FerociouslySteph explains her stance on voice chat

Twitch Safety Advisory Council member Steph Loer, also known as FerociouslySteph, has received a lot of backlash from the gaming and streaming communities due to her stance on voice chat. 

The streamer has now, once again, taken to Twitter, to share her opinions on voice chat. This time, however, she has explained her views in detail.

FerociouslySteph voice chat opinion

Earlier this month, FerociouslySteph said her comments were taken out of context and sensationalized ahead of the first Twitch Safety Advisory Council meeting.

Now, she has deemed it necessary to explain her stance once again, starting off by stating how voice chat is unfair and even giving some ideas of what could be done.

FerociouslyStepth first explains her logic and view on voice chat, stating: "Voice chat is important. In team games voice communication is often critical to competitive success.

"This is because It has the highest data-density for exchanging tactical information. Using this communication band well can often mean the difference between winning/losing."

She then continues by explaining her opinion on harassment and voice chat: "Many people have voices that they get made fun of or face harassment for.

"If you sound feminine, or have a speech impediment, or an accent, essentially any voice that is an outlier will subject you to varying levels of disproportionate judgement over time in pick-up groups.

"Spending mental energy on defending against your abusers is a disadvantage. So is not talking. So is muting anyone. There's also unquantifiable disadvantages -- where there is harassment, there's also people who respect you and your calls less but won't say so. Quiet bias."

Continuing, she shares her opinion on how voice chat is a reason for the lack of diversity.

FerociouslySteph goes on to explain what could possibly be done, namely:

• Raising awareness is helpful in itself. Call out harassment. Don't let it slide. It may not feel like often to you, but each individual is in 100% of their games. Many minority voices can point to the experience that made them decide playing wasn't worth it.
• Adding robust ping systems and pre-fab voice lines are excellent ways to make these games more fair. The easier you can communicate as mute the better, here. The goal is to increase data-density of non-voice options. Proper moderation functions are essential, too.

Steph Loer, aka FerociouslySteph (Picture: Twitch)

She then goes on to clarify her stance, again, stating how voice chat is unfair. Importantly, however, she notes she does not want to take voice chat away from your favourite game. 

This is a very important distinction which many gamers didn't exactly know about until now.

However, her stance on voice chat is sure to still receive some backlash, as evident by hundreds of replies on Twitter. This time around, there seems to be a bit more support for the Twitch council member, mixed with a tonne of harsh comments. 

• Read more: FerociouslySteph responds to backlash: "Some people should be afraid of me"

Keep in mind everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Many people are also still not exactly sure what the Safety Advisory Council does, which we have explained in detail earlier this month.