Dialogue choices should be written out exactly as they will be said.

[Topster]

There's zero point to the blurbs being so brief and so vague as to the tone. What happened to dialogue like in Dragon Age: Origins where the tone of your dialogue was clear even WITHOUT a voice actor? When did deceptive blurb selections become ok? It's really, really frustrating to have to sit there and guess what each dialogue option means. This is not something that should be bottlenecking the gameplay as much as it is.

 

- Placement of the blurbs are not accurate indicators of the tone. The top option is not always goody-goody and the bottom option is not always evil. Therefore, making choices based purely on where lines are placed is not ideal.

 

- Yes, you can do over a dialogue by hitting the escape button, but of Bioware's intent with this game is indeed to create an immersive experience, having to do over a conversation because you accidentally said something you didn't want to is the best way to destroy any immersion you had.

 

- Surprise should come from the story. Not from what comes out of your avatar's mouth.

 

- Your character rarely strings together two or more sentences. Writing out whatever his/her line is would not take up that much room.

 

- It wouldn't be redundant, especially since the lines are so short. Deus Ex: HR and Witcher proved this.

 

- If I wanted to play a game where my input was irrelevant, I would play a Mario game. Or a JRPG.

 

- Even if you were to pretend that the blurbs are what your character is thinking, or what he/she said before the line that is voiced, the tone and obviously what the spoken line is is still vague.

 

Fix this, Bioware. There's no point to not simply writing out what the VA says for your selection. It would be less vague, less deceptive, and it would make way, way more sense. I challenge anyone to give me a good reason (aka not a reason I've already disproven) for why the blurbs are ideal compared to what I'm suggesting.

 

P.S. What the hell is the point of using a dialogue wheel if there are never more than three lines of dialogue to choose from?

[Raximillian]

I kind of like it as it is... And never really had a problem with the options. And no, they are not good - evil, they are more like lawful/neutral/chaotic options. Had a few surprises, but it usually responds what I expect it to.

[Stenrik]

Eh, sometimes I've thought that, but mostly I like the difference.

 

Because we often say things differently than we think. The stuff you choose is like the thought going through your character's head, and what they say is an often humorous interpretation of that. It has made me realize how I word stuff out loud as opposed to in my thoughts.

 

Hearing your character repeat more than a few words you just clicked would get tedius in my opinion.

 

If what my character says is truly very different than what I chose (which is rare) then I can just escape out of the conversation and spacebar through until I can make a different choice.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Stenrik

[Topster]

I kind of like it as it is... And never really had a problem with the options. And no, they are not good - evil, they are more like lawful/neutral/chaotic options. Had a few surprises, but it usually responds what I expect it to.

 

Tell me: How would your experience be worsened if you simply saw what your character would say instead of a brief paraphrase?

[Topster]

Eh, sometimes I've thought that, but mostly I like the difference.

 

Because we often say things differently than we think.

 

No, we say what we think. That's how talking works.

 

The stuff you choose is like the thought going through your character's head, and what they say is an often humorous interpretation of that.

 

- Even if you were to pretend that the blurbs are what your character is thinking, or what he/she said before the line that is voiced, the tone and obviously what the spoken line is is still vague.

 

Hearing your character repeat more than a few words you just clicked would get tedius in my opinion.

 

- It wouldn't be redundant, especially since the lines are so short. Deus Ex: HR and Witcher proved this.

 

If what my character says is truly very different than what I chose (which is rare) then I can just escape out of the conversation and spacebar through until I can make a different choice.

 

- Yes, you can do over a dialogue by hitting the escape button, but of Bioware's intent with this game is indeed to create an immersive experience, having to do over a conversation because you accidentally said something you didn't want to is the best way to destroy any immersion you had.

 

Any questions?

[Raximillian]

Tell me: How would your experience be worsened if you simply saw what your character would say instead of a brief paraphrase?

 

Because then I would hear the whole phrase I just read... Kind of redundant at that point.

 

I'm not entirely against it. I mean, if they add it as a toggleable option, that would be fine I guess.

[Stenrik]

No, we say what we think. That's how talking works.

Umm... not really. We say what we MEAN but usually it's not exactly what we think.

 

 

- Even if you were to pretend that the blurbs are what your character is thinking, or what he/she said before the line that is voiced, the tone and obviously what the spoken line is is still vague.

