ValveSoftware
[TF2; Feature Request] Enable alltalk on Casual
We want to add an option to the Vote menu in Casual to enable alltalk. Basically, we want to let players from both teams decide whether they want to enable teams from both ends to talk, mess around, and have fun. However, since toxicity can rise, we can add an option to vote to disable alltalk, especially should voice chat be used for location callouts by teammates. Additionally, I think votes like this should be exclusive to Casual's pregame/warm up phase before the match proper starts, though I'll leave this for y'all to decide whether this should be the case or allow alltalk voting midgame.
Honestly this isn't such a bad idea. If the server votes for it, why should it be forced disabled? I always found alltalk made games much more interesting anyway. That's a large part of what I like about community.
[TF2] Add an option in the Vote Menu to enable Alltalk
Issue transferred from https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/7701. @Delfite posted on 2025-11-19T18:56:29:
For Kisak
Since I can't add them myself, please add the tags "Team Fortress 2" and "Feature Request" to this post. This post is a partial duplicate of https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/5285, but will try to differentiate itself from that post by being more specific, and providing arguments as to why the feature should be implemented, unlike what the original post did.
The Suggestion
I suppose I should start off simple and put my suggestion in plain text. Below will be a list of things that should apply to the vote and how it should function. After that, I'll be arguing why this feature should be implemented, or rather, why there is little reason for it to not have already been implemented in the game.
- Add an option to the in-game voting menu to set
sv_alltalkto1if it is not already set to1. - Add an option to the in-game voting menu to set
sv_alltalkto0if it is not already set to0. - These votes would be seen by and voted on by all teams (spectators included).
- These votes would be able to be initiated by all teams (spectators included).
- These votes would be toggle-able via a dedicated server command (like how most votes already work).
- These votes would be enabled by default in the server's config.
- These votes would be enabled in Casual Mode.
- These votes would be disabled in Competitive Mode.
- These votes would have a cooldown period before they could be used again (this is to prevent one team from spamming the vote just to stop it from being called entirely).
- The aforementioned cooldown period would be configurable via a server command.
- The aforementioned cooldown period would only apply to the team that called the vote.
- These votes would refer to Alltalk as "Global Voice Chat" so as to better communicate what the vote actually does.
FAQ: The why of the what
Query: Why should the votes exist?
Argument: I see no reason why they shouldn't exist. We can vote to kick players, we can vote to scramble teams, we can vote to change maps, we can vote to extend the current map, we can vote to enable and disable autobalance, and we can vote to restart the current round, among other things.
Query: How difficult would this be to implement? TF2 isn't exactly known for having a large dev team right now...
Argument: I'm not a programmer, nor do I have the level of experience someone at Valve would have, but of the minor work I've done in languages like C#, I can't see this being very hard to implement. I imagine it working like this: The voting GUI only shows the vote opposite to that of what the server's current sv_alltalk value is set to. For example, if Global Voice Chat is enabled (sv_alltalk 1), then hide the vote to enable Global Voice Chat and show the vote to disable Global Voice Chat. If Global Voice Chat is disabled (sv_alltalk 0), then hide the vote to disable Global Voice Chat and show the vote to enable Global Voice Chat. At most, I estimate this would take around 20-25 minutes to implement and test, especially since there's already the ability to toggle autobalance via a vote.
Query: Why should the votes be enabled in Casual?
Argument: This one will boil down to personal preference, but my reasoning has to do with something Robin Walker said in an interview he did at one point: "TF2 is a chatroom with guns." I largely agree with what he said. Humans are social creatures, and despite me being an introvert, that does not mean I am unsociable. I like talking to people, actually, and I like talking to the opposing team via Voice Chat. Some of my best memories of the game were on community servers that had alltalk enabled, it made the game more fun, and the recent addition of Zombie Infection and Versus Saxton Hale to Casual's matchmaking reminded me of just how fun it is to mess around with people of both teams in Voice Chat. Every time something funny has happened in Voice Chat on my team I always think about how it sucks that the other team is completely unaware of it. Furthermore, it's a vote! The server gets to decide as a whole if Alltalk should be enabled or not! If things get a little too chaotic for your taste, you can always mute anyone you don't want to hear via the in-game pause menu.
Query: You mentioned the votes being toggle-able via a server command. Could you elaborate?
Argument: Yes I can. According to this page on the TF2 Wiki, many of the game's features can already be voted on, with said votes being individually toggle-able via server commands. For example, you can enable the vote to scramble teams by setting sv_vote_issue_scramble_teams_allowed to 1, but disable the vote to change the current map by setting sv_vote_issue_changelevel_allowed to 0.
Query: But if alltalk is enabled, won't this hurt teams that want to coordinate amongst themselves in order to win?
Argument: You'd think that'd be the case, but from my experience I rarely ever run into a team that's coordinating in Voice Chat, and it's usually me who starts coordinating with people. Even when Alltalk is enabled, I rarely ever see any improvement in the enemy team's ability to win due to them hearing our comms. My experience is purely anecdotal, but I think I've played TF2 long enough to know that most people just wanna do their own thing a lot of the time, with VC acting as background noise to them. For some it may be different, but that's why I stress the anecdotal part of my argument.