Repeated Actor Voicing

[Lycan]

So we all get to that stage where the voice acting in Skyrim and the titles previous become so repetitive that it really takes away from the RP experience.

So here is an idea I had from another thread discussion.

Next game they should just ask fans for some free voice acting, I sure would participate if I got to star as a Skyrim NPC. Perhaps a site where there is a specific NPC and anyone can upload a recording of them speaking the required lines. Then Bethesda can go on and pick whichever they want.

Just adding..I believe it will give fans a better look into the personality and life of each NPC given that you need to know your role (or have the choice to create it, have an NPC with your personality). What a great way to create interactive lore.

We will become part of the story!

What say you?

Ready to finally be a part of your own adventure?

 

[hexperiment]

While I like this idea, I am a bit cautious of hiring amateur voice actors. I've played quest mods from Oblivion with voice acting and the worst part of that quest mod was voice acting. It was sooooooo terrible, I couldn't bear it.

Another idea I have is using 'sim voice'. You know, in Sims the characters just speak gibberish like 'blah blah blah blabbity blah'. I think TES could use this too. Each races and gender could get a specific form of gibberish with different personality. Since TES is supposed to be a foreign universe, it would make sense that we can't understand them and we need a dialogue box to translate for us. It's awkward staring at their face animation during conversation anyways so I think this might work well. It's cheaper and it gives us plenty of rooms for imagination.

 

[Jonathan]

Love the idea, but I doubt it will be taken. Bethesda wouldn't search through tons of audio files to find the right one, would they? However, I agree that voice acting is so repetitive, and would record my voice for this.

 

[Altioris]

While I like this idea, I am a bit cautious of hiring amateur voice actors. I've played quest mods from Oblivion with voice acting and the worst part of that quest mod was voice acting. It was sooooooo terrible, I couldn't bear it.

Another idea I have is using 'sim voice'. You know, in Sims the characters just speak gibberish like 'blah blah blah blabbity blah'. I think TES could use this too. Each races and gender could get a specific form of gibberish with different personality. Since TES is supposed to be a foreign universe, it would make sense that we can't understand them and we need a dialogue box to translate for us. It's awkward staring at their face animation during conversation anyways so I think this might work well. It's cheaper and it gives us plenty of rooms for imagination.

Personally I'm not much of a fan of that. Sure it's awkward to look at em, but it's still fun to have unique dialogue. It's enjoyable for me personally, and I think it would detract from the experience if we needed a dialogue box. That's just my opinion.

 

[Lycan]

While I like this idea, I am a bit cautious of hiring amateur voice actors. I've played quest mods from Oblivion with voice acting and the worst part of that quest mod was voice acting. It was sooooooo terrible, I couldn't bear it.

This is why one role would have people submit their recordings and a selection process would occur to determine the right voice for that NPC as well as recording quality. I know it would be disappointing to miss out on a role but in the end it is a multinational game that requires high standards.

 

[hexperiment]

I really do want to hear unique voices from individual NPCs. Some will be better than others and I think that would make NPCs even more memorable. The important Main Quest NPCs could remain with professional actors. Someone should organize a mod for this.

 

[Lycan]

I really do want to hear unique voices from individual NPCs. Some will be better than others and I think that would make NPCs even more memorable. The important Main Quest NPCs could remain with professional actors. Someone should organize a mod for this.

Agreed. The Main quest Quest NPC's should definitely remain as the professional voices. Kinda takes away from the original otherwise.

A mod would be nice but for the next game to be fully evovled around personalities and voices of the fans it would be great.

 

[Mabe]

They could learn a lot from rockstar. You can hear thr board people reading from the script just repeating line after line. The acting is terrible.

 

[Lycan]

Another good point to real people as voice actors is the kinds of accents you would get.

 

[Lycan]

I would like a larger difference between Breton and Imperial voice actors too

This whole project would make each voice individual. Though it may be hard to determine a specific accent to a race. I don't know about you but some accents I find hard to speak.

 

[hexperiment]

One main problem with this might be that such individualized voice acting could also break the immersion. Each race has certain tone of voice, an accent. Vanilla Skyrim just mixed all of them together (except for Khajiit and Argonian) and voiced them depending on the character's trait (wizard, warrior or rogue). If we had fans voice them, it might be hard to find a direction for each of the race's accents

 

[Phenom]

Sounds like a fun idea, but I don't agree with it. It's like saying every game with NPC voices should have a voice simulator.

 

[Lycan]

One main problem with this might be that such individualized voice acting could also break the immersion. Each race has certain tone of voice, an accent. Vanilla Skyrim just mixed all of them together (except for Khajiit and Argonian) and voiced them depending on the character's trait (wizard, warrior or rogue). If we had fans voice them, it might be hard to find a direction for each of the race's accents

I do agree with this point.

You can look at it the same as the real world. Not everyone who is the same racial background has the same accent or even looks the same but in a game this excuse isn't good enough for me. This is why if it were to happen the selection process would have to be very strict. And maybe even give examples of what is expected of each racial accent.

 

[Jersey Dagmar]

I think the voice acting is fine with a game of this size. Sure, some of the voices I could tell were from the same VA, but it didn't overly bother me that much. NPCs like Cicero are memorable and have fantastic voice acting behind it.

 

[KayO199X]

That's a great idea, not just for The Elder Scroll series, but for any video game.

 

[Calcelmo]

It's a good idea, but the quality would be horrible for sure.

 

[Teritus]

Yeah, has anyone noticed how all the guards sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger (I hope that's the right spelling)? Haha. And the Imperials have that cockney accent. Your idea would be a whole lot of fun, but that's saying that every voice actor would keep in touch of how the character and their race is supposed to sound like.

 

[Stone]

I don't really think about the voices of NPC's. I just get on with the game as it doesn't bother me. However the idea about Bethesda allowing some fans doing some voice acting sounds good. But then I also agree with Hex's statement of

While I like this idea, I am a bit cautious of hiring amateur voice actors. I've played quest mods from Oblivion with voice acting and the worst part of that quest mod was voice acting.

 

[Skullrattla]

If they'd just reduce the godamn chattiness of everybody it would be fine!

You bump into somebody, they greet you in some way, you take a few steps away and bump into them again, and they repeat the greeting, or a similar one, as if they didn’t just greet you.

THAT'S what's annoying.

Having the option to turn off NPC's voice responses to dialogue choices in routine (not quest-related) transactions would be pretty darn good too, since this game is meant to, and will be, played for quite some time.

I am really burdened by Lydia saying every time how she's sworn to carry my burdens, with that slightly ironic undertone. It puts me on a guilt trip about loading her up with dragon bones while she has to do most of the fighting too.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

I'm definitely getting tired of hearing the guy who sounds like James Woods all the time!