Got it.

True we are seemingly fixed with a 25-35 year old it seems. Granted I NEVER used the options to make old men or women in prior FO and TES games so removing that option wouldn't bother me too much.

Well being an android would explain why he lived 200 years, but wouldn't explain how he got a baby.

No point in muting it when the dialogue system is based on a voiced protagonist. Unless I end up really hating the VO.

But simplifying dialogue only yo have a voice protagonist...

We've heard these voices dozens of times.

Literally.

The same way 30% of fathers got their babies in the 50s.

This. The way they've decided to handle dialogue has been a massive turn-off for me.

And limitations are good amirite!

I thought of that, but since the child is actually modeled in game to look like the parents, this seems unlikely.

I'm willing to bet we're an android made in the image of the character we start off as, with their memories and all. We're not actually the same person. Why do you think that Vault-Tec guy was so interested in your stats?

Because we have to build our character sheet somewhere right?

He was looking for a date and wanted to make sure you met his standards?

Of course. But jokes aside, I can't really see us surviving the blast when standing on top of the vault. And everything points towards us being an android.

Trust me, I'm calling it now - we think we survived and part of the story is us realizing we're just an android with the memories and appearance of someone from before the war. Maybe the entire vault was only androids and we're the only one that made it.

UH!?....

...this pool is so unnecessary, since this game apparently is already done, because it will ship out world wide in November. What you expect? Them to go back and rewrite the coding system so the option is available? And then what? You still have the cut scenes from each of them talking and you can see them still. Ain't that will be odd? if you have the character muted? Take it for what it is, because it has deliver and it looks outstanding, if not, wait for a mod .

Hey, if we are an Android, opens up all kinds of RP possibilities.

"Wait...I'm a what? ...But...I have memories...I remember things...I remember smells...touches...I did things...What am I....? What is life? Who am I? What is my purpose?" commence to throttling an Institute tech. "WHAT IS MY FUNCTION?!"

I for one am excited to play with a voiced character. Actually provides the possibility to experience my characters emotions. The simplification is not a bad thing; less dialogue options doesn't necessarily mean less dialogue. You may choose an option and end up listening to an NPC for five minutes (probably less, I would have shot him on the face by then )
To all of you who want to roleplay...
Bethesda wants to tell their story this time. We've all roleplayed our own characters; now we get to play as Bethesda's character.

I think, HURR DURR, that you might have had a point ten years ago. By now, however, I'd guess that most folks expressing opinions, have actually played RPGs with voiced protagonists, as well as games with a silent protagonist and have formed preferences based on experience. Assuming that they just don't want change comes across as a little mindless ...

@Lady Evenstar, because Quotes don't work for me in any way shape or form...

Sure, I would agree with you, if some people didn't voice their opinions in a rather childish way.

How many times have you seen "No. I don't want it. I hate it." Rather than "I dislike this because [reason]".

When people give a reason and validation to their opinions, okay, we have something.

having seen it at work now, there's one thing that bothers me even FAR more than the protagonist voicing itself:

them *** button thingies you get to choose your line, they showed some text next to them. what the actor says when you click the according button though is totally NOT what it's text says. like, the button in the demo says, like "impossible.", and the actor goes like "what? noo, codsworth, old buddy, it can't be i've really been away that long" -

WHAT
THE
HELL

...??

I think Mr. howard said it best. If you had no idea how Bethesda handled the protagonist in past games you would expect a voiced protagonist to tell good stories in a game. Why would he say this? Or Why would they do this?

Well it appears that bethesda have realised that their strength in games has been the open world experience and now they want to provide the open world experience with a strong story. And a VOICED protaganist is now an industry standard for a AAA title. You may not like a voiced protagonist but the ndustry has moved past this. It no longer is a debate for large AAA studios. They ALL understand the benifits it adds to story telling so if you don't like it you have to either play indie RPGs that cant afford to add voice or accept this is a standard of gaming now.

Sources

https://youtu.be/2KApp699WdE?t=2h22m29s(strong story with open world)

https://youtu.be/2KApp699WdE?t=2h23m35s(him saying people would expect a voiced character if they did not know about bethesda's past games)

I hope the character doesn't talk to himself a lot. When he opened the fridge he commented on the Nuka-Colas he saw. That would get annoying quickly if during the course of exploration he was naming stuff he finds out loud or yapping to himself.

"Stimpaks! I could use those."

"I bet I can make use of this duct tape."

"Can't have too many bullets!"

Yeah, that would get old pretty quickly, I think.

To have a voiced character is in my opinion removing a big part of the game experience. I read that the character will have 13000 lines, but it will all be from two voice actors, one male and one female. What makes previous Fallout games as well as Skyrim so great, is that you cant do it all in one playthrough. The number of ways of doing things ensured, at least for me, that I would do 3-4 playthroughs with completely different characters, and the experience would vary from time to time. With a voiced character, the variety of doing things might still be there, but it will not feel like 3-4 different characters. This will in turn make the characters feel way to similar, and the end experience after first playthrough will decrease. The main reasoning I have for this, is from The Witcher 3. Even though there are many different ways of doing things, and even many different endings, it will all still feel like the same character. For me, the fact that they decided to voice the main character tells me that they are willing to make changes just for the sake of change.

That said, the game seems so massive that there perhaps is no need for multiple playthroughs. Weapon customization, armor customization and even home customization will probably allow for an insane amount of time for every character created. Also, if there is huge difference in outcome due to dialog option, the weaknesses of said option will be somewhat disguised. However; had they gone for mute character, it would be even better.

Final point: New Vegas as well as Skyrim are my best gaming experiences. You can play as a young man, an old woman, a scientist, a mad bomber etc. With it being skripted like this, your background will always be that of a suburban established family man/woman, probably late 20s early 30s. Where in mentioned games the options where "limitless", this now is impossible. Speaking for my self, I cant imagine away parts of the game for the sake of immersion.

My issue with the Mass Effect style voiced dialogue system is three-fold:

1. You can never tell exactly what your character is going to say. All you see a vague topic.

2. It will make it harder to mod. Think of all the alternate start mods and race mods in 3 and New Vegas. Will my 10 year old character have the voice of a fully grown man? Will my super mutant sound like a normal dude? It will also be jarring for my character to suddenly become silent during a modded quest because no voice acting was added, as well as making the fact that you can't tell what your character is about to say even more awkward. Let's say someone wanted to make a roleplaying mod that added more dialogue options. I would have to alternate between hearing my character and reading text.

3. It limits the amount of options you have. My character can only have one delivery for each line. I can't imagine him saying a line sarcastically unless the game wants me to. I can't determine how my character talks and what his personality is. I always loved playing as the young, snarky ass-hole in New Vegas. I can't imagine that fitting a 30 year old father who has the voice of a 30 year old father.

Obviously none of this matters since it's already too late and there's nothing we can do about it, but I still wish Bethesda hadn't gone this route.

I was under the impression, this was just a pre-war thing because you couldn't pick up this things.

"Bounce pad!"

I love it that people think having this snooze-worthy voice equates to a "great story." LOL