Deadfire will have FULL Voice over. It's ON!

[algroth]

As someone who loves both Baldur’s Gates and Planescape I have plenty to complain about. I am much less nostalgic about Planescape as I played it fairy late.

 

Lack of character depth or choice on Baldur’s Gate side would be its downfall if it was what it is aiming for. Very poor combat of Planescape would be it’s downfall of it was what was praised.

 

Both games hold up extremely well. They have big issues - both are product of wild times, of very creative but inexperienced creators. Fallout 1&2 are a complete mess in so many ways, yet there is brilliance there.

 

No, you couldn’t just “remake” them today and have them be good products. That’s why I am so against Beamdog adding stuff them - after 20 years you can’t so that. If someone can’t connect with them today, that’s a shame, and that’s fine. Gaming went a long way since then. But there is sincerety and creativity in those games, which make them a worthy playthrough even today.

 

I don't agree with the last part myself. I don't think any piece is so sacred and perfect that it could never be touched by another artist who might want to adapt it according to his vision. A good artist may certainly take these games and remake them into something good or better, but that really falls to how capable the artist is (to give an example I think it's arguable that Great Expectations is far more "untouchable" a piece than any videogame could strive for - Baldur's Gate and Torment included - yet David Lean's cinematic adaptation of it is hardly one to scoff at - likewise it's hard to ignore the success of the Aeneid even as it is partly an adaptation of the Illiad, or for that matter a piece like Adam Buenos Aires as a more modern adaptation and repurposing of the Divine Comedy). The question as to whether it becomes a success or not ultimately falls into the particulars of that vision and its execution and that's where Beamdog failed for me (I would go as far as saying that their blind veneration for the original source and the self-imposed kid gloves resultant from it was a detriment to their vision and to their work on these remakes). Personally I still think it's entirely possible to take a game like Torment and properly remake it into a piece that can quite feasibly be even better than the original - there is certainly room for improvement, all successes about it considered.

Edited April 16, 2018 by algroth

[Messier-31]

Did you realize that Edér and Aloth are done by the same voice actor?

 

At first no; Matt Mercer is doing a wonderful job 

 

But these are instantly recognized

 

Sagani = Calisca

Raedric = Odema = Od Nua

Kana Rua = Sparfel

 

EDIT: But not a big deal, 'cause some of these characters don't "last" long (iykwim).

Edited April 16, 2018 by Messier-31

[geala]

 

 

Only the intro, end game, and major story scripted interactions get voiced narration. Ordinary conversations (even important ones) don't have voiced prose.

 

I wasn't really talking about voiced prose (only). I dislike narrators in general, anywhere, including “major scripted interactions”, as they break my immersion really hard for whatever reason.

 

Interesting. I found the narrator in DoS 2 to be spectacular and a fresh welcome.

 

I would usually roleplay character voices in my head, along with any narrator bits, but I loved the narrator in DoS2. Wouldn't mind the same type of thing in Deadfire. It's like having a DM overseeing the whole thing...

 

 

A matter of taste. I deeply dislike voiced narratives and was extremely happy that you could disable it in DOS2. I hope they'll have a similar button in PoED?

[Wormerine]

 

No, you couldn’t just “remake” them today and have them be good products. That’s why I am so against Beamdog adding stuff them - after 20 years you can’t so that. If someone can’t connect with them today, that’s a shame, and that’s fine. Gaming went a long way since then. But there is sincerety and creativity in those games, which make them a worthy playthrough even today.

 I don't agree with the last part myself. I don't think any piece is so sacred and perfect that it could never be touched by another artist who might want to adapt it according to his vision. A good artist may certainly take these games and remake them into something good or better, but that really falls to how capable the artist is (to give an example I think it's arguable that Great Expectations is far more "untouchable" a piece than any videogame could strive for - Baldur's Gate and Torment included - yet David Lean's cinematic adaptation of it is hardly one to scoff at - likewise it's hard to ignore the success of the Aeneid even as it is partly an adaptation of the Illiad, or for that matter a piece like Adam Buenos Aires as a more modern adaptation and repurposing of the Divine Comedy). The question as to whether it becomes a success or not ultimately falls into the particulars of that vision and its execution and that's where Beamdog failed for me (I would go as far as saying that their blind veneration for the original source and the self-imposed kid gloves resultant from it was a detriment to their vision and to their work on these sequels). Personally I still think it's entirely possible to take a game like Torment and properly remake it into a piece that can quite feasibly be even better than the original - there is certainly room for improvement, all successes about it considered.

