Yeah, the first sentence was just for TLDR purpose, giving my thoughts as concise as possible. Although, I didn't really mean 'forbid it' if I've given off that sense. More like, 'dialog serves its purpose in text for all the minor roles'.
Do you mean story telling with full voice acting? If so, then in short, maybe. It would be as much as I would enjoy a movie adaption of a book. Meaning it depends on who they've casted and the direction's portrayal of the work. Could be
awful, or could be
good.
Or if you're talking non-voiced scenes, like the scenes where main characters like Yda appear up in text instead of speech, yes it was awkward. However, I already had in mind what she sound like from her speech previously, thus there was already established context for me to infer off of.
I was even some what attached to minor characters with no story roles, such as retainers. They still have a personality that clearly is reflected by carefully chosen words. Such as shyness, ambitious, or elegance. Sadly, this does not become apparent until you actually pick them.
Or if you want me to refer to a text-only quest line,
(spoilers warning)
The THM class quest line, (below)
It pits you against a fellow THM in training, upon the first meeting with this character, you can already sense what kind of character she is by her actions and philosophy. Her personality clashes with your character's is clearly depicted without the need of voice. (well what SE makes out your character to be) You were made to hate that character, and I did.
However, as I mentioned, voicing story based characters would inherently give them more life when carefully casted by a director. But when applying it to a scale where everyone is voiced, minor characters get the short end of the stick. Where it might even break the player's immersion* in the game with poor acting, such as
the examples given, where text alone would have still kept it intact.
Or in a worst case scenario; ever read a book or played a character where you've inherently gave the character a voice in your head, then went to see a movie or tv show adaption of it, and it breaks your vision of the character? This happens because of variance in how people interpret the work, and allows movies of the same story be directed differently.
A funny worst case scenario;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPxY8lpYAUM
*About immersion, voice only plays a small role. The sound, the environment, the music, the characters, all those sum up the full picture. Such as why does the club Afterlife in Mass Effect 2 give off a stronger impact than the bar in Dragon Age 2 where you meet Isabela? They both had similar elements, but where did Dragon Age 2 fall short? For me it was the visual design of the bar itself.
