131 réponses à ce sujet

[Jacks Smirking Revenge]

I don't understand. You are upset with her accent? Her accent is perfect for her setting. She is from Fereldon which is based of England, and her accent is very English to me at least. Or was it the "Tis" and other words that bothered you? I imagine a women that has spent that long in a Forest and is learning her accent from her Mother and the books she gets to read which her being a mage are probably wrote in a sophisticated tone like that. Doesn't seem unrealistic or out of character for her setting that she would use words like "Tis" since they were probably quite common in the literature she was reading.

[InvaderErl]

DarthCaine wrote...

The only problem I had with Morrigan's VA is that I knew that it was Claudia Black and kept imagining her face whenever Morrigan spoke

That's a problem?

[Heldelance]

Mind you Flemeth is ancient, she would most certainly be a learned and experienced woman. Morrigan grew up with Flemeth as her teacher. Do you not think that Flemeth's mannerisms would have rubbed off on her? If you recall, when you talk to Morrigan in several of her talks, she mentions that she watches cities and towns.

Back to Flemeth though, notice that she isn't a country bumpkin. She's rather smart, example: the treaties. Example: her discourse on "What motivates a man?".



Claudia Black's voice and the attitude she adopts is spot on.

[Ryngard]

Yeah I'm sorry but I totally disagree with the OP. Claudia Black is amazingly talented, her voice makes me melt like butter.



Secondly I think Claudia's voice fit Morrigan perfectly. I think the OP is hung up on something that isn't relevant... yeah I'm sorry but your opinions are ok for you to have but my opinion is that you are 100% wrong.



What you want her to huff and grunt like some feral cavewoman? Come on man... this thread is just silly.

[Nadia]

In my opinion Morrigan's voice actress is perfect, not only Claudia sounds intelligent,original and distinctive but also she looks a lot like Morrigan !!! She was a brilliant choice for being Morrigan! Though I don't like the character it has nothing to do with her perfectly suitable voice.

[Knal1991]

jermungand wrote...
....................................................................................................................................................................................................
 If you're raised in isolation, there is no way that you will be able to relate to people.  There's no way that a woman could be learn to act so seductively without having had any interpersonal experience with men. 

MAGIC!

[GODzilla]

Well...I guess it's really hard to play games...being a linguist!

But to think a company would waste money by paying a linguist to help choose their voiceover cast doesn't need a scientist, it needs a complete fool.

Modifié par GODzilla_GSPB, 05 septembre 2010 - 05:14 .

[Shepard77]

 Well, OP, I do see where you're coming from here.

However, have you thought about the possibility that Morrigan speaks the way she does not in spite of her isolated upbringing, but because of it?

I've always been under the impression that Morrigan's dialect was more akin to how the people of Ferelden spoke in the past, while what we hear most commonly in the game is a more modern variation of the same dialect. If we assume that much of Morrgan's upbringing was spent isolated and lost in Felemeth's old books and spell books, (where this dialect would be common) then its not a stretch at all to assume that she would adopt the speech of what she is most familiar with.

Freshmen year of college I met a guy who was home schooled his whole life. Nice guy, really smart. He spoke almost perfect english but he never used slang or any modernized variations of words or lingo. It was kind of odd hearing him speak, almost an accent unto itself. I imagine Morrigan in a similar circumstance.

tl;dr Morrigan's dialect is how the people of Ferelden once spoke. She learned to speak like that from reading old books from Flemeth's past. 

Modifié par Shepard77, 05 septembre 2010 - 05:32 .

[jermungand]

I created this thread to put forward an ARTISTIC CRITICISM.  If I look like a troll to anyone, it's because a frightening number of people have been turning down the opportunity to provide feedback to my opinion, in favor of abuse. 

A number of people have called me crazy, or a fool without even offering so much respect as actually providing feedback to the points I've made.  That's grievously insulting.  It's like having an orange thrown at you for expressing your opinion.  If you want to have a discussion, know that there are generally accepted rules as to how people do this. If you don't understand these rules, go to a special socialization workshop with a very patient group therapist.  Or don't, and just try to avoid barging into a discussion in order to throw a proverbial orange at whoever is talking.  Sheesh, it's not like I need to apologize to you for my opinion about Morrigan's accent.

Or perhaps you're someone who simply saw me in the middle of this mess and quickly made the oddly democratic conclusion that it's my fault, since I'm the one in the center  At this point, I'm just protecting myself from an orange-barrage, and trying to deliver those oranges back to where they came from.  Sorry if I don't look like the picture of joviality, but it's hard for me to look sportsmanlike under overwhelming antagonizing pressure such as this.  Do you know anyone who could manage? --- In fact, you don't because nobody can in these circumstances.  Put yourself in my shoes for a minute.

