I do not know if this was mentioned on these boards yet so if it did the I apologize.  
 
Many of you who played Demon's Souls are fully aware that there is no in-game voice chat and the players only have the option of using the gestures/emote system, or opening a text chat room. While the gesture system was limited it did convey basic communication between players. If players wanted a deeper understanding between each other then then chat room would be another options. Both methods are in no way ideal but they did work and after a few sessions you would not even think about the lack of voice chat.  
 
So when Dark Souls was officially announced my biggest hope for it was a proper voice chat.  My hope were even bigger after I read that the developer would be building their coop after Demon's Souls but would expanded and improve upon it. Naturally I though to myself that a proper chat system will be in the game so when I found out that Dark Souls will not have voice chat I was disappointed. However, I trust From Software and I know they will find a solution and if they think that the game needs no voice chat then the game needs no voice chat. I'll get over it. Then I started thinking that the 360, unlike the PS3, is not limited to only in-game chat but also offer voice chat through Cross Game, Privet, and Party chat and that maybe 360 players will find a way around it. However, this is not going to be the case. 
 

Having no Voice Chat sure makes this guy very loud

URGENT: Regarding the upcoming game Dark Souls, made by From Software and Published by Namco Bandai, for Xbox 360 and As a loyal customer and subscriber to Xbox and Xbox Live, it disappoints me to hear that From Software has asked and been granted permission by Microsoft to disable in game Xbox 360 Voice Chat, Private Chat, and Party Chat. while playing their game Dark Souls. Especially Party chat. As a customer of Microsoft and a Subscriber to Xbox Live. And a potential customer to From Software and Namco Bandai. I do not give Microsoft / Xbox, permission to disable 3 services that is part of the subscription service that I am paying for. 

Please inform From Software and Namco Bandai that these features especially party chat must not be disabled.

1. Have you played coop on Demon's Souls?
2. Does the absences of voice chat anger you to the point where it's a deal breaker?

Taking out Party chat for the entire game kind of annoys me. I do like to chill just chattin' with dudes when playing games.

Ahhh who cares I don't even know if I'm getting this game anyway.

Frankly, I'm fine with it. I was never that fond of voice chat to begin with and don't even use it in my games that do support it.

People talking ruins the isolation that the game strives for. That eerie silence from not hearing other people in the game adds to the atmosphere, and if you don't get that, then don't get this.

Not sure why you felt the need to call out a specific person. Talk about childish.

People talking ruins the isolation that the game strives for. That eerie silence from not hearing other people in the game adds to the atmosphere, and if you don't get that, then don't get this.

Good.

Also, I'd like to take a moment to point out that Big Red Husker is apparently an idiot if he thinks he has the ability to grant or revoke permission regarding business decisions that he has no control over, especially if he wasn't even sure he wanted to buy the game in the first place.

Also, if his username is any indication, he's a Nebraska Cornhusker fan, which would make his opinion completely invalid to begin with.

Private chat.
 
Teh edn.

@Tru3_Blu3 said:

Private chat. Teh edn.

All forms of chat will be disabled while playing Dark Souls, including Private.

Not sure why you felt the need to call out a specific person. Talk about childish.

But can they block using CELL PHONES? DUN DUN DUN

Can't stop me from chatting with my friends

Good. I wouldn't wanna hear people raging over their mics whenever they die or some shit anyway.
 
I can always chat with buddies I'm playing with via steam chat like I do whenever I play any game with them.

TeamSpeak, bitches. 
 
EDIT: Less than a month until release! Cannot waaait.

There's always skype :D

There's no real "co-op" in Demon's Souls. I assume Dark Souls is going to be the same, so I really don't see why they disabled voice chat. I mean if people are gonna go through the incredibly painstaking process of getting in the same session together, they probably have a way to communicate already.

I am quite ok with this.

@Tru3_Blu3 said:

Private chat. Teh edn.

All forms of chat will be disabled while playing Dark Souls, including Private.

@Marz said:

There's always skype :D

Consoles brah. Console users. PC gaming is dead.

But can they block using CELL PHONES? DUN DUN DUN

Can't stop me from chatting with my friends

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Marz said:

There's always skype :D

Consoles brah. Console users. PC gaming is dead.

Laptops brah. Tablet users. PC gaming is dead.

@Enigma777 said:

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Marz said:

There's always skype :D

Consoles brah. Console users. PC gaming is dead.

Laptops brah. Tablet users. PC gaming is dead.

Razer Switchblade broseph. SAVED PC GAMING.

Disabling it in-game seems fine, but disabling party chat is a mistake.
Not hearing some stranger jumping into your game and spout shit is good, but if you want to talk a friend there are a hundred different ways.  Might as well make it easier rather than harder.

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Enigma777 said:

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Marz said:

There's always skype :D

Consoles brah. Console users. PC gaming is dead.

