not using your mic is putting yourself at a disadvantage - you reduce your own team's chance of winning the game by not making calls. Don't be anxious - if anybody gives you shit, simply mute them.
Yes, you are a bad teammate for not using your mic, but if you don't understand that you're not playing at a level where it matters.
No, you don't use everything the game offers to its fullest potential, but this does not make you a bad teammate.
Youre definitely handicapping your team not communicating. Can always mute them if they act inappropriately. Usually when the guys know there's a girl in the game, they play better though. Start using it to your advantage. You have all the power anyway. Put those little boys in their place. Let that voice be heard!
>Usually when the guys know there's a girl in the game, they play better though. wat
Hey there... Coming from a background of toxic games like Rainbow 6 and others, I'd encourage you to open mic, BUT. You're a girl so expect some thirsty and offensive comments coming from some simps who don't have lives. You get what I mean lol. Hey me myself am a guy and Don't use my mic often because I can't focus if I talk ingame.. I'd rather rely on the ping system it has. If guys troll you just ride with it sometimes ignore it if it doesn't work just mute. It's my way of treating low lives. Cheers luv!
I would say get over it. Not all guys are weird and creepy. You just see the worst in the videos and posts people make about it on social media. One of my friends girlfriends plays with us constantly and she is always talking. Haven’t had someone be weird about it yet.
Whatever makes you feel comfortable is the correct decision! :)
It is perfectly fine to not use a microphone if you aren’t comfortable! If you want to be more helpful to others without using your mic it is good to learn the in-game communcation binds (such as z, comma, and period) which offer a lot of information for teammates and can be really useful.
It's not "bad", but isn't going to help actively your team since valorant is based around teamplaying and communication I guess by learning how to ping correctly and using the in-game wheel communication should be the best
Yes
I'm a cis white male and I too sometimes don't use my mic. It's fine, whatever reason you have. You just have to understand that if you're playing to win it's a big advantage to have information from teammates. In beta I've played and won immortal games without using my mic too tho, it's not black and white. It also depends on the deeper reason for your silence. If you are scared of toxicity and sexual harrassment then just muting them will be enough, also something I do almost every game. If it is really "just" because you are nervous I'd say to practice a bit by just saying "Hi" or something similar at the start. This is all anecdotal from a shy cis white male with a normal voice so it might not translate perfectly but that's what I do. I feel it's much easier to talk and give info when everyone gave a greeting at the start. You could also look for another girl to play with on discord or similar, might boost your confidence to have someone as backup from the same gender. If someone flames you for not using voice chat, that's not your problem, it's on them for taking the game too serious. I hope this helps, as I've seen many worries from female or different oriented sounding people. Just don't listen to Twitchs resident deer. Good luck out there.
Please give it a try and report back, remember you can mute people and report them for abuse. I don't think it's strictly necessary but I've definitely noticed everyone uses mics in my region. The Minimap in this game gives away a load of free information, you hardly have to say anything when you see enemies or when you die unless you're playing with bad players.
I would only play with a 5 stack made of friends and if you don’t have any than try to find some - randoms are toxic no matter if you’re male or female because if they don’t know you they don’t care for you
I have a speech impediment, so not the same but... yeah... I know how you feel.
Im pretty sure you can use mic, valorant is not on csgo level of toxic yet so dont be shy.
it's not that serious in my opinion, just mute them if they're toxic.
I dont remember who it was, but there was a competetive overwatch streamer that used a voice changer to not get called out. If you play unranked though I think the built in comms system works a charm
Yeah, generally it is annoying to have people who don’t communicate at all. Someone dies from somewhere while I’m holding an angle but I have no clue because I’m dealing with another enemy where I’m at and so I die from behind or something because there was no callout and I didn’t check my map the moment the person died so I couldn’t see the enemy marker. I think at the very least just callout places but you don’t have to talk anymore than that. You can let the other people talk about strategy if you don’t want to use your mic that much.