I should elaborate. I am not against remakes and adaptations. what I meant by BG “remake” is exactly the same game being release today. It wouldn’t work. Technology, sensibilities and telling of the same story will change after 20 years. It’s especially tricky with influential works as they are copied so much over the years and improved upon, that they loose the originality which made them a hit in the first place. Using your example: yes, Torment could be remade and be a much better game, but it would need to change. The same Torment released today wouldn’t be too impressive, even if the game has a recommendation from me as a classic.

[The Sharmat]

Eh, I played all the infinity engine games for the first time well into adulthood long after they were released. I'd say Torment holds up simply because there's not really any other game like it, warts and all, and I'm glad I played it despite the flaws. Baldur's Gate 1/2 I found to be a chore on every level and I can't see why it's so widely praised beyond nostalgia when say, the Neverwinter Nights 2 original campaign is considered pure ****. Clearly a bunch of people see something I don't.

[The Sharmat]

 

Did you realize that Edér and Aloth are done by the same voice actor?

 

At first no; Matt Mercer is doing a wonderful job 

 

But these are instantly recognized

 

Sagani = Calisca

Raedric = Odema = Od Nua

Kana Rua = Sparfel

 

EDIT: But not a big deal, 'cause some of these characters don't "last" long (iykwim).

 

Funnily enough I didn't notice the Sagani=Calisca thing until my third playthrough when it just hit me all at once. Somethign about the accent change threw me off. Probably doesn't help that Sagani and Calisca are encountered so far apart. For me Pallegina=Adra Dragon was the most obvious duplication besides Raedric/Odema/Od Nua all being the same dude.

Edited April 16, 2018 by The Sharmat

[rjshae]

It would be good if there were an 'Abridged VO' option. I.e. speak just the first sentence or so, then let the player read.

[aksrasjel]

For all that it's worth, I am legitimetely curious (and a bit concerned), how is Obsidian going to handle future Deadfire DLC given this development.  Any addition to the base game (adding new midgame content, adding new companions, expanding existing sidekicks - I can always dream, right?) would require all those voice actors to rerecord entire conversations, in part thanks to this whole already robust and  expensive relationship system. Now we're putting full VA on top of that and Obsidian is not exactly sleeping on money. Will they be able to afford 3 robust DLCs as promised, and what will be the content - that's what I'm curious about. I don't want to see writers working around full VA, just for the sake of having it in the game. I know that Obsidian managed to integrate content from the White March expansion with the base game back in POE 1, but from what I remember White March was only partially voiced, as well as companion relationships were much less complex?

Again, those are only mine - quite silly - concerns. Didn't mean to come off as a strawman with my first post.

BTW, this is literally my first post on these forums after almost 6 years of lurking. So, hello everyone?

Edited April 16, 2018 by aksrasjel

[Dodo00d]

Yay!   fully voiced dialogues should be standard for the genre since Dragon Age Origins.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Dodo00d

[Wormerine]

For all that it's worth, I am legitimetely curious (and a bit concerned), how is Obsidian going to handle future Deadfire DLC given this development.  Any addition to the base game (adding new midgame content, adding new companions, expanding existing sidekicks - I can always dream, right?) would require all those voice actors to rerecord entire conversations, in part thanks to this whole already robust and  expensive relationship system. Now we're putting full VA on top of that and Obsidian is not exactly sleeping on money. Will they be able to afford 3 robust DLCs as promised, and what will be the content - that's what I'm curious about. I don't want to see writers working around full VA, just for the sake of having it in the game. I know that Obsidian managed to integrate content from the White March expansion with the base game back in POE 1, but from what I remember White March was only partially voiced, as well as companion relationships were much less complex?