Laptops brah. Tablet users. PC gaming is dead.

Razer Switchblade broseph. SAVED PC GAMING.

Amen hallelujah!

I think they should allow chat to be enabled if you're inviting a friend. If you're playing with friends, atmosphere isn't the priority, it's communication between you and your friend and having a good time playing the game and sharing comments and responses, etc. As much as I love Demon's Souls, From Software shouldn't push their views onto other people. Voice chat might ruin the game's atmosphere for some, but that doesn't mean you should take the option away from people. That only limits the play experience. Having more options is much better than no options at all.

I do not give Microsoft / Xbox, permission to disable 3 services that is part of the subscription service that I am paying for. 

 That seems to be a valid point. Isn't this a breach of contract of sorts?

@atomic_dumpling said:

I do not give Microsoft / Xbox, permission to disable 3 services that is part of the subscription service that I am paying for. 

 That seems to be a valid point. Isn't this a breach of contract of sorts?

No. TOC states that MS reserves the right to disable any services they please on the console and XBL at any time they want. 

@atomic_dumpling said:

@Mordukai said:

@atomic_dumpling said:

I do not give Microsoft / Xbox, permission to disable 3 services that is part of the subscription service that I am paying for.

That seems to be a valid point. Isn't this a breach of contract of sorts?

No. TOC states that MS reserves the right to disable any services they please on the console and XBL at any time they want.

That settles that then.

NO IT DOES NOT. MEN, GET TO YOUR COMPUTERS! IT'S PETITION TIME.

Honestly I support their notion of forcing everyone to experience the game as exactly intended, without being able to play it differently.  At the very least they had the decency to announce this now so people can have a think about it before purchasing it.  I wouldn't find it a problem at all but I guess some really do want to talk to people enough to want to force the developer's hand about this.  It will be interesting to see how From Software will react to the divisive fan reactions.

I am glad they are doing this. This is the type of game where chat could just take you out of it.

I played through Demon's Souls completely by myself, and I will do so in Dark Souls.

Sounds archaic but I never voice chat anyway, too bad for those who do though.

I don't see why anyone would support this decision. Players are already free to get their "sense of isolation" or whatever by simply not using voice-chat by their own volition. Blocking someone from being able to chat with another person who might not even be playing the same game as them is just nonsensical.

Taking out Party chat for the entire game kind of annoys me. I do like to chill just chattin' with dudes when playing games.

Ahhh who cares I don't even know if I'm getting this game anyway.

Not the first time MS has blocked party chat in a game upon request. Pretty sure MW2 did it as well. Having played hundreds of hours of Demons Souls I don't see anything wrong with it either. If you're really determined just get on Skype or something like my friends and I did. 
 
If you ask me, it's to maintain the basic difficulty across both platforms. On PSN you don't have the benefit of party chat, which means that communicating with phantoms (if you've invited your friends) is more difficult. This makes the game more difficult. If you were on party chat with your friends, the game gets much easier if you're able to coordinate. It also puts invading black phantoms at a disadvantage if everyone is communicating than if they're scattered and unable to communicate (yes, some people might not care about disadvantaging black phantoms but they represent a real danger in game.) Yeah, all of this difficulty balancing is thrown out the window if you hop on Skype or something, but they're doing what they can to maintain a consistent game design across platforms.

@benjaebe said:

Pretty sure MW2 did it as well.

It did, and it was a stupid, awful decision then. I just loved having to listen the wonderful XBL community when I wanted to play TDM or Domination with my friends.

@benjaebe said:

Pretty sure MW2 did it as well.

It did, and it was a stupid, awful decision then. I just loved having to listen the wonderful XBL community when I wanted to play TDM or Domination with my friends.

" I do not give Microsoft / Xbox, permission to disable 3 services that is part of the subscription service that I am paying for. " 
 
lol

We will know when the game launches but it would be par for the course if it was disabled.  Meanwhile by official forums I am assuming you mean "prepare to die.com" which last I looked made gamespot forums seem good.  I wouldn't worry about what some idiot XBL user wants or base anything on "well my buddy at namco says' things from Ilkar.  Those who want to bypass all this and have voice chat while playing will still find ways to do it, just like they did in Demon's Souls with Vent/Skype/Mumble/cell phones/etc etc.  But it is not needed for the game and the producers made all the arguments about why this was needed two years ago when they released Demon's Souls.  Reasoning is still the same and it is still accurate.

@BulletproofMonk: you should really play coop. It was a lot of fun in Demon's souls and the community was quite awesome.

I have a computer in the same room, >.> just sayin'.

I played through Demon's Souls completely by myself, and I will do so in Dark Souls.

Allow me to answer your questions:
 
1. Yes, I've used the online features in Demon's Souls. 
2. No, I am not bothered by the removal of voice chat. I was able to communicate just fine with other players via messages and gestures.