I'm really hoping that they went pretty far with the amount of people they got to do the voice-overs for this game, like really. I'm talkin' maybe...ehh 5 or 6 people minimum for each individual race.

I see this as a really important factor for a game like this. It's probably the only thing I don't like about Oblivion, was that they had ONE voice-over actor for each race, both male and female. What are your guys' ideas/ thoughts?

I want about 60 voice actors, and I think they did that in another game so it's viable. Some of the voices for Nords/Imperials, Nords/orcs, Argonians/Khajiits, Bosmer/Altmer etc. could be mixed up so it's not like each of the races inexplicably only have 6 voices each or something.

I hope that Bethesda are going to put more effort into their voice acting. I have high hopes for them to make a step up.



Red Dead had a massive list of voice actors. It goes well over 60... So it is very viable for any other video game.

Although it will never happen in a million years, I quite honestly would prefer Beth to go back to text-based dialogue, with snippets of speech for important bits, overheard conversations and so on. The amount of space that is taken up by the audio just seems a waste, considering the massive amount of text that could replace it, giving us more topics and so on.

Anyway, back on topic. Yes, I would prefer a little more variety in the voices we hear.

Well, if more is a reasonable expectation, then I want more!

Nope, they actually had 6 voices for 10 races (which is 12 voice actors for 20 gender/race combinations).

The Imperial voice is unique.
The Redguard voice is unique.
The Breton voice is unique.
The Nord and Orc share the same voice.
The Dunmer, Altmer and Bosmer share the same voice.
The Argonian and Khajiit share the same voice.

Even 1 voice for all races (20 voice actors for both genders) would be a great improvement.

I really, really hope there are more VAs.

The male and female voices were different though. Wouldn't that mean 12 Voice actors?

Yeah definitely more voice actors.
It doesn't cost that more money, does it?

I mean, the amount of voice acting is still the same; it's just that each voice actor will do a smaller part of it.

Indeed it does, I should've been more precise.

6 male actors for 10 male races,
6 female actors for 10 female races,
12 actors for 20 gender/race combinations.

:)

I totally agree. It can be expensive because they have to be union, and they pay residuals, but it's worth it in my mind. (But then, I'm a union actor, so maybe I'm just trying to get a gig doing voice work for them).

The best thing would be to have a voice actor for each NPC, but that might hurt the budget. If we are not getting a unique voice for each NPC, there needs to be at least 2x2x4x10 voices, 10 races, 4 different ages (kid, young, middle, old), 2 for each of those, ex: 2 different old voices for old Dunmers etc, and 2 genders per race. Totally it makes 160 voices. Sounds like a lot, but it's either that or a unique voice for all NPCs, whichever hurt the wallet less.

HA! I knew there had to be a union for you guys ! You're probably the ones who lobbied in the new conversation style -- now we have to stand there and listen to your work, whereas in Oblivion we could just skip ahead as soon as we were done reading....





Great work! :thumbsup: I actually enjoy listening to the spoken dialogue --- more immersive to me.
edit: And a sound YES to more voice actors --- one of the things that's sorely needed.

I'd really like at least 6 voice actors per race. And many unique ones for slightly more important characters.

The person who does the male Nord also does the male Argonian/Khajiit.

but they dont sound the same do they.

a single VA can voice different character as long they sound different like Goku VA also voiced King Kai and Lucario on the pokemon movie yet they sound different or Steven Blum which did both Zabuza and Orochimaru in Naruto.

The main isssue is that Beth spends a HUGE portion of the VA money on big-budget hollywood actors instead of focusing it instead on ACTUAL voice actors.

A good voice actor can do MANY different voices and you won't even know it's the same guy. Just look at any major cartoon, you'll often find multiple characters being voiced by one guy though they sound totally different.

Hollywood actors just aren't usually capable of this and instead they get hired for their "name" instead.

I believe that Beth is going to have more people doing voice overs then in Oblivion. Still I hope it's a good selection although I'd be happy if they just brought back Wes Johnson.

I think it needs to be said Max Von Sydow is awesome.

Lynda Carter = voices 2 races (Nords/Orcs)
Jonathan Bryce = voices 4 races (Argonians/Khajiits/Nords/Orcs) http://www.jbrycevoice.com/demo/mp3/JBryce_Character.mp3
Ralph Cosham = voices 1 race (Bretons)
Catherine Flye = voices 2 races (Bretons/Imperials)
Gayle Jessup = voices 1 race (Redguards)
Wes Johnson = voices 1 race (Imperials) http://www.wesjohnson.com/audio/character.html
Linda Canyon = voices 3 races (Altmer/Bosmer/Dunmer)
Michael Mack = voices 1 race (Redguards)
Elisabeth Noone = voices 2 races (Argonians/Khajiits) http://www.elisabethnoone.com/VOICE-CLIPS/CHARACTERS.MP3
Craig Sechler = voices 3 races (Altmer/Bosmer/Dunmer) http://www.craigsechler.com/

It would be nice if they went back to having lots of text, doesn't mean you can't have voice acting as well, but one of the things i didn't like about oblivion was that there was really no reason totalk to anyone. They all said the same things. They should hire whoever did the less generic NPC project for morrowind, that made the dialogue awesome.

You're joking, right? Both of those options are extremely un-reasonable. I would be happy with merely 20 voice actors.

20!?!?! lets just have 1 shall we, to make things even more simple. I mean, if they are trying to make the races differ from eachother more than in any previous game, they will need the help of more voice actors. It would be rather lame if kids, youngsters, grow ups and elder men would all have the same voice, which is basically what the 20 actors would lead to. With a bigger budget and the help of the unused fan base around the world, they could easily scramble together 160 voice actors. I'd ahppily record lines for an NPC if I was asked and there was a relatively short way to the Studio, meaning the same country and max 200 kilometers between bethesda HQ and my house.

Well, considering kids, I guess we need more. But for advlts 1 voice for each gender of each race is fine.

I could live without voice acting as long as there was plenty of text dialogue to satisfy me.

Well, in Oblivion they had like 3 different voices for each gender, total. It was really lame talking to some orc dude, then talking to a nord guy who sounds exactly like him.