American accent in CRPGs. Yes or No?

American accents are perfectly ok.

 

What's more disturbing is hearing a voice you associate strongly with an entirely different genre (e.g. Fiona from 'Tales from the Borderlands').

My Problem with Xoti is she sounds too much like Applejack from the My Little Pony Cartoons.  And no, I never watched it by choice, but I have two daughters that used to watch one of those movies in particular over and over and over and...    

I'm Polish and I don't really care about what the accents are, as long as they fit the character. I love Xoti's (it was a surprise to me, as I never followed companion blogs or reveals, just to keep the experience intact), as it fits her character and it sets her apart. Maneha was... Strange? Especially given Kana's rather unique method of speaking, but on the other hand, she's a mercenary who spent most of her life on the trail. Sagani wasn't a problem for me, as it helped defy the usual Exotic Wild Person From Exotic Wilds Speaks Exotically trope.

 

Insofar I'm concerned, Obsidian generally nails it, from KOTOR to PoE2. I think the only time the voice didn't fit the character was in Dead Money - and that was on purpose.

I love Laura Bailey, but the accent she's running with for Xoti is very difficult for me to take seriously--it sounds to me like someone doing a funny impersonation of a stereotypical southern states American.

I have enjoyed a lot of the accents in the game so far, it's diverse, and has quite a unique flavor for a fantasy game, but the ol' country boy/gal one really takes me out of it.

Edited May 12, 2018 by ganbarigarry

Look, all I know is that Xoti is the most adorable thing ever and a large part of that is her acccent, so all is forgiven.

 

For the record I have nothing against Southern American accents (I used to date a young lady from Ohio years ago and I just loved listening to her).

 

 

You know Ohio is across lake Erie from Canada right? People from Ohio usually have either an upper midwest or north midlands accent, its quite rare from someone from there to sound "southern". 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/12/02/what-dialect-to-do-you-speak-a-map-of-american-english/?utm_term=.59214250f061

I was pleasantly surprised to hear xoti's voice had southern accent. Especially after having not hearing anything but Eder in the trailers, speaking of which, Eder sort of has like an middle american feel.

No problem with any accents.

If some characters could make a specific accent and it makes sense.

Like aussie mate, texan farmer, or bbc brittish for some high class smartdonkey... that is even better. 

But could live without such devotion.

 

For the record I have nothing against Southern American accents (I used to date a young lady from Ohio years ago and I just loved listening to her).

 

You know Ohio is across lake Erie from Canada right? People from Ohio usually have either an upper midwest or north midlands accent, its quite rare from someone from there to sound "southern". 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/12/02/what-dialect-to-do-you-speak-a-map-of-american-english/?utm_term=.59214250f061

 

I was kind of just thinking that, but I have heard people from southern Indiana that were basically indistinguishable from Appalachians. The bits of Ohio over by West Virginia probably have some of that too.

 

Also, saying "Southern" accent is really like saying "British" accent, not strictly accurate, in that there are various, quite distinctive sub-varieties. Broadly those are Deep South (which are what most fake Hollywood southern accents are imitating), Appalachian (think Loretta Lynn), Coastal/South Louisiana (which extends into parts of Mississippi and Texas), and then the George Bush West Texas/Oklahoma/parts of New Mexico accent. But even those break down into even more subcategories within those categories.

Considering there is no America in Pillars,  you argument is pointless.  You can't connect our world with a fantasy world just because you have some sort of issue with a certain people.  This whole post is an attempt at drama.  It's thinly veiled.  The Pillars world would have many accents.  Xoti accent is of her region.

Xoti's voice is great.  As someone from the Southern US, I will say it is kind of fresh to see someone in any entertainment medium with a southern accent that isn't a caricature.  She isn't Early from Squidbillies, she isn't Joe Dirt, she isn't Hank Hill, etc.  She is pretty intelligent, but religious.  The voice reminds me a bit of the voice of Rogue from the 90's X-Men cartoon.  Also, most actors do a crappy job trying to have a southern accent.  See Joe Dirt, Devil's Advocate, etc.  The actress that did Xoti did pretty good.  It seems that only southern actors can pull it off... and Gary Oldman. 

 

As far as American accents in Fantasy games?  Uh, I am fine with it.  I am glad it isn't a bunch of people with English accents.  That is for sure.  It gets boring.  The accents make this game feel like it isn't Middle-Earth 2.0.  Thank God.  There are plenty of games that do that. 

I think the important thing with accents is to make sure they feel congruent with the rest of the setting, because otherwise they will be real immersion killers. For example, I absolutely loved The Witcher (all three of them), but I found it quite jarring when everyone else has various forms of British accents whereas Geralt and his friends strut around with very strong, American ones. Meanwhile, in Dragon Age all dwarves have American accents and thus it doesn't stand out in the same way. Pillars definitely falls into this second category, and while it took some time to get used to, I honestly don't mind it at all. One thing I like to think is that unless explicitly stated otherwise, the spoken language in fiction isn't really English: it's translated from whatever the "original" language was.

 

This is the way Tolkien went about it in his works. English is used in place of Westron, the common tongue of Men (and Hobbits) in Middle-Earth, and even names are translated. Frodo's actual name was Maura Labingi. Samwise Gamgee was actually Banazir Galbasi while Merry and Pippin's full names were Kalimac Brandagamba and Razanur Tûc respectively. Following this logic, it really just means that while the modern Aedyran language is represented by English, it isn't actually English as we know it. The American accent just so happens to correspond to its Dyrwoodan counterpart.

Lueva Alvari's Vailian accent is the closest I've heard in the game to a real Italian accent. It sometimes feels forced, as in it's obvious that the actress isn't Italian and has to make a conscious effort to speak like that, which leads her to sometimes stress it too much; an Italian person speaks more smoothly but it's a very good rendition of the stereotypical Italian accent, I say

The voice reminds me a bit of the voice of Rogue from the 90's X-Men cartoon. 

Welp, i guess i'm off to romance Xoti now, cause i can't unhear it now.

 

On a more on-topic note, i don't mind any accents in games or media at all. I'm a non-native English speaker and probably sound closer to someone with a speech impediment than an 'accent', so it'd be really hypocritical of me to judge anyone else by their accents.

Edited May 19, 2018 by Juodas Varnas

I think it's important to have a more diverse voice set if your world is larger (Obviously.) Even small distances can have on effect on how people speak. I laud the decision to have a wide array of voices.

 

Xoti for instance is a warm surprise. Hearing some of that good old southern drawl is a very refreshing inclusion!

As long as we get varied accents, toss it all in! If I'm gonna travel the world, I want to hear different people speak differently. Even if the accent is hilariously bad, that just makes it entertaining for all new reasons.

I'm an American from the south but I don't have an accent like from Louisiana or Texas. Xoti's voice made me want to gouge my ears out. And that stupid idiot kid from Eder's quest and all those idiot Dawnstars made me cringe whenever they said "Gaderian Bosc" outloud. It's awful, that whole accent is awful. I don't mind it in real life, but I don't know, hearing it in a fantasy setting threw me off and I don't like it. I feel like that whole accent is a result of a decline in education haha. Just....terrible 

 

Eder is from Dyrwood and doesn't sound like that. He does sound like a regular American from the south. The Dawnstars all sound like they screw their cousins and live in a swamp

the fact that they speak English on an alien fantasy planet is fine. but god forbid they don't speak all fancy.

Considering there is no America in Pillars,  you argument is pointless.  You can't connect our world with a fantasy world just because you have some sort of issue with a certain people.  This whole post is an attempt at drama.  It's thinly veiled.  The Pillars world would have many accents.  Xoti accent is of her region.

 

Actually, IIRC, the Dyrwood is sorta-kinda considered "America" in PoE, from what I recall.

Wait I want to make sure I understand.

 

An American accent is immersion breaking, but a Latin, Italian, or English accent are perfectly fine?

 

Okayyyyyyy......

You can't have it both ways.  If one real world accent is immersion breaking, so are the rest of them.  Don't confuse their accent with just average or poor VO.

Wait I want to make sure I understand.

 

An American accent is immersion breaking, but a Latin, Italian, or English accent are perfectly fine?

 

Okayyyyyyy......

 

You can't have it both ways.  If one real world accent is immersion breaking, so are the rest of them.  Don't confuse their accent with just average or poor VO.

by that logic I should've spent the last couple of years raging about Pallegina's faux-Italian accent. and then she has a faux-Italian accent but she's black in pseudo-medieval times and she's in a fantasy video game and she has feathers... I cannot suspend my disbelief that far, the accent has GOT TO GO.

 

people get hung up on the silliest things sometimes.

 

---edit---

cannot spell.

Edited May 19, 2018 by arober

somebody needs tell us what is the american accent.  already shared hobbit cartoon vo with folks such as john huston.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

casey afflek doing southie

 

 

and another pulp fiction

 

 

etc.

 

xoti sounds as if the vo artist is channeling her bestest ado annie carnes... and the character woulda been much different if she were instead doing a rosie perez or katharine hepburn.  lump 'em together as american doesn't work for us.

 

HA! Good Fun!

i happen to like a rich mix of accents in "some" crpgs... likely this is one such title. i guess living in a bit of a melting pot helps keep the sensation of varied accents from getting annoying. lucky me. 

 

i grew up on the east coast, however i've lived out west the last years 20 or so, so i've heard a lot of varied american accents. though, i've never heard one that was actually painful, so to speak. 

 

so, i'm fine with all kinds of accents in pillars. as the world seems to be a bit of a melting pot itself.

 

---edit typo

Edited May 19, 2018 by Casper

I dislike any voice acting in crpgs in general, because i play these games in my mother language. It's ruining my immersion when i read something and hear the same in english, so i just disable speech sounds.

 

Can understand this, for sure, but I really enjoy the vocal performances in the Pillars games generally speaking.

 

In these ways, its a tricky one.. Should more of the Aumaua/Wahaki/Rauatai have broader Polynesian/Maori accents? When is it too on the nose?

American accents are very dull and boring as it is, having to listen to them yet again in a video game is just torture. And its completely out of place, even for colonies. Imagine if BG1 or BG2 had such low quality accents, how would you have been able to immerse into the game? Imagine if Sarevok spoke with the dull american accent, would you have played the game and subsequently played all its babies like POE?

 

There are many youtubers who post vids them playing POE who have a much more appropriate voice/accent than many of the voices in the game. I dont think its a budget problem, its something else

Edited May 19, 2018 by artyom