yeah i hate to say it but definitely. i have found myself actually caring about whats going on in the quest instead of just clicking the NPC and getting through the written down story to click "accept"
I know its probably just that i am lazy but i have NEVER read any of the stories in other games.
Full voice acting can do little to cover up generic quests that you find at every turn. Eventually as you play, after first being blown away by "the richness of story", you find that engaging in the dialogue is a chore just to get to the "kill 10 this" or "collect 10 that" quests. In light of the waste of time, even if you haven't heard this guy's shpiel, you feel compelled to just skip all the dialogue and get on with the questing. After playing through some few hours completely hyped up, it's a disappointment; I'm thoroughly dissapointed. The money and effort put into voicing every character for every interaction should've been put to better use; such as adding newer, better content.
I've realized, despite my possitivity for this game before, that SWTOR has just become another MMO clone in several of the worst ways and few of the best. I've unsubscribed weeks ago and only plan on getting dragged back once my friends make me, but right now, I'm playing games that hold my interest in gameplay and not necessarily quality of story or voice acting.
I don't really have a huge problem with the voice overs themselves. What I think got old was having conversations for every single friggen quest and knowing it meant absolutely nothing on how I carried on said conversations only made them more annoying after seeing them more than once. Also making each one a cutscene was not that great either. Then again I am not the type that now says I can never go back to reading the text either. VO in and of itself is nice, the implemintation in TOR was bad.
Lol! OP, if you REALLY thought LotrO questing was so much better than TOR questing in this, then I'm going to laugh very hard at you. Ah well, to each their own I guess, although I myself found most quests in LotrO after a while become boring as hell.
I agree though that there's a difference in attraction in the class storylines, with the Jedi ones usually to be considered bland and the Empire class ones like IA or Sith more entertaining.
But generally, voice acting + cutscenes > textbased presentation
There's a reason that it's being used in singleplayer games above text, and there's a reason that not only TOR uses it, but that also GW2 and TSW will have extensive voice work.
BW only should have used more voice in general in the world itself, more ambient voice and noise.
Lol! OP, if you REALLY thought LotrO questing was so much better than TOR questing in this, then I'm going to laugh very hard at you. Ah well, to each their own I guess, although I myself found most quests in LotrO after a while become boring as hell.
I agree though that there's a difference in attraction in the class storylines, with the Jedi ones usually to be considered bland and the Empire class ones like IA or Sith more entertaining.
But generally, voice acting + cutscenes > textbased presentation
There's a reason that it's being used in singleplayer games above text, and there's a reason that not only TOR uses it, but that also GW2 and TSW will have extensive voice work.
BW only should have used more voice in general in the world itself, more ambient voice and noise.
This post alone kinda reinforces my point and I'll add to something he said. Yes VO is better than text base and it is being used more in single player games but there is some glaring problems comparing the 2 to say VO is better. In a single player game and we can use Skyrim since it can be argued as one of the best examples, you don't do quest grinding nearly to the extent you did in TOR so the CS and VO wasn't nearly as bad. Throw in that your choices actually had more meaning in Skyrim and you can see where this is kinda showing the point I was trying to make when I posted. In a MMO and especially a thgemepark that was as linear as TOR was and this becomes and issue for some. It becomes very repetative and tediouse to the point that I started to wish I could just read the shit and move on. It was overdone and comes off as gimmiky because of it.
Lol! OP, if you REALLY thought LotrO questing was so much better than TOR questing in this, then I'm going to laugh very hard at you. Ah well, to each their own I guess, although I myself found most quests in LotrO after a while become boring as hell.
I agree though that there's a difference in attraction in the class storylines, with the Jedi ones usually to be considered bland and the Empire class ones like IA or Sith more entertaining.
But generally, voice acting + cutscenes > textbased presentation
There's a reason that it's being used in singleplayer games above text, and there's a reason that not only TOR uses it, but that also GW2 and TSW will have extensive voice work.
BW only should have used more voice in general in the world itself, more ambient voice and noise.
