Voice Actors- Does it Bother you?

NotaDaedraWorshipper

SilverBride wrote: »

The voice acting that bothers me are our character voices. They sound like wounded animals no matter which I choose.

UUh! AAAH! gaAARGH! YEEHAArRHAHA! UUF! RAAAAAAR! They have such lovely vocabulary and fighting technique. I'm sure whoever taught our characters melee fighting is the Tamriel equivalent of a Kendo teacher.

phairdon

The Scottish accent prominent in the Reach just about drove me insane. Scratching my nails down a blackboard would have been preferable.

peacenote

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I personally don't really view them as supposed to be authentic to real world accents, so it doesn't bother me that they are "inspired by" but not realistic or authentic accents. I don't think the races of Tamriel are supposed to be analogues to real world cultures, simply inspired by them.

This.

Also there is a bit of acceptance that comes with the entire premise of roaming through an entire universe where everyone speaks the same language and no one needs subtitles or anything. And no Dr. Who Tardis-like explanation for this as far as I can recall.

I mean, the reach folk can't read but somehow they speak the exact same words and communicate perfectly with everyone otherwise? Tribes and daedra and written lore everywhere... everything is really the same game language! I can't immediately recall a single quest where any living creature communicates by waves or hand signals or anything because we can't understand what they are saying... except for the quests where we follow dogs. I know we decipher some puzzles but that is the closest we get.

So I accept and enjoy the voice acting for what it is. I still think ESO does a better job than most games but I get that if it's clear someone is trying to mimic an accent you know well, it could be annoying. But it doesn't bother me.

Brrrofski

whitecrow wrote: »

Magenpie wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

A "real Scots accent" is the sexiest accent in the world. Okay, it's actually equal in sexy with Aussie....

Trust this one, you don’t want to be stuck on the plane with an Aussie suffering from a rising inflection (think Kath and Kim tv series) who goes on and on about “kardonney” being “noice” or that rose is “pacifically special “

Or the peculiar crime of pronouncing “fish and chips” as “feesh and cheeps”.

Speaking as an Aussie and layering on the stereotype.

See, people are going on about how the Bosmer have terrible Cockney accents. *I* thought they were terrible Aussie accents. Which sort of shows how terrible they are. I'd love it if the Bosmer were given proper Australian voices, it's not an accent you get much in games.

Bosmer are definitely Australian. I think a lot of people just can't tell the difference between English and Australian, and think everything English is Cockney.

Every Bosmer I can think of is 100% not Aussie. Next time I'm in game I'll find some though.

Only close to Aussie accent I've noticed is the psijic skull who's kiwi.

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

Brrrofski wrote: »

whitecrow wrote: »

Magenpie wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

A "real Scots accent" is the sexiest accent in the world. Okay, it's actually equal in sexy with Aussie....

Trust this one, you don’t want to be stuck on the plane with an Aussie suffering from a rising inflection (think Kath and Kim tv series) who goes on and on about “kardonney” being “noice” or that rose is “pacifically special “

Or the peculiar crime of pronouncing “fish and chips” as “feesh and cheeps”.

Speaking as an Aussie and layering on the stereotype.

See, people are going on about how the Bosmer have terrible Cockney accents. *I* thought they were terrible Aussie accents. Which sort of shows how terrible they are. I'd love it if the Bosmer were given proper Australian voices, it's not an accent you get much in games.

Bosmer are definitely Australian. I think a lot of people just can't tell the difference between English and Australian, and think everything English is Cockney.

Every Bosmer I can think of is 100% not Aussie. Next time I'm in game I'll find some though.

Only close to Aussie accent I've noticed is the psijic skull who's kiwi.

Is he? This page says he's American, and no mention of New Zealand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Diskin

VampirateV

There are only two particular voices that set my teeth on edge...the tour guide in elden root makes me cringe like most people (and nevermind how stupidly loud she is), but my all time most despised character to listen to is Vanus Galerion. His intonation sounds like a kindergarten teacher reading a children's book to a class; like the dude was just reading from the page and inserting modulation according to the punctuation used. It's completely unnatural sounding. Every time I've done the main quests, I listen to music while I'm doing the ones with him bc my blood pressure just can't handle having to hear his fake surprise/concern/pleasure at seeing old acquaintances.

