Going forward, let's hope EA/Bio learns from GW2 about the use of VO work

[noahjam326]

I feel just saying at the start of the group "Do you mind if we could just space bar through the cut scenes?" and seeing how others feel would work just as well. If one person says "Yes, I do mind" then I just watch them again. I know if I were in their shoes I would be pissed if I missed out on the interesting scenes just because others didn't want to see them again. I know this works both ways. "Why should one person decide what we can and can't watch?" While I understand that view point, I think somebody missing the scenes entirely (never having done it before) is worse than having to just sit through them again. That's just my personal stance though.

[Svifnymr]

Why is everyone replying about the quality of the VO work? That wasn't the point I was trying to make at all!

Topics drift, it happens.

The point I was trying to make is that because of the way that SWTOR has 1001 largely inconsequential side quests, it becomes too much. And IMO it's counterproductive: scripted scenes are more static and just conversations because they have to do so many of them, very few are memorable at all because they mostly end up as just conversations over trivial quests and so it becomes tedious, and because it adds so much production time (and cost) I suspect that's why new PvE content has been so slow to be released.

I think they realized it, given that The Black Hole has a billboard of quests.

Using the VO and scripted scenes more sparingly for the major class/world stories--like GW2--would allow them to either save time and get content out faster, or else allow them to make the scripted scenes more dynamic because they'd have triple the amount of time to work on each scene. Another way to get to the same kind of solution would be to change the nature of questing from dumping dozens of these minor quests on us that all need their own scripted VO scene, and instead focus on giving us fewer but larger/longer/more vital quests and dynamic quest chains.

The cutscene's themselves are probably not very cost/time intensive, it's just animating the same tools. The work was spend on the tools and now they can pop stuff togethor faster. Sure they need to do voice work but that's not really going to take developer time, I'd say.

I think bounty type (Kill 10 ugna... boars) shouyld be a billboard/drop box setup. Otherwise though, I'd prefer a full scene rather than clicking on an npc and having to read quest-text ever again. The advantage that GW2 has is that you have no choices, so they can just put a "skip" button in the corner. TOR has dialogue trees and light/dark side and companion bonus/penalty convo's so skipping those is a bit of an inconvenience. For things (like the scavenger hunt cutscene's) where there is no choice though, a "skip to the end" option makes sense. Rather than space-barring the entire time.

[mace16]

I dont think we will ever see VO in an MMO on the scale of SW:TOR again. Its pretty obvious BioWares extreme focus on VO/cutscenes for every little thing caused many other important parts of the game to suffer greatly and lets be honest the constant need to go into a cutscene everytime you pick up a quest gets beyond obnoxious.
Not to fuel the flames of a GW2 vs SWTOR topic but GW2 does do the VO for handing out quests a lot better. A lot of Dynamic Events begin by having some random person run up to you and start begging for your help with something, and its full VA every time. I didn't need to stand there and tell him that it looks like another chance for violence, he just told me whats up, pointed me in the right direction, and I went on my way.

[draykorinee]

Topics drift, it happens.

Let's hope they focus more on quality than quantity when it comes to production levels of voice and cinematic work, and save it for more critical things and in more dynamic ways than just conversations.

Na thats why everyone mentioned quality because the OP did in his original post :P

I agree with you that the cutscenes and voice really wont have a massive impact on adding content and that a skip cutscene etc might be useful to repeat levellers.

[Deleted]

personally i prefer the GW2 Voice overs, and i also like the fact you arent stoned too dead with them like you are in swtor.

in swtor i do like the fact you can make your voice during the VO so it goes smoothly and not that you have too run too a npc make a choice and then the VO goes on.

[Svifnymr]

Not to fuel the flames of a GW2 vs SWTOR topic but GW2 does do the VO for handing out quests a lot better. A lot of Dynamic Events begin by having some random person run up to you and start begging for your help with something, and its full VA every time. I didn't need to stand there and tell him that it looks like another chance for violence, he just told me whats up, pointed me in the right direction, and I went on my way.