And then there's the chicken-man.  I remember his avatar but I forget his screen-name: the gentleman from New York who confused me because he relatively unaware of the breadth and variety of British accents.  He took my confusion to be hostility, apparently, and then made the choice of responding in kind.  It just went downhill from there.  I want to sincerely apologize to this man for the way things went and the horrible misunderstanding that caused this decline.  Really, I am so terribly sorry.

And that's it, as far as I can see.  If there is any undue courseness on my part that anyone wishes to hold me accountable for, bring it up --- but don't rile things up.  Please.  This bandwagon that's formed absoloutely passes beyond undue courseness, by a mind-blowing astrometric measure.

Modifié par jermungand, 05 septembre 2010 - 09:44 .

[Aratark]

As someone who has lived all over Britain, from North London to North Scotland, and many points in between, and has had the dubious pleasure of interacting with a number of aristocratic indivisuals, the point you make about her having an aristocratic accent is blatantly bunkum. I won't argue that she is well spoken, but that on it's own doesn't make one's tone aristocratic.



Her social isolation would make her more likely to act in this strange aristocratic manner you speak of. With her mother being the only regular contact she has with people, her spying notwithstanding, she would have learned one way to act, and that would be the way her mother treated her. As a result, when she starts interacting with other people, and we can only assume that the social interaction with the wardens is her first, as, AFAIR, there is no mention of previous, she would act to them the same way her mother acted to her.



But these are only my opinions.

[Cyberstrike nTo]

Morrigan is probably my least favorite character in Dragon Age: Origins I don't like her attitude, (the same with Jack in Mass Effect 2). So I guess Claudia Black did an excellent job of making me not liking her, since she performed the character's dialog.

Modifié par Cyberstrike nTo, 05 septembre 2010 - 09:19 .

[jermungand]

Aratark wrote...

As someone who has lived all over Britain, from North London to North Scotland, and many points in between, and has had the dubious pleasure of interacting with a number of aristocratic indivisuals, the point you make about her having an aristocratic accent is blatantly bunkum. I won't argue that she is well spoken, but that on it's own doesn't make one's tone aristocratic.

Her social isolation would make her more likely to act in this strange aristocratic manner you speak of. With her mother being the only regular contact she has with people, her spying notwithstanding, she would have learned one way to act, and that would be the way her mother treated her. As a result, when she starts interacting with other people, and we can only assume that the social interaction with the wardens is her first, as, AFAIR, there is no mention of previous, she would act to them the same way her mother acted to her.

But these are only my opinions.

Interesting.  Blatantly bunkum?  It's bizarre, the other British person totally seemed to agree with me on that one.

Still though, isn't it more than a little odd for her to be so well-spoken when she's only  interacted with one person for virtually her entire life?  I think being well-spoken would have to go hand in hand with having a much larger pool of potential conversation-havers.

[jermungand]

Cyberstrike nTo wrote...

Morrigan is probably my least favorite character in Dragon Age: Origins I don't like her attitude, (the same with Jack in Mass Effect 2). So I guess Claudia Black did an excellent job of making me not liking her, since she performed the character's dialog.

In that, no doubt, she excelled spectaculary.

Modifié par jermungand, 05 septembre 2010 - 09:35 .

[jermungand]

Knal1991 wrote...

jermungand wrote...
....................................................................................................................................................................................................
 If you're raised in isolation, there is no way that you will be able to relate to people.  There's no way that a woman could be learn to act so seductively without having had any interpersonal experience with men. 

MAGIC!

LOL.  When I first started playing, I sort of thought she had been putting the move on things she met in the Fade.

Modifié par jermungand, 06 septembre 2010 - 08:20 .

[jermungand]

Shepard77 wrote...

 Well, OP, I do see where you're coming from here.

However, have you thought about the possibility that Morrigan speaks the way she does not in spite of her isolated upbringing, but because of it?

I've always been under the impression that Morrigan's dialect was more akin to how the people of Ferelden spoke in the past, while what we hear most commonly in the game is a more modern variation of the same dialect. If we assume that much of Morrgan's upbringing was spent isolated and lost in Felemeth's old books and spell books, (where this dialect would be common) then its not a stretch at all to assume that she would adopt the speech of what she is most familiar with.

Freshmen year of college I met a guy who was home schooled his whole life. Nice guy, really smart. He spoke almost perfect english but he never used slang or any modernized variations of words or lingo. It was kind of odd hearing him speak, almost an accent unto itself. I imagine Morrigan in a similar circumstance.

tl;dr Morrigan's dialect is how the people of Ferelden once spoke. She learned to speak like that from reading old books from Flemeth's past. 

