I have to agree with the OP, spoken dialogue limits what options you can do with characters due to voice recording. Texted based conversations can add so much more to a game, now I wouldn't want every character to be texted based, maybe have the most important characters (Ulfric, Tullius, Alduin, Esbern, Delphine, The Jarls, etc) speak but have the remainder not speak. I could care less about imersion and I actually like the voice acting in Skyrim but having things more texted based leads to more options being in the game and much more content.

Bring in ARMA AI voice baby.

Sanquine: Drink. that. wine. at. 12" oclock.
Player: Affirmative.

Player: Lydia, hostile. bandit. at. 2" oclock.
Lydia: Bandit. is. history.

Edit: If you don't get what I'm talking about here, here is a video of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PZ_AFumMfE

I really don't see why they couldn't have let the player ask NPCs about where people and places are. If the NPC knew, he/she would "Yes, let me mark it on your map", and you'd get a marker on your map. If not, they'd just tell you they don't know. Simple as that. Of course, the answers could be even more dynamic.

I turn subtitles off.

You mean...

I. Turn. Subtitles. Off.

Scorn? Contempt? Sorry I had to :rofl: I can't help but imagine you sitting on a golden computer chair throne as you typed that.


As for more practical contribution. With text you could take in as little or as much as you wanted. If an NPC provided you with a 3 paragraph response you could easily glance to the one sentence that told you what to do/where to go and move on. With recorded voice it would be more of a pain to click through or listen to 20 or so sentences to get back to something you forgot or missed this first time around. However, they are two different mediums that can't be treated equally. I would be absolutely fine with a hybrid method using additional character background with text. Or even more recording dialog. If Skyrim were all text I would still play it, but I do like what recorded voice brings to the table.... that doesn't mean I like what it also takes away though.

I agree. It is just much less work to add Text instead of recording Dialogue with different voice actors. See the Books and Journals and Quest descriptions.
So there could be more Dialogue in Text form for Quests, directions etc.
When some Dunmer in Windhelm greeted me with that rough bumpy voice from the Riverwood Trader...just argh, funny but just argh
Maybe voiced greetings at the start of a dialogue or when a Guard wants to arrest someone and for Main NPC′s. This way you have an idea how his voice sounds like.
In a game designed to be played for a long time like this generic voiced diologue just dosent fit.

I also had the impression that there was more dialogue planned and then for whatever reason (money, disc space ?) wasnt done.

Excellent quote and I agree on all points. I enjoy reading a good story, getting actual directions to my destination instead of a magical arrow, having dialogue with a story relevant character that actually lasts for more than 15 seconds. (The pre-end game dialogue with Vivec in Morrowind, I could easily spend 10-20 minutes simply reading what he had to say. Nothing in Skyrim even approaches that duration.)

And I'm positive that anyone who's read a bloody book would know that text can have equal, if not superior, immersive properties due to the amount of character and back-story that you could feasibly squeeze in during the same time frame, not to mention using your own ruddy imagination.
And using your own imagination is not a limitation, it is a freedom.

There's also the issue of voiced dialogue being set in stone once it has been recorded, which he does mention. You can't retroactively change the dialogue should new ideas surface during development.
(And if the ideas are significant enough, the voice actor might not be available should you wish to include it. I'm sure most of you have noticed that Esbern has two voice actors because more dialogue was added later in development?)

Ken Rolston is the executive designer for Kingdoms of Amalur, yes? I am looking forward to this game immensely, even more so now, knowing his stance on dialogue.

Wow this topic is heated to say the least. At the end of the day Bethesda will never go back to spoken dialogue, especially since it's clear they want to attempt to be more cinematic. And I'm really glad they won't be. I went back to play Morrowind after playing Oblivion because of how much I loved it and I was disappointed at the fact that there was no audible dialogue. I still loved the game, and it's amazing for what it is, but Bethesda would have to be mad to revert back to that dialogue system. Just imagine the opening cutscene where instead of the characters talking when you enter Helgen it was a text bubble that froze on the characters face. Imagine that with the current graphics. It would just be insane. I agree text can be equal, but not text over a film or a game. If two things don't fit together they don't fight, and essentially reading dialogue from a script beneath a characters still face is not the same as an actual book which is very far from just being dialogue.

You're suggesting that the current setup is too complex.

Vampire Bloodlines did indeed have excellent voice acting. Vampire Bloodlines is also but a drop in the ocean compared to a game of the scope of TES. 100% voiced dialogue can work in some games (most games, even). It can't work in TES.

