An Epiphany: Voice Acted content.

[mcfabulous]

I Would have been MUCH MORE impressed if Bioware was actually able to tell a story, without the need for voices or visuals. Like when I read Ender's books and can imagine characters down to the finest of details, voice and all. Bioware skips the middleman and tosses your creativity and imagination to the curb. Its supposed to be innovative, but its more so a glorified books on tape.

[IMatricksI]

But do you understand the difference between extremely well positioned, unique voice acting (like a GLADOS or a Cave Johnson) and whitewashing the entire game with voice acting in order to cover up the bland, samey, uninteresting core MMO gameplay? That's the problem here, not with voice acting as a whole. GLADOS enhanced an interesting core experience by being one of a kind and amazingly well done. Having GLADOS voice a hundred hours of dialog, most of which thinly explaining why you need to kill 10 manka cats or collect 15 data recorders would get old and irritating.

Actually the problem here is one of simple subjective opinion. What one considers "bland, samey, and uninteresting" others enjoy fully. Rationalizing your opinion in an attempt to have others see your point of view in no way irrationalizes theirs. You dislike the voice acting, others do not. That's the only problem here.

[TheSwamper]

It spices up the main storyline for each class a bit, but even there things feel token and watered down compared to a traditional cRPG. Once again, in those traditional RPGs, you don't need voice acting to make them good (see Baldur's Gate). The compromise between the two genres leaves hardcore MMO number crunchers with blue balls about a lack of features and hardcore RPG roleplayers with a lack of truly interesting choices, customization and content.

 

Am I getting through to you people at all?

 

There's a big difference between not agreeing and not comprehending.

 

I do not agree. IMO, Baldur's Gate 2 was the best RPG I've ever played. What do I mainly remember from it? The voices; "Minsc and Boo, Boo and Minsc" and the incomparable David Warner as the villain; "It's time for some more....experiments." Chilling and awesome.

[Llaera]

I disagree, I quite like the voice acting. As a matter of fact, as a player who almost exclusively played female characters before, I actually play as many (or more) male characters because I find the male Bounty Hunter and Sith Warrior voices to be absolutely delicious.

 

I also find the voice acting in the quests to be a much more interesting way to obtain and turn in quests. I almost never look at my quest log any more. I'll use the locators on the map, but otherwise I enjoy knowing what's going on straight from the NPCs mouth instead of reading the quest like they just passed me a note in the hallway.

[Mackuss]

Personally, I love it. Instead of pounding the accept key, I listen to everything. I actually feel involved in the story.

 

But, if you don't like it, skip it. Stop trying to be an armchair developer and telling bioware to spend the money elsewhere. You can't just shift money and BOOM, new stuff.

 

I actually felt just as involved in the story in WoW than in this game. Excuse me if I can read. Infact, in MOST respects, I feel less involved in SWTOR. Because, well, think about it. Thousands and thousands of other people have played your exact story - you are not the hero. All NPCs have the same 3-4 animation scripts for the entirety of the game - and facial expressions stop and faces go back to a blank, vacant stare at the end of every sentence. I feel like I'm in a crappier, more obvious version of the matrix.

[Aussircaex]

But do you understand the difference between extremely well positioned, unique voice acting (like a GLADOS or a Cave Johnson) and whitewashing the entire game with voice acting in order to cover up the bland, samey, uninteresting core MMO gameplay? That's the problem here, not with voice acting as a whole. GLADOS enhanced an interesting core experience by being one of a kind and amazingly well done. Having GLADOS voice a hundred hours of dialog, most of which thinly explaining why you need to kill 10 manka cats or collect 15 data recorders would get old and irritating.

 

Yes, Valve's use of voice acting in Portals 1 and 2 is excellent, and it enhances the experience. The OP argued that voice acting was utterly useless and a waste of money, since the same words could be read. That's the problem here.

 

Whether you think the voice acting in this particular game succeeds at its goal of enhancing the experience is a valid topic, but irrelevant to the OPs argument. He seems to say it is NEVER worth it; I provided an example in which it is worth it.

[ArmoredJuneBug]

Without the voice acting and frankly awesome music pacing/adoption I probably would give this game a miss for a few months while things are fixed.

 

Right now I'm literally hammering F5 and hoping to quicksave still, agonizing over even standard planetary quest choice to the point that I'm going through conversations 10-15 times and not caring the slightest bit about what level I am.

 

I'm actually rolling more alts just for more story than leveling up my main characters to endgame levels.

 

Luckily it seems my playstyle is the one most catered to, but that isn't really surprising is it?

 

I mean, it's pretty clear this game was meant to put the RPG back into MMO-RPG more than compete with <insert random Korean grinder> for most farming potential at the endgame.

Edited January 28, 2012 by ArmoredJuneBug

[Mackuss]

I completely disagree, OP. You're so wrong it's hard to know where to start.

 

What you're saying, basically, is that movies would be better if you simply read the script while you watch the screen where the actors are just standing there.