Again, those are only mine - quite silly - concerns. Didn't mean to come off as a strawman with my first post.

BTW, this is literally my first post on these forums after almost 6 years of lurking. So, hello everyone?

Hello!

 

By all means, this is the first legit concern I have seen on these forum regarding full VO. It all depends on what those three DLCs will be.

 

Me, like most I believe, am interested in story content. Commitment to full VO indeed increases production budget if they are to fit into the game. But who is to say that all three will be story expansions? What if the meatiest of the DLCs will be an expansion, while two other will be smaller DLCs to keep Deadfire pop up, before the 3rd one is released? In some streames when talking about additonal ship mechanics he mentioned that it could appear as DLC/free content update. What is speculation? Unintentional reveal? Who knows

Only time will tell. I am bracing myself for some of the DLCs to not be White Marches.

[SonicMage117]

Yay!   fully voiced dialogues should be standard for the genre since Dragon Age Origins.

Good call my padawan learner

 

And new member I see, WELCOME TO THE FORUMS! Hope we do nut scare you off lol

[Night Stalker]

Hello!

 

By all means, this is the first legit concern I have seen on these forum regarding full VO. It all depends on what those three DLCs will be.

 

Me, like most I believe, am interested in story content. Commitment to full VO indeed increases production budget if they are to fit into the game. But who is to say that all three will be story expansions? What if the meatiest of the DLCs will be an expansion, while two other will be smaller DLCs to keep Deadfire pop up, before the 3rd one is released? In some streames when talking about additonal ship mechanics he mentioned that it could appear as DLC/free content update. What is speculation? Unintentional reveal? Who knows

Only time will tell. I am bracing myself for some of the DLCs to not be White Marches.

Considering each DLC is projected to cost $10, I think they are going to be of some substance. If they are just a weapon pack or additional ships, I doubt they will sell at that price point.

[Elarie]

 

For all that it's worth, I am legitimetely curious (and a bit concerned), how is Obsidian going to handle future Deadfire DLC given this development.  Any addition to the base game (adding new midgame content, adding new companions, expanding existing sidekicks - I can always dream, right?) would require all those voice actors to rerecord entire conversations, in part thanks to this whole already robust and  expensive relationship system. Now we're putting full VA on top of that and Obsidian is not exactly sleeping on money. Will they be able to afford 3 robust DLCs as promised, and what will be the content - that's what I'm curious about. I don't want to see writers working around full VA, just for the sake of having it in the game. I know that Obsidian managed to integrate content from the White March expansion with the base game back in POE 1, but from what I remember White March was only partially voiced, as well as companion relationships were much less complex?

Again, those are only mine - quite silly - concerns. Didn't mean to come off as a strawman with my first post.

BTW, this is literally my first post on these forums after almost 6 years of lurking. So, hello everyone?

Hello!

 

By all means, this is the first legit concern I have seen on these forum regarding full VO. It all depends on what those three DLCs will be.

 

Me, like most I believe, am interested in story content. Commitment to full VO indeed increases production budget if they are to fit into the game. But who is to say that all three will be story expansions? What if the meatiest of the DLCs will be an expansion, while two other will be smaller DLCs to keep Deadfire pop up, before the 3rd one is released? In some streames when talking about additonal ship mechanics he mentioned that it could appear as DLC/free content update. What is speculation? Unintentional reveal? Who knows

Only time will tell. I am bracing myself for some of the DLCs to not be White Marches.

 

Since they said that most people didn't like the expansion in the middle, I would guess it would be at the end. That leaves room for proper interaction without having to add hundreds of extra variable interactions in the middle. As for not all the DLC being story stuff, maybe. They did say some stuff would be added post-launch but it sounded like in a patch to me. $10 equals smaller than White March though.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Elarie

[Sedrefilos]

 Obsidian is not exactly sleeping on money. 

