Is it time to get rid of the Voiced Protagonists?

[Cawyden]

ooouu I see! The voices are pretty good in German. Thanks!

 

You really think so? I am german but I play the english version because for me the german voice over sounds terrible. I don't blame the voice actors - they are often very good and known from TV/movies but it just sounds so monotone. I saw a making of once where they spoke about the german voice over for DAI - most of the time they lack the context so they do not really know how the line is supposed to sound.

 

For the english voice over they often even have the writers during the session available who can help with the correct intonation.

 

But back to topic: I hate the Kotor style and love to hear the voice actors. They better don't get rid of them.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Cawyden

[kodrac]

Two things this game has that no other has that keeps me here/returning:

 

1. Star Wars
   
2. Full voice acting
   

 

I doubt they're mutually exclusive though. Drop either and my interest dies out.

[Vember]

There's no doubt that the enormous amount of voice acting in this game has hindered further development. I'm a big fan of the voice acting, but I don't know that I'd want less content because of it.

[Transcendent]

At this point, I'm wondering if it might be for the best if, outside of major scenes/moments/such, the PC went voiceless. Doing the KOTOR style "Pick your option and that's what you said" thing we saw with most of the Alerts in KOTFE.

 

I would dump this game in a heartbeat if they decided to follow the KOTOR rubbish they went with for the Alliance alerts. Wouldn't matter how much content was produced from that point onwards. BioWare set themselves this path, they should stay on it.

[Sarova]

The number that I keep coming back to in SWTOR is 16.

 

That's the number of voice actors that are needed in order to portray a single character in the game at this point. 1 hour of recording time for the PC's lines takes 16 hours to do. 16 different schedules that need to be managed.

 

For one character.

 

At this point, I'm wondering if it might be for the best if, outside of major scenes/moments/such, the PC went voiceless. Doing the KOTOR style "Pick your option and that's what you said" thing we saw with most of the Alerts in KOTFE.

 

Because, and this is without seeing any of Bioware's balance sheets, if the budget will not support a fully voiced story of a decent length and complexity, and the game's budget can't be increased due to reasons of "We need to not lose money"... then maybe it's time to cut something that, while nice, just isn't practical anymore...

If that happened the game would become terrible. It's bad enough that they cheap-skated by adding alliance alerts with the text only responses and no proper interaction. If the whole games goes like this I will be out and I suspect I won't be alone.

 

Are you that faceless BW overlord I talked about in another thread?? It seems like something he might want!

[MissyMI]

At this point, I'm wondering if it might be for the best if, outside of major scenes/moments/such, the PC went voiceless. Doing the KOTOR style "Pick your option and that's what you said" thing we saw with most of the Alerts in KOTFE.

 

Because, and this is without seeing any of Bioware's balance sheets, if the budget will not support a fully voiced story of a decent length and complexity, and the game's budget can't be increased due to reasons of "We need to not lose money"... then maybe it's time to cut something that, while nice, just isn't practical anymore...

 

I get where you're coming from, but for me the voice acting is part of why I'm so invested in the SWTOR characters. While I adore games like Skyrim, sometimes the main character feels like a mannequin. Like you could sub in a cardboard cutout and have basically the same experience.

 

SWTOR is different. Even though some classes share similar combat skills, they feel like completely different characters and I think a lot of that is due to the VAs breathing life into them. I really love that about the game and would hate to see that lost, even if it means the stories come at a slower pace.

[Rion_Starkiller]

If the devs need to save money, I'd be happy with KOTOR-esque alien speech recycled over and over. EX:

 

My favorite tho is twi'lek speech in KOTOR

[lironBD]

Moment thy remove the voiced player character they will lose one of the only things hwich makes this game unique in mmo scene.

 

This is the only MMO in SW universe and it's fully voice (mostly) so once we start sc****** away those two points it will lessen the reason to play this game.

[ThrakhathSpawn]

The number that I keep coming back to in SWTOR is 16.

 

That's the number of voice actors that are needed in order to portray a single character in the game at this point. 1 hour of recording time for the PC's lines takes 16 hours to do. 16 different schedules that need to be managed.

 

For one character.

 

At this point, I'm wondering if it might be for the best if, outside of major scenes/moments/such, the PC went voiceless. Doing the KOTOR style "Pick your option and that's what you said" thing we saw with most of the Alerts in KOTFE.

 

Because, and this is without seeing any of Bioware's balance sheets, if the budget will not support a fully voiced story of a decent length and complexity, and the game's budget can't be increased due to reasons of "We need to not lose money"... then maybe it's time to cut something that, while nice, just isn't practical anymore...

 

All they had to do was write separate write three chapters where each class plays its own part in a bigger storyline. Instead of KOTET/KOTFE which destroyed our characters, an advancement of our characters would of made the RP-ers much happier.

 

The total amount of chapters released would be less, the quality of those chapters would be up. The voice acting load on main characters would be down.

 

It is frankly the voice acting that is the one thing that has kept me with this game instead of moving elsewhere. This is the only MMO that does it that I am aware of.

 

However, I also with the continuation on the new story arc, did a full account character deletion to wipe KOTFE/KOTFE from my legacy. That story was awful, and anything they do that adds onto it doesn't really matter to me. However, the lack of new story(from my perspective) can slowly push away.