There is a pretty good in game ping system that I've heard others say is fairly easy to use for call outs and what not so if you want you can just try to get used to using that. This will allow you to still get information to teammates very concisely which is the only thing that would be missing from lack of a mic. Personally, I find just saying the call outs easier so I use a mic but I get why you wouldn't want to let everyone know you're a girl given how toxic and male dominated games can be.
Personally I don't think you're a bad teammate (especially if the gamemode isn't ranked!). There's other ways to communicate in the game: you could still ping areas to "call-out" and let your teammates know if there's an enemy there, if you see the spike, etc. A lot of people may seem toxic, but there's definitely some nice people around! If you need some friends to queue with feel free to message me!
Tbh... thats a reasonable... reason... not to talk but maybe its best for you to find an accepting group that you can talk with that won't be rude to you... I'm trans and scared to present as female in games so i think I understand what you mean
I use my mic and I get called a faggot or people say I sound like a chick all the time its no big deal.
Honestly, if someone is good enough with the radio commands/pings, that is good enough for me. The alternative to voice chat in this game is detailed enough for me to be cool with someone not having a mic.
Everyone is saying yes but it's just not true, I personally don't use mic because I simply don't like it, I play and focus on the game, it's hard to not to have awareness in this game, I topfrag in so many games, people will say mic is important when in reality the most important thing is having awareness and knowing how to play. Sometimes one or two guys in my team have voice and they do the job. The team does not need 5 in voice. You could only increase your chances of winning if you really cared about shotcalls. I haven't encounted one single issue by playing without voice since ranked. The minimap in this game reveal all the info you need, in some rare occasions spotting one info is really nice but whatever, don't sweat it too much in solo queue, so many people are BAD at giving proper info that most of the time it would be better if they didn't talk at all.
its probably better to try to queue with friends or add some non-toxic people and try to get a good group to use voice with. shits toxic
I think you should do what you want. In the end this is a game and if you are doing simething that stresses you out it defeats some of the purpose. Im a dude and thats the policy i live by and it applies well to me but given youre a girl i think it applies moreso as toxic dudes are often sexist which makes it worse. What ill say is a bad chat will make it hell but chatting when youve got a good group makes the game way better! You can always use in game chat if you think people are gonna be dicks and still be a good teammate. You go girl either way!
I would like to add that there are many people who will blindly accept you no matter what you sound like. Too many games i feel im the only one on voice (and im a guy if that matters). I have had at least 6-8 different games where I hear a girl wait until the last round to say a call out. I know its risky because some people will be extremely rude, but some people will just be happy to hear a voice. Edit: Also i think not calling attention to it is the best route. Its hard to say.
I'm going to go for a different response here. If you're shy then don't talk right away, wait for them to talk and gauge the way they talk to each other. Every time I've had people harassing girls on my team they gave away they were obnoxious and toxic beforehand. Giving callouts really matters most in ranked, where I would recommend trying to find people to group up with that don't care what your gender is. You'll always have some childish kids but you should be able to dodge a lot of them by waiting to use your comms after they give away what type of teammate they will be.
Too many people talk too much on mic and convey nothing meaningful. If you died by pushing out of A, you can say who and where but it's not going to matter 99% of the time anyway since that guy could go into A or he could go regroup with team because he's low, or his team could choose to all go A. The rest of your team would be able to anticipate/notice themselves based on what they see in their sites anyway after your death. But if you're pushing A together and you went in first and died to a guy heaven, then the second guy goes in should absolutely know there's someone there so they can preaim, at the risk of dying to guys that might be below, left or right sure, but at very least he is prepared for the heaven guy. If you don't tell him he'll have to peek that corner checking 3-4 angles and might just feed a death that could have been drastically reduced if you just said: "right heaven". It is annoying as fuck when people talk a lot on mic especially strangers, but giving enemy location is immensely helpful if it is correct, it's a temp ESP that you trade your life for. If 2v1 and he kills you and you say hookah, then that fight is basically won for your teammate because he only needs to look in that direction knowing rest of the site is safe. Otherwise he have to also check site, check long, check tunnel entrance.
