Having your character talk during cutscenes

[Altena]

To be honest, (only read the OP so, sorry if it's been said)..

I am not a huge fan of voice acting at the best of times.. A lot of the times they sound extremely cheesy. An option in the config? sure, but mine will be turned off if it ends up being cheesy..

[Yowyow]

apparently i was wrong... guild wars 2 has voice acting on your character

[KyahAlmasy]

I personally think adding voices for our characters wouldn't ruin the immersion at all. (At least, for me.) Since we're the ones picking out their voices when we initially create them. For me it would only heighten the immersion because I'd be able to witness my character actually interact with NPC's and actually have an opinion. I think the only time I got to hear my character "say" something was when I first met Gaius van Baelsar, and even then all she said was "No..." but it still gave me goosebumps.

Perhaps as a sort of compromise, we as the player could select a response from a list. That way, we still have control over our character's choices. Sort of like how the voice acting worked in the walking dead game, which turned out very successful. Or, as another compromise our character wouldn't ever have to speak a full sentence but still vocalize phrases that would seem appropriate for any character.

[LlenCoram]

I personally think adding voices for our characters wouldn't ruin the immersion at all. (At least, for me.) Since we're the ones picking out their voices when we initially create them. For me it would only heighten the immersion because I'd be able to witness my character actually interact with NPC's and actually have an opinion. I think the only time I got to hear my character "say" something was when I first met Gaius van Baelsar, and even then all she said was "No..." but it still gave me goosebumps.

Perhaps as a sort of compromise, we as the player could select a response from a list. That way, we still have control over our character's choices. Sort of like how the voice acting worked in the walking dead game, which turned out very successful. Or, as another compromise our character wouldn't ever have to speak a full sentence but still vocalize phrases that would seem appropriate for any character.

The problem is trying to make the responses so vague that they don't presume to be speaking for you. If an enemy jumps my character out of nowhere, how's she supposed to respond? Is she going to turn to them and say, "Ha! Bring it!"? My character won't. Will she jump at the shock? Mine probably wouldn't either. Choosing the voice is fine, but it's the responses that just don't work. Mass Effect did it really well, but even that had a misfire 1% of the time, when Shepard would say something I had no intention of saying.

I just don't see how it can work, and in the end it'll really detract from any connection to our characters in a big way.

I'm starting to think you and I have very different definitions of immersion though. Personally, I like being my character. From your threads/posts, I'm starting to think you prefer controlling a character.

apparently i was wrong... guild wars 2 has voice acting on your character

It does, and it's terrible. They blather on and on with predetermined sentences that are never what you would actually say if you were the character. It's the main reason I stopped playing the game.

[KyahAlmasy]

The problem is trying to make the responses so vague that they don't presume to be speaking for you. If an enemy jumps my character out of nowhere, how's she supposed to respond? Is she going to turn to them and say, "Ha! Bring it!"? My character won't. Will she jump at the shock? Mine probably wouldn't either. Choosing the voice is fine, but it's the responses that just don't work. Mass Effect did it really well, but even that had a misfire 1% of the time, when Shepard would say something I had no intention of saying.

I just don't see how it can work, and in the end it'll really detract from any connection to our characters in a big way.

I'm starting to think you and I have very different definitions of immersion though. Personally, I like being my character. From your threads/posts, I'm starting to think you prefer controlling a character.

Well our characters respond to those situations without our consent even without speaking. Many times when something surprising would occur our character would cower in fear, even if the player wouldn't really react that way. But we could still choose a response even if they were surprised, but the end result would always end up being the same, perhaps with a change in dialogue.

This was present even in 1.0 though, when you meet Darnus after first fighting Ifrit he asks your name and you can choose to tell him, or say it isn't of any importance. The answer won't change the result of the scene, but how he responds to you differs slightly. Why would applying a voice to those multiple choices be any different?

By giving our character a voice, I think I'll immerse further into the game because it would just be like playing an non-MMO game where the protagonist can actually effect the flow of conversation. That is what I've always adored about FFXIV, is that our characters are actually in the cut-scenes, like a modern RPG. I initially picked Limsa, and I have to say that intro had me hooked.

