Would you accept no voiceovers if it meant more frequent content?

[chuixupu]

You just reminded me how the only reason Reboot was cancelled was because the voice actor for megabyte died

That's probably not really the reason, there are tons of cartoons where a VA just left because their contract was up (and in some cases, passed away) and they just replaced them with a new voice. Probably more to do with Disney purchasing the network and the show not getting as good ratings as they'd like, but something like death would just be the nail in the coffin, so to speak.

[ImpactHound]

That's probably not really the reason, there are tons of cartoons where a VA just left because their contract was up (and in some cases, passed away) and they just replaced them with a new voice. Probably more to do with Disney purchasing the network and the show not getting as good ratings as they'd like, but something like death would just be the nail in the coffin, so to speak.

 

He really did die though.

 

Sealab 2021 did a final contractual season after Cpt. Murphy's VA died too, but it was noticably worse for it.

Edited September 16, 2013 by ImpactHound

[Anysao]

When it comes to dailies, I prefer the mission terminal style, just for speed and immersion reasons (A soldier asking you to do his work every day? Not the best for immersion...) Surprisingly, most voice overs for future content are already ready in-game, thanks to datamining.

 

But I think I'll cast my vote. I wouldn't mind so much for me to talk to aliens all day. But lead characters like you, Sith Lords, Jedi Masters, and other political figures should remain voiced.

 

Edit: Just cast my vote... it's exactly tied at 50%-50%. Interesting...

Edited September 16, 2013 by Anysao

[chuixupu]

He really did die though.

 

Where did I say that he didn't? I just said his death is probably not the real reason why the show was canceled. I guess I did type that out in a confusing way now that i look at it.

Edited September 16, 2013 by chuixupu

[ImpactHound]

Where did I say that he didn't? I just said his death is probably not the real reason why the show was canceled.

 

Just the way it was worded, I wanted to be clear.

 

EDIT: Soul Reaver! That was the other big thing he did, he was the Guardian, the elder death god-thing narrating and manipulating the series.

Edited September 16, 2013 by ImpactHound

[chuixupu]

Yeah I realized after I re-read it that it could be interpreted that way, my bad.

 

But back on topic, I'm honestly shocked that people would vote for less voice-overs at all. Notice not many of them actually have said anything in the thread, though. I guess the type of people that aren't interested in voice overs are just click and move on type of people that don't want to hear, read, or think about anything, lol.

 

Remember the Chevin event and how our characters didn't talk at all? That honestly really disturbed me.

[mikebevo]

Edit: Just cast my vote... it's exactly tied at 50%-50%. Interesting...

Is that really a surprise. I mean no matter what bioware does 1/2 the people hate it. They really can't win for losing, someone is always ticked.

 

I also vote no, don't really care on the rest of my toons, but I can't wait to hear what my female smuggler will say next.

Edited September 16, 2013 by mikebevo

[NSStember]

Absolutely not. The complete VoiceOvers are what sets TOR above and apart from the mass of other MMORPGs out there. This is the future of online games, why step back?

[Jrea]

They really don't need that many voice overs though,

 

Enough character speaking has been recorded that it can be reused of almost any situation, and most npc don't really need voice acting anyways. Droid speak and alien speak worked just fine in the Movies.

[Trevalon]

Do what Besthesda does and have unique and general VOs.

 

Example: Satele Shan or Darth Marr get their own VOs. Random quest givers or non story characters get one of fourteen VOs who rotate around for variety's sake.

 

 

NOOOO, I love Bethesda games, but I hated the fact that they used like 5 Voice Actors for every voice in game. Every other male character in Skyrim sounded like the Jarl of Whiterun...

 

If your going to do Voice Acting then don't go cheap on it - not everyone should sound the same.

[jorill]

In all honesty they have ramped down the vo's starting with the terminals in the black hole. One thing i like about flashpoints is there at least is a semblance of story in them. Doing voice overs probably is a lot faster to do than to actually do the coding for the content. As long as there isnt a scheduling conflict holding it up

[mmjarec]

So they are cutting back on their most touted and unique feature. Makes perfect sense for bioware

[Heal-To-Full]

With only a few exceptions, the majority of the missions in TOR have fully voiced dialog. While this certainly adds to the immersion of the game, it also makes the content development process more expensive and time consuming.

By just how much?

 

Voice is cheap, since all of us got one. Celebrity VA is expensive, but your run of the mill voicever starts at $5 per 1,000 words with $20 about the average and rising to $40-$200 for finished professional work.

It costs a lot more than that to make the content behind these 1,000 voice acted words.

 

And as to the time consuming - lolwut? Devs make the content, send their text to the voice department, VA works in the background while the content is being debugged. You can even do the voices while content's on the PTS, although they're quick enough to do that there's no need.

 

Plus, they already cut down on voice acting by using terminals for trash quests and reusing player character (thus sometimes celebrity VA) lines for a few.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Heal-To-Full

[mmjarec]

By just how much?

