[Dewayne Quattlebaum]

@Hircine and nextmastermind-- Getting away from lore for a moment, I think the issues with the Dunmer voices in Morrowind that you brought up (Dunmer not from Vvardenfell still had gravelly voices, females did not) boiled down to laziness and shallowness, respectively, on the part of Bethesda. If Bethesda had gone with what I would consider more lore friendly and made the Dunmer in Mournhold sound more natural, it would have meant that in addition to the greetings, they would have had to record new combat sounds and potentially misc. mutterings (I could kill that guar, etc. etc.) as well. With the way they did it, they only had to get new greetings ("Mournhold! City of Light! City of Magic!) and then just use the same sound files for everything else. While this doesn't necessarily hold true for Jiub since he has about five lines in the entire game, I think there it has something more to do with the fact that they only had one voice for each race, and they didn't want to fool around with that for such a minor character. As for the females, Bethesda strikes me as being kind of shallow in this instance. Despite what people say about old/dirty NPCs in Morrowind, they were very much in the minority in Morrowind, and the vast majority were young and pretty, especially the females. So, to go along with their pretty faces and bodies, Bethesda gave them alluring voices, because the alternative was sounding like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuQVE_ibwms from The Simpsons. This is all speculation, obviously, but it seems logical to me. :shrug:

As for why the other races don't sound like chain smokers, I haven't a clue beyond "diversity is a good thing."

[Jaki Birch]

On the Misc. Features, I likened the markings (non-tat) ones to that scarification that some tribal groups use, moreso than some sort of Klingon-esque bone ridges. I didn't get the feeling they were bony, more like purposely placed. A cultural thingie.

I thought the Dunmer women had a sultry voice, with its own harshness depending. The eyes were fantastic, and this was expounded further with those that modded faces like Emma, Westly, Neo, many others.

Reading from that book in-game, Notes on Racial Phylogeny, it kind of makes me entertain the thought that the variences in the Mer eyes, might have been brought about by mixing between the ethnicities. Especially those errant Dunmeri with almost common human eyes. According to the book, the pairings would produce fertile offspring.

I like them, the females, the way Luthien Morvayn was portrayed via MCA companions. Almost cherubic face, the eyes with a twinge of red, and I love the ears poking lightly through the neck length hair. The addition of the caged diamonds was gold. Offsets many an outfit.

[Chica Cheve]

@Hircine and nextmastermind-- Getting away from lore for a moment, I think the issues with the Dunmer voices in Morrowind that you brought up (Dunmer not from Vvardenfell still had gravelly voices, females did not) boiled down to laziness and shallowness, respectively, on the part of Bethesda. If Bethesda had gone with what I would consider more lore friendly and made the Dunmer in Mournhold sound more natural, it would have meant that in addition to the greetings, they would have had to record new combat sounds and potentially misc. mutterings (I could kill that guar, etc. etc.) as well. With the way they did it, they only had to get new greetings ("Mournhold! City of Light! City of Magic!) and then just use the same sound files for everything else. While this doesn't necessarily hold true for Jiub since he has about five lines in the entire game, I think there it has something more to do with the fact that they only had one voice for each race, and they didn't want to fool around with that for such a minor character. As for the females, Bethesda strikes me as being kind of shallow in this instance. Despite what people say about old/dirty NPCs in Morrowind, they were very much in the minority in Morrowind, and the vast majority were young and pretty, especially the females. So, to go along with their pretty faces and bodies, Bethesda gave them alluring voices, because the alternative was sounding like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuQVE_ibwms from The Simpsons. This is all speculation, obviously, but it seems logical to me. :shrug:

As for why the other races don't sound like chain smokers, I haven't a clue beyond "diversity is a good thing."