HiveMind3006

There has been some insightful comments on this subject ie its game accent and not real world etc however that don't wash, they are copying or at least trying to copy a real world accent therefore either don't, just speak/voice act normally or get it right. Imo anyroads.
No one is saying that eso has [snip] voice acting, a lot of it is spot on but when it's bad ... its awful.
Seems like the community is divided on this or at least it bothers some, self included and others don't notice or care.

[edited for profanity bypass]

SerafinaWaterstar

Northwold wrote: »

HiveMind3006 wrote: »

I haven't spent much time in the Reach. I am currently 'mopping up' missed quests and other bits n bobs I've missed throughout the zones so I shall definitely make that my next port of call. Thoughts shall be shared.

Just talk to Billy Boyd a lot whenever it gets too much. Of course, I could be being unkind and a whole meta plot about a Russian-Irish spy ring infiltrating Markarth may be forthcoming...

Totally agree with this! If only his part had been larger, then could have spent more time listening to his dulcet tones (he’s someone who could read out anything & it would be lovely!)

SerafinaWaterstar

Northwold wrote: »

DP99 wrote: »

Apparently this stuff only bothers British/European players.

As an American, I couldn't care less, and it is what it is. I honestly don't even notice it, nor do I pay much attention to it.

I think it bothers us because we live with it every day. We know exactly what it needs to sound like and how far off it is when it's wrong. These aren't made up accents, but real ones that exist in the real world.

So there's stuff you can overlook, like the stresses being wrong when said in an English accent (REEsearch should be reSEARCH), adjectives where Brits would use adverbs, etc. But the actual tones, the sound of the language being spoken as a sort of horror show caricature of what it's meant to be, is very hard to shrug off because it pulls you out of the story into "I am listening to actors in a studio trying to do an accent and doing a terrible job".

It's like the minotower thing: it goes from "I'm watching a slightly lost character" immediately to "I'm listening to an actress who doesn't know how to pronounce a word in her script and probably doesn't know what it means, either".

In the same way, I'd guess, in the US if someone played a southerner with a Philadelphia accent it would be ear [violation].

But Markarth was something else. Literally the worst Scottish accents I have ever heard. And you can't even put it down to a Tamriel accent because the different actors do it different ways, so unlike the Khajiit it's not a consistent accent, and some of them are literally changing their accent within the same sentence so they pronounce *the same word* differently at different times(!).

Except, as mentioned, the glorious Billy Boyd who voiced Bradan, and who is utterly a proper full bloodied Scot!

NotaDaedraWorshipper

SerafinaWaterstar wrote: »

Except, as mentioned, the glorious Billy Boyd who voiced Bradan, and who is utterly a proper full bloodied Scot!

I'm not that great at telling a lot of accents apart, but even I thought Bradan sounded the nicest. He sounded natural, less exaggerated and forced compared to many others I heard, and him being voiced by an actual Scot is likely the answer to why.

A bit like how I find all the nords that are voiced by nordic actors often sound better. The nord accent is one of the more "made up" accents and accoring to ZOS/Bethesda is supposedly one of the harder ones for the voice actors to do, but it seems actors who have a nordic base to start on just sound more natural with it.

kashat

The fake-german accent in cyrodiil does. It's so cringeworthy. If you really have to use it, atleast hire a german voiceactor.

Kesstryl

I can totally understand accents grating on people who live in lands where those accents are spoken, but ESO is a fantasy world that is not supposed to have people ripped off planet Earth and dropped onto planet Nirn, so the accents don't bother me. I look at them as their own accents. Yeah they're inspired by Earth accents, but these are people living in another world, for crying out loud.

aetherial_heavenn

ShawnLaRock wrote: »

The woman giving a tour of the Graht Oak in Elden Root. <cringe>

S.