 

Well if you have that sort of warped, point A-to-point-A sort of thinking, then I....guess I could see how you interpreted that - even though that's not reality.

 

1 - You have no control over how the story unfolds in a movie. That is part of what a movie is - how it unfolds. A game is not a movie. The comparison is a fallacy.

 

2 - All the side quests (and 90% of class quests) do not affect the main story in any way what so ever, and are there for simply a time sink.

 

3 - With most modern movies, yes, I can guarantee you if I read the script, it would be better than what ends up on screen. (i.e. Skyline).

[Aussircaex]

3 - With most modern movies, yes, I can guarantee you if I read the script, it would be better than what ends up on screen. (i.e. Skyline).

 

I hope you understand then, that this is a rare opinion and that other people don't get more enjoyment out of reading movie scripts than watching the actual movie.

[Mackuss]

The voice acting was a massive resource hog for the development of this game. It was a stupid design decision that is only interesting for so long and past that point becomes boring and time-consuming for the player. Anybody who is saying they don't find it boring either hasn't played that much or have a tolerance for boredom that rivals even the most hardcore Asian Lineage players.

 

Voice acting doesn't make a story interesting. An interesting story make a story interesting. It's like special effects in a movie, a particularly salient notion to consider within the Star Wars universe. Voice acting (like special effects in a movie) is a tool used to convey interesting ideas and to enhance them. If the core meat of the story they are telling isn't interesting or engaging to the audience, dressing it up will only impress the stupid magpies who don't like to think about things too deeply in order to understand them.

 

It's pertinent in the context of Star Wars because so many people were mesmerized by the fancy special effects of the prequel trilogy that they couldn't look past it to see the busted, unengaging, illogical mess of a story, poor cinematography and general design of the movies. Special effects didn't make those movies good, and voice acting doesn't make this game good. Uninteresting filler side content where you go kill 10 guys for no reason is not made interesting by voice acting. It's that simple.

 

It spices up the main storyline for each class a bit, but even there things feel token and watered down compared to a traditional cRPG. Once again, in those traditional RPGs, you don't need voice acting to make them good (see Baldur's Gate). The compromise between the two genres leaves hardcore MMO number crunchers with blue balls about a lack of features and hardcore RPG roleplayers with a lack of truly interesting choices, customization and content.

 

Am I getting through to you people at all?

 

Hi, I'm OP, and I'd like to pass the OP torch to you.

 

Also, no, unfortunately, you're not going to get through to magpies.

Edited January 28, 2012 by Mackuss

[Mashy]

its called boring as hell.

 

its repetative, and who wants to spend 10mins handing in a quest? There is no real choice or impact of the voice acting, its just a time sink. Its ok for class quests, but I'm damm not listening to the side quests which disguise boring kill X collect X quests and are the same for every damm character.

 

Don't have much imagination or patience do you? Probably never read a book either.

[Mackuss]

I think many people seriously undervalue voice acting.

 

What would Portal be without GLaDOS? It'd have been a well-designed curiosity of a puzzle game. The script was what made that game a classic.

 

I thought you were Xugos for a second.

 

Do you realize that's something that goes on in the background WHILE you're playing right?

 

Regardless I'm going to stop there, because the comparison is like saying "hey what's better to stop this fire. Water or fire?"

[Jedlosson]

I totally disagree. I love the voice acting. It breathes life into the game and gives meaning into quests.

[Mackuss]

Actually the problem here is one of simple subjective opinion. What one considers "bland, samey, and uninteresting" others enjoy fully. Rationalizing your opinion in an attempt to have others see your point of view in no way irrationalizes theirs. You dislike the voice acting, others do not. That's the only problem here.

 

I don't tihnk I remember one person, ever, saying that they absolutely love love love killing 15 gangsters, then 30, then 40.

[Aussircaex]

I don't tihnk I remember one person, ever, saying that they absolutely love love love killing 15 gangsters, then 30, then 40.

 

And I don't think I remember one person in this thread defending it. The conversation you started was about whether the voice acting was any good. You don't think so. We disagree. That's the point of the text you quoted.

[Soultranna]

I'm sure there are plenty of other games that limit questgivers to ACCEPT QUEST? <Y/N?>

 

Perhaps you'd like to play them.

 

No no, we won't miss you at all. Really we won't.

[Mackuss]

And I don't think I remember one person in this thread defending it. The conversation you started was about whether the voice acting was any good. You don't think so. We disagree. That's the point of the text you quoted.

 

um...what? You don't remember one person in the thread defending it? You don't even remember the person that the post you quoted, was quoting?

 

What one considers "bland, samey, and uninteresting" others enjoy fully.

 

I don't tihnk I remember one person, ever, saying that they absolutely love love love killing 15 gangsters, then 30, then 40.

 

I'm actually confused at your incoherency. It doesn't get any more blatant and logical than that. Someone said something. I responded to it.

[Aussircaex]

I thought you were Xugos for a second.

 

Do you realize that's something that goes on in the background WHILE you're playing right?

 

Regardless I'm going to stop there, because the comparison is like saying "hey what's better to stop this fire. Water or fire?"