I don't think any of the voices have anything to do with lore. They just seem to be design choices. Dunmer voices in Morrowind have nothing to do with the curse or the ash of Vvardenfell(notice that only the male Dunmer have those chain-smoker voices and nothing about the curse mentions anything about the voices, which wouldn't make much sense to be for only half the Dunmer population, anyway). If anything, the voices of Oblivion's Dunmer are more lore-correct since they are also the voices of the Altmer, to which the Dunmer are biologically identical except for greyish blue skin and red eyes, but Dunmer voices are not something that are mentioned in lore at all. It's just one of those "it's cool so let's make it this way" design choices. As you imply, it is possible that Bethesda may have been "lazy" with the development of Morrowind and/or its expansion just as easily as they may have been "lazy" with the development of Oblivion, but there is no lore whatsoever that supports either male Dunmer voice other than a biological connection to the Altmer, and even that doesn't involve any mention anything about voices. It really just boils down to "which do you think is cooler?"

[victoria johnstone]

I like turtles.

Nah I'm just kidding. All I car about is Dunmer having raspy voices and high cheekbones. They are like the native Americans of Tamriel without being the first people there.

[~Sylvia~]

Dunmers in oblivion were nice but the need their ear rings and face paintings back. Their voice weren't in Oblivion as good as in MW but only Sheogorath had Good Voice in that game. All of those eye colours are nice TES V should have them all. But if you ask me there should be much less dunmer in TES V .Because two most recent games had too many of them and they are'n as interesting now as they were when i started to play Elder scrolls.

[Darian Ennels]

I guess that the dunmer should look and sound intimidating dark and grudgy. So I would aks Beth do go back to Morrowind's Dunmer as they fitted this description better. All the elven faces should be different to the human ones jsut as much the Orcish, Khajiit and Argonian ones are. Within the mer group, I would say that Dunmer would have teh sharpes features. As for the eyes, please, give us some diversity. only one eye option for Dunmer in Oblivion was a very bad idea. Of course all the races need more facial special features. Be it beards, jewelery, tattoos, scars and so on. And as for the voice, the squeeking we got in Oblivion would not be suitable even to Bosmer, not to mention the Dunmer. They should have deep and raspy voice if possible but at least somethig that can be taken seriously would be nice.

[Avril Churchill]

As for why the other races don't sound like chain smokers, I haven't a clue beyond "diversity is a good thing."

Yet all the mer shared the same voice and the Orcs and Nords shared the same voice in Oblivion. If diversity is a good thing, why'd they do that? To put it simply: The sharing of voices was to save disc space. Why do you think they had awesome Dunmer voices in the infamous e3 trailer, which we never saw?

The whole "living away from Vvardenfell" excuse is lazy, poor writing that should never have even been necessary.

Just because a race lives away from thier homeland, that gives no reason to sap them of all thier culture and uniqueness. You never see a non-scottish nord, do you? I mena, they where all over Morrowind and Oblivion.

[Sandeep Khatkar]

Dunmers in oblivion were nice but the need their ear rings and face paintings back. Their voice weren't in Oblivion as good as in MW but only Sheogorath had Good Voice in that game.

:blink:
What about Patrick Stewart?

His lines were cheesy but it was still Patrick Stewart.

[Lucy]

I don't think any of the voices have anything to do with lore. They just seem to be design choices. Dunmer voices in Morrowind have nothing to do with the curse or the ash of Vvardenfell(notice that only the male Dunmer have those chain-smoker voices and nothing about the curse mentions anything about the voices, which wouldn't make much sense to be for only half the Dunmer population, anyway).

I'm sure I once read somewhere that the male Dunmer often intentionally fake the raspy voice as part of their machismo. It would fit with their personality to do so, to say the least. The Dunmer are all about looking imposing and influential.

If anything, the voices of Oblivion's Dunmer are more lore-correct since they are also the voices of the Altmer, to which the Dunmer are biologically identical except for greyish blue skin and red eyes, but Dunmer voices are not something that are mentioned in lore at all. It's just one of those "it's cool so let's make it this way" design choices.

