Think a voiced protagonist is a bad idea? Here's Bethesda's reasoning!

RangerBoo said:
I absolutely HATE having a voice protagonist and its one of the main reasons why I am not buying this game. And No Bethesda the reason why people didn't the conversations in 3 wasn't because they weren't spoken out loud by the character but because the dialogue sucked and now we get to hear our character speak your wonderful and well written dialogue. :irked: My main gripe with a voiced protagonist is that modding for quest mods is going to be so much harder or impossible now because of a voiced character.
Click to expand...

This here is actually a VERY good point. Before, you only had to voice the NPCs- no big deal, you can find voice actors for them more or less easily. But finding someone who sounds like the original main male and female characters to not make your custom content stick out like arse? Pretty much impossible.
 
This here is an old point; and self evident, isn't it?
(And a real problem; for those few of us that might try this.)

I think what we all as quest modders should do, is cut up Todd Howard's presentation speeches, and use them as the samples for the PC in all custom quests.
 
Last edited:
I don't see anything wrong with a voiced protagonist

The only problem comes with delivery and writing


I can tell we're gonna get a mod that removes the voice acting and puts text boxes back in

War never changes, and apparently neither does the Fallout Community's standards of what makes a good Fallout game


"What's this? New ideas and steps forward in game design? BLASPHEMY! Bring back isometric and turn-based gameplay at once!"
 
Voiced protagonists bring with them a reduced variety in options in dialogue. They shouldn't but we live in planet earth, voice actors charge for their time and work, and companies can't just spend a fortune just on voice work.

Now we have already seen they dumbed down the dialogue system into a 4 options at a time cross, so no, it's not just a matter of "removing the voice and putting it in textboxes" The damage has already been done. A voiced protagonist actively altered writting and quest design, it's obviously more limited now.

And as the cherry on top, the male vocie they chose has to be the most generic "gruff dude" voice they could find.

So before you go "hur hur dur, you just want Isomtric don't you!!!" actually stop and think for a second.
 
The_Time_Master said:
Which is why I repost over and over again on reddit this video to wake sheeple up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwlt4FqmS0
Click to expand...

Sorry to break it to you, but your effort is meaningless.. You are misguided if you think that you have impressed any teenage FO3 fanoys on reddit\youtube or assume that any of them actually watched the video until the end.


As for the presentation, it is very impressive, but its premises is lacking outside of couple of black and white examples. He used an example of a book that for the most part never got much attention, to explain game designers how games should be made i.e. less "structured" so we can create our won stories (ME example) and have more substance (FO3 vs FO:NV).

While the idea will ring true to any RPG fan, here are few nuances:

* He makes the same mistake he warns about, he use a book narrative structure to explain a game design. While ostensibly both FO:NV and FO3 offers the same open world structure, FO:NV world\quest design offer a much more regimented and controlled experience, by funneling us through the world they achieve the "understandable journey to tangible destination". (which made it better, I think)

* Obsidian made few nice iterations over FO3, and I found FO:NV world more vivid (or maybe more familiar), however, I don't think that Obsidian makes better worlds then Beth (just write better\more lore for them) and the food example is stupid. Every game sacrifice realism in favor of gameplay, overall theme, etc, and if you can't find at least on mundane inconstancy you aren't paying attention. The corps growing fits well for NCR frontier farmers\settlers, but not so much for FO3 or FO1 for that matter.

* Finally and probably most importantly, his book never got much attention as his ideas which which doesn't work in titles for mass appeal (basically any AAA title). This is a much better summary of how things <strike>should</strike> actually work for the target audience of AAA games.(note point 8) This also the reason why they invest in cinematics VA etc..

The_Time_Master said:
Oops, can't fit that on 4 buttons...
Click to expand...
Actually you can have all those questions and more, and even ME series had it and I am pretty sure Obsidians Alpha protocol had it.
 
Last edited:
Fallout 1 had crops and farms, So no idea why you think that doesn't fit with it. And it takes palce earlier in the timeline than 3.
 
I'm the biggest Fallout 3 fan here and I think a voiced protagonist was a stupid idea. [strike]Nm, I'm dumb and out of the loop: Not too mention they had to pick the most generic of voices, Troy Baker, who is the voice of everyone in every show/game ever.[/strike] I don't understand why they went the Mass Effect route but hopefully they've put a lot of time into making it interesting. At the end of the day, I'll be more interested in side quests/exploration and the dialogue will comprise a small part of that experience... but still.
 
Last edited:
It's not Troy Baker, is a dude who sounds like his most generic voice who also has never voiced any named character in anything.
 
Walpknut said:
It's not Troy Baker, is a dude who sounds like his most generic voice who also has never voiced any named character in anything.
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm dumb then... I haven't been keeping up since the press conference. I thought that was Troy Baker's voice. That sounds even worse.
 
