our design dont rely on players typing, so we dont need it.
Oh man, please tell me - a player who is communicating alot via chat - that players don't need the text chat. How about the use of it for admining the server? There is nothing wrong about the text chat, so better don't touch it. The admins on the 128 player server are bussy as hell to keep the things going and watching players, since alot of the newcomers don't have a clue what they can do and what not.
Yesterday we had a freak on the server typing "Wollt ihr den totalen ..."/"Do you want the total ..." and telling stange things via VOIP. We as a admin team don't want to have such players on the server, so please think about such ideas twice before removing the text chat or even taking it into consideration.
Despite this, it feels more like a community if people get on the server and say "Hi all" or "Good evening" and talk to each other instead of sitting totaly calm infront of their PC like a wax figure. The chat gives those players a personality. Not every player as a headset and a mic, not every player is able to use VOIP btw. FH2 needs the text chat ... that's a fact. Otherwise people wouldn't use it.
Sometimes I wish, you would actually join the server and see what's going on, dear Natty.