Voice vs no voice

[Ali]

Surely the BEST voice acting ever goes to Eric Idle in the Discworld series? Discworld would have lost some of its amazing humour without the hilarious comments in Idle's accent. Amazing. You've just got to make sure you get the right voice, otherwise it's just going to be annoying. We have to voice a ten year old girl as one of our main characters, I'm dreading trying to get that right!

If I ever meet Eric Idle I'll ask him to say "That doesn't work", then punch him in the face.

The weirdest bit in Discworld 1 was trying to give Rincewind's pouch to the Luggage. Then (I think) you got Rob Brydon doing an unusually poor impersonation of Eric Idle saying "I'll hang on to this myself". Rob Brydon went on to do Lewton's voice, and then become properly famous on TV.

[Igor Hardy]

The weirdest bit in Discworld 1 was trying to give Rincewind's pouch to the Luggage. Then (I think) you got Rob Brydon doing an unusually poor impersonation of Eric Idle saying "I'll hang on to this myself".

Strange, in my version of the game you can put it in the luggage like every other item.

[m0ds]

Thank you for your views. It'd be interesting to 'study' if there is perhaps some developer bias behind voice acting in games, but that's really cos of some non-developer friends who seem comfortable with no voices, rather than you guys challenging good & bad voice acting (you're obviously taking into focus the production quality, whereas I feel non-developers wouldn't worry about that so much). But there are definitely some worthwhile comments here, even some supporting the "no voices needed" aspect (and for interesting reasons such as game size!) and even with the debates outside of AGS forums, the opinions still indicate a resounding "yes" to VA in games. I'm definitely on that side of the fence, I'm just compelled to know more about why voices wouldn't be required for some players.

[FamousAdventurer77]

I'm just compelled to know more about why voices wouldn't be required for some players.

I know this would be the minority among today's gamers, but some just prefer to imagine a voice however they want to and would get dismayed when a sequel or reboot comes out and the voice ends up being different from their vision.

If someone is deaf/can't hear too well I guess VO wouldn't be a big priority either.

[Ali]

The weirdest bit in Discworld 1 was trying to give Rincewind's pouch to the Luggage. Then (I think) you got Rob Brydon doing an unusually poor impersonation of Eric Idle saying "I'll hang on to this myself".

Strange, in my version of the game you can put it in the luggage like every other item.

Are you saying I invented a story as pointless, tedious and obscure as that! How dare you, sir!

[stu]

Voices, but only if done right. Only problem is I imagine they're difficult to get right.
If you're able to produce decent voice packs for your game, you should do it (unless you're going for the retro/nostalgic route).

The exact same can be said for including graphics, or keeping it text only.

[Radiant]

I dislike most voice acting and generally turn it off. This is in part because I read text faster than most people speak it. For me, if a game doesn't give you the option to turn voices off, that's reason to stop playing it (and for that matter, so is having any message speed other than "click for the next line").

[Igor Hardy]

I dislike most voice acting and generally turn it off. This is in part because I read text faster than most people speak it. For me, if a game doesn't give you the option to turn voices off, that's reason to stop playing it (and for that matter, so is having any message speed other than "click for the next line").

I'm exactly the opposite - I don't mind hearing a line performed after I've already read it, but I do hate excessive clicking and avoid it where I can.

Why would I rush anyway? To miss important clues and have to go through the lines again? Better to get everything memorized well the first time. And any message delivered via a voice actor's performance sinks in much better than plain text. Not to mention bad/bland writing + no voices is a particularly dreadful mix. It's like digging through pure dirt. I prefer good writing + weak voice acting by a mile. Or even bad writing + bad voice acting - at least someone was really committed to their brand of tastelessness.

That said, I always preferred Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers text-only, without the terribly inconsistent voice recordings. That game is just too immersive to have it ruined by those.