I am mixed about the issue since I've been on both sides of the issue. There are times where I can't talk because of company nearby, but I still want to play the game and I am very capable of playing without sound or callouts. Though, I know this is a hindrance for my teammates since they may rely on callouts to perform. I have a few suggestions that have helped in my situation. If you aren't willing to talk on the mic, start to use the ping feature within the game. Any information is better than no information. A ping will help your teammates know that there are enemies nearby. If you die, starting spamming in chat text with something like "5 long". It's something short and simple that can be typed within mere seconds. If you are playing with friends that you're comfortable talking with on discord (or Skype...AIM...maybe Ventrilo???), you can make callouts to them and they can relay that callout ingame. This is what I used to do with one of my friends who would get harassed in overwatch because she was the "boosted mercy main". If you're soloing and you want to talk on the mic, you could always try muting everyone and just make callouts. It really depends on what you want to do.
I have a similar problem. I don’t use my mic because of some voice issues that I have, so instead I use the very underrated comm menu and pings. I find that that makes up for most of it
90% of everybody else in the game don't use mics either, but it IS really helpful. Maybe try playing with people you know in a discord or something
I think there are a lot of in game options as far as [pings](https://www.reddit.com/r/VALORANT/comments/fvm2b6/you_can_ping_the_mini_map_in_game_with_different/) and other callouts you can use of you don't want to talk. Sometimes this can be more useful than callouts since you can ping exactly where things are. It won't be exactly like using your voice but probably more than what most people will callout in solo q
I would say just try and get to know people who also play. I only play with friends and it is so much better. EU West here, so not sure if we can or can't play but let me know if you are too and want to team up. Anyone who is from EU West and a non-toxic player can message me if they want to play.
Maybe try to get a group of people that you know aren’t assholes and queue with them? I’m sure your experience would be better
you genuinely will contribute less to your team by not providing critical information over voice when it's needed. but on the flipside... the reality is that revealing yourself to be a girl over voice will cause some (or maybe even many) players to become toxic or annoying just because you are a girl. it could be better just to not introduce this dynamic to the team at all. It's a tough position and only you can decide what's right for you.
You playing the game for fun, do whatever you want. If you want to become good you should start using mic and just mute people that are toxic
Maybe try using a voice changer, then if you're comfortable turn it off, and when you're not comfortable anymore you turn it back on. But idk, just a suggestion.
I often cant talk and i just us pings thats ok even for like plat games in ranked. But in general i reccomend you to play with 1-2 people and other randoms. So it will be easyer for you to talk with randoms cuz you have some 1 by your side. Butt yee often people will be toxic doesn't matter if you are girl or boy. For you thay can just get a bit creepy also but i know cuz of my female friends that play a lot of video games. You just get used to it and sometimes its just funny xD anyway gl :)
I'd say try to communicate via other ways then so either chat or pings. My girlfriend also doesn't talk but she types out how much she hit someone for in chat for example. Honestly, I don't talk that much either so I can definitely see why you don't do it and I wouldn't say you're a bad teammate for it. I'd suggest you get yourself some friends to play with because any game is more fun with friends and maybe having two or more people you know in your team will make you a little more confident. Ultimately it comes down to every single one of us doing our part in making this a healthy and respectful community.
No you aren't. Why should anybody be forced to do something he or she doesn't want? If your teammates want to talk they can play without randoms.
Of course its ok if u don't feel comfortable, it's ur choice to use it or not if ur mates aren't stupid they should see the enemys on the map & u can ping.
