30 réponses à ce sujet

[TheMyron]

Which do you prefer; when you can hear your character speak, (like in Mass Effect), or when your character's responses can be made but are silent (like in Dragon age)?

[Dominus]

I have no particular preference. The only RPGs I grew up with were of the JRPG variety(FF7-8, Chrono Cross) and didn't involve player choice. By the time I got to the conversational option games, my player tastes had already been built in. The voice doesn't really make much difference to me as I don't really roleplay in-game.

May as well throw in a poll if you can

[Sir DeLoria]

Depends on how good the voice actors are. I'm fine with silent too though.

[TheMyron]

Can you make polls on BSN again?

[Ren Roche]

Personally, I like it better if the main character speaks, although it really depends on the VA. There were some cases when I wished for the protagonist to just shut up. For example, I couldn't stand the voices of Jason from Far Cry 3 and Adam Jensen from Human Revoliution. Stil, a silent character kinda just ruins the immersion for me .I would have enjoyed Metro games more if Artyom actually spoke outside of loading screens. Or if Jack from BioShock said more than one line. I don't like it when the protagonist is just a mute killing machine.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Voiced protagonists all the way, the silent character really stops me from getting into the story or even caring about my character. It sort of turns it from me controlling a character to me controlling some robot, unless theres a in-story reason for us being silent. However, the way a lot of games do it is that our characters can actually talk and do have voices but are only used for grunts, screams, cries, and whatever else for combat reasons, making me think of them as those toys that make noise when you press a button.

 

Point is if the character isn't mute and simply doesn't talk then I don't like them as much as voiced or truly mute characters.

[AventuroLegendary]

Depends on how well it's done. I have no preference. Though, I do have a personal bias against FPS protagonists speaking. I found characters like Booker and Mason obnoxious.

[The Love Runner]

Guitar Hero

[Jordan]

I prefer silent.  Feels more like I am the character, rather than me being in control of a character.

[Chashan]

Got to say, I much prefer silent protagonists, as it allows not just for a broader choice of replies, but more crucially a choice of tone as well.

 

Currently replaying DA2, and I find the back-and-forth between friendly-ish inquiring and brutish forceful tone somewhat...unfortunate and even jarring at times. This can be accounted for in voiced dialogue, yes, however that requires a lot more work put in on the development-side of things, and frankly I have not really seen it implemented that way in a game with a voiced PC as of yet.

 

 

Jensaarai Bronitarian wrote...

However, the way a lot of games do it is that our characters can actually talk and do have voices but are only used for grunts, screams, cries, and whatever else for combat reasons, making me think of them as those toys that make noise when you press a button.

 

 

Can't say I agree there. Found DA:O's approach to offer various voice-types for these a nice bonus. Further differentiation between toons, and with a little imagination one can insert those into the dialogue-options chosen.

[Raizo]

Do you want to be told a story or do you want to feel like you are apart of the story being told?

I personally have always preferred voiced protagonist over silent ones. I understand the argument for silent protagonist but I find that instead of helping me role play my character more they instead make me emotionally disconnected from what is going on in the game.

[Abelas Forever!]

I like voiced protagonists.

[xAmilli0n]

Since I usually don't self insert in RPGs, I don't mind voiced, and they can add alot to a game. However, a silent protagonist will always have more flexibility RP wise.

[smoke and mirrors]

Voiced for me , when everyone else is speaking why not the main character ?

[I SOLD MY SOUL TO BIOWARE]

I don't really mind either way, but I've felt restricted with voiced protagonists in most games so far as opposed to silent ones. I don't have a problem filling out a silent character with personality, so I've found myself enjoying them more. 

[bEVEsthda]

Silent.

[SlottsMachine]

They both have there pros and there cons. 

[Melra]

Verbal, don't really like the silent stuff.

[Derpy]

The kind of hero that doesn't need to talk because he just so bad*** that people know exactly what he wants.

[DeathScepter]

 silent protagonists For me, for I am the mighty flea.

[Remmirath]

I vastly prefer silent. There are several reasons for this, but they mainly come down to freedom in creating and roleplaying the character. A roleplaying game, to me, is a game where I can play various very different characters. Voices are highly distinctive. The number of different voices available is the number of different characters I can effectively play in that game.

1: Tone. You can't control the subtext or inflection of the voice. I would much rather imagine that then have things end up spoken out of character. With no voice, it's up to your imagination. With a voice, you're at the mercy of the voice actor -- and while they are often quite good, that is only one possible interpretation of the line, and unlikely to mesh with your character.

2: With the voice tends to come the paraphrase system. I want to know what my character is actually going to say. I don't want to have to guess at which is going to get me the closest thing to what I want the character to say; I want to be able to see all the actual options, and pick the one that is most fitting. I've ended up reloading many times in both the Mass Effect games and in Dragon Age II due to the paraphrase not giving me any good idea of what's actually going to be said. I'd rather just have a one word descriptor for intent than not know what's going to be said.

3: One voice per gender is the norm when there is a voice, and so far, at most two. Therefore, it's highly unlikely that the voice will actually fit with whatever character I'm wanting to play -- be it too high, too low, too lilting, too gruff, what have you. It's at least as bad as the early 3d days where one could only pick from a handful of faces; maybe worse.

When/if the day comes that the voice can be controlled at least as much as the face can be now, I'll think it's a good thing, and another way of distinguishing different characters from each other. As of now, it's a handicap to roleplaying, and it hampers replayability greatly.

Now, in games that are not RPGs/are not even trying to claim you can make your own character, I've no problem with the voice. That's a set character. It makes sense. I don't want someone else's interpretation of lines getting in the way of playing my character, though, and I don't want no or limited choice in what my character sounds like.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Can't say I agree there. Found DA:O's approach to offer various voice-types for these a nice bonus. Further differentiation between toons, and with a little imagination one can insert those into the dialogue-options chosen.

 

But it was a pointless feature, like not even "It's enjoyed by fans but it doesn't sure a utilitarian purpose", it was just a very bad sort of implementation of "personality" that in the end had no effect on our characters in the least. All it did was produce noises that could be drowned out and ignored most of the time when engaged in combat, and annoying comments to the player like "IF I GET YOU A LADDER WILL YOU GET OFF MY BACK!?"
 

[A Crusty Knight Of Colour]

The less abstract and more cinematic the method of interaction, the better a voiced protagonist becomes.

It's utterly un-necessary in a game like Baldur's Gate and even detrimental, especially in games like Bloodlines. Even Elder Scrolls, where it'd be necessary to have multiple voices for all the races for little/no benefit in the overall experience. On the other hand, they're a perfect fit for BioWare's games. Imagine Mass Effect without it.

Really just depends what games you play.