 

Do you have inside information or photos of their beds? If you do please share, because common sense says if they've done it, they got 'em and half the budget was already covered by us.

[aksrasjel]

As a story person, I personally definately wouldn't mind seeing additional companion or "just" an expanded existing sidekick for 10$ if Obsidian truly commits to that (I'm weird like that)- but again, story-lite content or postgame DLC - this is all just working around full voice acting rather than taking advantage of it - at least in my opinion. 

 

There are also different variables concerning voice actor availability. Example: Laura Bailey is expecting for instance, she (and I assume Travis Willingham) may not be as easily available in a few months time - but you need those voice actors up and ready if you wish to add any story content. And I still have Vietnam flashbacks to Polish version of Night of the Raven expansion for Gothic II - where NPCs kept changing their voices mid-conversation beacuse voice actor from the base game was unavailable.

I realise that those are all First World Problems, so once again apologies if I'm coming down as a curmougeon, it's just something that's been bothering for a while now.

 

 

And new member I see, WELCOME TO THE FORUMS! Hope we do nut scare you off lol

 

Don't worry. I've been quite active on 4chan a few years back. I've seen it all. I grew out of it, but scars will forver remain.

Edited April 16, 2018 by aksrasjel

[Wormerine]

 

Hello!

 

By all means, this is the first legit concern I have seen on these forum regarding full VO. It all depends on what those three DLCs will be.

 

Me, like most I believe, am interested in story content. Commitment to full VO indeed increases production budget if they are to fit into the game. But who is to say that all three will be story expansions? What if the meatiest of the DLCs will be an expansion, while two other will be smaller DLCs to keep Deadfire pop up, before the 3rd one is released? In some streames when talking about additonal ship mechanics he mentioned that it could appear as DLC/free content update. What is speculation? Unintentional reveal? Who knows

Only time will tell. I am bracing myself for some of the DLCs to not be White Marches.

Considering each DLC is projected to cost $10, I think they are going to be of some substance. If they are just a weapon pack or additional ships, I doubt they will sell at that price point.

We don't know how they are priced exactly though. Their combined worth is $30 but they might be priced $5, $5 and $20.

[aksrasjel]

 

Do you have inside information or photos of their beds? If you do please share, because common sense says if they've done it, they got 'em and half the budget was already covered by us.

 

 

Frankly, I just assumed. They're still a middle-sized "indie" (for whatever that means in this day and age - Rockstar is also technically an "indie") developer, so, I guess they have to be careful where they put their money -  unfortunate happenstances happen. But if they managed to prepare a foolproof budget for both base game and DLCs - all the more power to Obsidian I guess.

[Wormerine]

Frankly, I just assumed. They're still a middle-sized "indie" (for whatever that means in this day and age - Rockstar is also technically an "indie") developer, so, I guess they have to be careful where they put their money -  unfortunate happenstances happen

Aren't Rockstar owned by Take-2? 

[aksrasjel]

Aren't Rockstar owned by Take-2? 

 

 

 

 Yeah, you're right. I'm an idiot - I somehow managed to convince myself that they are self-published. My bad.

[SonicMage117]

Frankly, I just assumed. They're still a middle-sized "indie" (for whatever that means in this day and age - Rockstar is also technically an "indie") developer, so, I guess they have to be careful where they put their money - unfortunate happenstances happen. But if they managed to prepare a foolproof budget for both base game and DLCs - all the more power to Obsidian I guess.

I assume the profits for pc version of the first game were decent enough to do something worthy, whoever is responsible for shelling out on the console versions lost a lot of dough. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure that Pillars 1 is one of the worst selling rpg (or any genre) on console this generation's history. The wholesome definition of a flop (huehue!)

 

I will say that it's strange that smaller 3 person indie teams who sell their games for $14.99 are making more money than Obsidian but then again, different audience ahd different styles. Between spaces, Obsidian has gotten new blood and lost some old blood along the way and "expanded" to 4 (or 5?) different teams who work on projects simultaneously but that literally means nothing since they were one team split into 5.

