Dialogue NOW WITH POLL!

[CTPhipps]

The problem I have with this approach is that I'd pretty much have to constantly use only one-two options in each dialogue, as the rest simply wouldn't fit my role. This seems pretty limiting, to the point of really becoming more of a spectator, automatically choosing "appropriate" options in order to progress the dialogue.

It's the issue of strong characterization in my opinion. I also don't think that's necessarily the case as Alpha Protocol ha Mike Thorton react differently to different people. He was flirtatious and funny to some characters while a cold blooded mercenary to others.

It made things really interesting as it helped developed a character who had a softer side to people he liked and aggressive to those he loathed.

Personally, though, I don't want to play Cyberpunk 2077 without a voiced protagonist. It'd just ruin the experience for me because I really want to live and breathe Night City and I don't think I could do that like I could most generic fantasy worlds with it.

 

[Rawls]

So I voted for Bloodlines, voiced protag and stat locked dialogue.

1. I want a voiced protagonist. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I'll be disappointed if it's not a voiced protagonist. It doesn't throw me off to hear a different persons voice, and it adds to the immersion for me to hear what I want to say. I like voiced PC and I'm greedy.

2. Regarding the number of dialogue choices, I am assuming for the purposes of this topic that it will be a voiced protag and that effects my opinion. I think there is a point when you sacrifice quality for quantity, and feel like 4-6 fairly succinct options is more than adequate in most situations. Would I like more than that? Sure ... but I also want the game to be released by 2020 and know I can't have both seemingly endless dialogue and a voiced protagonist. So I'm willing to make compromises here.

3. I want certain dialogue to be blocked off by stats in some way shape or form. I would like there to be stat specific dialogue and some dialogue options that are only available to certain classes. Corps have additional options that nomads won't, cops should have certain dialogue options non-cops won't etc etc It makes choices feel like they have consequences, which is sort of the whole RPG appeal IMO ... so I guess I should have voted "specialized sub-sets" too. Oh well.

 

[Zagor-Te-Nay]

For dialogue based on stats, I'd like to see more seamless transition like this:

Low perception: How do I know I can trust you?
High perception: Your eyes are shifting...and you look uncomfortable. I don't believe a word you say.

Dialogue should change based on character build, not an extra option added like in so many rpg's.

In either case, I think CDPR can pull off voiced plus good amount of dialogue options...this works best for set background, cinematic dialogue and more emotionally engaging storytelling.

This would go easier if they released FAQ on this.

 

[CTPhipps]

I'm seeing it from the other angle.

Every bit done for one single role is another bit NOT done for all roles.

Basically, every bit done for the Dalish Path is one less bit done for all the others in Dragon Age.

Time management is a concern.

 

[Suhiira]

I can't vote on your poll.

If it' non-voiced I want PST on sterioids, if it's voiced Bloodlines.

 

[Sardukhar]

I can't vote on your poll.

Odd. Try another browser?

 

[cyberpunkforever]

W3, efficient, evey option has different answers that lead to new options or information, not a lot of similar options and the toher character says always something simiilar
and not a lot of useless conversation like in DAI, no god please no, boring af

w2 and w3 are very good examples, but in cyberpunk world and future and rpg created of cd projekt imagination only, there can be new characteristic, skill based options, sometimes few options, sometimes lots of writing,
and of course, voiced protagonist and characters always, it's obvious!

 

[Suhiira]

Odd. Try another browser?

Sorry
What I meant was I'd have to vote for a voiced and non-voiced protagonist as I want/expect different amounts of dialog depending on in CP2077 is voiced or not.

 

[Sardukhar]

Sorry
What I meant was I'd have to vote for a voiced and non-voiced protagonist as I want/expect different amounts of dialog depending on in CP2077 is voiced or not.

Vote for the amount of dialogue you'd like. If you also want it voiced, add that. If you don't care if it's voiced or not, then don't. I think you're reading too much into it, trying to compromise for the devs or something.

