Originally posted by Scalpless

TSW doesn't have branching dialogue or famous VAs. It also has a silent protagonist, not much variation between factions and no variation between classes (because it doesn't have any) storyline wise. So, in the end, it doesn't have anywhere near as much voice acting as TOR does.

I think GW2's dialogue sequences do their job quite well. They tell you what the world is like, show you where to go next, etc. They're also (usually) not awful and the backgrounds are pretty. I don't think they're supposed to be "immersive" and don't know what's so immersive about TOR's wooden dialogue or TSW's disturbingly silent protagonist, anyway. Sure, TSW has a vastly superior story, but its lackluster animations aren't much better than GW2's talking heads IMO.

I had no issues with TSW's silent protagonist to be honest, but then I have no issues filling in the blanks and imagining how my character would respond. It actually was a welcome pace for me considering your character was usually listening to the background stories of the quest givers, they weren't necessarily telling you to do anything and you weren't actively participating in the conversation in the same way SWTOR did it. It was basically a storytelling experience, with mostly top notches voice overs in my opinion.

Also, the problem with voiced protagonist is that it's really hit and miss. In SWTOR for example, I enjoyed the voice acting of some characters (i.e. Bounty Hunter) and dreaded that of others (i.e. Marauder). Same thing with GW2, I dislike the voice acting of my human guardian because it's nothing like how I imagine my character talking. The fact that the NPC voice overs are just as corny and juvenile certainly don't help either.

Well, since this is about the cutscenes and voice actors, i won't talk about the full PS.

First off, i'm not a big fan of cutscenes in general, specially in mmos. Don't hate them fully, but most break immersion for me aswell. But i do like it if it's used in things like flashbacks, for example.

On the topic of VO, i think GW2's range from ok to annoying. TOR and TSW had quite better IMO, but also their fare share of mediocre ones.

The side by side cutscene style as it's charms too, not too bad, not too good. I think it works when it's just 2 characters having a conversation, but, when they try to present an actual situation with more people, the normal cinematic style of TSW and TOR is better.

Finally, i myself hate having my character voiced, in both TOR and GW2. Cutscenes already break some immersion, but loosing both control of my avatar's movements AND lines of dialogue is killer for me.

Originally posted by voxnor

Originally posted by Master10K

*snip*

  This pretty much.

ArenaNet went for the stylistic approach to the cutscenes, not only because it goes with what they are trying to do with the rest of the game's asthetics, but also because it is a hell of a lot cheaper than what SWTOR & TSW went for. It is also why the rest of the game, beyond the personal story, doesn't feel severly lacking.

 

Sure the voice over ranges from OK to awful, I personally think that where GW2 excels (in regards to VO) is with the sense of immersion in open world. From the ambient environmental noise, to the thousands of lines of random NPC & PC chatter that you'll come across, along your journey. That's where the true immersion lies in GW2. Not in some cutscene.

Interesting thoughts. I guess I am unclear as to how its much cheaper? The voice acting is done in each case - the characters are mouthing the words in 3D in both cases - what exactly is cheaper? (Note that I am not doubting you, I am just curious).

 

I like your thoughts about the other styles of immersion - I hadn't considered those. I think I am still caught up in launch fever and perhaps now slowing down enough to see things like that.

Implementing the cutscenes for SW:TOR really was a huge money drain because of the simple fact that they got a lot of high profile voice talent. But when considering both SW:TOR & TSW in comparison to GW2... those 2 games have cutscenes that require a considerable amount of time and effort to get them to the state we see them in. And thus cost more money. Things like motion capture, getting good cinematography and such. However TSW did save quite a bit of cash by having a silent protagonist, whereas GW2 have 2 per race, so maybe that evened things out in their case.

I also remember a dev blog post when ArenaNet finally implemented their new lip-sync and cutscene tech for GW2. It illustrated how easy it became for them to make one of their cutscenes. All they had to do was input the dialogue (in a phonetic fashion) and add the emotional behaviour they want the character to express and that was most of the work done.

Well anyway, the story may not be that immersive but the world certainly is.

Originally posted by MMOwanderer

Finally, i myself hate having my character voiced, in both TOR and GW2. Cutscenes already break some immersion, but loosing both control of my avatar's movements AND lines of dialogue is killer for me.

Ditto. It's amazing these MMORPGs didn't learn anything from classic RPGs regarding voiced protagonists. I think it's a terrible idea to voice them.