 

Actually, especially in Portal (1), the vast majority of the time, GLaDOS talks to you between puzzles, or between sections of puzzles. Portal 2 actually delays switching to a loading screen so that her dialogue can finish when you get into an elevator. The major exception of course is the final sequence in her room with the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator.

 

That said, Valve's style of never removing player control for cutscenes has been a hallmark of design quality since Half-Life. Is it better than Bioware's design of scripted cutscenes with player dialogue choices? Perhaps, but that doesn't mean the existence of voice acting is completely invalid.

[Spaghetti_Ninja]

I love the voice acting, I've never used the spacebar once. For me, it's what launches this MMO way above any other, and adds a huge amount of replayability. Especially when grouping.

 

It's brilliant, I will be entertained for years to come.

[Aussircaex]

um...what? You don't remember one person in the thread defending it? You don't even remember the person that the post you quoted, was quoting?

 

I'm actually confused at your incoherency. It doesn't get any more blatant and logical than that. Someone said something. I responded to it.

 

My understanding was that that person was referring to whether the voice acting was bland, samey, and uninteresting. That is, I did not read it as having to do with the gameplay itself.

 

Upon reading it again, I can see how I may have misread it.

 

Still, I for one would appreciate it if you at least tried to treat people who disagreed with you with a bit of personal respect. I haven't insulted you or called your ideas stupid, so I would appreciate it if you didn't resort to the personal attack of calling me incoherent.

 

Moving on, I actually agree that the quest goals themselves, such as fetch this, kill that, click that object are indeed repetitive and would be boring. However, I enjoy stories, and the voice acting does a great deal to allow me to engage in the stories and provide justification for why I would want to do it. That allows me to ignore the fact that what I'm doing is the same as I've done before.

[AtomicPenguin]

Voice acting itself isn't a problem at all, and it's extremely well done and adds immersion to parts of the game.

 

The problem that the OP, and the quoted post, seems to be missing is that it's not that the voice acting is there... it's that 90% of the people you talk to really have nothing interesting to say, but say it anyway. The voice acting itself is outstanding and adds to the portions of the game that it's used well in, but there's only so many times you can hear someone tell different variations of how you should fight your way through Imperials to turn the power back on before you start to ignore them.

 

It's compounded a bit by the simplistic responses being:

 

Choice 1) I am good! I'll do it because I'm good.

Choice 2) Well, I guess, pay me for it though.

Choice 3) I am evil! But I'll do it for xp.

 

Put simply, the voice acting works when there's depth to the conversations, and it doesn't when there's not. There's just too many places where the conversation serves no purpose other than to send you out to blast things or turn something back on just because filler was needed in the leveling process.

[sevalaricgirl]

I love the voice acting. I rarely skip through any of it unless it's something I've already done more than four times. It's interesting to hear the different responses from the NPC in how they address my Shadow, Vanguard, Scoundrel, or Guardian. There are many, many things that are the same, but not always.

 

Also, Jennifer Hale is enough to make me listen to anything.

 

Agreed. I love Jennifer Hale and was so silly happy to hear her voice on my commando.

[BadgeredMushroom]

This is what I said during the beta as well. While I enjoy the voice acting the first time, I spacebar through it on alts and I always spacebar through the wookiee-******-pinchy gibberish aliens speak. Does that even really count as voice acting anyway?

 

Frankly, the whole "focus on story" thing is nothing more than a marketing gimmick that works on extremely gullible and/or stupid people. All MMOs have stories, and some even have great ones. That's what in that box with the paragraphs of text most of you disregard while you mouse over to the 'Accept' button. I suppose voice acting is a godsend to the illiterate, but it really is a waste of time and money and the quality of the game content (especially at end game) has obviously suffered due to a waste of resources and a lack of attention.

[krookie]

Voice acting itself isn't a problem at all, and it's extremely well done and adds immersion to parts of the game.

 

The problem that the OP, and the quoted post, seems to be missing is that it's not that the voice acting is there... it's that 90% of the people you talk to really have nothing interesting to say, but say it anyway. The voice acting itself is outstanding and adds to the portions of the game that it's used well in, but there's only so many times you can hear someone tell different variations of how you should fight your way through Imperials to turn the power back on before you start to ignore them.

 

It's compounded a bit by the simplistic responses being:

 

Choice 1) I am good! I'll do it because I'm good.

Choice 2) Well, I guess, pay me for it though.

Choice 3) I am evil! But I'll do it for xp.

 

Put simply, the voice acting works when there's depth to the conversations, and it doesn't when there's not. There's just too many places where the conversation serves no purpose other than to send you out to blast things or turn something back on just because filler was needed in the leveling process.

 

That is actually a very good point.

[TheLonelyTusken]

I dont know where you get your stats, but saying you speak for most people is pretty stupid. Lots of people, including me play just for he immersion, and voice acting is a big part of that. its not their fault you find it so boring, but thats the reason they made it skippable. if you really don't want it so much, its probably not the game for you.