I'd like as much dialogue as possible, that's my start position. I'll settle for less, all the way down to Witcher 3 levels, but I'm not voting for what I'd settle for.

That or vote on multiple choices.

 

[lv-426]

Again, why not both?

A couple voiced (both the PC as well as the NPC(s)) dialogue options/lines for plowing through the conversation in a more direct/efficient way, while the remaining slots would be taken up by the lovely, completely non-voiced (or just voiced for the dialogue partner(s)) "wall-o-texts" of ye olde classics or their recent successors Pillars of Eternity, the Shadowruns or Wasteland 2.

I'm thinking 2-3 voice packs for both the male and female PC (covering the Cyberpunk equivalents of the RPG archetypes Warrior, Mage & Rogue) you would hear blabbering about for the standard dialogue options/lines (slots 1-3 or 1-4) while for the more specific and individual options (checked against stats/skills/reputation/standing/background/etc) or the more elaborate and longer "quasi-monologues" you would have to imagine (gasp!) how that would sound like coming out of your character's mouth.

Everyone's a winner.

 

[Meccanical]

I never really thought about what I want personally from the dialogue system, I guess I would rather excellent writing in general rather than focus on sheer number.

Then again if all choices are well written wouldn't more be better?

 

[Calistarius]

I can go either way really when it comes to voiced or not voiced. I have never had any problems with voiced characters in rpg's. But at the same time I have no problems what so ever with silent protagonists and NPC's in RPG's either (that is where I started after all, with none voiced rpg's, and most of the rpg's I have played are none voiced). My top RPG's lists are filled with both types after all.

Neither do I have a problem with a huge amount of text in RPG's either which I my self have to read... since I do read books (even if the only books I read are Fantasy, and some very occational Sci-Fi), so I am used to reading a lot of text.

I know that some people do have a problem with a lot of text though. My brother is one of them... the only reason he feels that he did not want to finish playing games like Pillars of Eternity or Tyranny (and other older simmilar games) is, as he says it, "I like the game and all, but there is just to much text and reading in it... If I wanted to read this much text I would read a book!"... the funny thing is that he has not read a single book in the last 20-25 years, the last time (I think) was probably when he was still in school and he was forced to do so... but I am not sure if he even did it then. XD

For my brother, the pinnacle of RPG gaming is Skyrim, and anyone who claimes otherwise are just plain wrong according to him. He has had a big problem during rought the last 6-12+ months or so though, in trying to find a replacement for Skyrim, since he has finally after so many years played him self compleatly tired on it... but he has not been able to find one yet which fits the role.

Which is why I am happy that my taste in RPG games is so varied, since I almost never run out of new ones to play.

 

[animalfather]

fallout 3 kind of dialogue. where u can pick specific answers/questions depending on your stats

 

[Rawls]

Again, why not both? A couple voiced (both the PC as well as the NPC(s)) dialogue options/lines for plowing through the conversation in a more direct/efficient way, while the remaining slots would be taken up by the lovely, completely non-voiced (or just voiced for the dialogue partner(s)) "wall-o-texts" of ye olde classics or their recent successors Pillars of Eternity, the Shadowruns or Wasteland 2. I'm thinking 2-3 voice packs for both the male and female PC (covering the Cyberpunk equivalents of the RPG archetypes Warrior, Mage & Rogue) you would hear blabbering about for the standard dialogue options/lines (slots 1-3 or 1-4) while for the more specific and individual options (checked against stats/skills/reputation/standing/background/etc) or the more elaborate and longer "quasi-monologues" you would have to imagine (gasp!) how that would sound like coming out of your character's mouth. Everyone's a winner.

I'd rather have one or the other than both. It would be very disjointed to sometimes hear a voice and sometimes not IMO.

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

I guess I would rather excellent writing in general rather than focus on sheer number.