 

Voice is cheap, since all of us got one. Celebrity VA is expensive, but your run of the mill voicever starts at $5 per 1,000 words with $20 about the average and rising to $40-$200 for finished professional work.

It costs a lot more than that to make the content behind these 1,000 voice acted words.

 

And as to the time consuming - lolwut? Devs make the content, send their text to the voice department, VA works in the background while the content is being debugged. You can even do the voices while content's on the PTS, although they're quick enough to do that there's no need.

 

Plus, they already cut down on voice acting by using terminals for trash quests and reusing player character (thus sometimes celebrity VA) lines for a few.

 

If its so cheap and consumes so little time then:

A) why would they cut back if its their own distinctive feature

B) if they are cutting back on their most touted feature and is so simple they look like idiots

Aside from it being star wars and having VO then it is just a very mediocre mmo

[Solloby]

The voiceovers are what make this MMO special and immersive, and they do wonders for replayability too.

[Heal-To-Full]

If its so cheap and consumes so little time then:

A) why would they cut back if its their own distinctive feature

Because it still costs money and you don't need VA for trash quests.

[mmjarec]

Because it still costs money and you don't need VA for trash quests.

 

They are removing it just for trash quests. It was the one reason it made story quests so cool. Now that they are getting rid of class quests i guess they dont need voice overs. Planetary quests are crap anyhow why add voice to them

[DmdShiva]

But the first time I hear "I used to be a Jedi like you" i'm muting the damn thing.

 

Well, then, you won't want this shirt.

[Cortimi]

Now what in the actual Hell would possess me to want lesser, inferior content more frequently? Do you kids actually think about what you post and how you sound? "This steak didn't get to me instantly, therefore I want a BigMac because McDonald's is better.". No, just no. Shut up, go away, get some damn patience and stop trying to crappify every single thing of quality.

[FromTheDuDe]

Now what in the actual Hell would possess me to want lesser, inferior content more frequently? Do you kids actually think about what you post and how you sound? "This steak didn't get to me instantly, therefore I want a BigMac because McDonald's is better.". No, just no. Shut up, go away, get some damn patience and stop trying to crappify every single thing of quality.

 

And what about tor is "quality"? Most of it is reskinned crap or recycled ****.

[mmjarec]

And what about tor is "quality"? Most of it is reskinned crap or recycled ****.

 

Dont forget the awsome engine its beyond recycled and revived i dont even know the right term for something that fubar. This engine is like release a 2013 mazda miyata in 2025 and calling it new

[ScarletBlaze]

No I wouldn't.

[Marb]

The quote from James Ohlen is taken out of context slightly. The cost of making swtor was ...huge, one of the most expensive games ever made. People on the outside assumed it was because of the ambitious undertaking of the biggest VO project in history, but as James pointed out, the proportion of the cost that was spent on VO was not as much as people would think.

 

The point is that VO is expensive, it's just that the development cost blowouts to do with difficulties working with the hero engine was main reason the game cost so much to make. VO is expensive, but as a proportion of the overall cost to make swtor, it wasn't that much.

 

Bioware does need to be smarter with how they use VO in future content, even going so far as to save major VO work for progressions of the main story chapters, relying on more creative and sparing use of voiced dialog for everything else. Compromising on core narrative VO would compromise the entire premise of the game.

 

Imagine an epic world story arc composed entirely of non-basic speaking alien quest givers and mission terminals, punctuated by generic stock yes/maybe/no player character responses!

Edited September 18, 2013 by Marb

[mmjarec]

The quote from James Ohlen is taken out of context slightly. The cost of making swtor was ...huge, one of the most expensive games ever made. People on the outside assumed it was because of the ambitious undertaking of the biggest VO project in history, but as James pointed out, the proportion of the cost that was spent on VO was not as much as people would think.

 

The point is that VO is expensive, it's just that the development cost blowouts to do with difficulties working with the hero engine was main reason the game cost so much to make. VO is expensive, but as a proportion of the overall cost to make swtor, it wasn't that much.

 

Bioware does need to be smarter with how they use VO in future content, even going so far as to save major VO work for progressions of the main story chapters, relying on more creative and sparing use of voiced dialog for everything else. Compromising on core narrative VO would compromise the entire premise of the game.

 

Imagine an epic world story arc composed entirely of non-basic speaking alien quest givers and mission terminals, punctuated by generic stock yes/maybe/no player character responses!

 

So basically they spent more money to modify an already crap engine to make it run in a way it wasnt designed to instead of using a cheaper engine with functionality. Why again did they do this?

[Arkerus]

So basically they spent more money to modify an already crap engine to make it run in a way it wasnt designed to instead of using a cheaper engine with functionality. Why again did they do this?

 

Already crap engine?

 

Unqualified statement.

 

Way it wasn't designed to?

 

Unqualified statement

 

Instead of using a cheaper engine with functionality?

 

Assumption with unqualified statement