Wow. You're story about that dude has really gotten me thinking.

I don't really understand what you're saying about her dialect though.  Her dialect (variation upon the language itself), is identical to the English everybody speaks.  Her accent is what I've been on to.  That can't be read off the page of a book (if it were, I would definitely have an urge to go find a book written by Patrick Stewart).


What did that dude sound like?

Modifié par jermungand, 05 septembre 2010 - 10:19 .

[TJPags]

The chicken guy is aware there are a variety of British accents.  Turns out though, it's not even British, it's Australian - I did point out earlier I wasn't sure which.  And yes, I'm also aware there are a variety of Australian accents.

None of them automatically scream "high class" to me.  Sorry, but that's how it is.  Does to you?  Well, good for you.

As for how she got it?  From her mother.  You disagree because her mother is the only person she was exposed to?  Well, first, that's not true.  But even if it was, it would make it all the more reasonable, as she would have no competing accents to assimilate into her speech patterns.

As for my perceived (by you) hostility.  You're the one who assumed I was either non English speaking, young, or naive, because I disagreed with you.  That's hostile.  I pointed out how you were incorrect on all three points.  You responded with another post which I interpreted as somewhat insulting.

However, if that was all a misunderstanding, fair enough.  I apologize also, for anything you perceived as hostile.

Moving on now.

[mughzee]

I've Never heard a voice like Morrigan's. I loved it. was actually attracted to the character...dirty little digital hooker I am.

[Marko GW]

The voice of Claudia is magnificent but the OP does have a point, it's a bit too much like a lady and high-class. Although it's a bit unreal for her to be like that, I love Morrigan and I love the way she's been made.

[jermungand]

TJPags wrote...

The chicken guy is aware there are a variety of British accents.  Turns out though, it's not even British, it's Australian - I did point out earlier I wasn't sure which.  And yes, I'm also aware there are a variety of Australian accents.

None of them automatically scream "high class" to me.  Sorry, but that's how it is.  Does to you?  Well, good for you.

As for how she got it?  From her mother.  You disagree because her mother is the only person she was exposed to?  Well, first, that's not true.  But even if it was, it would make it all the more reasonable, as she would have no competing accents to assimilate into her speech patterns.

As for my perceived (by you) hostility.  You're the one who assumed I was either non English speaking, young, or naive, because I disagreed with you.  That's hostile.  I pointed out how you were incorrect on all three points.  You responded with another post which I interpreted as somewhat insulting.

However, if that was all a misunderstanding, fair enough.  I apologize also, for anything you perceived as hostile.

Moving on now.

I didn't quite catch the "all three points" thing though.  I mean, I was never actually trying to make a point when I said you were foreign.  That was just a very bad and unproductive release of my frustration, tacked on the end of a point made earlier.  It wasn't actually an issue to me where you were from, or how old you were, not that it isn't a pleasure to know:) (I'm 23 and am from California myself).  But you're right, I did let my frustration get to my head, and in so doing I did very carelessly blow a completely undeserved gust of hot air in your direction.  It was really unconscionable of me to blow you off like I did, and I hope you accept my apology because do feel really bad about having treated you in that offending manner.

I does seem a little curious to me that out of all the British and Australian accents in the world, none of them sound high class to you.  This is undoubtedly a first among all the people I have ever met, and probably the last among all people I will ever meet before I die (no offense intended).  When you think of a "high class" accent, just where would you say it comes from? 

It's universally accepted that among British (and related) accents that some variations in particular are regarded as belonging to refined/well groomed society.  This is the premise from which I draw my point.  My personal values, as you say, have nothing to do with this concept.  These accent-archtypes were there long before either of us were alive and could have values, even if our values had any bearing on this.

As for Morrigan's exposure to people other than her mother, she does tend to avoid all those people.  Her little trek through civilization was just a very short lived little escapade in her distant childhood.  Probably lasted about a month.  Apart from that, she's a total cutoff.  It doesn't sound like it leaves a whole lot of interaction to me.<_<

Modifié par jermungand, 06 septembre 2010 - 08:25 .

[SmokePants]

This isn't even about regional accents, this is about diction and elocution. Morrigan chooses and strings words together in a manner that is reminiscent of someone who has read a lot of old books.

Whether she read them because her parents were wealthy and paid for an advanced education or because her quasi-immortal mother was forcing her to learn arcane spells doesn't really matter, does it?

She comes by her condescension honestly.

Modifié par SmokePants, 06 septembre 2010 - 09:53 .

[Alexia89]

jermungand wrote...