Edited August 25, 2017 by ThrakhathSpawn

[ImmortalLowlife]

The number that I keep coming back to in SWTOR is 16.

 

That's the number of voice actors that are needed in order to portray a single character in the game at this point. 1 hour of recording time for the PC's lines takes 16 hours to do. 16 different schedules that need to be managed.

 

For one character.

 

At this point, I'm wondering if it might be for the best if, outside of major scenes/moments/such, the PC went voiceless. Doing the KOTOR style "Pick your option and that's what you said" thing we saw with most of the Alerts in KOTFE.

 

Because, and this is without seeing any of Bioware's balance sheets, if the budget will not support a fully voiced story of a decent length and complexity, and the game's budget can't be increased due to reasons of "We need to not lose money"... then maybe it's time to cut something that, while nice, just isn't practical anymore...

 

Short answer.... no. They take away the fully voiced stories....I quit. Plain and simple.

 

And I very seriously doubt it takes 16hrs. I've run a recording studio for nearly 20yrs now. And when the artist is prepared, it cuts down on recording time considerably. I myself have recorded 4 songs (3 verses & the hook) in under an hour. If it takes professional voice actors more than an hour to record every player character line in KotFE, they probably need to get better actors.

[aerockyul]

As much as I hate the direction a lot of the story has gone/is going, the VA's are a beacon of consistency and excellence. Can always count on them to do the best they can, even with questionable material.

 

I would be gone if they got rid of the VAs. It was/is bad enough with the alliance alerts.

I would also be gone if they cut the fem SI and SW actors alone. That would be all it took for me to uninstall. Listening to my main's wonderful voice was enough to make up for the madness with the new patch.

[Pietrastor]

No. Silent Player Characters are perfectly fine if that's the direction a game takes but if they chose to have Voiced PC, they need to stick to it. Alliance Alerts scream "we ran out of budget at this point" because of lack of voiced PC lines, it's jarring when compared to the rest of the game. Edited August 25, 2017 by Pietrastor

[Kenthros]

I could go ether way. I enjoy the characters and story with the voice actors they bring the game to life. That said if thats the reason why the stories have been one story fits all and makes no sense then I would rather have no VO. These stories in the last expansion here throne and empire are for a force user and make no sense for a non force user, id rather there be branches of different story that make your choices mean something kinda like how old dragon age and old kotor. Of course I would love the VO as I said it brings this game to life and the actors do a very good job, but if I had to make a hard choice id rather have the better larger more sense making story.

[americanaussie]

No. Silent Player Characters are perfectly fine if that's the direction a game takes but if they chose to have Voiced PC, they need to stick to it. Alliance Alerts scream "we ran out of budget at this point" because of lack of voiced PC lines, it's jarring when compared to the rest of the game.

 

The alliance alerts happened during the strike.

[americanaussie]

I would unsub and never play again. Might as well go to WoW. I play SWTOR for the stories and cutscenes. I have done ops and PvP but they aren't what keeps me here.

[Mubrak]

Personally I don't care that much about voice acting in general. Even in 2017 I can still have a blast with games that are completely silent or just have VO for the NPC's first line like Baldur's Gate had in important conversations.

 

But once I got used to how a game plays going one step back is disturbing. I avoid non-voiced mods in games like Skyrim because it simply doesn't feel right. The inconsistency slaps you in the face and tells you there's something different. This is how the alliance alerts feel to me, like mods I wouldn't install if I had the choice.

 

It's also too late to remove all protagonist voice acting in the 1-50 content. This would make the game consistent, but I'm already spoiled and would consider it a big loss for the game.

[RagnarAugustus]

They do that and many many folks will be gone. That's part of the attraction of this game is being able to vicariously live the life of your character. I haven't even done many alerts because of the lack of dialogue.

 

I couldn't have said it better!

[Eanelinea]

If they ever got rid of the cutscenes and voice acting on both sides, me the player, and my companions, npcs, etc. I would quit this game and talk absolute **** about this game on every social media board I could find.

 

If I wanted boring and silent *** game play, I would have stuck with Everquest or WoW.

 

I AM HERE MAINLY FOR THE CUTSCENES, VOICE ACTING AND STORY!!!!!!!!!

 

I like ops, pvp, etc, but STORY is what has kept me here for SIX YEARS!

[Storm-Cutter]

I for one can't wait until the whole game goes text only. Some of us are old enough to remember when solo- adventures were just that. - Away with your voiced & graphical interfaces!

 

/ sarcasm.

 

The more they cut corners the more people leave and/or don't return. It's become a race to the bottom. Last person gets to turn off the servers and put the lights and the cat out....

Edited August 26, 2017 by Storm-Cutter

[Hudlar]

I'll put in another vote against this. I used to be fine with voiceless protagonists, but now that I've gotten used to voiced and animated characters, I have a really hard time connecting with a voiceless one. I know this because I recently replayed Dragon Age: Origins, which I loved when I first played it, and I was surprised by how disconnected I felt from my character.

 

In SWTOR, I can live with the KOTOR-style alerts and text-only or voice-only side quests and dailies. However, if they ever switched to a voiceless protagonist in the main story, I suspect I'd end up losing interest in the game.