Right. Now the next step would be to make something new out of dialogue, since it's no longer needed for info. Nobody has done this so far.

Btw about Torment: Yes, there's much you can learn from that model, but it's not organic dialogue just because the writing's good and you have more to say than one liners. It's just a visual novel.

Don't make talking the game. Make talking have the same velocity as combat but at a slower pace. Realize the benefits of dialogue -> it can yield much greater consequences than combat.

The point is not the mechanic itself, but the message that Pete Hines gave to everybody who read that interview.

Edit:

Skipping dialogue in New Vegas was okay. Because I didn't skip it most of the time, because, you know, it was fun to read. Combat just became a secondary thing, the characters were a priority for me.

^

That Pete Hines statement is just incredible. In fact, I think all the recent interviews I've read about the game are just incredible.

I was actually just responding to the ones concerned with being able to walk away. I don't really hold Hines' comment with any weight. He had NO involvement in developement in the game. Just seems like he talked more than he should have about his personal preference. I wouldn't light the torches and grab the pitchforks yet

Guys, guys go back home. Yes, put away the pitchforks, it's not the time (whispering: yet.)

really his opinion/statement hold about as much weight to me as the opinions/statements from random people on here

Way to take one sentence in an interview and blow it completely out of proportion. Again.

I don't have a lot of experience with Naughty Dog games but from what little I've seen their dialogue is very good. So Pete Hines apparently suggesting that Naughty Dog dialogue is better than Bethesda dialogue is not really an earth-shattering relevation . It's just not one of BGS's strengths. It would be really impressive if they somehow managed to improve it but it looks like it's not the case this time around, and that's not really a surprise at all.

I'm literally stunned... this can only presage the further marginalizing of dialogue in the future, when opinions such as these are allowed to superintend the marketing; and to some extent the direction of the game.

It's gold for those that have argued against the evident streamlining of the series, as it's vindication in the form of ostensibly an admission.

Though I'm perturbed when opinions like this are promulgated by someone who advertises a series like Fallout, someone who would be incapable of enjoying the original Fallout games.

He's saying he doesn't have the attention span for it, in essence that Bethesda's writing doesn't captivate him (that's a tacit admission if I've ever seen one)

Edit:

I can't believe people are trying to defend this, if you're indifferent fair enough (maybe you also suffer from Pete's affliction).

But it looks desperate and irrational to defend such a fatuity.

My take on the context of his comment was that he was specifically talking about READING dialog, not dialog in general. I'm guessing it's a planned Marketing move as despite what would be popular on these forums (mostly RPG fans), less dialog reading is exactly what more action oriented players that Bethesda is trying to woo, want to hear. I know quite a number of gamers that never left Megaton in FO3 because of the reading involved....

Judging from the numbers we have heard about from the voice actors involved with FO4, I don't think there is less dialog, just less reading (and yes, that is a potentially concerning thing, but if the story does not suffer, I'm all for it.

Ya lets just glance over the that one paragraph where he references the comical themes are more like fallout 1, then proceeds to do a quick compare and contrast between fallout 1 & 2.

The rest of this thread deemed it unimportant so it must not be.

I enjoy dialogue my first few times through a game.. But if I'm playing a game for the 10th time, yeah, I'm going to want to skip dialogue.

I"m looking forward to the "walk away" system in F4. It could have some unexpected consequences with even more interesting outcomes than standing there talking. For instance. A character might actually be able to state "hey, don't walk away when I'm talking to you".. and then get mad and start shooting at you for walking away.

Yeah, I don't see a problem with cutting a conversation short or being able to walk away and do other things while someone drones on. ESPECIALLY if I don't care. Lets take skyrim for example...Just humour me for a second.

Hermacious Mora Deadric Quest. So...to get out, I have to listen to some Lovecraft reject drone on about how I am going to serve him Poptarts for eternity in order to exit the area. First of all, I am telling the Gods you are breaking the rules by even being on this plane of existence (At least as far as I understood the ending of Oblivion). Really I DONT CARE. Walk into Markath for the first time. You get swept up in a Conspiracy (Again against your will). Falkreath ....I DON"T CARE ABOUT YOUR DOG. It goes on. I DON"T CARE!!!!!!

Don't even get me started on that Courier. I can give many more examples. of NPCs harassing me and dragging me into things I simply don't want to be a part of.

So yeah, this feature does not adversely affect me at all. Its the answer to several of my most vehement prayers. So on behalf of all the other self absorbed people who play Video games.