I think they're referring to LotRO's epic quests. I still enjoy them, but after TOR questing, it becomes clear that in LotRO, you are, and always will be an observer, and don't really participate in the dialogue at all. Things happen in front of you and you watch them, then on you go to the next fight.
With TOR, you can react to things. The best part of the system isn't picking up or turning in the quest; it's when you're out in the field doing the quest, and you trigger a scene where you have to make a decision. THAT is the bit that pulls me in.
Personally, I love it. Honestly, I've never paid much attention to quest details in other games. Just tell me what I have to kill and what I'll get as a reward. Story in an MMO has always been irrelevant to me. The same goes for my characters. They have always been just an assortment of stats and cool looking gear. Characterization and motivation have never meant anything to me.
With SWTOR, I find myself actually paying attention to the story. Moreover, I find myself becoming engaged in my character as their personalities and motivations evolve. I care about them, whether it's my cocky, good natured smuggler or my bloodthirsty, power-hungry sorcerer, the characters are interesting and their relationships are meaningful.
If you don't care to sit through the dialoge, you can just skip through it.
This post alone kinda reinforces my point and I'll add to something he said. Yes VO is better than text base and it is being used more in single player games but there is some glaring problems comparing the 2 to say VO is better. In a single player game and we can use Skyrim since it can be argued as one of the best examples, you don't do quest grinding nearly to the extent you did in TOR so the CS and VO wasn't nearly as bad. Throw in that your choices actually had more meaning in Skyrim and you can see where this is kinda showing the point I was trying to make when I posted. In a MMO and especially a thgemepark that was as linear as TOR was and this becomes and issue for some. It becomes very repetative and tediouse to the point that I started to wish I could just read the shit and move on. It was overdone and comes off as gimmiky because of it.
Come on, be honest here. This has little to do with voice work and more with quest based leveling in MMO's. I mean, it's not as if people would read all the quest text in textbased MMO's, right? What devs often have said and players as well, a hell of a lot of people skip quest text. Quest skippers in TOR are most of the times quest skippers in other MMO's as well.
But I'm also sure that people on average pay more attention to quests in TOR, just like they did in AoC, and just like they'll do in GW2 and TSW, than in textbased quest MMO's due to the presentation of voice and cutscenes. Given the choice, I prefer more extensive use of voice work and cutscene presentation in MMO's than textbased questing, and I'm pretty sure that there are lots of others who share that preference.
I will start off by saying I never was excited about Star Wars: The Old Republic because of the voice over work, I was excited because I finally get to play a new Knight's of the Old Republic game and see what has happen in the universe since I last played. In short (and I have said this ad nauseum since the MMO was announced) I was looking for KoTOR with multiplayer features and that's just what I got.
With that said, yeah I like the voice over work to the point that I now find it difficult to play other MMO's that don't have it. Honestly this is just the next evolution as we are seeing more future MMO's doing the same, SWTOR was just the first to be fully voiceover. Basically it's like this, voice over in MMO's is the like having sound in movies. Back when we were use to silent films no one saw the need for sound, however once they started having sound it was hard to go back to the old style.
In the end games like SWTOR, GW2, TSW and others will help to pave the way for future MMO's with voiceovers.
So do I skip the voice overs, sure if I have done the quest already but more often then not I am compelled to listen to the NPC were as in other MMO's I could not care any less about their story I just want to kill the rats and get my loot. That was most likely the biggest surprise to me though looking back I don't understand why it was a surprise, when I play Skyrim I listen to the NPCs so why not in an MMO. The quests are just as predicable in Skyrim as they are in any game, kill, minigame, fedex, etc but how it's delivered is what makes them fun.
Another example is with Star Trek: Online. Most of the episodes I played were silent, sure I read some but for the most part I just clicked. Then one day an episode pop-upped up and NPC started talking, however my reflex was to click “F” and I missed the dialogue yet I was curious “What did they have to say” (go figure) so I canceled the mission and restarted it just so I could listen to what they had to say. Simply put it added another level of depth to the game and I hope they continue to add more voiceovers in the future.