I can't think of many times the tone was wrong. Maybe I'm just in tune with my character and his personality/tone of voice that I'm able to easily guess this. I don't remember thinking "OMG that's not what I meant!"

 

 

- It wouldn't be redundant, especially since the lines are so short. Deus Ex: HR and Witcher proved this.

I think anything more than than 4 or 5 words is too long.

 

 

- Yes, you can do over a dialogue by hitting the escape button, but of Bioware's intent with this game is indeed to create an immersive experience, having to do over a conversation because you accidentally said something you didn't want to is the best way to destroy any immersion you had.

Yeah I admit I don't like to do-over conversations that often.

 

 

Any questions?

Yeah. What class do you play? The way my main character is written, I usually understand his tone and intention, and that may be why I'm not too "surprised" by what he says. You seem really frustrated by this, and I'd like to have some kind of particular example of a misinterpreted option.

 

For example, my character likes money, and greed is built into the smuggler in general. I know when I'm choosing the "greed" option, and am not bothered by what particular "what's in it for me" kind of line he chooses to say.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Stenrik

[Topster]

Because then I would hear the whole phrase I just read... Kind of redundant at that point.

 

- It wouldn't be redundant, especially since the lines are so short. Deus Ex: HR and Witcher proved this.

 

Umm... not really. We say what we MEAN but usually it's not exactly what we think.

 

I sincerely hope you aren't talking about how real-life talking works. Yes, when I think about what to say, that's what I say. Who else but you chooses your words?

 

I think anything more than than 4 or 5 words is too long.

 

Too long to what? to read? You know most of the dialogue in the game is in alien language and therefore you have to read far more subtitles than what you would ever have to read in your dialogue options, right? Do you have a problem with that reading?

 

Yeah. What class do you play? The way my main character is written, I usually understand his tone and intention, and that may be why I'm not too "surprised" by what he says. You seem really frustrated by this, and I'd like to have some kind of particular example of a misinterpreted option.

 

Smuggler. Often there would be a funny option that I want to say, and it ends up being one of the generic quotes that is repeated 12000 times per hour. Also I find that the placement is almost NEVER consistent with good/neutral/evil. As far as I can tell, the top option is usually patriotic/businesslike/funny/Mother Theresa, the middle option is usually neutral/businesslike/funny/threatening, and the bottom is usually evil/neutral/dickish/pragmatic.

 

Yes, that is as exact as I can gauge what each selection is.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Topster

[BrianDavion]

I thought Alpha protocal had a good set up to how they did their dialogue. rather then a generic phrase that required guess work they had things like"agressive, diplomatic, snarky, request more information" etc

[Stenrik]

I see the chat written options as "a line of reasoning" that leads to what they say. Of course people don't blurt out something without "hearing" the line in their head first.

 

Too long to what? to read? You know most of the dialogue in the game is in alien language and therefore you have to read far more subtitles than what you would ever have to read in your dialogue options, right? Do you have a problem with that reading?

 

I don't mind one or the other. Reading is fine when the audio's a different language. But I don't like predicting what the audio will be based on what I read.

Guess it's just me, but I would find it irritating and tedius after the 100th time.

Plus, I just LIKE being surprised sometimes. It gives a sense of anticipation during dialogue.

 

 

I honestly do see where you're coming from, but I don't ever envision them following your suggestion of changing thousands of lines of text, and removing a whole middle "layer" of writing.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Stenrik

[Jeffko]

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Too long to what? to read? You know most of the dialogue in the game is in alien language and therefore you have to read far more subtitles than what you would ever have to read in your dialogue options, right? Do you have a problem with that reading?

 

Don't know what the experience is like for Republics, but Basic is what I encounter most Empire-side ('course, that may be because the Empire is xenophobic as hell), and even then, I don't need more reading. I want conversations to flow, not feel like I'm reading off a prompter, which is why the current short version, in which the gist of what I'm going to say is made clear (at least, according to me, which is obviously not your case), suits me just fine.

 

Frankly, I don't understand how one can be caught off guard to the degree you describe when it comes to dialogue choices. Even when they switch the standard good/selfish/evil positioning around, it takes me all of 2 seconds to know what I'm going to say, and I believe the fact that it isn't spelled out helps preserve a sense of immersion. You still get to guide your own story, but the game saves this little sense of originality for itself and you. Sure, you have your stock lines that you hear more than once, but the sheer amount of original dialogue more than makes up for it, IMO.