Honestly, I skip the dialogue anyways, so voiced/silent protag means nothing to me. What is more important in an RPG is the choices made and thinking about how those chocies will affect the world in the long term.
 
Yeah it isn't Troy Baker, though we still get a stereotypical gruff dude. What happens if you're character isn't white? He still sounds white.
What happens when people make quest mods? They can't voice the protagonist themselves anymore.
What happens to the dialogue? It becomes watered down.

The dialogue choices for the dog look very watered down. Why do we need a dog companion for every single Fallout game? I feel like Bethesda tries too hard when they shouldn't and don't really try when they should.
Speaking of dogs, why is this dog instantly and irrevocably friendly? That right there is bad story telling. You know you are doing the story wrong when you throw logic to the wind to get results, but put the same logic back when you feel like it. This dog is friendly just cause, but the feral dog you'll be attacked by soon won't be. Why? Because dog companion that's why.
It is a very Hollywood thing to do. You have a logical flow of logic (Yes, logical flow.. of logic) until it gets in the way of something. "Well we can't have the main character just stay in prison, so we'll just have him suddenly know how to lockpick and be a ninja!" That right there is Hollywood. "Well dogs would normally be feral, but since we need a dog companion for some reason, the first dog the protagonist meets is instantly and inexplicably friendly." That right there is Fallout 4 as we've seen so far.
 
The Doctor said:
I don't see anything wrong with a voiced protagonist

The only problem comes with delivery and writing


I can tell we're gonna get a mod that removes the voice acting and puts text boxes back in

War never changes, and apparently neither does the Fallout Community's standards of what makes a good Fallout game


"What's this? New ideas and steps forward in game design? BLASPHEMY! Bring back isometric and turn-based gameplay at once!"
Click to expand...


If they actually brought back ISOMETRIC, then maybe Bethesda's Fallout would be marginally more appealing, than the ADD fueled Doom Clone bullshit that they're marketing as a "Fallout" product!
 
Reaper Shackal said:
Super Mutant said:
The dialogue is going to be like this: You think to yourself "Wow, this man was very helpful" so you select the choice that says "Thanks for your help." Your character then proceeds to say "Thanks for your help, bitch. Time to fucking die."
Click to expand...

Something like that.
A good example would be in Telltale's The Wolf Among Us. There is an option when talking to a character to "glass him". I Assumed that meant to join him in drinking, so I clicked it. My character proceeded to smash his glass cup into his face instead.

To improve your example, I would say that the option only says "Thanks.." and your character goes "Yeah.. umm. Thanks..." like he didn't mean it.
Click to expand...

In what world is glassing someone drinking with them? That one is your fault, it's obvious what it means.

As for the voiced protagonist I hope it works out, but it does concern me a little bit.
 
Battlecross said:
Reaper Shackal said:
Super Mutant said:
The dialogue is going to be like this: You think to yourself "Wow, this man was very helpful" so you select the choice that says "Thanks for your help." Your character then proceeds to say "Thanks for your help, bitch. Time to fucking die."
Click to expand...

Something like that.
A good example would be in Telltale's The Wolf Among Us. There is an option when talking to a character to "glass him". I Assumed that meant to join him in drinking, so I clicked it. My character proceeded to smash his glass cup into his face instead.

To improve your example, I would say that the option only says "Thanks.." and your character goes "Yeah.. umm. Thanks..." like he didn't mean it.
Click to expand...

In what world is glassing someone drinking with them? That one is your fault, it's obvious what it means.

As for the voiced protagonist I hope it works out, but it does concern me a little bit.
Click to expand...


Nowhere in the English language is "glassing" a term in common usage!
 
Battlecross said:
Reaper Shackal said:
Super Mutant said:
The dialogue is going to be like this: You think to yourself "Wow, this man was very helpful" so you select the choice that says "Thanks for your help." Your character then proceeds to say "Thanks for your help, bitch. Time to fucking die."
Click to expand...

Something like that.
A good example would be in Telltale's The Wolf Among Us. There is an option when talking to a character to "glass him". I Assumed that meant to join him in drinking, so I clicked it. My character proceeded to smash his glass cup into his face instead.

To improve your example, I would say that the option only says "Thanks.." and your character goes "Yeah.. umm. Thanks..." like he didn't mean it.
Click to expand...

In what world is glassing someone drinking with them? That one is your fault, it's obvious what it means.

As for the voiced protagonist I hope it works out, but it does concern me a little bit.
Click to expand...

I certainly wasn't expecting my character to go violent, considering there was nothing to warrant it anyways. "Glass him" could have easily mean't that you would bump your glass with his as a "Can't disagree with that." gesture.
 
Last edited:
TellTale "games" suck anyways, breaking a glass on his face will have the same effect as not doing so. They are like the biggest offenders of Illusion of choice.
 
While I like Fallout 2, I'd honestly be upset if they went back to isometric. then again, I didn't grow up with Fallout 1 and 2.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top