Immersion

[J1992]

Anyone thinks that if FF14 would give us ''the warior of light'' some speeches/real voice dialogues it would be quite pleasent? or is it just me? I know it takes a lot of time and resources but wouldnt it make the fans really happy? I dont mind if its only in the main story. So what is your take on this?

[BillyKaplan]

That's not going to happen, not in a game that's geared towards roleplaying. There's not a single piece of dialog they can come up with that will fit with everyone's views of their characters. Ultimately it wouldn't matter as even in scenes where we're given choices, the end-result is the same, but it's that small amount of control you're given that makes your WoL really feel like a character you control and play. Giving them actual speech beyond that would be detrimental to immersion, imo.

[Bixillarla]

I would love to have a voice. Problem is they would have to record the cutscenes in every available voice from the character creation for each race, I don't see them doing it.

[Claviusnex]

With some of the complaints I've see on the forum about the existing character sound options I could only imagine what they would be if they added spoken word.

[Zojha]

There's not a single piece of dialog they can come up with that will fit with everyone's views of their characters.

Then why on earth do they keep shoving emotions down our throats...? That doesn't universally fit either.

Honestly, us having no voice really just reflects the fact that we have no say. I at least don't feel one bit like the WoL is "my" character, in fact, it's a bit strange for them to actually have the appearance of "my" character when the two are nothing alike - it feels more like the whole MSQ is just a theatre play and my character is simply playing the role of the WoL as per script. And those dialogue options we get are just me fauxing up my text and my co-actor NPC trying to improvise to salvage the scene if I pick the wrong one >_>

(And when I think about it, that would also explain why I can just go and casually leave any dramatic scene for some market board shopping <.< "Sorry guys, we'll film the next one later, work called.")

[Bongaboi]

I am fine with the way it is in terms of voice. Immersion becomes a problem if there is actual speech.

[Arrius]

Bioware did that with SWTOR, but since the expansion Knights of the Fallen Empire, there haven't been any further voice casting for the player characters and got reduced to dialouge options only.
And since SE had to swap out most of the voice cast from the knowable side/support cast during the ARR -> HW transition, I do not see them sticking to a group to keep that level of immersion going.

[Felis]

Anyone thinks that if FF14 would give us ''the warior of light'' some speeches/real voice dialogues it would be quite pleasent? or is it just me? I know it takes a lot of time and resources but wouldnt it make the fans really happy? I dont mind if its only in the main story. So what is your take on this?

In what language and in which voice?
The character voices, that we choose in the character creator, is always the same regardless of the language setting. There are no different voice actors for every language, maybe even done by SE people. So it can only work if the WoL speak japanese only in every language setting.

[BillyKaplan]

Then why on earth do they keep shoving emotions down our throats...? That doesn't universally fit either.

You're not wrong, but this is still not some tabletop rpg. There is a story to work with, and if everyone had a say, you wouldn't even be a WoL to begin with. Some people play Ascian characters yet we're supposed to be the champions of light. Depending on your character, there can never be reconciliation between your story and the game's MSQ. But they don't have to go and make it worse by deciding what you're going to say exactly at any given time. Sometimes, even what you say and how you say it can make or break a character, and I appreciate that they don't bother with it.

I think it's actually an interesting challenge, though. Given something in MSQ my character wouldn't normally do, can I think of a reason why they'd do it after all, given MSQ requires it? Then there're things like the DRK storyline up to 50 that show you that no, we're not really ok with all of this, so that leaves plausible deniability about how honest our characters are on other times. Are we really buddies with Aymeric, or are we only close to him because he runs Ishgard now?

Zenos is actually a fantastic example of this with him going on about how the WoL is in this for the violence when everything we've seen so far points to the contrary. Is he obviously wrong, or has the WoL simply played everyone, and the only reason we're heroes is because we kill the right people while basking in the violence either way? That's up to you to decide for your character.

[Nerfworthy]

Here's my 2 cents on this topic. I have played a game that does this (GW2) and I did like it, at first. That is, until I made a different character with a different "personality" I had envisioned, and the voice was exactly the same. It really ruined my immersion, and I could see the same thing happening in ffxiv with fantasia and alts, etc. I don't think it's a good idea.