So do I think it was a great idea? Sure. Is it a revolution? Hell no. Is it an evolution? Naturally (yes the pun is intended.)
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
Voice acting can be great, but in the end, it's only as good as the script. If you have a fantastic or memorable script, then an excellent voice over can really take your game to the next level. But if you have a boring script, then no amount of VO is going to make it better.
IMO, the paragraph above describes my experience with SWTOR. When I'm doing an interesting class quest, or one of the decent side quests, I loved the VO. But when I did a boring sidequest, it was spacebar all the way.
Unfortunately, IMO the majority of side quests were fairly boring, and some of the class quests were dull as well. I think VO should have been used more "strategically" in SWTOR. Don't use it if you know the quest is bad.
Also...there's opportunity cost to consider. If so many resources are being spent on VO, then they can't be spent in other places. Once again, if a game is great, VO can enhance the experience. But if a game is poor, then no amount of VO can save it.
Sometimes I felt that SWTOR's focus on VO cost the game in other areas.
I would like to take this moment to agree with the this and add an example and explanation -
Example: No voiceovers but compelling quest - WoW, Alliance - Stalvan. That quest was awesome. There wasn't any VO, but the sense of mystery, the zone interweaving. It worked so incredibly well. It's about the content not the delivery. NOW - if you make a Stalvan level questline AND punctuate it with VO work. Well, then that could be the next level.
Example: False Emperor. Make that questline a little different and keep the solid voice acting, and we are in for a great ride. (DIGRESSION WITH SPOILER - I am saying that an event like fighting Malgus could be super epic, but I am not saying that the False Emperor line was good as it is. Specifically, in a world of "choice" you can't make a choice that alters the events after the cutscene itself. The huge fault in the "choice" aspect of that quest is that you can choose from 3 options which have ZERO impact on the outcome. Option 1 - Ignore it and try to attack, Option 2 - Mock him and then fight; Option 3 - Try to convince him to change his mind then fight. No chance to side with him and fight boss 2, the guy who sent you in to kill him, and get the same loots by having Malgus reward you for helping.END SPOILER/DIGRESSION).
WHY IT WORKS EVEN BETTER IN SMALL DOSES -
All CAPS sucks. It makes things hard to read. So do all bold or italics. But used sparingly, those devices can make things easier to read and more compelling.
All voice over gets tedious and it becomes harder to differentiate between this waste of time, window-dressing version of the device and an enhancement of something important.
BEER EXAMPLE - One beer a night is going to sneak calories onto your gut and never get you buzzed. But 7 beers once a week will get you smashed and make it a party. Spacing things out can make things better. IMO, VOs are better used like beer.
Although I never thought it was a good idea so playing the game just reaffirmed my opinion.
If I had a credit for every time my character screamed: "Murder and mayhem awaits!" as a reply I ould buy every person on my server a speeder. Although to be fair that probably wouldn't be all that many.
>_>
It is simply overdone and devalues the concept when it is used for everything.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Another example is with Star Trek: Online. Most of the episodes I played were silent, sure I read some but for the most part I just clicked. Then one day an episode pop-upped up and NPC started talking, however my reflex was to click “F” and I missed the dialogue yet I was curious “What did they have to say” (go figure) so I canceled the mission and restarted it just so I could listen to what they had to say. Simply put it added another level of depth to the game and I hope they continue to add more voiceovers in the future.
IMO, STO's VO is a great example of VO done badly, and being more of a detriment. here's an example:
It's essentially a wall of text being read to you by a guy that sounds like he's reading a wall of text. Marginal acting aside, if there's no real conversation, then I don't really care about VO.
Unless you participate in the conversation in a meaningful way, as you do in TOR and other BW games, then VO adds nothing for me.
Rather than asking if its a 'good idea' you have to ask if you would have preferd they paid for more devs instead of paying voice actors!
Voice over is something which should have come as an addition AFTER the game and ONLY if the game was successfull enough to warrant that expenditure of resource.
Yup, I think it was a great idea. Makes the game a lot more fun and the quests a lot more meaningful to me. And I still have the option to skip the voiceover stuff if I want. Win-win.
