Accents

[drake heath]

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

Close enough I guess, Harkers Island and some other towns on the outer banks have that accent.

 

I live in Greenville though, and have a very subtle accent.

Edited September 22, 2012 by drake heath

[Oerwinde]

New world accents... I vote for newfie accents for a culture!

[Nakia]

Obsidian is based in the USA, California to be more exact. We have a multitude of accents. I have lived in New York City and have heard so many different accents. I like the idea if it is possible of unique accents. This is unique project, a unique world, a unique concept even if based spiritually on the older RPGs. I don't want a clone of BG, PS:T, Arcanum etc. I want the spirit, the depth, the story, the challenge of those games which has been lost.

[LadySpace]

If we're doing new-world accents, how about a culture with a Caribbean-style accent that isn't horribly racist in the vein of Warcraft trolls. Like, maybe a Guyanese-accented culture? Seriously,

 

Honestly, as long as the accent fits the culture and the style and isn't annoying, anything goes. Just make it work with the aesthetics of the game. The world (and all its English-speaking inhabitants) is Obsidian's oyster.

Edited September 22, 2012 by LadySpace

[Justin Bell]

Personally, I like accents too. When we were working on the vertical slice for Dungeon Siege 3 we hired an actress with a very interesting Icelandic accent for Anjali. It was great, though she didn't make it into the final game (don't ask why, it's complicated)...

 

Why not start a poll about this? Seems like it would be a useful one!

[Oerwinde]

I say use various Germanic type accents for Dwarves, and Nordic type accents for Elves. Use different accents for different regions/nations, etc. Since celtic(Irish/Scottish) accents tend to be used for more rough characters, I say use them for the more advanced renaissance cultures with the high societies and such. Newfie should be the halfling accent.

[Stun]

 

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?

cute female tieflings.

[Godwin]

Could anyone tell me how to start a poll?

[Tamerlane]

Everyone gets a Newfoundland or Nova Scotian accent.

 

Everyone.

[Oerwinde]

Could anyone tell me how to start a poll?

 

I think you have to edit the first post.

[Nakia]

A Nord accent would be great for elves but unless you are a highly talented mimic only Nords can do a Nord accent. It is a pitch accent.

[Nakia]

One of the developers has suggested a pole which I think we should do. I have been thinking about it. As a resident of the USA I am concerned that people will sterotype us. We humans tend to do that. We have so many accents here. Various southern accents, mountain accents, the way the Amish speak. The so called standard American accent was actually created by professional voice coaches for radio announcers.

 

We have also been brained washed by games? It takes place in the middle ages? Oh then we must use European accents particularly British. I would like Obsidian to think outside of the box. Why do dwarfs have to be so stereotypical? Obsidian has already said that the dwarfs of the south will be different from the ones of the north.

 

Why do we assume this is Europe? This is a fantasy world. I lies in another universe. In BG I never played a human and in IWD no humans were in my party.

 

What would you like to see in a poll?

[Godwin]

I guess the poll would consist of what regions people would like to hear accents from, new world or old world or both, maybe just British Isles or Europe. I think you should make this poll Nakia.

[Nakia]

I guess the poll would consist of what regions people would like to hear accents from, new world or old world or both, maybe just British Isles or Europe. I think you should make this poll Nakia.

 

I am not much of a poll maker although I vote in most polls. I am a good poll taker. I may give it a try if no one else does it soon.Assuming I can figure out how to do it. Needs multiple questions I think.

[Sarog]

Have to echo the requests for no scottish dwarves. Partly because it is a massive cliche. Partly because scottish dwarves tend to have exaggerated Austin Powers accents that don't actually sound like any scotsmen I've ever met.

 

If dwarves have to have some real world derivative accent, make it Norwegian, or Greek, or Dutch, or something new.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Sarog

[Monte Carlo]

I loved the sing-song West African accent for the Diablo 3 Witch-Doctor. And the Russian male monk accent too.