 

If I remember correctly, Obsidian is roughly 200+ members and just having enough to keep the doors open but this is probably due to them working late hours, etc. I'm not sure what the count is for catagorization purposes (i.e what qualifies a team to be labeled a mid-tier indie dev, high-tier and so on). Level status wise, to people who are heavily into indie games, I know would classify Obsidian as a low-tier but larger indie team due to the fact that Pillars 1 isn't exactly a cult hit among gamers (Crpg fans may disagree, certainly).

 

Without dropping names, I was always impressed by the devs who stay a small isolated unit (1 to 4 person team), make a million and continue to pump out great indie games. Not only is it exciting but there's always a great story behind them and their team. Inspiring really.

 

Some brain-chew for ya

[Sedrefilos]

Everything said by anyone about the financial state of Obsidian is pure speculation and shouldn't be in any conversation. We should discuss what we know of the game that is officially thrown out there. I don't know why many people post so much about how they are sure of how things are, unless they're trying to convince themselves of something (not sure what). 

 

The company decided the game will have full voice-over. They have the funds, they did it. They didn't say "we have that much exra money to toss around in that and that and that feature and we chose VO" as many believe (since they think they would spend them in other aspects of the game for some reason).

 

So, the game will be voiced entirely. Unless there are no options for muting speech, why is anyone dissapointed about this?

 

PS. Kudos to all small teams that make great games. Into the Breach was one of the best things I've ever played!

[JerekKruger]

The company decided the game will have full voice-over. They have the funds, they did it. They didn't say "we have that much exra money to toss around in that and that and that feature and we chose VO" as many believe (since they think they would spend them in other aspects of the game for some reason).

"Everything said by anyone about the financial state of Obsidian is pure speculation and shouldn't be in any conversation."

 

So, the game will be voiced entirely. Unless there are no options for muting speech, why is anyone dissapointed about this?

Because some people prefer partial voice acting? Because, rightly or wrongly, people perceive a link between fully voice acted games and a drop in writing quality? I'm sure there are other reasons.

Edited April 16, 2018 by JerekKruger

[Aramintai]

I don't get why people are upset about full dialogues VO either. If you don't like hearing characters speak - just mute them in the options. Personally, I find VO, if voiced well, to be great at adding flavor to characters and immensely improve immersion.

Sure, it's not the most important feature in the game and I haven't even seen many people asking for it, but devs decided they had enough money to add it. To me it seems like they're already pretty confident in the game to toss their money for that extra cherry on top instead of spending it on something else.

[draego]

Tangentially related to VO

 

From AMA

 

Do you guys have a way to gauge how many fans CR brings to PoE? Would that ever be information you share?

 

ObsidianEricObsidian

We are tracking the sales numbers and site traffic to versusevil.com/criticalrole. I don't know that we're ready to share yet, but one of my core philosophies with my approach to market research is to surface my analyses to the public, so I'm sure we will be able to talk about it in some form at some point.

 

I will say that we have been very satisfied with the lift from Critical Role thus far, and are excited to see just how much it blows up when Pillars II launches.

[SonicMage117]

Do you guys have a way to gauge how many fans CR brings to PoE? Would that ever be information you share?

 

Nobody here does but let's be honest, it will be a heck of alot larger than those who prefer to read. That's just the nature of rpg general audience these days. I don't believe there are reliable statistics for this but sales for such games are any indication, then we have an observative answer.

 

More people prefer to listen instead of read, I, myself am one of those people even though I love reading in general (after a long day at work or when my eyes or tired or have a headache) sometimes it just makes more sense to make the ears do more work.

 

This will surely bring a new audience to the Crpg table, those who skipped out on Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2 because it was too goofy or Pillars 1 because it had too much reading will have less of an excuse not to try out Deadfire.

 

So what we can say is that even though some of us may be disappointed, we'll still gladly play willingly and those who are getting introduced will now try based on this nostalgic sacrifice. So Obsidian was smart to play a hand at such chance and strategy.