Stops being a role-playing game for me when a character has a voice. I'm extremely late to the Dragon Age party as I've been swimming around in Fallout settings and Warhammer Online among the many other epic PC and console titles we're seeing in this golden age of awesome. lol But
having a voice for a PC in a RPG is a deal breaker for me, if there's no option for a silent character, I simply won't buy the game. It's usually the same for shooters with me too. I prefer a silent Blaskowitz to a vocal one. If Doom 4 ships with a voiced Doomguy I'll be more than a little disgruntled and I won't be parting with my cash to get it.
Annoying enough not having a silent option in DA:O even for those quick quips. Example: "Would you like a ladder, so you can get off my back?" No, I'd like a silent option, so the character that I created isn't seemingly talking to no one in his American accent when I've clicked for him to investigate a chest.
Waaaay back with Icewind Dale and the like you could choose a voice set - which were almost always very, VERY American (Mark Hamill as a rogue anyone?) - or you choose not to have one, making your character silent even in those moments when he could have been shouting, "Dash and slash!" in a thick New Yorker accent - he'd instead be quiet.
Are we going backwards removing these options? Yes. We are. The more options a game has the better.What exactly is role-playing... anyway? For me it is
creating a character (and to play that role),
creating a background (and to remain true to it, in character, in that role),
creating a skill set (to complement the background I'm remaining true to, in character, while playing a role). It offers
unique experiences, unique characters, and unique restrictions and choices across the board
for many thousands of players. Not only does
a silent character have more character, but it also has something
no two players experience in the same way, as they're providing the voice and background and name, and how the character came to have that name all for themselves. What is having a voice, and a forced background? It's a Tomb Raider game. You're playing Lara, or a male variant of that name. S/he speaks a certain way. Has a certain background. Your options are being whittled down to basic choices you find in more linear games, and your
experiences become almost identical from one player to the next. I don't fully understand why devs are moving toward
multiple starting locations and backgrounds (good thing) and yet at the same time
restricting the freedom of player imagination by providing a voice, and a name etc (bad thing).
BioWare especially offering awesome RP experiences like KotOR, and then swiping the players' contribution to character creation from under their noses with a revelation that your character isn’t who you thought he was... rendering all your input pretty much pointless. All the decisions you made based on your character was. Ah, s'all the creation of a council of Jedi. All fake.
Sorry, you’re this guy or gal! Did you honestly think we’d let you create your character in an RPG? Ha ha.
Voice and named characters for me amounts to the
same character for everyone with minor differences in appearance and skill sets. The basic character customisation found in games such as EA's Godfather and it's dire sequel. Is he a scrapper or a gunslinger? Such EPIC choices! Though it doesn't really matter, because he's the same guy either way! Woo!
Also,
there's a danger I won't like the voice acting in any game, and when it comes to the main protagonist, there's a real danger I won't like him or her because I find him or her annoying. If I don't like the character, I won't like the journey, if I don't like the journey, I won't like the game, and if I don't like the game... what's the bloody point? I'm yet to dislike the PC in any game that the PC has been ENTIRELY my creation. Let the other genres have their star heroes, RPGs deserve better, and the people to provide BETTER are the people playing the game. We the gamers. S'the devs job to set the stage, that's all. They're trespassing on my turf as a RP gamer. IMO
Sorry for the bold but I figured some folk would just like to skim read the bold in this 'too long' post. Ha. 
Modifié par Drachjinor, 23 février 2011 - 11:28 .
Retour en haut