Anyway, noble or not, her particular brand of British accent and mannerism are definitely too refined for someone who has been living her sort of life,  and that's not just "my values/thoughts".

You must be american...and an ignorant one at that. That is not a brittish accent

[casedawgz]

Yeah, Claudia Black is Australian. I've heard worse British accents. But I've heard better.

[Jayce]

jermungand wrote...

Despite all the character and detail Bioware lavished upon the witch, I could never really find Morrigan believable enough to be interesting, and now I know why.  They gave her a ladylike, upper class accent. What ON EARTH were the creators even THINKING?  She's a complete outsider to society, raised in a shack in the woods by a crazy witch-mom where she does her freaky wierd-sister stuff, but as soon as she opens her mouth she's some stuck up countess. <_<

Err, setting aside the fact that Claudia Black is an Aussie, there's no such thing as an 'upperclass' accent. All British accents are regional, with the exception of Recieved Pronunciation, (sometimes called the Queen's/King's English) which was largely used on Radio and Film last century because of the plethora of regional accents.

It's the same with Bodahn Feddic, the dwarf merchant. People couldn't place his accent because his voice actor, Dwight Schultz, kept bouncing between a Brummie (Birmingham/Coventry) and a cockney (East London/ Essex) accent, sometimes in the same sentence.

 It's universally accepted that among British (and related) accents that some variations in particular are regarded as belonging to refined/well groomed society.  This is the premise from which I draw my point.  My personal values, as you say, have nothing to do with this concept.  These accent-archtypes were there long before either of us were alive and could have values, even if our values had any bearing on this.

It's not universally accepted at all, it's an american stereotype along with bad teeth and bowler hats.

Modifié par Jayce F, 06 septembre 2010 - 06:31 .

[Shepard77]

jermungand wrote...

Shepard77 wrote...

 Well, OP, I do see where you're coming from here.

However, have you thought about the possibility that Morrigan speaks the way she does not in spite of her isolated upbringing, but because of it?

I've always been under the impression that Morrigan's dialect was more akin to how the people of Ferelden spoke in the past, while what we hear most commonly in the game is a more modern variation of the same dialect. If we assume that much of Morrgan's upbringing was spent isolated and lost in Felemeth's old books and spell books, (where this dialect would be common) then its not a stretch at all to assume that she would adopt the speech of what she is most familiar with.

Freshmen year of college I met a guy who was home schooled his whole life. Nice guy, really smart. He spoke almost perfect english but he never used slang or any modernized variations of words or lingo. It was kind of odd hearing him speak, almost an accent unto itself. I imagine Morrigan in a similar circumstance.

tl;dr Morrigan's dialect is how the people of Ferelden once spoke. She learned to speak like that from reading old books from Flemeth's past. 

Wow. You're story about that dude has really gotten me thinking.

I don't really understand what you're saying about her dialect though.  Her dialect (variation upon the language itself), is identical to the English everybody speaks.  Her accent is what I've been on to.  That can't be read off the page of a book (if it were, I would definitely have an urge to go find a book written by Patrick Stewart).


What did that dude sound like?

Glad it got you thinking.

Actually I believe it is her dialect you've been on to. She has an english accent the same as the majority of Ferelden. Its her tendency to string words together, sharply pronounce each syllable, and her use of words like tis, thus, and though in common speech that makes her seem so posh and aristocratic, not her accent. 

So no, an accent cant be learned from a book but a dialect certainly can. If I grew reading nothing but Shakespeare its safe to say my speech pattern and word choice would be very different from someone who grew up on nothing but Orwell.  

Dialect is a regional or social variety of a language distinguished by either its grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary. Especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern . Her accent in and of itself is very similar to the way other characters speak but its her unique dialect that seperates her. Like cockney to the british. Accents refer only to pronunciation. 

Unless you're trying to say that Morrigan doesn't have a British accent?

[jermungand]

Alexia89 wrote...

jermungand wrote...

Anyway, noble or not, her particular brand of British accent and mannerism are definitely too refined for someone who has been living her sort of life,  and that's not just "my values/thoughts".

You must be american...and an ignorant one at that. That is not a brittish accent

:?Ugh!!  Oh for the love of GOD...

Okay, I can say "British or closely derived accent" every single time I mention it, if you really think it's required of me that I do so.  People so far have understood what I mean, and to me that's enough.  I'm saying that her accent, from within the greater collection of accents that are derivative of British, hers sounds pretty posh for someone with her background.  If you are really want to act like such an irritating square:police:, and go so far as to insult me in the process, go away.

Modifié par jermungand, 06 septembre 2010 - 07:28 .