Why is it still not possible to turn off the narrator?

[asnjas]

*casts banish undead*

 

Kill this meaningless thread.

[Lord Brunitius]

Can you simply don't read and enjoy the narrator?

[InsaneCommander]

Can you simply don't read and enjoy the narrator?

 

And now the thread is reborn for good.

[Ælfwine]

I'd like to be able to just listen to the voice acting in this but I have difficulty doing so for one reason: they intersperse unspoken narrative lines with the dialogue. No matter how hard I try I simply can't pull my eyes away from the text to make sure I don't miss any description. It's a very serious issue.

[InsaneCommander]

I'd like to be able to just listen to the voice acting in this but I have difficulty doing so for one reason: they intersperse unspoken narrative lines with the dialogue. No matter how hard I try I simply can't pull my eyes away from the text to make sure I don't miss any description. It's a very serious issue.

 

I'd prefer if they waited a little more for us to read the text. Doesn't need to be much more time.

 

But maybe they didn't know the final version of the unspoken narrative when they recorded the audio.

[Verde]

She speaks too slowly and I'm done reading before she is even close.

[protopersona]

Personally I'd like the option to hide the text box until I have to make a dialog choice. To me it's like having subtitles on with no option to remove them. Since the entire game is now voiced there's no reason for the dialog box to always be up.

[Aoyagi]

Can you simply don't read and enjoy the narrator?

 

No, I find her voice quite annoying and not fitting the setting, or the role to begin with. It's like a teenage sister reading a story to me.

 

Yes, I've just started playing the game.

[Boeroer]

Volume knob. Pretty crazy invention that...

[Aoyagi]

Volume knob. Pretty crazy invention that...

 

Not very convenient, is it? There's the mute button, too. But both of these "solutions" result in loss of ambient sound and any other voiced lines in the narration.

 

I'm not expecting they will add the possibility to disable the narrator, I'm just here to express my discontent with the choice of the narrator.

Edited February 5, 2019 by Aoyagi

[asnjas]

Probably because its not that big of a deal. Shes fine. All complaints about the narrator can be applied to any of the voiced parts in the game and its ridiculous to request specific ones be turned off. Overall, people like voiced lines no matter how sht they are. I doubt this is very high in the priority list.

[Boeroer]

Her voice is totally fine. I got goosebumps the first time I started a playthrough. Like... good goosebumps. Not the bad ones you get when somebody is scratching with a fork on the chalkboard...

 

I didn't have that with the PoE narrator (who also was totally fine).

 

Those complaints raise the suspicion that the only real problem for some people is that the narrator is female...  

Edited February 6, 2019 by Boeroer

[xzar_monty]

Those complaints raise the suspicion that the only real problem for some people is that the narrator is female...  

 

This argument is too easy. It is genuinely possible for a female actor to be just awful, and if that is the case, we shouldn't shirk around the issue. Otherwise we would have to conclude that the fact of being a female automatically makes you good, and that doesn't make any sense.

 

However, it is also true that some saddos will have problems with females as such. But it is not a good idea to throw this around too much in a discussion.

 

Personally, I find the narrator's performance quite average: good natural voice, decent diction, definite problems in most attempts at dramatic articulation, rather clear lack of experience in this kind of thing. Given the option, I would mute her, but having her around is not a game-breaker by any means.

[Boeroer]

It's too easy. But it's a good one, eh?

[MaxQuest]

Personally I really like narrator's voice/tone per se, in both PoE1 and Deadfire.

 

The only problem I have with narrator in Deadfire is that I am usually reading way faster than her; and thus the narration lagging behind is slightly distracting my inner voice.

But on the other hand if she was reading faster, she would probably lose part of that tension / dramatic effect.

Tbh I don't know what is the solution here.

Edited February 6, 2019 by MaxQuest

[Triple - A Foxy Lad]

ashley johnson had been a voice actress for thirteen years prior to deadfire. shes three months older than i am. one of her more notable roles was ellie from the last of us. cant appeal to inexperience here.

 

often issues with vo delivery have more to do with direction. great examples are the english versions of square enix games, where the scripting and direction make experienced voice actors sound godawful.

 

dont think there was any need for her to be voicing dialogue tags during cutscenes. i guess somebody had the notion they were ensuring consistency, but not necessary imo.