This is the one that drives me absolutely nuts! Talk about a world tour of inaccurate regional accents. It sounds like they spliced every single auditioning North American actor's failed attempts at...is it meant to be cockney? It meanders across east and south London, shoots north to Yorkshire and has a quick stop in New Zealand after popping in on Far North Queensland, and someone mentioned Devon...that is a distinct possibility too.

The contrast with the wonderful voice acting elsewhere in the game is stark.

It amazes me that the creators can't hear the difference. If the game music were this out of tune, someone would insist on trained musicians, even undergraduate ones who were at least competent, re-doing it.

I played the Reach without NPC voice overs turned on. I've learned my lesson.

katanagirl1

peacenote wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

I personally don't really view them as supposed to be authentic to real world accents, so it doesn't bother me that they are "inspired by" but not realistic or authentic accents. I don't think the races of Tamriel are supposed to be analogues to real world cultures, simply inspired by them.

This.

Also there is a bit of acceptance that comes with the entire premise of roaming through an entire universe where everyone speaks the same language and no one needs subtitles or anything. And no Dr. Who Tardis-like explanation for this as far as I can recall.

I mean, the reach folk can't read but somehow they speak the exact same words and communicate perfectly with everyone otherwise? Tribes and daedra and written lore everywhere... everything is really the same game language! I can't immediately recall a single quest where any living creature communicates by waves or hand signals or anything because we can't understand what they are saying... except for the quests where we follow dogs. I know we decipher some puzzles but that is the closest we get.

So I accept and enjoy the voice acting for what it is. I still think ESO does a better job than most games but I get that if it's clear someone is trying to mimic an accent you know well, it could be annoying. But it doesn't bother me.

I just think of it like Dungeons and Dragons - everyone is speaking the Common tongue.

Despite my critique of Faoulchu, I do enjoy the fact that everything is voiced by actors and I think in general they do a good job.

I kind of like the fact that particular actors do, for example, all the Khajiit voices or all the Bosmer voices. It sort of reinforces the idea of how that race should sound to me. That probably wasn’t the intent but it works for me, at least.

blktauna

Northwold wrote: »

In the same way, I'd guess, in the US if someone played a southerner with a Philadelphia accent it would be ear [violation].

We of Philadelphia have no accent, thank you... :P

whitecrow

blktauna wrote: »

Northwold wrote: »

In the same way, I'd guess, in the US if someone played a southerner with a Philadelphia accent it would be ear [violation].

We of Philadelphia have no accent, thank you... :P

Foreigners (people outside of Philly) have very odd ideas of how we supposedly speak.

For example, never in my life have I heard someone say "wooder."

UntilValhalla13

Are they trying to replicate accents here in the real world, or are they using altered versions, because our countries are different than video game regions.

"We need you to do something close to a cockney accent, but not a full blown version. Make it ESO-ish."

Also, how many voices does the Sheogorath fellow do in game? He's everywhere. XD

Rokhza

I am curious about what you think of Arana in the Reach. I really like the way she speaks and how she calls me harrier.

I suspect there is an Irish accent in there but not sure.

Brrrofski

vsrs_au wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

whitecrow wrote: »

Magenpie wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

A "real Scots accent" is the sexiest accent in the world. Okay, it's actually equal in sexy with Aussie....

Trust this one, you don’t want to be stuck on the plane with an Aussie suffering from a rising inflection (think Kath and Kim tv series) who goes on and on about “kardonney” being “noice” or that rose is “pacifically special “

Or the peculiar crime of pronouncing “fish and chips” as “feesh and cheeps”.

Speaking as an Aussie and layering on the stereotype.

See, people are going on about how the Bosmer have terrible Cockney accents. *I* thought they were terrible Aussie accents. Which sort of shows how terrible they are. I'd love it if the Bosmer were given proper Australian voices, it's not an accent you get much in games.

Bosmer are definitely Australian. I think a lot of people just can't tell the difference between English and Australian, and think everything English is Cockney.