VO are a nice touch, however I have and always will beleive that 100% VO has no place in an MMO and is jut a depletion of resources for something that many will be "meh" nad how there are many other areas that need work on.
VO is class/personal stories are great to be included in but when you are doing it for every single quests then you are just wasting company resources and neglect other crucial aspects of the game.
In short 100% VO fits an single RPG game, not an MMO.
It won't happen again. The risk (expense) vs. reward is not worth it. Bioware spent 200 million on SWTOR, obviously most of that went to Voice Acting because beyond that, it is nothing special.
I probably wouldnt have played it while I did if it didnt have that. Because then I would just be playing another quest hopping facerolling themepark where I dont even have to craft.
Another example is with Star Trek: Online. Most of the episodes I played were silent, sure I read some but for the most part I just clicked. Then one day an episode pop-upped up and NPC started talking, however my reflex was to click “F” and I missed the dialogue yet I was curious “What did they have to say” (go figure) so I canceled the mission and restarted it just so I could listen to what they had to say. Simply put it added another level of depth to the game and I hope they continue to add more voiceovers in the future.
IMO, STO's VO is a great example of VO done badly, and being more of a detriment. here's an example:
It's essentially a wall of text being read to you by a guy that sounds like he's reading a wall of text. Marginal acting aside, if there's no real conversation, then I don't really care about VO.
Unless you participate in the conversation in a meaningful way, as you do in TOR and other BW games, then VO adds nothing for me.
Edit: Exceptions being narrations, of course.
I think you are looking to much into what I said, also I never commented on "cutscenes" because in most MMO's they are horrible and STO is no exception (and to make it worse 90% of the time you can't skip them.) However the quest voice over work that I have experienced is not bad (again NOT cutscenes just the pop-up mission windows), it's not BioWare or Bethsoft quality but honestly few games are at that level.
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
i gave it a shot hopeing the VO would make a difference, but i found out quick that the quest could be told to me in voice or writen in text it doesnt matter the bottom line is im still working for fed ex delivering boxes to other NPCs and killing 10 boars in the forest and that isnt fun.
but i did enjoy the class quest that was a good story.
Comments
yeah i hate to say it but definitely. i have found myself actually caring about whats going on in the quest instead of just clicking the NPC and getting through the written down story to click "accept"
I know its probably just that i am lazy but i have NEVER read any of the stories in other games.
Full voice acting can do little to cover up generic quests that you find at every turn. Eventually as you play, after first being blown away by "the richness of story", you find that engaging in the dialogue is a chore just to get to the "kill 10 this" or "collect 10 that" quests. In light of the waste of time, even if you haven't heard this guy's shpiel, you feel compelled to just skip all the dialogue and get on with the questing. After playing through some few hours completely hyped up, it's a disappointment; I'm thoroughly dissapointed. The money and effort put into voicing every character for every interaction should've been put to better use; such as adding newer, better content.
I've realized, despite my possitivity for this game before, that SWTOR has just become another MMO clone in several of the worst ways and few of the best. I've unsubscribed weeks ago and only plan on getting dragged back once my friends make me, but right now, I'm playing games that hold my interest in gameplay and not necessarily quality of story or voice acting.
I don't really have a huge problem with the voice overs themselves. What I think got old was having conversations for every single friggen quest and knowing it meant absolutely nothing on how I carried on said conversations only made them more annoying after seeing them more than once. Also making each one a cutscene was not that great either. Then again I am not the type that now says I can never go back to reading the text either. VO in and of itself is nice, the implemintation in TOR was bad.
RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan and Paul Gray.
There's a reason that it's being used in singleplayer games above text, and there's a reason that not only TOR uses it, but that also GW2 and TSW will have extensive voice work.
BW only should have used more voice in general in the world itself, more ambient voice and noise.