I wish i had one of those. I'd make everyone sorry.

As long as the shackle of 100% voice acting is tied to TES, that kind of dialogue is all we'll ever get. Simple dialogue is one of the symptoms, voice acting is the disease.

Nobody really suggests Morrowind be used as the benchmark. The generic dialogue was simply too much of a deal breaker (which is, if i may venture a guess, why people of the 100% voiced side of the debate pretend to think we of the other side want it to be just like Morrowind. Artful Dodging and obfuscation tactics 101.)

Actually, he's speaking from both. Would you like someone to read it to you so you can understand it properly?

Perhaps Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment should be used as the benchmarks, instead.

Normally, I roll my eyes at these "complexity" threads, but I think the OP is spot on.

So many digital RPG players were introduced to the genre through things like FFVII for a certain generation... or Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, and Zelda for the NES crowd, or even Wizardry, Gold-Box D&D, and Bard's Tale for others. In my opinion, those games took place in a stereotypical "role-playing D&D-type" world and were thus labelled "role-playing games," when, again in my opinion, they were anything but.

The first computer games I played where I actually felt like I was role-playing again were the Ultima Underworld and Baldur's Gate series. In fact, I bought a 360 when I stumbled upon the hype for Oblivion and I thought, "Sweet sassy, mollassy... that looks like Ultima Underworld on steroids!" In many ways, I was pleased, but in many ways, it also seemed like a shallower experience.

I think the character creation in Skyrim was a huge step in the right direction... now I just wish my "more organic" character could have more choice in person-to-person interaction and the means to get from point A to point B, and I think more text based dialogue would be another step in the right direction, even if it is a step backwards.

For the person who introduced the interview from the developer who suggested as much, thanks. That was well put.

Totally agreed. Also graphics need to be removed or toned down MASSIVELY. Dragon graphics are not needed. It is suficcient when a big "D" moves towards you. And arrows are crap anyway so a "a" is enough graphic for arrows. :celebration:

I'm happy to see this thread progressing in a positive way thanks for the (mostly) meaningful inputs guys. And gals.

A quick finger-in-the-air estimation tells me that about a third of people would not wish to have dialogue text in any form. So I guess that the current main-quest elements could remain voice acted, after all these represent the hand-crafted quests, the main part of the game as seen by many, and that's fair enough. But I'd like the options to lose some HUD elements and have dialogue text options instead. I'd guess this wouldn't be too difficult to do, remove quest markers ingame option also enables the text-based procedural dialogue options. Let's call it a difficulty setting.

I reckon this single change to the game would keep everyone who already likes the current system, while allowing for more complex AI interaction, gameplay and exploration for people looking for a little more challenge. And modders have an easier time crafting meaningful quests. Everyone wins?

While I agree text-based dialogue is infinitely better than spoken dialogue, I don't think Bethesda would ever do it again. Elder Scrolls has been getting progressively simpler since oblivon.

No doubt Skyrim would have 200% more depth and feeling if it was all written.

:laugh:

I disagree. Simple dialogue is the disease and it can be caused by voice acting.
Simple dialogue can stil exist in no voice acting games and, though it's true that without voice acting everything there can be more dialogue that doesn't neccesarily happen nor improve the quality.

I'd rather see them make a more clear distinction between important characters and filler, use less big name actors who cost a lot more and put effort into the dialogue that is there.

My first thought when I walked through my first market was WOW that is a lot of people talking at once! ... kinda annoying honestly.

I like the voice acting but I actually don't think its been done well. There is too many random, walk by comments that get old and even interupt with other talking. If I didn't have subtitles on I would of missed what someone was saying quite a few times because some other npc happens to walk by me and repeat his meaningless dialogue for the hundredth time. They shouldn't say squat unless you want to talk to them.

Other than this issue with the voice, theres the one being discussed here. No mix with text, so less content. Plain and simple. Where's the freaking dialogue at?!

Its ironic how Beth has tried to outdo themselves again with the voice acting but at the same they cut off their big toe. Hopefully the next Fallout has more dialogue than Skyrim. Who am I kidding they'll prob just add shouts instead.

Anyways, I'm gonna go watch a movie.

I just want it to be like A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. Thanks!

What's crazy is rockstar created so much alternative dialogue for characters. No matter how many can rides I took with roman what he said never repeated. Take a mission trip with someone and die? Reload, take the trip again and it's fresh mission-relevant dialogue.

Of course, be careful what you wish for. You could end up with that annoying kid from little lamplight telling you about the dog super-duper.