Language: sprechen sie Dyrish?

[Death Machine Miyagi]

The German interview mentioned that language would play an important role in the game

 

You will very likely have to talk to "lost souls", decrypt uncommon dialects and translate forgotten languages. One of the rarer dialects in Dyrwood is Hylspeak, an archaic variant of the common Aedyr language. Many associate Hylspeak with memories of a past life. Superstitious people will therefore often react negatively to hearing this dialect.

 

So let's talk language. I've actually always wanted to see language approached in an interesting way in a CRPG, so this is good news for me. However, the questions are: how much, where, and how?

 

In regards to 'how much', would it be more fun or more annoying to...say, enter a major quest hub only to find out you need to either speak the local language yourself or have an NPC with you who does before you can meaningfully interact with anyone? Would it be better to have only a small number of languages, making it easier to get around, or a whole bunch, maybe livening up the environment but also making communication a pain at times? Perhaps all of the above is just too much of a hassle and language should primarily be there for flavor?

 

In regards to 'where', would it be better to have certain areas of the map that all speak a certain language, or just confine it to (as kinda implied in the article) uncommon dialects and forgotten languages that only come up in very specific circumstances, like Planescape: Torment and its 'language of Uyo'? Maybe there could be a group, akin to real life medieval Romani or Jews, who share a common culture/language but are spread out all over the place, as well.

 

And in regards to 'how', would language skill proficiency points and the like be worth pursuing? Or would it, again, be best to confine it primarily to flavor?

[Sacred_Path]

I'm mostly concerned about how these languages will be implemented dialogue-wise.

 

The easiest way is certainly to say "this guy speaks in a foreign language. Due to your skills you are able to understand him" and then provide a text in plain run-off-the-mill English. Maybe go so far as to omit a number of words based on your skill level/ experience with the language.

 

What I'd like to see though are languages that differ in some way from the commonly used language (which may be Aedyr), i.e. a language that relies heavily on symbolism and metaphors while alluding often to its native religion; so that in dialogue, you'd really have to think about how to get your point across (also requiring information about said religion).

 

That also means I'd want a smaller, well done number of languages.

 

I'm against languages as skills because that might be hard to do right, and it's also a no-brainer skill; I guess you'd just have to raise it. I'd prefer set events that determine wether you can communicate with someone, even if it might be in a hands-and-feet way (i.e. you recruit a temporary interpreter NPC/ find an old forgotten book in a dungeon that has inscriptions in both Aedyr and language X [= rosetta stone])

[Lephys]

I don't know, but the food in Dyrwood sounds... DYRISHOUS!

 

Okay, okay. Pun quota: met.

 

It would be pretty cool if the languages you could speak could work to your advantage in certain instances. Maybe it would function a bit like the reputation system. If you speak only the Common Tongue, one NPC might simply say "Ah, yes, it is nice weather. Please excuse me." Whereas, if you speak something with which they're culturally familiar, maybe they react to you in a much more amiable manner, rather than dismissing you from the get-go. Maybe they have useful info regarding a quest, or some long-lost artifact, or puzzle info regarding a ruin, or trouble of their own, etc.

 

The system would either allow you to choose which language to use to interact with someone and provide effective clues as to when that person might have more to say in a language with which they are more culturally familiar, OR provide the language-switch as a dialogue option based on your language proficiency. Maybe you notice their accent or something, and instead of just "Uhh... alright then.", you're also presented with "[other language] Please, I don't wish to pry, but you seem troubled by something."

 

I think most of the non-common-tongue stuff (common tongue being the player's native language) should be implied, obviously. It's nice to have actual bits of various languages in the form of common phrases and/or meaningful cultural sayings or poems, etc. I just don't think the player needs to be forced to study the language differences just to partake in regular conversations with NPCs in other languages.

 

All bets are off when it comes to puzzles, quests, and optional elements.

 

 

Okay, okay, one more, 8D. I hope certain NPCs find your linguistic proficiency to be quite... EnDyring...

 

*snicker... snicker snicker*

Edited December 14, 2012 by Lephys

[Death Machine Miyagi]

One thought of my own for now:

 

The first expansion pack for the original NWN, Shadows of Undrentide, had something I remember very fondly in the very beginning: if you were playing as a ranger/druid, you could speak to the local wildlife and they would tell you about the attack on the town that started the game. Basically, there was druid/ranger specific dialogue hidden away. It was completely unexpected for me when I found it, and made playing my ranger a great deal of fun...well, before the whole expansion pack fell to pieces after the start, anyway.

 

I would definitely like to see language used in some way in that vein. A normally surly or unresponsive NPC who suddenly brightens up or starts giving you information because, hey, you speak his language! A wandering traveler from some far distant land, who speaks the local language poorly and is usually not much help at all, who suddenly becomes a valuable source of information because you're the first person he's met in who-knows-how-long who actually knows how to communicate with him in his own tongue.

 

Why do you speak the language? Perhaps because you share a common background, or race, or you just invested skill points in that language. Whatever the case, things like that really personalize both the world and the characters, and give that P:T feel that there is a ton of stuff to be seen through multiple playthroughs.

[Lephys]

Regarding the "language as a skill" possibility, I'd much rather see it in a few tiers. Something like Novice, Adept, Native. Very simplified. I think the only advantage to having it be a 0-100 type skill is if there were literally instances of NPCs throughout the game who required "difficulty checks" at about every 4-5-point increment, in every language. I'm not sure we'd have very meaningfully implemented language skill effects at that point.

[Death Machine Miyagi]

I think most of the non-common-tongue stuff (common tongue being the player's native language) should be implied, obviously. It's nice to have actual bits of various languages in the form of common phrases and/or meaningful cultural sayings or poems, etc. I just don't think the player needs to be forced to study the language differences just to partake in regular conversations with NPCs in other languages.

 

All bets are off when it comes to puzzles, quests, and optional elements.

 

Even if they do a 'invest skill points to learn language' approach, I think there should be a single ironclad rule: a player should never be forced to learn some new language to experience the game properly. So, for example, it would be an awful idea to turn one of the two 'big cities' into a place where you couldn't get anything done without either taking on an NPC who speaks the local language or putting points in it yourself.

 

A new language opening up a ton of cool optional content, on the other hand? Definitely.

[Merlkir]

Oh. This makes me somewhat happy. Nice.