 

i quite like the idea that ydwins relating the story, from whatever distant perch her experiments led her to. quite like ydwins voice in general, icy hauteur stretched thin over raw terror. for all her laboured poise, she sounds a minute away from a panic attack when caught slightly off guard.

[xzar_monty]

ashley johnson had been a voice actress for thirteen years prior to deadfire. shes three months older than i am. one of her more notable roles was ellie from the last of us. cant appeal to inexperience here.

 

 

Fair enough, I stand corrected on the inexperience question. Then it's just lack of skill in that area.

 

No complaints on the job she does with Ydwin.

Edited February 6, 2019 by xzar_monty

[Aoyagi]

It's too easy. But it's a good one, eh?

 

As a joke, perhaps. Otherwise it's a rather weak straw man.

 

I don't care if it's a woman or a man doing the narration. The current narrator sounds to me like an inexperienced squeaky character, not some sort of an "old adventurer" type I'd expect to do the job. It's a girl, not a woman (regardless of the actor's age). Plus she's really melodramatic (maybe not her fault), reads too slowly as so many pointed out, and as far as I'm concerned, she's got an unpleasant accent. That's just me though.

 

And before you ask, I think someone like Kate Mulgrew would make an excellent narrator.

[xzar_monty]

That's the first time I hear anyone pointing out the accent. I don't mind it at all, but your comment made me curious. Where would you place the accent, if anywhere, geographically speaking? North America, obviously, but anywhere more specific than that?

[Aoyagi]

That's the first time I hear anyone pointing out the accent. I don't mind it at all, but your comment made me curious. Where would you place the accent, if anywhere, geographically speaking? North America, obviously, but anywhere more specific than that?

 

I'm not American, so I haven't really got a clue. If I had to guess, I'd say west coast or somewhere up north. I can't even put my finger on why it's unpleasant (for me). It sounds nasal I suppose.

[Verde]

It's too easy. But it's a good one, eh?

Luckily for us, game knowledge doesn't necessarily translate into sound arguments

Edited February 6, 2019 by Verde

[Boeroer]

 

It's too easy. But it's a good one, eh?

 

[..]it's a rather weak straw man.

 

In this case it's a straw woman. Because woman are weaker than men.

 

I said that in some cases the real problem might be that it's a woman. I didn't say that's the case with you. But if the shoe fits...

 

 

Luckily for us, game knowledge doesn't necessarily translate into sound arguments

 

It doesn't have to be sound to be good. In this case it stirred up the reactions I was expecting.

 

Besides that I'm actually not sure if it isn't a sound argument as well. I'd have to back it up with data, sure - but I'm pretty sure that for some of the most zealous moaners the female voice is the real reason they don't like the narrator. The rest is just bogous arguments. Or a matter of taste - and you can't argue about that. The speed of the narrator is completely normal for a Full VO (do actors suddenly speak faster if you activate subtitles in order to keep up with your reading speed?), the experience is there. She doesn't have a weird accent. Her voice is not nasal (if anything it's a bit raspy/hoarse). She doesn't sound like a girl. Seriously what girls do you listen to?  

 

Nobody complained about the woman's performance as long as she wasn't doing the narration. Because that has to be done by Christopher Lee, Barry White or their breast-haired friend Kurt - or else it's not fitting for a fantasy RPG or something.

 

If you don't like the voice - fair enough. I don't like the loss of universal talents. Nobody will be perfectly fine with all bits of the game.

 

But coming around with a good portion of self-entitlement and demanding that an option is to be introduced that turns off the narrator because not only it doesn't meet your expectaions but it's obviously sooo baaad (disrespecting the voice actor and her work - I mean somebody with knowledge actually thought she was great or she wouldn't have gotten that job) while you could easily just turn down the volume during those few scenes... I don't know... it speaks volumes.

 

I don't address anybody directly. Just speaking generally about this "case".

Edited February 6, 2019 by Boeroer

[Verde]

I won't judge acting ability I just don't like her voice and think she reads much too slow. If we could disable the narrative below that would help.

[Boeroer]

I wouldn't object such an option. I mean it doesn't hurt anybody so why not. But I also understand that it's not really a priority for Obsidian.

[Mikeymoonshine]

I like the narrator but the text is far too wordy. There's loads of unnecessary words that just makes it seem a bit like a chore to listen to sometimes. Be interesting to know if people still took issue with the narration of there was less "he said, she said" and long discriptions of your surroundings that could be about half as long and still be just as impactful.