Of course, all Altmer and all Dunmer had the same voice in Oblivion. I know where you're coming from - genetically, they should more or less be capable of sounding alike. However, unless Bethesda decides to produce TES V on three DVDs with two of them containing nothing but voiced dialog, our options are either for "all" Altmer/Dunmer to sound alike or for "all" of them to be different. Obviously, the latter is more refreshing.

[Austin England]

I don't think any of the voices have anything to do with lore. They just seem to be design choices. Dunmer voices in Morrowind have nothing to do with the curse or the ash of Vvardenfell(notice that only the male Dunmer have those chain-smoker voices and nothing about the curse mentions anything about the voices, which wouldn't make much sense to be for only half the Dunmer population, anyway). If anything, the voices of Oblivion's Dunmer are more lore-correct since they are also the voices of the Altmer, to which the Dunmer are biologically identical except for greyish blue skin and red eyes, but Dunmer voices are not something that are mentioned in lore at all. It's just one of those "it's cool so let's make it this way" design choices. As you imply, it is possible that Bethesda may have been "lazy" with the development of Morrowind and/or its expansion just as easily as they may have been "lazy" with the development of Oblivion, but there is no lore whatsoever that supports either male Dunmer voice other than a biological connection to the Altmer, and even that doesn't involve any mention anything about voices. It really just boils down to "which do you think is cooler?"

The Dunmer and Altmer are not biological identical...

They just share a common ancestor race: the Aldmer.

The Chimer broke away from the Aldmer even before the First Era. After ages of selective breeding of the Aldmer/Altmer and probably little or no contact between them and the Chimer/Dunmer for a long time would lead to biological different races.

Or should all the humans and elves sound the same because they probably all decent from the Ehlnofey?

[Jade Muggeridge]

Yeah, all humans on the Earth share a common ancestor, too.

By that logic, languages in Europe should sound identical to languages in Asia. Even though they live on completely opposite ends of the landmass, they should sound alike because they share a common ancestor.

That's your logic, right there.

[Cody Banks]

Yet all the mer shared the same voice and the Orcs and Nords shared the same voice in Oblivion. If diversity is a good thing, why'd they do that? To put it simply: The sharing of voices was to save disc space. Why do you think they had awesome Dunmer voices in the infamous e3 trailer, which we never saw?

The whole "living away from Vvardenfell" excuse is lazy, poor writing that should never have even been necessary.

Just because a race lives away from thier homeland, that gives no reason to sap them of all thier culture and uniqueness. You never see a non-scottish nord, do you? I mena, they where all over Morrowind and Oblivion.

Okay, first of all, I thought the Dunmer voices in the e3 trailer were annoying as hell. I would have hated listening to all of the dialogue from the Dunmer in that voice. It worked in Morrowind because there was less voiced dialogue in the game, but going through Oblivion listening to every conversation between NPCS, and every conversation with the player, in that tone of voice, I think I would have gone mad. It's bad enough listening to Ghouls in Fallout 3.

My argument isn't that when Dunmer move away from Vvardenfell, they magically get their voices healed. What I'm saying is that Dunmer who were born in the other provinces, who have most likely never been to that weird, xenophobic little island for more than a few days at a time, would not have the same exposure to the air and hence, their voices would be different.

But your argument about accents doesn't make any sense. When people move away from their homelands, they retain whatever accent they grew up having. But their children who were born in the new land tend to speak like the natives of their new home (for example, Asian-Americans and their children). It may "sap them of all their culture and uniqueness." What we got in Oblivion could easily be the Merish equivalent of a Cyrodiilic accent (with their different biology accounting for why they don't sound exactly the same). As for why the human races still sound unique, I don't know what to tell you, except that the fan uproar would have been even greater if they had had Nords that sounded like Imperials.

You've rehashed your disc space argument in I think every thread that voice acting has ever come up in. I GET IT. My point is, that it worked out for the better in my opinion because I think the voices we ended up with are more lore-friendly. I'd like every race to have its own voice, obviously, but I would prefer if they stayed in the vein of Oblivion.

