Quote Originally Posted by fusional View Post
the direct quote was "Silence is a characteristic and If I wouldn't do it at that time then it isn't "my" character." you also go on to use "silence" as an example for a dialogue choice.

based on that, everything i've said stands- and it seems like you actually don't understand. to put it into context- just because the silent protagonist doesn't say anything at that time doesn't mean they're not actually saying anything at that time. whatever you think or feel is the response, which you project onto them. if you're projecting silence onto them as a result of not seeing or hearing lines of dialogue, well... that's on you.

the point is, silent protagonists aren't your preference and that's fine. but your perception of them being silent and associating it with being a characteristic and therefore 'not you' doesn't, in fact, mean they possess a silent characteristic.

the default response of the silent protagonist isn't "silence"- it's whatever you imagine them to say. so it's only a characteristic if you yourself perceive it that way (which i suppose is understandable, but not at all intended)
The game has never suggested that our characters are actually talking during a conversation unless they cut away for a moment and the NPC clearly acknowledges a point we've made. As Shougun mentioned, the ever common "Fade" in, and out technique.

Aside from that, our character merely stands on the sidelines as the NPC's go about their conversation and we, the character are swept away with no personal say in the matter. It has become a reoccurring trait for our character to remain speechless, and thus Shougun is right; its a characteristic. For instance in the Limsa intro, even when the Miquote speaks directly to us and our character looks her in the face, they don't speak, but simply walk away from her. There's no dialogue there, but if you wish to pretend for the sake of projecting yourself, than by all means go for it. But the truth is right in front of you.

If it's a duck, it's gonna quack, no matter how hard you wish for it to bark.