Who in their right mind would pay for this?

Good for you. Those of us that don't suck on anything stuck in our face will use free alternatives, and be a lot more careful which of CCP's crazy schemes we'll spend our money on.

Yeah, and all this time they were talking about "true F2P". **** that. If I have to pay for voice chat, I'm uninstalling Dust.

It seems a little incredulous that they'd expect people to pay for something that should already be included as a part of the game. People are concerned now in the beta because once this game goes live and the price hasn't been significantly reduced or even eliminated, people will not think well on a game that tries to charge people for comms, even if it is for "expanded" comms. It just gives off a bad vibe.

I don't need any MORE companies overcharging me for talking to people who are far away.

I'm NOT assuming sh!!t .................. we've used , tried. experimented...... what I said is CORRECT.

What it does is unnecessarily charge players for something that should be free, and force them to use third party software to play the game.

Thats because the real game hasnt started yet.

The scale of the game on release will make UVT's practically compulsory on full release if you want to be part of a decent corp/alliance.

A great many customers just wont play and go to planetside 2.

Edit And reading this whole thread we are not the minority, your view is inm afraid.

Dear players,

We are quite impressed and inspired by your feedbacks and comments regarding the UVT introduction. Therefore, we have made some changes and a more detailed description on what the UVT is and offers. We hope that this will address many of your concerns and illustrate its value to players. We look forward to hearing your feedback as you test the UVT during beta and together we can improve its implementation.

Fostering smooth and easy communication for our players is hugely important for CCP and a key element of DUST 514. Long-time EVE Online players know that we think a thriving community is imperative to a gameGÇÖs success.

WeGÇÖd like to clarify how the chat and voice function will work within DUST 514 and between DUST 514 and EVE Online. WeGÇÖre offering a very robust suite of options for free.

• Voice chat in DUST 514 for teams in a battle is free.
• Voice chat in DUST 514 pre-made squads, both in and out of battle, is free.
• All text chat, including text chat between DUST 514 and EVE Online, is free.
• All mail, including mail between DUST 514 and EVE Online, is free

The following activities will require the purchase of a Universal Voice Transmitter (UVT) using Aurum (AUR), the currency purchased with real world money in DUST 514.

• Voice chat in a custom channel in DUST 514 (which can include both DUST 514 and EVE Online players)
• Voice chat in a Corp channel (which can include both DUST 514 and EVE Online players) when Corps are implemented in DUST 514

We have not finalized pricing for the UVT GÇô it is likely that the prices youGÇÖve seen will be reduced by the time the game exits closed beta. We are also looking into offering the ability for Corps to buy UVT items that cover the entire group.

In addition, in order to test the voice chat feature, we are going to reduce the cost of the UVT to 1 AUR for the duration of the closed beta.

Lastly, weGÇÖll soon be adding a player-driven market to DUST 514 that will allow players to buy and sell all manner of items for ISK (the currency you earn in game), including UVTs.

FAQ:

Q: Why do DUST players have to pay for voice chat and EVE players do not?
A: In EVE Online, we can cover the ongoing costs of voice chat through the gameGÇÖs subscription fee. Because DUST is free-to-play, we will need players to cover some of the costs of voice chat.

Q: How do you enable voice chat across DUST 514 and EVE Online?
A: You can purchase a Universal Voice Transmitter in DUST 514 using Aurum

Q: How much does a UVT cost?
A: We have not finalized pricing for the UVT. The pricing in the closed beta test is preliminary and we would love to get feedback from players via the beta testing forums.

Q: Will the price of a UVT stay at 1 AUR after closed beta ends?
A: No, this is a temporary price to encourage players to test the feature. Final pricing for UVTs has not been determined.

Q: Will EVE players have to pay to voice chat with DUST players?
A: No, we have no plans at this time to charge extra for EVE players to cross-game voice chat

Q: When will the player market be added to DUST 514?
A: This is something the development team is working on. We are definitely planning to implement it.

Q: ArenGÇÖt UVTs a pay-to-win feature since they make communication easier and are only available for purchase with AUR?
A: We understand this concern and plan to address it before the game ships via the in-game player market, which will allow players to buy and sell UVTs with ISK, the currency awarded in game.

Imagine a communications client that combines all the features of EVE Mail, EVE Voice, Contacts Lists, Chat Channels.

Lets call it Fluid.

You plug in the details for each of your accounts and it gives you complete access to any means of communication your characters have access to, including things like Local Chat for the system you are in, even without your EVE or DUST client running.

It gives you controls to facilitate things like transferring contacts between accounts.

You can use it to talk via text or voice with players on EVE, DUST, EVE Gate, DUST Gate, or the Fluid client.

Non-EVE accounts would have access to most features, but could subscribe to the rest for 100 Aurum a month, or they could be sponsored by their corporation. They would also get free months of Fluid sub every time they make an Aurum purchase.

1 free month with 400 Aurum
2 free months with 1100 Aurum
5 free months with 2500 Aurum
10 free months with 5000 Aurum

For EVE players it would be included in their subscription.

The Fluid client could be released for PC, PS3, iOS and Android.

Imagine if you could join a briefing of DUST mercs by a corp CEO in EVE, using the Fluid client on your iphone.