[Pixie]

except that the fan uproar would have been even greater if they had had Nords that sounded like Imperials.

Seems to me like the uproar over the Dunmer voices is way bigger.

[Wayne Cole]

I saiud, high cheekbones and angular features, greyish-blue skin (although a slider would be welcome), the options for all pre-existing Dunmer eye types (again, sliders are our friends), the option for any or all misc features listed, and I think the voice should be raspy, but not quite like Morrowind. In that, it was because of the volcano. In TESV, since they've been living on Solstheim, some should be much more clear and normal, while the others who live underground should be raspier than before from a mass case of "integrated Black Lung."

[james kite]

-snip-

Ok Simpler repost:

• When a Dunmer goes to Cyrodiil, the next generation's voices change.
  
• This is bad.
  
• It might make sense, but losing culture is a bad thing.
  
• We want culture.

I don't see what's so hard to understand, and why you have to explain how in real life people lose thier accents. :rolleyes:

Real life isn't a game. Things happen here because of the realism, and it isn't always a good thing. Do you want to have to wash your hair and go to the toilet every few hours in TESV?

Of course, all Altmer and all Dunmer had the same voice in Oblivion. I know where you're coming from - genetically, they should more or less be capable of sounding alike. However, unless Bethesda decides to produce TES V on three DVDs with two of them containing nothing but voiced dialog, our options are either for "all" Altmer/Dunmer to sound alike or for "all" of them to be different. Obviously, the latter is more refreshing.

If they're going to destory a race by giving them some other race's unfitting voice, why do they have to do it with the more distinguished sounding race in the entire game? Why not give Bretons and Imperials the Redguard voice? While it is still an awful thing to do, they sound far less unique than the Dunmer.

[Steve Fallon]

Low and raspy, but unlike morrowind. I didn't like the fact that practically only dunmer women could make actual battle cries because the men had no voice what so ever.

Basically I want it raspy, but not necessarily low.

[Leonie Connor]

I want beards on my Dunmer! Honestly I want all races to have a facial hair option.

[Tanya Parra]

I love dunmer

But yeah, i think they look good in Oblivion but i don't think the voice suits them. Morrowind dunmer were awesome.

They are my favourite race, but i also feel sorry for them... come on:

There homeland was being took over by the empire, when all they wanted was to be left alone.
Some random ass outlander comes and proves their gods to be fake.
Red mountain erupted, destroying vfardenfall more or less completely.
Argonians now control Morrowind mainland, and the surviving Dunmer fleed to solstheim.

Poor elves

[meg knight]

I think the facial structure should be very angular like morrowind. Those facial structures are the slickest and the best faces for elder scrolls games. Their voices should be low and raspy like Morrowind. I think if anything should be added to their features, it should be the earrings to be added insteaad of facepaint. I would like both features on but I had to pick one.

[Josee Leach]

I like their Morrowind voice more, but not so much limiting the race to their Morrowind appearances. I think the character creator in the next game should be advanced enough to allow players to choose which features are more pronounced. I certainly don't like the idea of being forced to create a Dunmer that looks like the damned wicked witch, and nothing in the race's description implies either way which version of Dunmer is more accurate.

[rae.x]

They should have a more alien face and over time they should gradually become more human as the ones that look most like elves will be killed because of hate crimes. They should also gradually develop pupils.

[Louise Andrew]

That mage dunmer that you gotta kill for the dark brotherhood was a monster, "Back off! ill turn you to dust!"

[Sxc-Mary]

They should have Morrowind voices unless sean Connery is the male Dunmer voice actor. His voice can work for anything.

[leni]

They should have Morrowind voices unless sean Connery is the male Dunmer voice actor. His voice can work for anything.

To prove this as true, he was the only scotsman actor in a movie about scotsmen. And he was playing an Egyptian.

[Cartoon]

I personally like the Morrowind voices, and prefer their look too. In Morrowind I found them very intimidating and kind of scary. They just all have a strange, unwelcoming, alien feel to them in Morrowind.