I like both games for different reasons, GW2 is a much more dynamic world. Like them just yelling "hey, help me!" or just wandering around to see what event is spawning over the next hill. It's pretty well voices but it's also obvious that the voice-work and even the dialogue scene's are just there to give you some info, as opposed to being a story of it's own.

For story though, TOR is a lot of storylines and a fuller experience in that regard. The NPCs just stand there, but they are much deeper when they do something. GW2 has a huge superficial world vs TOR's linear depth, I believe.

For alts though, both of these things can ring with a "been there, done that". Still fun though!

[Mister K]

with SWTOR i really got tired of every single quest giver talking to me for 5mins and a long dialog and in the end all they wanted me to do was kill 10 bandits or collect 20 broken droids.

SWTOR to me went way over the top on the voice acting.
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Agreed, but I still think the actual VOICE ACTING is far more superior in SWTOR then in GW2. Only downside is as mentioned in the above quote.

[Beefhammer]

I find VO work a huge let down in any game. Especially in MMOs. IF they use soem VO for greetings and such I'm fine, but pretty much every time someone speaks here VO never fits what I imagined the character to sound like and it totally ruins it for me. At least offer options to turn of quest dialog. I hate turning down my sound just to get rid of the annoying VO. I'm old school and love reading quests instead of having them read to me.

And to a poster before, there was not one kill 10 of anything quest in either game that made me more interested or immersed because of the way it was told to me.

[Deleted]

I feel like neverwinter nights 2 gets the right mix. For main quests, major side quests and companion quests there is full VO, but for minor quests or shops or things like checking your progression, no VO.

I don't think TOR's full VO is bad; just unnecessary. Especially for many minor quests which use alien voices anyways.

[Hellfury]

Gw2 VO its awfull expecialy the Humans and Nord ones, human one is terrible and feels like the Aion(ish), female nord its just plain horrible and was the factor I didnt chose it as my main's race. The Asura one is ok thou. the tree guys and the char I havent heard yet.

Swtor VO its top quality, and its very professionally done and that shows becuase they used very good voice actors.

Should had Bioware opted by using VO only for class quests and used some more budget on other things, sure I agree, but the quality of VO from swtor its indisputable the best I heard on a MMO and one of the best in any game

[SirRobin]

Meh... The two games have very "different" designs and the VO is just one of those many many differences. GW2's VO fits well with its surprisingly non-linear design and TOR's fits well with its surprisingly linear design. Not to mention that the VO in both games is hardly their greatest strengths, in my opinion of course.

[Forsedar]

The VO in SWTOR was a great strength when I was leveling for the first time... but after that it did get old. However, Class Stories are still amazing through voice overs.

[SirRobin]

Yeah, the "story" itself is TOR's greatest strength in my opinion. It is deep and varied, between the classes. In GW2 its greatest strength is the "world" itself. Being as deep and varied, between the zones, as TOR's "story." VO is an important part of both, but naturally with TOR's much more linear design, VO plays a bigger role. Yes both could use a significant amount of tweaking to fit "better," but they fit well in their product's overall design. Product's which have dramatically different focuses.

[Aeka]

SWTOR was pretty cool for having everything voiced over, but I know I'm not the only one who got tired of having voiceovers and conversation scenes even for essentially "kill 10 boars" missions and then dozens more relatively inconsequential ones just like it. it was just too much, especially on repeated playthroughs of each planet.

Anyone else old enough to have played Wing Commander when it came out? Remember when voiceovers, conversations, and cinematics were seen as a reward for progress and used to progress the main storyline? Thus they became significant and both the players and developers could focus more on them. By having them used so much in SWTOR foften for such trivial things, and by having them mostly just be static conversations, they lose their specialness and can even become tedious.

Let's hope they focus more on quality than quantity when it comes to production levels of voice and cinematic work, and save it for more critical things and in more dynamic ways than just conversations.