This post alone kinda reinforces my point and I'll add to something he said. Yes VO is better than text base and it is being used more in single player games but there is some glaring problems comparing the 2 to say VO is better. In a single player game and we can use Skyrim since it can be argued as one of the best examples, you don't do quest grinding nearly to the extent you did in TOR so the CS and VO wasn't nearly as bad. Throw in that your choices actually had more meaning in Skyrim and you can see where this is kinda showing the point I was trying to make when I posted. In a MMO and especially a thgemepark that was as linear as TOR was and this becomes and issue for some. It becomes very repetative and tediouse to the point that I started to wish I could just read the shit and move on. It was overdone and comes off as gimmiky because of it.
RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan and Paul Gray.
I think they're referring to LotRO's epic quests. I still enjoy them, but after TOR questing, it becomes clear that in LotRO, you are, and always will be an observer, and don't really participate in the dialogue at all. Things happen in front of you and you watch them, then on you go to the next fight.
With TOR, you can react to things. The best part of the system isn't picking up or turning in the quest; it's when you're out in the field doing the quest, and you trigger a scene where you have to make a decision. THAT is the bit that pulls me in.
Personally, I love it. Honestly, I've never paid much attention to quest details in other games. Just tell me what I have to kill and what I'll get as a reward. Story in an MMO has always been irrelevant to me. The same goes for my characters. They have always been just an assortment of stats and cool looking gear. Characterization and motivation have never meant anything to me.
With SWTOR, I find myself actually paying attention to the story. Moreover, I find myself becoming engaged in my character as their personalities and motivations evolve. I care about them, whether it's my cocky, good natured smuggler or my bloodthirsty, power-hungry sorcerer, the characters are interesting and their relationships are meaningful.
If you don't care to sit through the dialoge, you can just skip through it.
So yes, I think the VO is a good idea.
I will start off by saying I never was excited about Star Wars: The Old Republic because of the voice over work, I was excited because I finally get to play a new Knight's of the Old Republic game and see what has happen in the universe since I last played. In short (and I have said this ad nauseum since the MMO was announced) I was looking for KoTOR with multiplayer features and that's just what I got.
With that said, yeah I like the voice over work to the point that I now find it difficult to play other MMO's that don't have it. Honestly this is just the next evolution as we are seeing more future MMO's doing the same, SWTOR was just the first to be fully voiceover. Basically it's like this, voice over in MMO's is the like having sound in movies. Back when we were use to silent films no one saw the need for sound, however once they started having sound it was hard to go back to the old style.
In the end games like SWTOR, GW2, TSW and others will help to pave the way for future MMO's with voiceovers.
So do I skip the voice overs, sure if I have done the quest already but more often then not I am compelled to listen to the NPC were as in other MMO's I could not care any less about their story I just want to kill the rats and get my loot. That was most likely the biggest surprise to me though looking back I don't understand why it was a surprise, when I play Skyrim I listen to the NPCs so why not in an MMO. The quests are just as predicable in Skyrim as they are in any game, kill, minigame, fedex, etc but how it's delivered is what makes them fun.
Another example is with Star Trek: Online. Most of the episodes I played were silent, sure I read some but for the most part I just clicked. Then one day an episode pop-upped up and NPC started talking, however my reflex was to click “F” and I missed the dialogue yet I was curious “What did they have to say” (go figure) so I canceled the mission and restarted it just so I could listen to what they had to say. Simply put it added another level of depth to the game and I hope they continue to add more voiceovers in the future.
So do I think it was a great idea? Sure. Is it a revolution? Hell no. Is it an evolution? Naturally (yes the pun is intended.)
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
I would like to take this moment to agree with the this and add an example and explanation -
Example: No voiceovers but compelling quest - WoW, Alliance - Stalvan. That quest was awesome. There wasn't any VO, but the sense of mystery, the zone interweaving. It worked so incredibly well. It's about the content not the delivery. NOW - if you make a Stalvan level questline AND punctuate it with VO work. Well, then that could be the next level.
