So there's no text chat on PC, come on... this again?

Ever since ME3 came out I've campaigned for text chat. We never got it in ME3, we didn't get it in DAI, and now we haven't gotten it in MEA. Seriously, Bioware? That's just unacceptable for a game of this scale.



Maybe they'll add it in a later patch, but I'm not holding my breath.

I know you're joking about this, but in all seriousness, I remember people back in the old days saying we shouldn't have text chat because muh toxicity. This argument doesn't really make sense, though, because listening to someone yell at you over mic and say you're shit at the game is a lot more demoralizing than reading mean words on a screen. Besides, they could always add a feature to turn off text chat from your end. There's no reason not to have it, especially in a game with voice chat.

Yeah, that's another thing: the shitposting, meming, and banter in text chat are and always will be superior to that which you get from voice chat. How the hell am I supposed to press F to pay respects when there's no chat box?

Exactly. Pressing F to pay respects is extremely important and can only be done through chat. Bioware, how could you?

As good reason as any I suppose, lol.

it's good that there is no chat, people insult each other in multiplayer games with chat, so it's better to communicate using gestures or movements of the characters, or basic orders like in DA:IMP, come here, protect, wait, open this, etc

Warframe is a co-op MP with a text chat, and it somehow hasn't descended into a hive of insults and villainy. Pretty sure you can block people who are annoying, too, so it's not like if someone decides to be insulting, you have to sit there and watch them be aggrieved shit-flinging babbies the entire match.

It's kind of shitty this doesn't exist in a AAA PC release in TYOOL 2017. People talking through mics sounds like someone mumbling while underwater to me (I have moderate hearing loss), especially lower male voices (i.e. about 75% of the people who talk over the mic) so I usually just turn voice chat off in game anyway.

Mostly I want to send saucy texts to people about their Turians and critique the color schemes I meet out in the wilds of pugs, but Bioware limits my ability to do this yet again.

i play me3mp since launch i never, ever heard people insulting in voice chat

In my experience, text chat brings more problems than solutions.

If you don't have a mic or can't speak English, I totally agree it's invaluable to coordinate in the lobby and between waves while in-game. Any mean to communicate will be better than nothing.

You can also have a lot of fun reading or writing stuff that doesn't concern the game too.

But as I said earlier, it also brings a shit load of problems too.

The first problem is that people are slow as **** to type, meaning they're getting killed in-game while typing instead of playing the damn game. For every 1 fast writer, there's gonna be 1000 pretty bad ones. The odds are against you.

People that type in the lobby usually are the ones we're waiting for... Everybody's ready but the guy that's not paying attention. Again, for every 1 good player, there's gonna be 1000 bad ones. The odds are against you.

Most people read slowly, they take their attention off the action and on that chat board. It's like texting and driving at the same time, just don't do it. The odds are against you.

I'm not too much into MP except for Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but every other game I've seen that had a text chat devolved in bots posting non-stop. I don't want my screen filled with useless crap. I could disable the chat but then I can't see the valuable info a teammate would actually try to tell me. Chances are the crap will drown the good stuff, making the chat useless.

You actually have a text chat with Origin, as long as you're friend. I played with very nice people and some very good players were only using the text chat. Still, they were on occasion taken off-guard, letting the rest of us pick up their sorry ass in less than ideal situations. I can deal with a friend doing this on rare occasions, but I sure as hell will NEVER tolerate that from a PUG.

As for the argument of "I don't speak well English", I don't want to come off inconsiderate, but grow a pair already! I played with dozens of players that didn't speak much English, it was broken as **** and we still made it thru without much problems. It's all about a couple keywords and showing you want to help. If people make fun of you for your bad English, you don't play with those people. Just block anyone that is rude to you and you'll have an awesome experience with the remaining ones.

I might come off as a bad guy for saying this, but if you chat with people that played with me (since you have no mic you can't talk!), they'll all tell you I'm actually very nice, never picking on people or insulting anyone. I even had people play with me that wouldn't play with any other party because they were tired of the trash talking and such. I treat people with respect, but I do expect the same.

If you're very shy, start by finding people you like to play with and add them as friend. The game is infinitely better playing with friends than with PUGs. You don't realize how much it makes a difference before you actually try it.

I'm totally against any in-game chat for these reasons. I don't mind much in-lobby, but I don't think it's worth the problems either.

Also, a mic is 30$. It's worth it, even with a broken English. Once you taste black you never go white again??? What? Well, you know what I mean

If ME3MP had a text chat I would probably never have overcome my timidity and used voice chat. And I would never have experienced the gamer grill treatment. So yeah, I still think the lack of text chat has its charms.
But yeah text chat would require moderation while voice doesn't for some weird reason.

Lack of text chat due to "possible insults" is childish. This is not a game for little kids, most people playing are adults (or should, following the ESRB). What's next? no blood and all characters use water guns because otherwise it's too violent? The insult thing comes from both sides, so I don't see how that's an argument.
If people don't want to use text chat, that's fine. But give the option for those who do want to use it. 

I did, and quite a few times as I've said above.

From an american perspective, that's easy to say. If you were to jump, say, on a brazilian server, would you try to speak portuguese?
It ain't about being shy, it's about a fact. I won't speak english if I can't do it decently enough, that is a personal thing. When you have indians, chinese, russians trying to say something and you just don't understand (it actually happened to me in ME3, it was an indian dude I think), wouldn't be easier if they had a way of writing what they want to say instead?
Think of the text chat as it is in every other game, I don't see how text chat slows down a game like BF for instance. Obviously if you're getting shot at, you're not gonna start typing on the chat box. As I've said, text chat is an option for people who want to use it, you don't have to.
I do have a mic btw, and "30$" is yet again by american standards, so the "cheap" trait does not apply en every country. Maybe there're people out there that truly can't buy a mic, or they rather don't buy it, or they don't care about buying one. It's like a controller on PC, it's an accessory not a must.

I get what you're saying man, but not everyone thinks that way, as not everyone thinks the way I do. Repeating myself once more, text chat would be an optional component for those who appreciate having the feature and want to make use of it.


I suppose it works for you... but think of the bigger picture.
Also, moderation? If they want to ban "bad words" so be it, but text chat does not imply a moderator baby-sitting the players. So I can call people retards via voice, but I can't write it down?

I am not advocating for no text chat.I'm merely that weirdly, it works without. People are less inclined to use their mics for insults than to type them. I've hardly ever met any troll or rager in the hundreds or thousands games is played.

Btw if you know English well enough to type it, you should try talking nonetheless. Learning to speak a language can only come with practice. I've made tremendous progress since I've started using my mic for games.

Source is general impression from my experience in online gaming. XD
But seriously you would think that insulting would be more likely on voice but actually not from my experience. I've met more cases of switching to typing for insults than the opposite. I don't play games like CoD or anything so it's maybe due to my games being populated by cowards xD