Every Bosmer I can think of is 100% not Aussie. Next time I'm in game I'll find some though.

Only close to Aussie accent I've noticed is the psijic skull who's kiwi.

Is he? This page says he's American, and no mention of New Zealand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Diskin

Well the actor might be, but the skull has a New Zealand accent.

That's how acting works...

Beilin_Balreis_Colcan

Brrrofski wrote: »

vsrs_au wrote: »

Brrrofski wrote: »

whitecrow wrote: »

Magenpie wrote: »

SammyKhajit wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

A "real Scots accent" is the sexiest accent in the world. Okay, it's actually equal in sexy with Aussie....

Trust this one, you don’t want to be stuck on the plane with an Aussie suffering from a rising inflection (think Kath and Kim tv series) who goes on and on about “kardonney” being “noice” or that rose is “pacifically special “

Or the peculiar crime of pronouncing “fish and chips” as “feesh and cheeps”.

Speaking as an Aussie and layering on the stereotype.

See, people are going on about how the Bosmer have terrible Cockney accents. *I* thought they were terrible Aussie accents. Which sort of shows how terrible they are. I'd love it if the Bosmer were given proper Australian voices, it's not an accent you get much in games.

Bosmer are definitely Australian. I think a lot of people just can't tell the difference between English and Australian, and think everything English is Cockney.

Every Bosmer I can think of is 100% not Aussie. Next time I'm in game I'll find some though.

Only close to Aussie accent I've noticed is the psijic skull who's kiwi.

Is he? This page says he's American, and no mention of New Zealand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Diskin

Well the actor might be, but the skull has a New Zealand accent.

That's how acting works...

(sigh) Never mind.

HiveMind3006

My word!! And to think I thought that the Wood Elves were bad! I have just started the Reach storyline.... being Scottish I suppose it stands out even more just how awful the accents are here! As for all the it's how they speak in Tamriel/ in game, nope, no, not for a second. If every actor did a similar Scottish esque accent then perhaps but they all have their own take on it and none so far are even close. Shockingly bad I almost wish I was one of the group of players who don't notice or care but I cannny help it if it annoys me.
This zone is going to be the first one I have muted, it is just too amateur night to listen to. Bleedin' awful !!

Northwold

HiveMind3006 wrote: »

My word!! And to think I thought that the Wood Elves were bad! I have just started the Reach storyline.... being Scottish I suppose it stands out even more just how awful the accents are here! As for all the it's how they speak in Tamriel/ in game, nope, no, not for a second. If every actor did a similar Scottish esque accent then perhaps but they all have their own take on it and none so far are even close. Shockingly bad I almost wish I was one of the group of players who don't notice or care but I cannny help it if it annoys me.
This zone is going to be the first one I have muted, it is just too amateur night to listen to. Bleedin' awful !!

Indeed!!!

SilverBride

I've never noticed that some of these npcs had accents.

Wolf_Eye

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I view the accents as being native to Tamriel. That is, Bosmer have a woodelf accent - they don't know or care what 'cockney' is. Reachfolk speak with a reach accent - they don't know or care what a 'Scottish brogue' is. I expect if a Reach witch heard a Scott speak, she'd think he was using a fake Reach accent.

TLDR: I think the accents/voice acting is fine.

This is my take as well. There is no such thing as the "UK" in Tamriel, so there can't be any such thing as a "Cockney" or "Scottish" accent. Instead, we have accents that vaguely sound Cockney or Scottish, but are just perceptively "off" as a sort of reminder that you aren't in the real world anymore.

HiveMind3006

Rokhza wrote: »

I am curious about what you think of Arana in the Reach. I really like the way she speaks and how she calls me harrier.

I suspect there is an Irish accent in there but not sure.

She -Arana is a hodgepodge of attempted Scottish with some Irish mixed in there by accident I'd assume. I wonder if the Voice actors believe they have nailed it or 'it will do', more than likely couldn't care less. I still haven't turned the sound off as I believe someone said that Billy Boyd plays a part in the Reach and I'd like to hear that.
I have just had my ears assaulted by another atrocious VA attempt with some old shop owner as part of the main questline, find it hard to follow the story as the accent is so off putting. Shame really!