Example: False Emperor. Make that questline a little different and keep the solid voice acting, and we are in for a great ride. (DIGRESSION WITH SPOILER - I am saying that an event like fighting Malgus could be super epic, but I am not saying that the False Emperor line was good as it is. Specifically, in a world of "choice" you can't make a choice that alters the events after the cutscene itself. The huge fault in the "choice" aspect of that quest is that you can choose from 3 options which have ZERO impact on the outcome. Option 1 - Ignore it and try to attack, Option 2 - Mock him and then fight; Option 3 - Try to convince him to change his mind then fight. No chance to side with him and fight boss 2, the guy who sent you in to kill him, and get the same loots by having Malgus reward you for helping.END SPOILER/DIGRESSION).
WHY IT WORKS EVEN BETTER IN SMALL DOSES -
All CAPS sucks. It makes things hard to read. So do all bold or italics. But used sparingly, those devices can make things easier to read and more compelling.
All voice over gets tedious and it becomes harder to differentiate between this waste of time, window-dressing version of the device and an enhancement of something important.
BEER EXAMPLE - One beer a night is going to sneak calories onto your gut and never get you buzzed. But 7 beers once a week will get you smashed and make it a party. Spacing things out can make things better. IMO, VOs are better used like beer.
Someone please make a good MMO.
No
Although I never thought it was a good idea so playing the game just reaffirmed my opinion.
If I had a credit for every time my character screamed: "Murder and mayhem awaits!" as a reply I ould buy every person on my server a speeder. Although to be fair that probably wouldn't be all that many.
>_>
It is simply overdone and devalues the concept when it is used for everything.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
IMO, STO's VO is a great example of VO done badly, and being more of a detriment. here's an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PlgsBqwZf8
It's essentially a wall of text being read to you by a guy that sounds like he's reading a wall of text. Marginal acting aside, if there's no real conversation, then I don't really care about VO.
Unless you participate in the conversation in a meaningful way, as you do in TOR and other BW games, then VO adds nothing for me.
Edit: Exceptions being narrations, of course.
Rather than asking if its a 'good idea' you have to ask if you would have preferd they paid for more devs instead of paying voice actors!
Voice over is something which should have come as an addition AFTER the game and ONLY if the game was successfull enough to warrant that expenditure of resource.
Yup, I think it was a great idea. Makes the game a lot more fun and the quests a lot more meaningful to me. And I still have the option to skip the voiceover stuff if I want. Win-win.
VO are a nice touch, however I have and always will beleive that 100% VO has no place in an MMO and is jut a depletion of resources for something that many will be "meh" nad how there are many other areas that need work on.
VO is class/personal stories are great to be included in but when you are doing it for every single quests then you are just wasting company resources and neglect other crucial aspects of the game.
In short 100% VO fits an single RPG game, not an MMO.
It won't happen again. The risk (expense) vs. reward is not worth it. Bioware spent 200 million on SWTOR, obviously most of that went to Voice Acting because beyond that, it is nothing special.
The revenue won't make up for the costs.
no
if i want to play a game i'll play t2a uo
if i want to watch a crappy cartoon i'll play swtor
Yes.
This is one of the things separating it from a game like Wow or Rift.
Any themepark released after SWTOR must have atleast main quest VOs or they will fail, It has become the new standard, even blizzard is taking note.
C
I probably wouldnt have played it while I did if it didnt have that. Because then I would just be playing another quest hopping facerolling themepark where I dont even have to craft.
Yes.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
I think you are looking to much into what I said, also I never commented on "cutscenes" because in most MMO's they are horrible and STO is no exception (and to make it worse 90% of the time you can't skip them.) However the quest voice over work that I have experienced is not bad (again NOT cutscenes just the pop-up mission windows), it's not BioWare or Bethsoft quality but honestly few games are at that level.
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
i gave it a shot hopeing the VO would make a difference, but i found out quick that the quest could be told to me in voice or writen in text it doesnt matter the bottom line is im still working for fed ex delivering boxes to other NPCs and killing 10 boars in the forest and that isnt fun.
but i did enjoy the class quest that was a good story.
Personally, I loved it. It made a big difference for me, bringing me into the game that much more. It's absolutely one of the PRO's of the game.
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
Yup, fine with it.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo