Accents

[Godwin]

I was just wondering what you guys thought of accents in this game. Personally I loved the accents from BG:2, it really helps with the immersion when for example you're in the slums district and you hear some ****ney. What I would not like is a heavy American accent as in DA for the dwarfs, I much prefer the Scottish accent in BG. Personally I'm not a fan of the American accent at all in fantasy games just sounds wrong, no offence to Americans though just my opinion.

[Humanoid]

'Ere, but I cannae help but get distracted laddie when there's an NPC who's entire dialogue is written like this aye?

 

 

Which is to say, while employed correctly it can be an interesting asset, it can introduce a bit of a disconnect between the few lines of voice and the reams of text which follow - either they're written in the Queen's English which doesn't read anything like their voiced exclamations, or written in a jarring style full of their conversational tics.

Which is to say I guess, that they should be careful with the few lines in the script that do get voiced.

[DAWUSS]

As long as they're native speakers and not those doing fake accents...

[Humodour]

Accents ARE a really easy way to add lots of backstory depth to the game, because of what accents imply about the world in reality.

 

I hope Obsidian employs them.

[alphyna]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

[molarBear]

i like how this was done in PST. NPCs with strong accents had the "translation" in brackets

also see this topic: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/60343-cant-lingo-jargon/

[Piccolo]

In a fantasy setting, I like the voices to sound unique to their race or culture. A good example would be the Dunmer in Morrowind. They have a really distinct, raspy voice.

 

Failing that, i'd at least like the voices to sound neutral. It really bothers me in fantasy games when I hear an NPC talk and immediately think "he/she is [insert Earth nationality]".

 

Failing that, i'll settle for any Old World accents. Just NOT New World (i.e. American or Australian).

[Godwin]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

[Oerwinde]

I'd like to see dwarves with nordic or germanic accents. Dwarves are originally from norse/germanic mythology, so why not.

[alphyna]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

Is not having Scottish accent not an option? Basically, I'm with Piccolo here.

 

I would also like my dwarfs to be less small Scottish people and more, you know, a unique race with unusual culture from an original imaginary world, but that's just crazy talk.

[Bill Gates' Son]

I don't like the whole argument of "this accent not fitting the setting." Personally, I just want a wide variety of accents for people who live in different nations, just like in RL. For example,in the Witcher 2, people of Rivia had American accents, people from Kaedwen had Irish accents, and the Temeria people had English accents.

 

In other words, I would like to hear more than just British Accents. The Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth had a lot of power during the late middle ages, so I wouldn't mind hearing Eastern Europe accents. So did the Spanish and the Dutch. America was discovered around this time as well, so early American accent shouldn't be bad either.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Bill Gates' Son

[LadySpace]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

 

Do we need Scottish accents so much that they have to go to another group if they don't get slotted in with (a certain subculture of) dwarves? Is there some sort of Law of Conservation of Scots that I've somehow missed?

 

Accents should: fit the culture from which they stem in-world; be easily comprehensible; and avoid seeming artificial and forced. That's all.

Edited September 22, 2012 by LadySpace

[Nakia]

I like accents. The problem with the USA accent is that is what is called standard American and does not actually reflect the variety of accents we have. I see no reason why just because it is a 17 th century type setting accents should be restricted to European accents. The world is going to be varied so what would be wrong with having some down home accents?

 

Since the game is not going to be fully voiced let's have some unusual and different accents.

[Gazoinks]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

 

Do we need Scottish accents so much that they have to go to another group if they don't get slotted in with (a certain subculture of) dwarves? Is there some sort of Law of Conservation of Scots that I've somehow missed?

 

Accents should: fit the culture from which they stem in-world; be easily comprehensible; and avoid seeming artificial and forced. That's all.

I kind of want to change my username to Law of Conservation of Scots.

[Godwin]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

Is not having Scottish accent not an option? Basically, I'm with Piccolo here.

 

I would also like my dwarfs to be less small Scottish people and more, you know, a unique race with unusual culture from an original imaginary world, but that's just crazy talk.

 

You're right that is crazy, but what accent do you see them having? Just seems to fit them having a Scottish accent, I totally hated the American accent on DA.

[alphyna]

I don't like the whole argument of "this accent not fitting the setting." Personally, I just want a wide variety of accents for people who live in different nations, just like in RL. For example,in the Witcher 2, people of Rivia had American accents, people from Kaedwen had Irish accents, and the Temeria people had English accents.