 

I agree that the Bioware 'Noo Yawk' Dwarves in Dragon Age felt odd, but then again it was meant to be The Sopranos with battle axes and beards.

 

The UK is very odd in that it is a very small country with a plethora of regional accents. Most of the ones you hear in games are posh, but the one that made me cringe was the **** Van Dyke accent of Simeon Havarion (sp?) in BG2.

[Nonek]

I always thought that the Yorkshire accent goes quite well with dwarves, no insult to any tyke native but there were a few quite dwarven looking people there the last time I visited the four ridings. They also have a certain rough, stubborn characters as well as a history of mining and metalwork.

[incubus9]

I think a Dutch accent would be pretty cool or an Indian accent. Both are pretty underrepresented in most forms of media.

[Moonlight Butterfly]

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

 

Pretty much came here to say this, I live on the border of Scotland and the dwarves in WOW make me want to punch a kitten. Magnus from Arcanum was great however. If you guys need a very common female English accent give me a shout lol.

[Godwin]

Well now we know that there will be an old English accent or feel to one of the regions I wonder how that will shape the other regions.

[Brother Pain]

I like accents for different regions, races, etc. What I dislike are accents and language that sound/read fake (eg. most Sith in SWTOR, the "ye olde englishe" in BG).

[Stiler]

I hope there's quite a diverse sense of accents throughout the game, this was something that Dragon Age: Origins did well, by giving different regions different accents it helped sell the point that the characters ere really from other lands when their voices/accents were that different. Basically they used French accents for people from Orlais, Spanish accents for people from Antiva, etc. 

 

One accent I'd love to see is Welsh. Maybe because I'm currently playing Ni No Kuni and the character of Drippy is voiced with a heavy Welsh accent, but it adds character and uniqueness to him (because you really don't hear many Welsh accents in games).

 

See this video,

 

I linked to the time, if for some reason it doesn't work go to the 10minute 21'ish second mark, the little creature is Mr. Drippy.

 

I also would LOVE to see some Sourthern Cajun accents, from Louisiana,

Edited February 1, 2013 by Stiler

[Barothmuk]

Add another vote to the hatred of any 'new world' accents in fantasy settings. Especially American. Personally I'd rather instead of having the typical british accent as the standard/most common accent we instead have something else.  Since the old Aedyran language has some kind of old-english/gaelic vibe to it I'm hoping/thinking the standard accent will be something like Scottish or Irish.

[Alexjh]

Personally I don't think regional accents are generally as important as the specific voices speaking them, and I'd rather that the developers picked foremost on the quality of the voice within a fairly broad range of what suits the character.  To take a vague example, I have broadly the same accent as Christopher Lee (recieved pronunciation) but the reason that you'd probably hire him over me isn't really anything to do with accent, and more to do with that he has a voice that is memorable and has impact.  

 

I think the reason that people (including me) aren't fond of strong American accents is that they come across as very modern, the connotations of which you associate that accent go back about 200 years at most so are a bit jarring in a fantasy setting.  That's not to say that all American accents do have that problem, but, the ones where you immediatly think "that's American" are.  As a general rule of thumb, if it sounds even slightly like Ruby Wax it's too American.  In contrast even though, say, in the case of Meryll from DA2, I can immediatly go "that's a Welsh accent", that has more of a timeless sound to it so it fits.  On that note, I think the Welsh accent is one of my favourites and underused in games, so a vote for Welsh accent from me.

 

But yeah - for me, quality voices that don't sound too modern, from a selection of backgrounds that fit the tone of the characters.

[PoisonWar]

I quite like accents in games, I find them entertaining and they could potentially add to the character's depth or well.. "Characteristics". They speak of a character's origin or where he was brought up or by who.

 

 

[small spoiler]This thread reminds me of that character in the Bard's Tale who spoke really strong scottish(definitely fake), and only one person could understand him xD.

EDIT: Here's a video:

 

Maybe they could add a Torment-ish feature where you can have a companion translate someone's speech if you are unable to understand it yourself.

Edited February 2, 2013 by PoisonWar