[LlenCoram]

Well our characters respond to those situations without our consent even without speaking. Many times when something surprising would occur our character would cower in fear, even if the player wouldn't really react that way. But we could still choose a response even if they were surprised, but the end result would always end up being the same, perhaps with a change in dialogue.

This was present even in 1.0 though, when you meet Darnus after first fighting Ifrit he asks your name and you can choose to tell him, or say it isn't of any importance. The answer won't change the result of the scene, but how he responds to you differs slightly. Why would applying a voice to those multiple choices be any different?

By giving our character a voice, I think I'll immerse further into the game because it would just be like playing an non-MMO game where the protagonist can actually effect the flow of conversation. That is what I've always adored about FFXIV, is that our characters are actually in the cut-scenes, like a modern RPG. I initially picked Limsa, and I have to say that intro had me hooked.

I disagree entirely. Sorry. In the end, I think this is a terrible idea, and has been proven as a terrible idea by a couple of recent MMOs that have tried doing this. Every time you end up with this character who isn't you saying things you wouldn't say. It's a horrid idea and I hope it never happens.

[Shougun]

I disagree entirely. Sorry. In the end, I think this is a terrible idea, and has been proven as a terrible idea by a couple of recent MMOs that have tried doing this. Every time you end up with this character who isn't you saying things you wouldn't say. It's a horrid idea and I hope it never happens.

I dont think because a company does it poorly that the idea itself is poor. In that matter anything FFXIV 1.0 did was a horrid idea and Yoshida made a horrible decision by keeping anything it had. (which some argue lol) But I know most people felt comfortable keeping most aspects but just reworking it a lot.

Imo, not a horrible idea and I think you are being highly unfair by pointing out mmos that failed entirely as example why the idea is bad.

[Shougun]

I'm not a big fan of silent characters either (when those characters are meant to be "my" character). I know some people on the first page said it makes it easier for them to get into their character, I'd just say the opposite. Silence is a characteristic and If I wouldn't do it at that time then it isn't "my" character.

Then of course I don't mind watching other's stories (doesn't have to be "my" story, like FFX was great - everyone uncontrollably talked and referred to themselves, and I was happy with that). Silence in some characters is just annoying I'm like - say something already-, or in others its an interesting characteristic (but in both cases I didn't really feel like it made it "mine", just a characteristic of someone else I happened to being playing or watching).

Adding a few different styles of dialog would be great imo, then you can pick "silence" or actually respond. I'd be interested in seeing diverging paths from the dialog (like different quest rewards or different quests in general).

However this being an MMO, and this being a game that has already happened for some.. it could be a problem. Like John telling an NPC to screw himself so you now cant play with your buddy because you both responded differently to the quest. Or that for some of us have done most of the quests already, and therefore how does SE decide what choices we made?

Basically, I think it would be really cool to have dialog and even cooler to have it actually mean something - but I'm slightly skeptical on how it will be implemented in ARR as the game has already been played by some. Of course if the dialog has no effect you can implement it no problem.

I gave you a +1 because I think its interesting but its a very interesting challange as well lol

[fusional]

Silence is a characteristic

just because your character doesn't have lines of dialogue, that doesn't mean they're mute.

the silent protagonist in games generally isn't actually silent. their responses are implied, and you fill in the blanks yourself with whatever you're thinking or feeling as you watch/play along. they're interacting in the story, but as a blank slate.

i never thought it was that complicated, but it seems even outside of preference a lot of people have difficulty grasping this concept.

[Shougun]

just because your character doesn't have lines of dialogue, that doesn't mean they're mute.

the silent protagonist in games generally isn't actually silent. their responses are implied, and you fill in the blanks yourself with whatever you're thinking or feeling as you watch/play along. they're interacting in the story, but as a blank slate.

i never thought it was that complicated, but it seems even outside of preference a lot of people have difficulty grasping this concept.

Its interesting it seems you quoted what I want to reply to this with.. so you misunderstood what you quoted.

Silence is a characteristic - its an action and response a personality. When someone says holy shit the town is burning down and I shrug off the wall and silently walk into the town to save everyone - I have developed my character and yet I didnt speak.

I understand this, obviously you do too - but you dont understand my post at all.