I don't quite seem them as mutually exclusive, or necessarily even related (from a certain point of view). Optable dialog is a gameplay mechanic. It is supposed to give you the opportunity to explore, interact with and influence the gameworld on a more personal level. You can have the best writing possible, but if it is uninteresting to play and explore, it doesn't matter at all how good it is, you get bored. Or the contrary, bad/mediocre writing that might still be fun to "play" despite its mediocreness (what ever that might mean in any given context).

I think I'd be fine with lower tier writing (just be "fine with" if that should be the case, obviously I do want good writing) if the game gave me plenty of opportunities to express and explore the mechanics, reactivity and characteristics, rather than magnificent writing that was more of a one-off.

Again, why not both?

It felt pretty weird in Pillars when the CNPC's would speak half the lines out loud and leave the rest unspoken. I would imagine it would feel worse if it was the main character that did that.

 

[Calistarius]

It felt pretty weird in Pillars when the CNPC's would speak half the lines out loud and leave the rest unspoken. I would imagine it would feel worse if it was the main character that did that.

I realy liked Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny... but I do agree that it felt a bit strange with the occationall voiced lines. I got used to it, and it gave me an idea also of who the characters where (because a voice for npc's can help with that at times). But sometimes it felt like what part they voiced and not was compleatly random. There where a few occations where I did not understand why a certain part was voiced, because it seemed like not one of the more importent parts of the dialog... and sometimes there where parts of the conversations which felt like the perfect moment to have it voiced, due to how importent it seemed, but where it was not voiced for some reason.

Still enjoy the games though... so at most I shrug my sholders at the slight strangeness of the voice thing.

 

[Azriel7]

Just want to point out that there is another reason dialog is dumbed down for VO, besides time and money. Remember, for the protag you will have two people (male/female) stuck in a recording studio reading tons of lines. Day in and day out. Its not as bad for the majority of NPC's, but for the protagonist this will be thousands of lines they have to read. So the writers will be forced to cut corners and shave it to dumbed down dialog so the VO actors can actually have enough time to finish all the readings.

If they go the VO route, I am pretty sure they will limit the stat based dialog a lot since that would add more dialog to the mix, or might not have it at all. Which would suck and kill off the RPG parts of the game. However what bugs me a lot is that regardless of which roles or stats we have, a voiced protagonist will sound exactly the same. Your a poor street netrunner? You sound exactly like the yuppie corp, the cop, the solo, the rockerboy,..etc. The different roles should not only look different, but have different personalities that fit their roles. It should be more than just a fluff reskin. Also, the world should react differently based on your role and stats with people, missions, and outcomes should be closed or available based on what role/stats you choose. This would give a ton more replayability.

 

[sv3672]

There were like 300,000 lines for The Witcher 3 and 1 million for Planescape Torment but this will probably be even bigger than W3.

As far as I can tell, a complete installation of The Witcher 3 with all DLCs and expansions has about 64000 unique voiced lines, with ~20000 of that in the expansions. More than half of the content is in the main quests and large side quests. On average, one line is roughly 10 words in English. This is based on the contents of the w3speech and w3strings files, where information from CDPR interviews is available, it is generally not much different from my estimates. More than 18000 different lines are said by Geralt, if that is useful to estimate the costs of multiple voiced protagonists.

Edit: the figure of 300,000 lines might be referring to all the seven voiced languages combined, then it is about right for the base game.

 

[metalmaniac21]

Come to think of it, Cyberpunk 2077 will have a lot of flash and visual expression, so the writing should be always on-point, which means PS:Torment is too much, especially for a sandbox RPG. Fallout 2 too, actually. (parts with detailed explanations and descriptions of what player already see visualised)
The golden middle of on-point writing and character fleshing out is a Deus Ex/Vampires but with a higher word count, but there's no such option in the poll.

 

[Blackshatan]

Non voiced protagonist is fine. Geralt is established while the PC in CP2077 is not.
But this is Cdpr we are talking about. Let's achieve perfection. With both voiced, multi option, mood and stats-related. ( witcher 3, planescape torment, vampire masquerade and fallout 2 )

Also, you LIKED FAIL OUT FOUR ???????????????????

WTF.