He doesn't, though. ._. Naval Santiago doesn't have an accent or anything and I am fine with him using a manly man voice, but he has a definitive way of using irony in my theater-of-the-mind. He doesn't use it spitefully or in lamentation (which is some of the most whiny, cringy type of sarcasm a medium can offer), but rather to make serious situations just a bit more light-hearted when the going gets tough. "It's almost like we're fighting for our lives or something", as an example, is a tricky line of sarcasm for a voice actor to say without ascribing an emotion to it. It can sound very different in different contexts. For example, in an angered, raised voice, it sounds like a scold or a threat. In a cold voice, it sounds annoyed and professional. In a more jovial voice, it's more like poking fun at the situation.

And the thing is, I know the way I would say it. And the game doesn't have to know how I think the lines are said, in order for my interpretations of those lines of sarcasm to remain valid. If I thought it jovially and the NPC reacts violently, I can build on that reaction as the NPC feeling disrespected by me trying to make light of the situation. If I thought it angrily and the NPC reacts jovially, I can build on that reaction as the NPC being slightly intimidated and trying to use a nervous laugh to stave off my rage. If I thought it coldly and the NPC reacts indifferent, I can build on that reaction as the NPC being in-line with my own.

It really doesn't matter what emotion I ascribe to the line (well, within reasonable limits), almost always an NPC's reaction to a selection of text can be rationalized in some way. That is called theatre-of-the-mind and it's a powerful tool in maintaining the suspension of disbelief, more so than, say, clipping issues.

That is a very good perspective, actually. I hadn't quite realized the way Skyrim did things, but in retrospect, it really did bother me. May I ask if you have played New Vegas? If so, what are your thoughts on the dialogue options in that game, compared to Skyrim's? To me, it would seem as though the lines in New Vegas are more to-the-point than Skyrim's. I might be wrong though (note, English is not my native language, so I might be used to just brushing it off as a culture thing).

No, I haven't played New Vegas. I played the first two Fallouts (and loved them, since I tend to prefer turn-based games), and played the third (using it as my own sandbox, but disliking the main quest.) I'm fairly burned out on post-apocalyptic survival, so I have little interest in continuing the Fallout series right now.

Alright, that's fair enough. I agree, the amount of post-apocalypse survival games and movies become meh. I noticed this in particular with The Walking Dead Season 2; it was just so incredibly gloomy that it started feeling lifeless. Like I was watching the actual second season of the Walking Dead all over again. New Vegas I like better, mostly because I haven't been playing that many games for just me a lot lately. I miss getting lost in places.

Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of pessimistic horror-science fiction lately, and not enough optimistic-future stuff. I guess it reflects society's view of how things are. Maybe the new Star Wars movie will jar people back into looking forward optimistically.

I'm currently playing the X series (spaceflight space-merchant sandbox games) and having fun trying to fly a spaceship. A "future" with an actual future.

Simply based on my experience with Skyrim and Halo, I'll be muting the game relatively soon after starting. I'm guessing I can only stand listening to the same music, effects, and dialog for a few hundred hours (so around the end of the second month). After that, I'll split the screen and listen to television content while playing.

But in all fairness to those who continue to play with sound, I think mods are your only hope. I'm on the console so I'm not speaking from experience but it seems extremely unlikely that the vanilla game will fit everyone's expectations. This just leaves the modding community to address 'shortcomings'. Unfortunately, from what I've seen on YouTube, many Skyrim mods employ a synthetic voice (to save money over hiring a real person?) which is ABSOLUTELY unbearable to me. Talk about immersion breaking...

So best wishes to the players who are looking for a satisfying audio/visual mix in the next ES installment. The silver lining, I think, is that we're still years away from that release so who knows, maybe it'll sort itself out.

I started turning voices off and subtitles on in Oblivion. I do the same in several of my Skyrim games. I started the practice in Oblivion because all that repetitious NPC banter about Mudcrabs and syndicates of wizards was beginning to drive me insane. I'm already too close to insanity as it is. I can't afford to get any more insane.

Another problem: I don't absorb orally-transmitted information very well. You can tell me the directions to your house as many times as you want but it probably won't stick in my mind until you write it down. Likewise, when an NPC tells me who to talk to or where to go, it's liable to go - whoosh! -right over my head unless I can read subtitles or until I read it in my journal.

The upshot is: I do everything in my power to turn my nice new, technologically-advanced games into primitive 90's-era text-based games.

Oh no! Games are supposed to help us vent and fend off insanity, not draw it closer!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who mutes the game. Skyrim is my first ES game and I considered it traitorous to turn off the sounds. However, I realized the audio is not only repetitive, but it also warns you of danger well before any other indicator so I was getting dependent on it as an early warning system. Had to reign that in and keep things slightly more 'balanced'.

I'm that nasally nerd, and proud of it.

I imagine the voice of Don Knotts in my head when I read my character's dialogue. Sadly, those days are over.

For the record, I am too. I guess I'm just more comfortable with saying 'close enough' and letting it go. There isn't a RPG out there I don't tollerate deficiencies of roleplay for the sake of function. I'm already used to accepting my characters won't hold a sword 'properly'. That my scummy rogue won't slouch. That my Imperious knight will have mediocre posture. That my charming conman can't roll up his sleeve to show off his tattoo, or my studious mage will never limp, or any of a thousand other quirks of gesture, poise or presence will never translate in-game, regardless of the system used.

I accept these shortcommings for the sake of functionality. I'd much rather imagine than pay a game without combat, without animations, without simple visuals. We ALWAYS sacrifice some things for the sake of simple functionality, and I guess I'm just used to settling for the sake of not being relegated to a text adventure (which I do still enjoy from time to time).

Voiced characters, of all sorts, have advantages over simple text-conversation. That is a simple, undeniable fact. They allow for more dynamic and real time interaction, more diversity, the ability to convey emotion and presence and contribute to atmosphere.

They also have disadvantages, particularly in regards to the volume of information easily conveyed. This is solvable, but takes some rather significant work to do so, and can be quite expensive.

All my point was, was that if the only remaining problem is not sounding EXACTLY like you want your character to, then a voiced PC has already surpassed the threshold of functionality that is tollerated by every other system. That isn't to say there aren't other issues that still need addressing, but that is, it's self, the least significant problem.

Glad I'm not the only one doing that.

I really don't want a fully voiced PC. Heck, I don't even like it when the game makes me feel like I should play the dominate race of the local providence. With all its hype and cover art that's how Skyrim feels to me. Play the Nordic adventure. Morrowind was the same as it pushed to play a Dunmer. I'm glad the game allows me to ignore all that and that's the way I like it. Start adding in what could be inappropriate voices and I don't know how that would effect my enjoyment. I see no advantages to fully voiced PC and it certainly would make it more difficult to improvise my own story.

I don't think we need to worry about this in a TES game. It would hardly be practically feasible to hire 20 different voice actors for years of recording the dialogue of the protagonist (assuming they don't limit the number of playable races and/or sixes), and even if they'd conclude that it was I think they'd find it too expensive in relation to what it would add to the game. As many have experienced with FO4 it limits the role playing aspect of the game, and for the same money you could probably hire 80 additional voice actors to expand the diversity of the remaining population instead, for instance. I hope Bethesda keep the world, the narrative, and the player freedom in the center for the next TES.