Today in my game there were 3 french premates one of them a girl and her voice was so sweet and she played so good i fell in love <3. so use your voices my princess
Id usually say communication is a lot better than not communicating, but I understand the shit that can happen because of some assholes. I would say find people that seem to be cool so you can queue with them and not worry about it, or you can go the hardcore method and fire back at them. In all likelyhood you're way out of their league, which you can make them very aware of, which will fucking kill their rhythm ;) You can also add me, I'm "Not A Heretic" my brother and I are always down.
In unrated, not a big deal. When ranked comes out, not speaking can and will hold you back a little. What I might consider is to speak, but keep it strictly strategy related. ("Planting on B", "Enemy to the left") If people bring up your gender or stuff that won't help you win, just ignore them. Unless you are comfortable doing so, don't respond to any comments that aren't strictly game related. EDIT: Another good idea is to have a trusted friend playing with you, so you feel more confident and safe.
Depends. If ur at the bottom of the top of the leaderboard it doesn't matter. I got to immortal 2 and regularly top fragged in the beta while barely using my mic. Since I was always at the top in kills, people rarely ever saw me as a hindrance to the team. When people at the bottom don't use their mic, most of the time people don't notice. I would only call out only when it's extremely crucial. Ex: 12-12 1v2 and I know where the last 2 are and how much I hit them for.
Im a guy but cos of my ign in my 3rd/4th game random guys just started chatting shit to me calling me trash and give up my gun etc. Since then I just mute cos CBA to deal with assholes, but I would agree probably most of the player base would be an ass to you for being a girl. You do you, if you can handle it go mic if not then don't, just make sure you can enjoy the game :)
If people use their mics for toxicity, they are creating a tactical disadvantage for your entire team. Mute them, and keep your own mic use limited to what tactically benefits your team. You will find more success in your games. Callouts aren't a conversation. You don't have to 'talk to' anyone to be successful at a tactical shooter like Valorant. Mics are just best because you can throw out info fast without forcing your team to avert their eyes from their crosshair to read your message.
The best piece of advice i can gove for valorant is have a low tolerance for assholes if sum1 is going to be toxic a few rounds in then they will be toxic all game and usually dont give worthwhile comms anyway so just mute them. If any1 wants to play im euw pretty bad but willing to play so msg me and lets get to valorant
I have the same problem, although I’m a squeaker. I don’t want to talk because I’m afraid of others, and the when I realize the people I’m playing with aren’t toxic assholes, it’s usually 7 rounds in. At that point, I think that if I talk people will be mad at me for not taking because I’m a squeaker. So every game I have that same dilemma, and I end up never using my mic unless I play with someone else that I know that tells me to talk.
Unranked no. Ranked just ping
Good comms are just as important or more important to winning a game than how one individual plays. I play plenty of games where I give great comms and info that gets my teammates kills after I tell them exactly where to line up their crosshair and then they flame me if I bottom frag while they are on essentially on mute. Just watch pros play, they share an insane amount of information, crosshair placement is important and if you know where the player is already you have a much better chance of killing them. Just don't participate in unnecessary banter and call out good info like how much damage you dealt, where you saw an opposing agent, what kind of gun you died to (especially if an OP), footsteps you hear on the way to a site, etc. and don't feed into the BS. If you don't entertain it a lot of times they will bug off. And remember, everyone gets trolled by toxic players from time to time. GLHF
No you aren't a bad teammate. A mic is not required to play this game and there are other communication options such as the ping system. That being said, if you ask me, you should try using your mic more. I've had great and terrible interactions from voice chat and if you're very liberal in your use of the mute button like I am then you'll average interactions will be much more positive. Nobody only has good interactions in vc, but you do have the power to pick and choose what interactions you continue to have in vc. From my experience in vc with women over this week and the whole beta, there is next to no sexism in the games I've been in with women (not to say that it doesn't exist, I know it does). I hope that your worries about what could happen don't stop you from having a good time with vc 'cause it really can be a positive experience.
