My son plays SOCOM 2 (now 3) and uses a headset to communicate real-time with the members of his team. In EQ2, I have grouped with people that are too quiet during play, only to find out that they are all using TeamSpeak.
When I group, I form an image of the person based on how they play, a little based on their toon. I'm sure others do the same of me.
And in my guild, with the people that I've been chatting and forum posting for over a year, I have formed sketchy images of what/who they are. We generally don't share much information about our real lives, other than, "Oops, baby agro, got to go." Or small quipets about a family member that is off to college, or traveling out of town.
Other than that, we are all pretty anonymous to each other.
This has made me ponder what I do to keep my real life separate (or not) from my game persona. I guess since I have formed images of what my guildmates are like, I'm not sure if I would want to talk to them live on Teamspeak and realize that they are in fact much different. Would they be shocked to find out that I'm different on voice than on chat? I'm not sure if I want this comfortable haven shook up.
On the flip side, I'm not the kind of guy that would interact the same on Teamspeak as I would on chat. With chat I can think about what I'm saying, change it or correct it before I send it out.
Maybe my son is comfortable with his online talk because his generation has been raised on a different curve of technology, making it more common and natural for him.
Me, I'm still an old fogy, ladden with tradition and suspicion. :) I like my anonymity, even if it's just voice.
What about you?