Wolf_Eye

VampirateV wrote: »

There are only two particular voices that set my teeth on edge...the tour guide in elden root makes me cringe like most people (and nevermind how stupidly loud she is), but my all time most despised character to listen to is Vanus Galerion. His intonation sounds like a kindergarten teacher reading a children's book to a class; like the dude was just reading from the page and inserting modulation according to the punctuation used. It's completely unnatural sounding. Every time I've done the main quests, I listen to music while I'm doing the ones with him bc my blood pressure just can't handle having to hear his fake surprise/concern/pleasure at seeing old acquaintances.

I feel like that's just Vanus being the stuck up egotistical High Elf he is. He literally can't go two sentences without praising himself or sarcastically referring to somebody else. So I think his fake surprise/concern at seeing old acquaintances is done on purpose to clarify who he is as a character.

Flangdoodle

Every time I bring this up, I'm told that I'm just hyper-sensitive, because I'm an actor who has studied dialects. I honestly didn't think it bothered anyone else. It's tolerable when characters have standard British or American "Mid Atlantic" accents, but when they stray from that it goes from the ridiculous to the bizarre.

I have the feeling (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that there is little to no voice coaching or direction. That means it would be up to the individual actors to mold their performance, and **believe me** when I say that's always going to be hit or miss. It's not like the sound editors are going to be any good at it either - audio guys know audio, but that doesn't mean they can direct a performance anymore than they can play a concerto, nor should they be asked to (I mean - you might get lucky, but the odds are against it).

This is not an issue exclusive to this game either - as a whole the industry needs to get a grip on the idea that games tell stories with characters as well as with game mechanics and visual art.

They have taken the measure of hiring a lore master to keep this universe and its stories unified, why wouldn't they also hire someone to be in charge of coaching the people who bring these stories to life to keep the performances unified as well? (and BTW- if there is someone already in charge of this, they're doing a horrible job)

It shows in so many places in this game -from the fact that there is no standard for the Nord dialect to the fact that there is no indication whatsoever of the climate the people live in (e.g. the dark elves live in a volcanic ashland next to an active volcano ffs - you don't think that would affect how they sound?). The Kajiit have an accent and apparently it comes from the fact that they have a language of their own. We know its from a language and not from their physiology because they also have a different syntax ("this one"). Why do we never hear them speaking it to each other? Not even in the background?

The Nords all sound completely different from each other. Some (like Lyris) have no accent at all, others have the "Yumpin' Yiminy Ole Olafson!" cartoonish Scandinavian accent, and some have whatever kitchen sink European accent the actors can pull off. It goes from tolerable to cringeworthy.

The Scots in The Reach is so bizarre and out of left field it seems like it was a prank on the audience. OF COURSE ITS HORRIBLE. The Scottish accent itself is both really hard and sticks out like a sore thumb in the best performances of it. Why they made that choice is a puzzler.

And none of the above even includes the mispronunciations of basic English words that they just let slide by. There is a woman in Leyawin who makes me grit my teeth every time she says "Leg-ATE". It's "Leg-uht" or "Leg-eht" or at least "Leg-it", COME ON - look it up.

All of which is to say that it's obvious that there is no one to direct the performances and/or that the people doing it are either unqualified or bad at it. It's not like I expect perfection, but the OP is right, it wrecks immersion, and some of this stuff would be so easily correctable.

BTW - if anyone at ZOS is reading this, I'm available. 😁

Magenpie

Flangdoodle wrote: »

Every time I bring this up, I'm told that I'm just hyper-sensitive, because I'm an actor who has studied dialects. I honestly didn't think it bothered anyone else. It's tolerable when characters have standard British or American "Mid Atlantic" accents, but when they stray from that it goes from the ridiculous to the bizarre.