Thank you Bethesda...THANK YOU!

Well I enjoyed the Chicken Little comments worrying that the game's ability to leave dialogue implies that the dialogue is defunct.

In the next thread we'll obsess about the presence of Stealth in the game means all combat svcks

and that Todd Howard encouraged you to shoot Codsworth in the face means all robots are sub-standard.

We don't have to sit through preposterous logic like this for the next 80 days do we?

I see it as less "defending" (although, come on - we all know there's tons of gamers out there who aren't as SRS BZNS as all you Dedicated Fans, and likely skip forward in dialogue), and more as suggesting that the Forum Overreaction Brigade get a grip.

This is also nothing new - as mentioned, some sort of "spacebar-skip" function has been in games for years and years now. Both for the impatient, and for people who read the subtitles faster than voices go, and for the people tired of hearing the same damn "Hey there! How're you doing on that ?" greeting 60 times already talking to Moira, and just want to get to the damn Sell Loot option.

Was it a dumb thing for "PR Guy" to say? Sure. Is it some OMG DIRE! EVERYTHING'S DOOMED DOOMED DOOMED! like some are reacting? No.

(Also, where have people been these past several Beth games? You guys have been [censored]ing for years that their NPC dialogue svcks. Now, suddenly, you're surprised that someone else thinks their NPC dialogue isn't great? What a shocking revelation. Look at how shocked I am -> )

Pretty sure it will be like that ...yes...

I think this is all that is being said here as well. He's just highlighting a feature in a game and that's about it. The rest is probably just going along with the interview and doesn't actually reflect on the quality of dialogue from the developer. So...as skeptical as I can be about the game, I think this is just a bit of an overreaction in how some people are interpreting this.

But since we're talking about dialogue, I actually like long, drawn out dialogue with NPCs. Some of my favorite moments from New Vegas was simply the conversations to be had with characters like Mr. House, Caesar, Joshua Graham, and Elijah. Although I can't say the same for Ulysses.

In some games I don't like that dialogue 'forces' me to make a choice at a particular point.

This mechanic would allow me to walk away and 'do what I need to do' before continuing.

Another improvement to the game.

Yeah it's definitely a concern because Dialoge is so important with the transition to voiced protagonist. If that fails then the whole thing unravels from a writing perspective. I can't stress how important the writing and the dialoge will be with voiced protagonist, if they fail on that it will not be pretty.

Just speaking from personal experience, I usually read quicker then the voice actors finish their part and tend to click away the voice part since it slows down my experience. There's rarely a "performance" that makes me want to hear the voice part over simply reading it.

Which does not mean I'm in favor of not having voice actors - I also happen to have a little brother and since his reading skills are just developing it's the other way around for him - faster hearing, slower reading himself.

I also see him, with his child-like short attention span, quickly lose interest in more in-depth dialogue, notes etc.

But to me, having grown up with RPGs and their tendency to bring you at least part of their world close by means of text-walls, it's a sad day to see people promoting less of said texts. I love reading, I love seeing a little extra background/story/world lore and history and character information. I want more, not less. I'd rather it be optional then not there at all.

I'm not shocked that their dialogue svcks, or at the fact that Bethesda has made provisions for skipping/avoiding it.It's the fact that Bethesda seems more concerned with how players can avoid their dialogue rather than appreciate it

This is especially disconcerting when Bethesda has made such a substantive push towards a voice acted PC, and a more poignant story, and yet Bethesda's head PR doesn't have the attention span for it and is glad he can leave a conversation as soon as his dim attention span finally blacks out?

I'm hoping Pete has absolutely no influence over development, or his comments portend the most vapid fallout game yet.

The commonwealth is going to be invaded by synthetics immanently, what should we do?

*PC picks flowers for 3 weeks*

lol at anyone thinking a PR goon has any sway on developement. Have you ever worked.... anywhere?

Threads like this are the reason we can't have nice things like the game devs coming to chat on the fourms with us.....

I don't think anyone is wanting text walls to go away, or lengthy dialog, I just want the ability to be able to fast forward through it if I can read it faster than it is being said. Also, it would be nice to FF if I already know Moira wants me to go to the Super Duper Mart and get any food supplies, and (optional) any medical supplies and report back.

I think it is good that we can now walk away, but I worry that without a dialog box and the words being on screen that the ability to FF will now be gone. One of the reasons, well maybe the only reason, I stopped playing TW3 is the damned cutscenes and long ass dialog. I found myself thinking and sometimes even saying out loud, "Get to the point!"