Azrael the Cat

Now THAT'S sensible. It also virtually encourages piracy (how else is one likely to get in depth comparisons of voicework) - I despise piracy and that's why I preferred to simply ask the developers whether the voice acting released was indicative of the final product. It also means pre-ordering is out (which is a pity, because I usually try to support Obsidian games as much as possible).

My question was quite specifically put in the context of requesting info to help me to decide WHETHER TO BUY the game. Telling someone that 'you'll know once you've bought the game' is a tad silly in that situation isn't it? I mean let me get this straight....are you SERIOUSLY telling me that you only make your mind up WHETHER to buy a game AFTER you've already bought it? I have absolutely no interest in getting into an argument about whether Thornton's voice acting is good or bad. This is NOT the 'let's bash AP' thread. I'm just trying to find out WHETHER it is a game I am likely to enjoy if I buy. Yes, obviously I'll be in a MUCH better position to judge whether I'll appreciate having bought the game AFTER I'VE BOUGHT IT, but that kind of defeats the point of asking, don't you think? Or do you just go buying every single game that gets released, and only THEN decide (post-purchase) whether you should have bought the game or not?

Just as a note - I wasn't judging by the comments in the previews but by the dialogue and videos themselves. I only mentioned the previews to show that I wasn't alone in my concerns. Also, my point wasn't that cheesiness wasn't allowed - yes, Bond is (as has been stated many times) one of the dialogue options that Obsidian is aiming at. My fear (and one shared by the previewers) is that Obsidian has (in the limited material shown thus far) missed the 'Bond cheesiness', and instead ended up in a territory that seems like an attempt to go halfway between Bond and Bauer, but failing to achieve either. The point which bothered me the most wasn't so much any cheesiness or pseudo-toughness, but the sheer smugness of the character making him intensely dislikeable in a way that can not be said about Bond, except perhaps in his worst outings. Now I'm tremendously hoping that (a) the dialogue, as shown is just a phase that the character moves through before changing through his experiences and transforming into a less smug and more sympathetic character, or (b) simply not indicative of the overall product. Now that's just my opinion. I have no intention of getting into the whole 'my opinion is better than your opinion' game. But given that a decent number of people share my opinion (again, going by the previews, not as something that I'm judging the game on, but as an indication that there are a significant number of other people who think like me on this point), it would be nice to know what we're getting with regards to Thornton's voicework. I, for one (and again, I suspect a fair few others) simply can't imagine enjoying a game where the main character is an arrogant jerk - in the better Bond movies he is suave, stylish but NEVER smug. Smugness is saved for the junk of the Pierce Brosnan era, and I sincerely hope that isn't the kind of Bond that they are aiming at. Again, your opinion is just as valid as mine, so I'm certainly not going to flame you if you want to buy the game anyway, nor if you end up thoroughly enjoying a game. One man (or woman's) junk is another's treasure. Different strokes make the world go around, and all that. So I'm not looking for an attempt to vindicate the voicework that's been released thus far. If you like the voicework in the previews, then by all means buy and enjoy the game. But for those of us who really been put off by the voicework, it's an entirely legitimate question for us to ask whether it is going to be typical of the overall product. Someone coming along and saying 'well in MY opinion the voicework is good' is entirely irrelevant to the concern - I'm not knocking your opinion, just seeking more information relevant to my own opinion.

I loathe saying this in such a drooling fanboy manner, but I believe Chris Avellone is one of the greatest writers of dialogue in games in the past 15 years. Blatantly (but non-sexually) blowing my own trumpet, I'm not exactly coming from an amateur perspective here. Whilst I know little about fiction writing, I have a fairly impressive publication record in philosophy (primarily on ethics and political philosophy) among some reasonably prestigious academic journals. Now, having got the offputting fanboy service out the way, here's the question I so desperately want to know. Is the voice acting and dialogue of Michael Thornton, that has been released to the press that far, indicative of the final product. My concern is that it doesn't seem to match either your wonderful talent, nor the tongue-in-cheek cross between Bond, Bourne and Bauer that you seem to be going for. I know I am not alone in this: several preview sites have listed this as a concern, the most notable being the cringeworthy 'that anonymous tip-off? All me, baby!'. Ordinarily I would pre-order a game simply because it had Avellone's name attached to it in a significant creative role. But this seriously concerns me. Now I realise there is a tremendous arrogance in my assuming that you - a guy most likely to be running under tremendous crunch time right now - would care less about the concerns of a solitary purchaser. But I doubt that my opinions reflect only my own, and I am not exactly a rabidly negative Codex dog, seeking to shred you at any opportuntiy. I have been in the reverse position, putting out seminars previewing papers I am about to submit for academic publication, and in that position I have often been most grateful for feedback on the assumption that if one intelligent individual finds something problematic, others will do the same. If you would prefer a private response so it doesn't end up plastered over every fansite, you may do so by the email sent in my private msg to Avellone) and I will promise not to forward your comments unless you expressly ask me to do so as a means of calming the snarling hounds of the rpg fan forums. Yes many people make such promises and breach them. But as a professional academic, I actually face considerable repercussions if I were to breach my word in this way. Were I to promise secrecy and then post your remarks on a forum without permission, a single complaint to my employer (University of Western Australia) would result in academic discipline that would likely render me unemployable for life. So yes, you can trust me at my word. Or, of course, you could enlighten the entire forum by replying below. Given all that, I would be incredibly grateful if you could indicate whether (a) you are satisfied with the Thornton voice and dialogue performance as shown in the preview scenes (and hence that the critics are in the wrong), and (b) whether those scenes are typical of Thornton's performance. The biggest complaint that previewers have had is that Thornton sounds far too smug and unlikeable - and given that the player is supposed to identify with him over the full course of a crpg, that sounds like a serious problem. I can envisage ways in which that might intentionally be used for dramatic effect - say if Thornton starts out dislikeable and smug, but gets his comeuppance or some similar emotional challenge to his assumptions, and hence changes in a way that makes him more sympathetic. If so, I am certainly not asking for spoilers of such a kind. But a general indication of whether your views on what makes great dialogue and voice acting matches up with what has been shown (and hence is inconsistent with my own) would be tremendously appreciated. I note that I am not short on cash, and that if you are up front in such a manner, I will certainly buy the game simply to reward the all too rare quality of openness, developer honesty and communication with dedicated fans. I could not, however, bring myself to pre-purchase (or probably even purchase) a game that has been hyped so strongly on its interactivity whilst seeming to fall so flat in its dialogue, without any explanation by its developers. As for explanation, I don't necessarily expect you to waste your time responding by email to me. That WOULD be marvellous of course, but emailing each fan one by one is a slightly inefficient means of marketing. Some form of press release or publicised preview in which you address the (allegedly) poor quality of Thornton's voice acting in previous previews, and how it will relate to the eventual product is more along the lines of what I am seeking. Yours sincerely, and best of luck for your forthcoming games, Azrael the Cat