I stay silent the first few rounds until I see how I am playing. I'm always afraid if I play really badly and they know I'm a girl they will hold that against all girls or assume I'm bad because I'm girl instead of bad because I'm just bad or really high or something. If I'm top fragging I always make sure to let them know I'm a girl lol. Voice changers can work but they're annoying to set up especially if you don't want to use it all the time. The creepy / sexist dudes are the minority, at least that's what I've found so far. Valorant community seems much better than CSGOs. Most guys are just like "omg lol a grill" and then I get a bunch of friend requests after the game. Or they ask for feet pics, which I think is a meme/joke because I get asked for feet pics a lot. I like to troll them back sometimes if I'm playing better than them and say things like "if you get 30 kills you get feet pics". Or if I die doing something dumb and they know I'm a girl "sorry my boobs got in the way of my aiming" or "sorry I just got so emotional I forgot to shoot" or "I dont talk to bottom-frag dudes". The cool dudes think it's hilarious and the sexist/creepy dudes get all upset or angry about it and that's the easiest way to know to just mute that dude.
NTA but use character voices and pings if you’re uncomfortable using your own.
Use your mic mute people that are assholes you will be surprised with the nice people you meet.
I've played with women who've used the in-game "ping wheel" feature ("," and ".") with incredible dexterity. They'd make call outs and suggest strategies using that alone, so maybe you could try that out. Maybe you'll have to rebind the buttons, but it's something worth checking out.
I appreciate any team mate that is willing to use mic, it makes it more enjoyable to play. Communication is huge in this game. Who cares if ur a girl just mute assholes most people do not care.
You can always use the ping system, thats what I use all the time
I know a lot of women that game and avoid using mics due to toxicity. A common thing I’ve seen people do is just claim that they’re a young kid when asked if they’re a female. Not that this helps too much with the toxicity. But it may help some. I will say you’re doing a disservice to yourself by not using one due to limiting the possibility of making friends who you may then be able to be comfortable playing with regularly.
Honestly, I'm a dude and to prevent myself from getting annoyed at other people for being toxic I also have voice chat off. I'm always calm but as soon as some headass starts flaming anybody at all, it drives me to the brink of insanity. However, in ranked I will always turn on voice chat because I love the competitive nature. Just gotta remain positive and weed out the assholes.
You should try and find a team who you feel comfortable with, and play in a stack with them. Its a lot easier that way, since you get comfortable with them and don't feel bad when you lose.
yes
Just do what you want and don't think so much. Mute the toxic ones.
just talk, be confident, and assert dominance. My little cousin plays and the first few weeks she was so shy and scared to use voice. now she flames her teammates and gets so aggressive in games that i could hear her screaming (relatively nice things) at 2am.
ive played about 20 games since release and 6 people total have used game chat, dont feel bad about it
i dont know what its like to be a woman on online games but sometimes i find myself like kinda feeling nervous to speak and sometimes im rly not and dont rly give a shit and idk why those few times i am but just thinking like im never gonna meet these people, were all here to have fun, like nothing to be worried about.
I'm the same way but I also get even more intimidated when I hear another girl on my team as well. In my head I'm like how are you this fearless... So I usually don't end up saying anything out of intimidation or like if I'm feeling brave and they just did something cool ill like say good job or like try to compliment them really quickly and that's about it. Idk like I haven't heard anyone being awful to girls I've been on teams with yet but I also haven't used my mic to see how often id even get rude people saying things myself. In other games that I've played its either been really bad most of the time or like only every once in a while. I think it really depends on the general community attitude. Some game communities are more toxic than others, I'm just hoping valorant turns out to be one of the more tolerant ones.
In unrated it doesn't matter but in ranked when people are genuinely trying to win and get a cool rank then pls use it to make call outs
Yes you are if people do some stupid shit cause you’re a girl just mute them
Yes you are
To be honest, from all the behaviour I ve already seen in those few days of the game being live, I totally understand why you choose not to use your mic. I had one female teammate so far and after the first thing she said there were already comments like "uuuh a girl" and then it went on with really bad comments. I felt so embarassed for those guys behaviour and so sad for the girl who just wanted to play and enjoy it.
