It's probably already too late for Skyrim, but I just heard Max Von Sydow in the gameplay trailer and needed to rant a little bit.

Liam Neeson really didn't add much to Fallout 3, did he?

OK, I liked Matthew Perry in New Vegas, but he wasn't THAT good. I know a guy who could have pulled off the role just as well.

Patrick Stewart added - well - NOTHING to Oblivion. You could have had a dog bark those 3 lines and the game wouldn't have suffered at all.

DO NOT GET ME WRONG. I love Patrick Stewart. I love Malcolm McDowell. I freaking love Max Von Sydow. Hell, I love Lynda Carter!

But you know what I hate? Having 3 voice actors in the roles of "everyone else in this freaking huge world".

There are thousands upon thousands of struggling and talented actors in this country who will work for next to nothing just for the opportunity to be heard. Please god, take advantage of that to make games with more diverse populations for a more immersive world.

Don't spend that voice budget on 10 actors whose names we may recognize. Spend it on 50 nobodies who can really fill out the game.

So much is spent on graphics, architectural design, and a range of visual environments. What a waste when we keep hearing the same 2 voices everywhere we go on an entire continent.

Agree 100%

Yeah. I don't really mind that they do it, but it goes unnoticed by me. I wasn't even aware FO3 and NV had famous voice actors. It's not the type of thing I pay attention to, and I can't imagine too many gamers concern themselves with that type of thing to begin with. I highly doubt it would do much to increase sales.

Amen! Having well-known voice actors looks good in advertising etc, but if it means spending the whole voice acting budget on just a few people it only retracts from the gameplay experience. :shrug: Though Max von Sydow in the Skyrim trailer was just so freaking epic, it's almost worth it if it means Skyrim has only a few voice actors.

This

The good news is that they are using many more voice actors for Skyrim than they did for Oblivion. The bad news is that we'll have to wait.

I cant believe there have almost been four month already :shocking:

I cant believe there have almost been four month already :shocking:

That's great to hear. Source?

I sure hope it is lots of more than in Oblivion. Maybe the BGS crew themselves could voice act some of the NPCs?

In the GI magazine article, it says "Bethesda enlisted far more voice actors".

That's great to hear. Link?

It's not online, unfortunately. It was in the magazine, page 52.

I absaf@!%alutely agree with OP!!1 How can anyone argue with pure logic...

Bah. Wes Johnson is the only voice actor you ever need. :nod:

Acknowledged. Thanks anyway.

agree 100% with original post.. i mean look at fable 3 they had a few named actors doing the bigger roles .. and although yes the other NPCs around dont really say as much as TES NPCs but even some of the major-but not too major characters basically droned on it seemed like after spending money on well known voice actors they had to drag people of off the street.. considering they could of got some a bigger group of talented but lesser known people to do it for less.. although i did like the well known names they did use...

Although it was a good call for Max Von Sydow he has an amazing voice that seams like it will really fit the mood of Skyrim

I'd rather have 50~ nobodies doing the voices instead of 5 celebrities. We need moar voices!

my sentiments exactly this is a case where quantity over quality would be a wise choice

Yes. I agree with everything, but this is really the crux. In worlds these huge, it may not be possible to uniquely cast every NPC's voice - but please, a little more variety! And we can do without the A-list talent.

I personally love it, being a movie buff and recognizing the voices. I don't understand why you wouldn't like it, they're excellent voice actors and I'm sure bethesda isn't taking funding from other aspects of the game to fund the voiceovers. Being a fan of the series since daggerfall, It's actually kind of nice to see TES grow up, become successful and be able to do stuff like that.

Yes, they are taking funding from other aspects of the game. Money can be used on anything. Whenever you use money in one area you are subtracting that amount from other places.

Source? Do you know their funding amount? You are only taking money from other aspects if you've reached your cap, who says bethesda has done that?

Any money can go anywhere. Therefore, when you take money and put it in one place, all the other places it can go lose the money. That's how it works.

your logic is flawed though, if those other areas are finished and don't need anymore money