I have the feeling (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that there is little to no voice coaching or direction. That means it would be up to the individual actors to mold their performance, and **believe me** when I say that's always going to be hit or miss. It's not like the sound editors are going to be any good at it either - audio guys know audio, but that doesn't mean they can direct a performance anymore than they can play a concerto, nor should they be asked to (I mean - you might get lucky, but the odds are against it).

This is not an issue exclusive to this game either - as a whole the industry needs to get a grip on the idea that games tell stories with characters as well as with game mechanics and visual art.

They have taken the measure of hiring a lore master to keep this universe and its stories unified, why wouldn't they also hire someone to be in charge of coaching the people who bring these stories to life to keep the performances unified as well? (and BTW- if there is someone already in charge of this, they're doing a horrible job)

It shows in so many places in this game -from the fact that there is no standard for the Nord dialect to the fact that there is no indication whatsoever of the climate the people live in (e.g. the dark elves live in a volcanic ashland next to an active volcano ffs - you don't think that would affect how they sound?). The Kajiit have an accent and apparently it comes from the fact that they have a language of their own. We know its from a language and not from their physiology because they also have a different syntax ("this one"). Why do we never hear them speaking it to each other? Not even in the background?

The Nords all sound completely different from each other. Some (like Lyris) have no accent at all, others have the "Yumpin' Yiminy Ole Olafson!" cartoonish Scandinavian accent, and some have whatever kitchen sink European accent the actors can pull off. It goes from tolerable to cringeworthy.

The Scots in The Reach is so bizarre and out of left field it seems like it was a prank on the audience. OF COURSE ITS HORRIBLE. The Scottish accent itself is both really hard and sticks out like a sore thumb in the best performances of it. Why they made that choice is a puzzler.

And none of the above even includes the mispronunciations of basic English words that they just let slide by. There is a woman in Leyawin who makes me grit my teeth every time she says "Leg-ATE". It's "Leg-uht" or "Leg-eht" or at least "Leg-it", COME ON - look it up.

All of which is to say that it's obvious that there is no one to direct the performances and/or that the people doing it are either unqualified or bad at it. It's not like I expect perfection, but the OP is right, it wrecks immersion, and some of this stuff would be so easily correctable.

BTW - if anyone at ZOS is reading this, I'm available. 😁

If I knew how to snip the quote I would but I always mess it up.

Yes exactly, no one seemed to care whether the voices were right, or consisent, or pleasing to the ear. It's telling I think that the people saying they don't care or can't hear a problems seem to be from Other Places to those where the accents are from. <= This was a terrible sentence but you get what I mean. And look it's not just about authenticity, its about whether it sounds BAD or not. Edit: Btw I think if you are going to have 'imperial' words you need to say them correctly. Legate, Vigiles yeah these things.

I wouldn't mind decent generic Scottish/Australian/German/Scandi/West Country English etc accents if they were done inoffensively, but they are very very bad, and I'm not just being a delicate flower, it really does affect my enjoyment of the game.

The worst one though...if you've ever been to The Shire, in LotRO. The Shire, that quintessentially English place where quintessentially English accents should be. Deary crumbs almighty and all the little wassnames it's bad. 'Healloo Theeaare!' haunts my gaming dreams.

SpiritKitten

The one voice-acting scenario I have the most trouble with is one of the two gay brothers in the Leyawiin tavern. The 'fake gay male' voice acting is so cringe I actually wince. It's offensive. I feel sorry for any actual gay males who have to encounter that mocking caricature of a gay human being, and I can't understand how it passed quality control.

morrowjen

SpiritKitten wrote: »

The one voice-acting scenario I have the most trouble with is one of the two gay brothers in the Leyawiin tavern. The 'fake gay male' voice acting is so cringe I actually wince. It's offensive. I feel sorry for any actual gay males who have to encounter that mocking caricature of a gay human being, and I can't understand how it passed quality control.

I don't think that's supposed to be gay coded. I think it's supposed to be a generalized "bored and wealthy" accent. You hear caricatures like that a lot with wealthy merchants and nobles.