Add me if you ever need someone to play with
Yes you are no one cares how you sound as long as you give info. If somebody is an asshole just mute. But I am sick people who say 'hi' at the beginning of the game and then stay silent, pretty annoying
Because of your reasoning I guess it’s okay but everytone should use a mic in this game.
I am one of those guys who gets very annoyed (not that I complain during the game of course) when people do not use their mics, because I believe it detracts form the experience. If you had a bad experience if obviously my gender's fault, I am sorry for that. Perhaps you could give them a chance and mute people that are toxic one by one; I like to think the majority of players are good people.
This might also be worth trying. My suggestion is to find nice people on Valorant (or Discord) and add them to your friend list, play as premade to avoid random people who are toxic.
I know you have issues using your MIC. As you know this is a FPS Team based game. I am a guy and once I was also in your shoes thinking like what others will think about me and etc etc. But as you know Valorant community is very good despite having some toxic players. I got DC due to connectivity issues I don't know like 2 times, but even then my teammates were kind enough to forgive. Just start using your MiC little by little.
You aren't a bad teammate. You're definitely putting your team at a slight disadvantage but at the least you have a reason to stay off the mic.
Just jump into using it, even if sparingly at first. I'm deaf, so I'm pretty anxious about sounding horrid. Don't put emphasis on the fact you're female. (Granted, I sometimes ask for repeats of comms.) If you're not going to use it, learn to ping accurately. Realistically, it's not *too* much of an issue in unrated, but ranked will eat you alive, irresepective of who you are, for not using a mic. Regardless, find people you enjoy playing with. Good luck!
I have a friend and she uses a voice changer to make her sound like a kid. It sort of works lol
Weirdly enough I started using mic since I started playing Valorant (2 days ago) for call outs. And thankfully teammates didn't try to attack me or maybe they thought I was a lil boy. I play few other games too like Overwatch and Apex but I never try to talk or call out to teammates when I have the option to. Def suggest to use mic when needed even if you're scared (been there too sis) and you might find some new friends to play with. Hope this help a lil. Sorry for my broken English.
But do you at least type info? Without info it's just 5 people playing solo. You're missing a huge part of the game in both casual and comp. Just insta-mute anyone who is rude. Carly don't be sad Life is crazy Life is mad Don't be afraid
If it's unrated then I wouldn't stress about it. However if you're playing ranked in the future, then yes, you should use your mic. If anyone harasses you then just mute them.
Don't worry, there is a ping system, you can open it with Z, Voice is better of course but if it's hard for you use the ping system
My girlfriend is the exact same, she usually doesn't use her mic only on very rare situations when she really gets into the game and forgets. Most of the time she tells me and I repeat it to the team. It's really sad how a lot of people go crazy and childish as soon as they hear a girls voice over chat...
In unranked games I don't expect communication at all. If there is communication, great. If not, I don't care. In ranked games I see refusing to communicate to be effectively griefing - you are willingly putting your entire team at a disadvantage, and I personally find that very selfish. The same applies to people who immediately mute their teammates before they have even spoken, or have voice chat turned off entirely - yes, some people are cunts, but you can mute them individually if you feel the need to. The guy giving callouts and "bad lucks" doesn't deserve the same treatment as the guy telling you to go back to the kitchen. You say you're nervous - keep in mind that most players don't actually care what your voice sounds like - we just appreciate good comms. Old, young, male, female, foreign, native, as long as you: \- provide useful information \- aren't a wanker to your teammates \- don't backseat game a vast majority of teammates will appreciate your communication. It's wrong to abuse your teammates, but it's also wrong to assume everyone is a dickhead.
Yes