 

In other words, I would like to hear more than just British Accents. The Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth had a lot of power during the late middle ages, so I wouldn't mind hearing Eastern Europe accents. America was discovered around this time as well, so early American accent shouldn't be bad either.

Eastern European accents are fine by me, as long as they'ne not thick. Thick real-world accents are simply annoying.

(Just tried D3's she-monk today. Shudder.)

[Godwin]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

 

Do we need Scottish accents so much that they have to go to another group if they don't get slotted in with (a certain subculture of) dwarves? Is there some sort of Law of Conservation of Scots that I've somehow missed?

 

Accents should: fit the culture from which they stem in-world; be easily comprehensible; and avoid seeming artificial and forced. That's all.

 

I'm just thinking Scottish is a very distinct accent within the English language and should probably be amoung the accents we hear in the game, I really don't want new world accents in the game.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Godwin

[alphyna]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

Is not having Scottish accent not an option? Basically, I'm with Piccolo here.

 

I would also like my dwarfs to be less small Scottish people and more, you know, a unique race with unusual culture from an original imaginary world, but that's just crazy talk.

 

You're right that is crazy, but what accent do you see them having? Just seems to fit them having a Scottish accent, I totally hated the American accent on DA.

Crazy Talk Strikes Back: you know that accents can be constructed, just like slang, jargon, mannerisms or culture, right? You don't have to copy real world when you create your own.

 

The developers boast making a brand new world. I think it's details like this they should turn their eyes upon.

[drake heath]

I don't see why a race can't have an American accent.

 

The game doesn't have to be a copy-paste of the Old World.

 

Also, medieval English people didn't speak like modern English people, and I'm not sure anyone wants anyone to speak like they're in the Canterbury Tales.

Edited September 22, 2012 by drake heath

[LadySpace]

I really don't want new world accents in the game.

 

And why not? I mean, having an issue with GenAm being the baseline dialect from which everyone else in-universe deviates is a problem that needs avoiding, but why make a conscious decision to avoid an entire subsection of English dialects, one that forms more than half of all English native speakers? Plus, who said we're limited to accents based on English-speaking nations? Why can't a culture have a Turkish accent, or Thai, or Brazilian?

Edited September 22, 2012 by LadySpace

[Godwin]

Maybe I'm being overzealous in my dislike for American accents in fantasy games, they could fit. It's just the Dwarfs accents in DA1 and 2 were a real turn off to me. It would have to be a certain type of accent though, totally different from the the annoying one in DA. And I'm not against accented English from Europe, English with a Dutch accent is very distinct and pleasant.

[Godwin]

PLEASE NO SCOTTISH DWARFS

You can't get more cliche than this, really.

 

When I think of Dwarfs I think of short strong humanoids with beards, essentially small Scottish people. Who would you rather see given the Scottish accent then?

Is not having Scottish accent not an option? Basically, I'm with Piccolo here.

 

I would also like my dwarfs to be less small Scottish people and more, you know, a unique race with unusual culture from an original imaginary world, but that's just crazy talk.

 

You're right that is crazy, but what accent do you see them having? Just seems to fit them having a Scottish accent, I totally hated the American accent on DA.

Crazy Talk Strikes Back: you know that accents can be constructed, just like slang, jargon, mannerisms or culture, right? You don't have to copy real world when you create your own.

 

The developers boast making a brand new world. I think it's details like this they should turn their eyes upon.

 

I don't think creating a new accent would sound very authentic and pretty hard to do. Adding slang I would expect though.

[drake heath]

Americans have a lot of different accents, like in my home state of North Carolina there's people who talk like pirates (no joke, they talk like pirates).

 

Also, Southern accents are great and I rarely hear them in fantasy. It's usually some general American accent if any.

Edited September 22, 2012 by drake heath

[Bill Gates' Son]

Americans have a lot of different accents, like in my home state of North Carolina there's people who talk like pirates (no joke, they talk like pirates).

 

Also, Southern accents are great and I rarely hear them in fantasy. It's usually some general American accent if any.

 

You must live in the outer banks, because I never heard any pirate accents over here. XD

[alphyna]

I don't think creating a new accent would sound very authentic and pretty hard to do. Adding slang I would expect though.

Well, that's not an easy task, but it definitely can be done.