Subtitles are apparently unheard of where you live.

After ZOS shipped the console version of ESO without subtitles, nothing is obvious anymore.

Strongly depends on personal preferences.

I've made many characters in DA:Origins. I still play DA:O.

I played through DA2 one time, and didn't bother with a lot of the non-essential stuff. Won't touch DA:I several reasons that aren't related to voice acting.

ME wasn't bad. ME2, I enjoyed Hale's work but didn't like lack of dialogue options and the railroading of the story. Again, won't but/touch ME3 for reasons unrelated to voice acting, but again, I think the story suffered, and not only the total collapse of the ending.

Whats the matter with DA:I in your opinion?

Mass Effect is a strange one. I honestly couldn't tell if the changes between the games were for better or worse; they're all great at what they're trying to do, the problem is just that it's a different thing every time. ME1 was plot-centric with the best classic roleplay elements, the most coherent story and the best realized antagonist. ME2 was basically one giant sidequest, but with smoother gameplay, excellent character interactions, great DLC and hands down the best final mission. ME3 did weird things to the plot, but it had good combat and so many phenomenal, touching moments I didn't even care that it was a shooter more than an RPG. It was epic in a good sense (right until the ending )

I think a voiced protagonist was a good fit for that series.

Actually most people do think that Bioware and CDPR are the best studios for putting strong STORY into an rpg. Notice that I said putting a strong STORY into an RPG. I did not say they were regarded as the studios that make the best RPGs. They are regarded as making the best STORY driven rpgs.

Time and time again people cite Bioware and CDPR as the top in their field more so then any JRPG company. The industry constantly refers to Bioware and CDPR when making comparisions why? Because they are recognised as leaders in STORY driven RPGs. I rarely see any Jrpg companies mentioned for comparison. Don't confuse your personal preference with a majority. It makes perfect sense for bethesda to look at Bioware and CDPR for mechanics and systemes they use to deliver strong story to an RPG. They have both made successful games with their systems and they are both well known for their story rpgs. Japanese games as a share of the world market has been steadly shrinking. Japan makes games for the japanese and their influence on the world stage is getting smaller. Most Japanese games just don't sell in any volume overseas, there are exceptions but almost any game made in Canada, USA or Europe can be found on the international stage because they are made and marketed for domestic aAND international sales. I can not think of a single Canadian company that just makes games exclusively for the Canadian market. Yet i have heard massive amount of talk how so many Japanese games are not released outside of japan. I don't think you an be an industry leader when you are not selling on the world stage.

If our PC were pre-made like Shep and Geralt, the voice wouldn't be such an issue for me. However, since we can make our PC look however we like (mostly), having a single voice option makes no sense to me. "Make your character look however you want, but he/she is going to sound the way WE want them to."

I know it's already in, and i'm fine with that, we just need an option to disable it if we feel it doesn't make sense for us as individual players. Even a pitch slider similar to what's available in The SIms would be welcome.

Voiced protagonist doesn't make the story better or worst. It just makes the story voiced.

On the other hand, it hurt the immersion, the freedom, the roleplay, the control over the player character and the company credibility.

Writing that you put effort into is what makes the story better. Not voiced protagonists and various other shallow gimmicks.

Yet to be seen.

Will reserve judgment.

Replaying Fallout 3 at the moment, it's worth noting that many dialogue options offer only 3 or 4 choices,

or use the 'let's talk about something else' mechanic.

By necessity, the on-screen dialogue choices have to be a summary of what is said, not what is actually said.

Else, you would have ridiculous repetition.

Text: 'Codsworth? You're still here! So, other people could still be alive too.'

Speech: 'Codsworth? You're still here! So, other people could still be alive too.'

Text: 'No. No, that's not possible. I wasn't out for that long!'

Speech: 'No. No, that's not possible. I wasn't out for that long!'

That would get mightily irritating after about 2 minutes...

I'm leaning toward female protagonist at the moment.

News that she will be voiced by Courtenay Taylor, who I know best for Mass Effect's Jack, has only increased that chance.

But isn't that the problem, the voice ADDS personality to the character. What if it's not the personality you want for your PC. You're basically screwed if you can't turn it off.

Suppose I want to play a character like Boone, the silent sniper type. What voice option do I have for him? Anyone I play, the silent sniper, the Mr. Personality, the crazed killer, the tough bully, the benevolent healer, the anolytical scientist, etc. all have the exact same voice which FORCES 'some personality' on the character that I may not want.

I prefer a silent protagonist also, but at this point explaining why we disagree with Todd's choice is spitting in the wind. Post-release, I'm sure we'll give plenty of feedback on how it actually improved or undermined our experience.

They may still have time to add a silent option though. Keeping the dialog in first person and showing the spoken text. Todd said they initially had the dialog in first person but moved it to third person later. Also the game often has the option to show all spoken text anyway. So it may not be a stretch that they could add it.

I think voiced pc's and cut scenes make many players feel like they are more involved.. (which is weird because to me it makes it more like I'm watching a movie and not actually playing a game.) It's kind of like the shaky cam/head bobbing mentality. Many people feel that shaky cams make a movie feel more real... and head bobbing makes a video game more realistic. Even though nobody walks around life looking through a hand cam and nobody actually notices their own head bobbing about when they walk.

I liked the idea of a voiced protagonist, but at the very least you need to have a choice of voices. That's the only way I see right now that it would appease the "their voice is not the voice I would have for my guy" group. They are valid that they feel a bit cheated on their RP (though I dont completely agree with the notion), but I say at least 5 voices per gender would be enough to appease most people, and be marginal for the rest.

If that isnt possible, this would be a great idea for a big mod. I would even volunteer my voice for it.

Before Mass Effect I couldn't care less about voice or no voice.

After Mass Effect I simply can't play a game with silent protagonist anymore because I find it way too boring.

There is no real interactions, just monolegue. And I hate monologue.

So, yeah, voiced protagonist is in and won't go away.

we can磘 always have what we want in a videogame.

I磛e been against voiced PC but now I remember how nice it was to hear my character speak in both Deus Ex and CoC: Dark Corners. So I guess I don磘 mind it after all, I磎 just not used to it having played Beth games since Feb 2007

Addendum: I really hated that the marine in Doom 3 never uttered a syllable. Made him look really stupid tbh when he never answered a direct question.

But wasn't your character fixed in Deus Ex? You could change skills and whatnot, but it was still the same guy. FO allows you to play any number of completely different people and not all of them are going to sound great using the only voice we have.

True, that is a concern. But I reckon one male and one female voice should do it. We can磘 expect to customize our PCs voice

As paying customers, i think we could ask for any of at least three things:

A. Multiple voices to choose from.

B. Option to disable the voice(s).

C. Option to adjust the pitch or whatever (not an audio person) of the available voice(s).

While we may not get them, we are certainly within our rights to request them.

Voiced protag, paraphrased dialogue options and cinematic approach eat away immersion for me in a RPG.

Bad move Bethesda, bad move..

It isn't monologue if you do the talking or put yourself in the mind of the character who is likely to say those lines.

Just more dumbing down.