Non-verbal communication in place of a mic?

Borderlands 2 Gameplay Discussion (Spoilers!)
#1

Not sure if anyone’s worked up something similar, but here’s what I got to work around not having a mic:

  • Indicating a specific player: Fire two shots in their direction.
  • Trading with player: Initiate trade, then crouch. Items traded are usually relevant or RTI, but I’ll discontinue if they cancel/ignore.
  • “Thank you” or “Yes”: Nod [=down/up with R3] when looking at player; done after receiving loot, being asked a Y/N question, or after getting revived.
  • “No”: Shake [=left/right with R3] when looking at player; only done after being asked Y/N question.
  • IDK: Crouch>uncrouch, or a quick “IDK” message.
  • Dropping item(s) for the group: Drop item(s), fire two shots at it, then back away.
  • Spotted enemy: Firing at player(s), then firing in direction of enemy. If you see this accompanied with running from it, please conclude that 2+2=HALP.
  • Interested in an item: Fire two shots at it, crouch next to it.
  • Ready to travel: Crouch near FTS/gate. If they attempted to while I was auto-saving, will fire two shots toward the gate/FTS if I have a clear line-of-sight, or message the host to go ahead.

Thoughts?

2 Likes
Anyone else still experiencing crashes?
Things that annoy you in online play
#2

I actually think this is a good idea, since I play without a mic most of the time.

#3

At first, I was like, “why not just type a message”, but it appears that you’re playing on some sort of console? Anyway, this seems like a good standard to me.

#4

Sending messages on ps3 is slow, good thing I’ve memorized the layout of the keyboard so I can send them quickly they just take awhile to load.

#5

Ditto on 360. It helps if you have a keyboard plugged in (thank goodness fo USB!) but it’s still a pain. I know some folks Skype while playing.

@Raven_Ghosthawk: Looks good; mostly the sort of things I do anyway. On the last one, if I see the host by the FT or map transition, I just run over. Different if your the host, but standing right beside the travel point looking at everyone is pretty clear to me!

#6

Sorry you may have misunderstood my message (you replied to me so I’m assuming I’m involved) if not than never mind. I don’t have a keyboard plugged in I’m just a fast (well I don’t know the word for it) sender of messages lol.

#7

I really like this @Raven_Ghosthawk.

I remember way back in BL1, I got into a single random game with some one who didn’t have a mic. (I rarely ever get in to random games on any game).

They were a great player! I wish I remember their name, but I was laughing at the interaction about 20 minutes in.

It came to them gesturing and shooting at things, or meleeing random things.

It was like; “What is that LASSIE!? Timmy is in trouble?!” Wish I had this back then.

4 Likes
#8

sounds Good, and even if they don’t have a mic and you do, you can still give them instructions, ask questions and so forth and as long as your in game chat or not in a party (and they don’t have the world muted), they can hear and respond as you’ve outlined.
I’ve did that in several games before I got a working mic

#9

@Adabiviak PS3.

@Piemanlee +that. Ran with a gal last night for part of Tina’s DLC. Inside the dungeon, she asks me if she should do a certain quest. The time to send a simple IDK was unbelievably disproportionate.

@VaultHunter101 True that, although I’ve seen folks not get it. Said folks usually run over to duel/trade, much to my annoyance. Waiting to travel…and some dude runs up and hits me in the face!

@LunaticOne Still need one for IDK. Maybe crouch/jump?

Thanks for all the input guys. I kinda worked this up since messaging on PSN w/o the keyboard is slow as all hell; sticking to basics like these…:

  • G2G
  • GG
  • IDK
  • LOL
  • NP
  • ROFL
  • TYVM

…makes it faster, but only by so much as it says some things but not others. I don’t remember the initial work, but I did a proto of this with a few English-speaking friends [=comprehension wasn’t an issue] , and we had little-to-no problem communicating quickly. So perhaps it should be a standard.

That aside, the rare ones that I’ll bother to manually message are:

  • The Host: if I find any red-text items, they should have first-pick of it
  • The Mic: there’s usually one in a session of 3-4 players, and I only really message them if I find anything of interest to the group. Chances are high that they’ll spread the word.

[quote=“Raven_Ghosthawk, post:1, topic:1281067”]Spotted enemy: Firing at player(s), then firing in direction of enemy. If you see this accompanied with running from it, please conclude that 2+2=HALP.[/quote]There was one hilarious example of “Spotted Enemy” that exemplifies the whole thing. I was running with a group in Frostburn Canyon, and I tried to level up a Loot Goon Goliath. Let’s just say my plan worked well…perhaps a little too well. I tried to run it solo, but I think it was a 4-man session, so you can imagine that I merely tickled it. Anyways, the realization that I’m in trouble hits a bit late, and I run back for help; as soon as I have a line-of-sight to my nearest teammate, I fire at him to get his attention, then tail-gun/unload my Vladof Blaster at the pursuing LG GOD-Liath. Thing is, he started to run toward me…
…and then the LG God-liath rounds the corner.

#10

Yeah on ps3 I use lol,ttyl,tyvm,no prob,yw, and other texting slang to speed things up.

1 Like
#11

I think that is great start! I also jump up and down for a yes :slight_smile:

1 Like
#12

Not sure if anyone/everyone agrees with this, but actually typing a message (instead of using a mic) can sometimes provides a filter for you to think about what you’re gonna say, especially if you start to get a little angry. Not that it’ll work with everyone, of course, but still…

Things that annoy you in online play