In-dialog speaker descriptions

[Stoner]

I hope thread name isn't too confusing...

 

These little things had been nagging at me each playthrough.

Example, Eder speaking (voiced):

bla-bla-bla (no-spoilers  ) - he frowns - bla-bla.

 

I like reading everything, each word, not to miss single sentence, expression and etc. Main problem comes with voiced dialogues, you can follow text but pauses are too short to read entire text of the speaker in one go, so you have to listen and then re-read (with descriptions this time) full text. Voice acting is very good, even great, but it cannot express everything that's written inside dialogue window, sometimes it's mood expressions, sometimes pose shifts and gestures.

 

I'm perfectly fine with games that have just text dialogues and no voices, but since it's done in PoE, and done very well, it feels bad to just turn it off. How to live with such a nuisance?... Does anyone else feel the same way?

 

P.S. People in Eora are too grim, the frown way too much...

[Fenixp]

It is kind of annoying, I would have preferred something along the lines of <"blablabla" he frowned> and then you'd click a 'continue' button for another block of text to show and VO to continue. As it stands, I just read the spoken dialogue along with VO and then jump back to read the description bits.

[Messier-31]

Description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description description. "I got used to it."

[Stoner]

@Fenixp

Yeah, I do the same mostly, but you have to agree - it breaks the flow a bit 

[Fenixp]

@Stoner

Very, sometimes, the emotions were relayed rather poorly via the VO and reading the text significantly shifted meaning of the dialogue

[4WhiteTiger]

as a newbie to this game, I find it out of place.

 

what I'm doing now is listening to dialog then when the voice over is

finished I read the whole text dialog.

 

good game

[Tanis]

Maybe a narrarator could voice over the description text. I am listening to the voice over and then reading the whole thing again to get the description text in context. Not a big deal, but could be improved.

[Ymarsakar]

I don't have a problem on this issue. Then again I watch subtitled foreign shows, so my reading and audio data processing is on its own parallel tracks by now.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Ymarsakar

[Flix]

I agree, a lot of times the description says that the character pauses to do something, but there's not the slightest pause in the dialogue.  Mainly though what bugged me is that a character is described as whispering, moaning, coughing, gritting teeth, or whatever else, but the actor continues on in the same pleasant tone of voice.  Feels like those descriptions weren't present at the time of recording.

 

I had no problem keeping up though, in fact I'm usually way ahead of the voice actor, which can be its own problem.  Lady Webb in particular talked excrutiatingly slow.  The voice actor would get through half a sentence and I'd just have to click 'continue' because otherwise it'd take so long.

[Oralaina]

I agree, a lot of times the description says that the character pauses to do something, but there's not the slightest pause in the dialogue.  Mainly though what bugged me is that a character is described as whispering, moaning, coughing, gritting teeth, or whatever else, but the actor continues on in the same pleasant tone of voice.  Feels like those descriptions weren't present at the time of recording.

 

I had no problem keeping up though, in fact I'm usually way ahead of the voice actor, which can be its own problem.  Lady Webb in particular talked excrutiatingly slow.  The voice actor would get through half a sentence and I'd just have to click 'continue' because otherwise it'd take so long.

 

Yeah, I read really REALLY fast (1500 wpm).... Stuff like this drives me NUTS.  I don't want to hear the voice acting for various reasons:  first, it's so damn slow; second, I'm roleplaying a whole other game in my head, and this junk doesn't fit; third, I just don't think the VA adds anything to the game (personal opinion of course); fourth, I HATE chit chat and conversation IRL, and it's even worse in a game.  Just TELL me what's going on and let me click through the screens as fast as I can read.

 

I know I'm a minority there.... but it's an ongoing issue for me, has been ever since NWN maybe, not sure now when all that VA stuff started happening....  Don't like it, don't want it, please make it go away....

[the_dog_days]

I don't have a problem with the voice acting, per se, but as textual learner I would rather there be no voice acting with the dialog box open but the VA left on during combat and while issuing commands for immersion.

[Guest 4ward]

i think it should be either VA with no descriptive text or without VA but with descriptive text