Agreed. I see there are those who don't, but I find it watered down the importance of the cutscenes. So damn many for so many pedestrian quests. And then when you're going through on an alt, for the same quest...ugh. By the time my main was in the 30s and 40s, it really got boring and slowed down the gameplay. The cutscenes were fun at first, but they got very old.

[namelessone]

I disagree with the OP 100%. I was/am not impressed with GW2's use of voicework. SWTOR did an excellent job of making me care about killing 10 robots by putting in a wounded soldier who refuses to abandon the mission. Now the 4th time listening to the same quest...yeah, it does get old then. But still, you remember the quest giver because he is a little bit more than just scenary.

I would sign under this one. Some GW2 voice work is ok, but most makes me cringe. Asura story is the worst offender so far. I haven't heard such wooden performances even in WoW.

[Deleted]

Actually I think it has more to do 'cinematic experience' vs gameplay.
I don't think most quests' voice-overed cinematics shouldn't be extra long and make me want to press Esc or space all the time.
GW2 has a good amount of these; it's got a decent amount, but not too much that makes me press Esc yet.

I personally think a lot of the voice-over should not be presented in this cinematic manner. Load into the convo, start, converse, end, over and over again, that ... I don't really feel it's the best.

[Blznsmri]

I disagree with the OP 100%. I was/am not impressed with GW2's use of voicework. SWTOR did an excellent job of making me care about killing 10 robots by putting in a wounded soldier who refuses to abandon the mission. Now the 4th time listening to the same quest...yeah, it does get old then. But still, you remember the quest giver because he is a little bit more than just scenary.

I only remember that quest giver because I've done it about 7 times now. The voice over cutscenes in TOR were nice, but completely unnecessary for dailies... After the story is done, it just loses its charm.

[moff]

Even if you know and partially skip them, the voiced cinematics in SWTOR still give a feeling of more depth and involvement than the ones in GW2.
but as I said before, the 2 are very different games, as far as MMOS can be different. in GW2 you dont even have to accept a quest. if you reach the zone you can already start doing it, which is great for an MMO that doesnt want to provide an in-depth story centered experience. I dont mind it at all, I welcome that.

if all the quest givers in GW2 would talk as much as in SWTOR I'd skip them all instantly. (frankly, I do it in GW2 almost every time already in the voiced storyquest cinematics). thats simply not what GW2 is supposed to provide. but you cant simply take that conclusion and advise bioware to shorten the SWTOR voice over, because there they would be missed. At least I would.

because in SWTOR i want to feel immsersed in the world and the galaxy, it works and I love it. its the reason why I have already three 50s and one 40 who will hit 50 soon, while I NEVER made another 60 in warcraft, and I played WoW for more than 5 years. in GW2 I will never make a second character, either.

but in SWTOR I love questing and I love feeling like a part of the star wars universe, the voice overs are need there because it provides another kind of experience.

[Kelimbror]

if all the quest givers in GW2 would talk as much as in SWTOR I'd skip them all instantly. (frankly, I do it in GW2 almost every time already in the voiced storyquest cinematics). thats simply not what GW2 is supposed to provide.
*snip*
but in SWTOR I love questing and I love feeling like a part of the star wars universe, the voice overs are need there because it provides another kind of experience.

Agree. Agree. Agree. GW2 uses immersion in the actual gameplay; the events going on. SWTOR immerses you with dialogue and cutscenes because *shocker* it's a movie! Once again, an effect of their chosen styles. The companion conversations are where it really shined. Going forward I hope the dialogue is focused on the main story and companions only.

[Hanto]

Imo SWTOR did a terrible job with a lot of the voice overs. Sure some of the quests had some meaning, but others felt insignificant and more of the same... especially when once you hit 10+, the options you had on how to answer back became the same stuff you said to that other guy over the ridge. After hearing the same lines over and over... it loses the feel. At least in GW2, the dialogue isn't repeated.