Poll: Do you hate reading in games.

[krazykidd]

So now that technology permits it, there is little need to read in video games, since in the grand majority of games, everything is voice-acted.Talking strictly story wise,everything you need to know is said by voice. In FPS games, your intructions are mostly given to you in dialogue ( of couse there is an objective screen to remind you if every you forget ), in Rpgs the story is told by voice also. Basically , everything that you really need to know is told to you, instead of you having to read it like back in the day . Of course there are menu screens and such with words ( *GASP* WORDS!) , but i'm really only talking about in game instructions, about where to go, what to do , and whats going on.

Now what if , games stopped telling you things, and gave you text to read. No more voices anywhere to convey any information. Would it bother you or take away your enjoyment? Do you hate reading in videogames and prefer as little reading as possible in your games?Or does it not matter to you either way ?

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

No, I like to read. If I'm told something verbally, I forget it instantly. Plus my hearing isn't great. I always get pissed if there isn't an option for subtitles.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I've played Planescape Torment.

If you can 'play' that game, you can 'play' anything.

 

[Colourcubify]

If there's a cool bit of lore I will for sure read it, but if it's just an explanation of a thing I know already, I'll usually just skim or not read it.

 

[skywolfblue]

In my opinion, games should "Show, not Tell". Reading a book makes for a very boring gameplay experience. It's vastly better when they take that lore and make it into a cut-scene or mini-playable-segment. To that end I really dislike it when games are like "here! read a book in-game!" (*cough*elderscrolls*cough*).

I like books in real life. I like games. But they're completely separate things, and they don't mix well at all. When I read a book, I want to relax, when I play a game I want to be engaged and involved.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I've played Planescape Torment.

If you can 'play' that game, you can 'play' anything.

This.

Also Xenogears. Not Xenosaga (which was also fun), Xenogears, the original.

Honestly, I like text. I can read a hell of a lot faster than the average voice actor can act. Fully voiced characters actually slow gameplay down.

 

[The Madman]

Depends on whether it's good writing or not obviously. The games industry is full of sub-par dialogue and terrible translations after all, few studios want to spend the time or money bringing professional or skilled writers on board when they can just get one of the interns to write it all for free.

Still when it's done well I've no complaints. I've played Planescape: Torment after all, and I'm pretty sure that's more novel than game when it comes down to it.

 

[KeyMaster45]

I wouldn't mind it, to be perfectly honest. I grew up on games with nothing but text as a method for story conveyance. (the FF games, Zelda, etc) Voice acting is a fickle thing, and when a game has a bad choice of voice actors then it can ruin the whole experience. Text lets me cast my own voices for characters. Hell, the Zelda games are still text exclusive and they do just fine.

I think when you're building a large RPG world like say Skyrim or Fallout then it is necessary for there to be things you can only learn through text. It would just be silly for you to go through those worlds and never once stumble across a piece written literature.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I love to read but I don't think it should be excessive in games. If it's going to be excessive, make it optional. I love reading little things adding to the universe too, like the write ups in games like Metroid games.

 

[Zorak the Mantis]

It really depends, sometimes I don't mind it. I even turn on subtitles for most games if there is an option. However in certain games it really starts to get boring. A good example would be Morrowind. I love it to death, but goddamn it can be tedious sometimes...

 

[AD-Stu]

To an extent I guess it depends on the game and how well it's done, but for the most part I've gotten used to voice acting and definitely prefer it.

I distinctly remember it being one of the things I didn't like about Torchlight: "What, you want me to READ all this stuff you're saying?!? Get out!" But when I went back and played the original Fallout a while back it wasn't such a big deal.

 

[Sixcess]

I play a lot of MMOs, so no, reading isn't a problem for me. SW:TOR is making a huge deal out of being all voiced but I suspect that's going to bite them in the ass. Apart from anything else, Oblivion is showing me that standard RPG style quest briefings often sound ridiculous if actually spoken - "I need to find my large potatoes. Oh I don't know what I'll do if you don't help me!"

(This said when there's a burning gate to Hell sitting just over the next hill...)

In Fallout 3 I just wanted those droning monotone pricks to STFU and let me get on with whatever it was I was doing.

Sometimes there is too much writing - LOTRO is pretty guilty of that (though I suppose that's true to the source...) City of Heroes can be a bit too wordy at times as well, but makes up for it by often being very funny, and with enough personality given to the characters that you feel you know exactly what they'd sound like without the need for expensive and time consuming voice overs.

 

[pppppppppppppppppp]

I know the "right" answer to give is no, and I do like reading books on occasion, but I find myself glossing over text 92% of the time, and I can honestly admit that I prefer visual and audio stimulation to thumbing through text boxes.

The closest I've been to reading lots of text in a game is the conversation system in Morrowind, and the voice acting in the sequels has made it better 100 fold. (well, Oblivion's voices sucked ass, but that's beside the point)

Overall, I don't mind text if it's crucial, but 96% of the time you can find a more engaging way to give the player information.

 

[Mallefunction]

It depends. Walls of text annoy me a lot mostly because they break immersion. Also, considering games are visual, there really is no excuse for this style of relaying information. Sure, I don't mind reading a few things here and there, but if every other mission is just 5 pages of plot info, I'll probably stop playing.

 

[Zhukov]

No, not really. So long as it's well written.

I do prefer dialogue to be delivered by voice though.

 

[DustyDrB]

Hrrmm? What is this you say? Oh, that. No, it does not bug me at all.
*Resumes Reading The Lusty Argonian Maid*

 

[kyogen]

No, I like reading. Sometimes I skip text, so the ability to speed through something is nice, but I like reading in general. TES, Planescape Torment, and even the datalog in FFXIII are good examples of using text to expand the narrative while giving gamers the option to skip it, but I absolutely loved it in Nier when they suddenly turned the whole game into an old-fashioned text adventure for a few minutes.

 

[KiloFox]

i ALWAYS turn on subtitles... mostly as a fallback because people seem to enjoy yapping while i play and i can't hear anything... but i like to read up on the information that's given me... i love reading the flavour texts that're put in for items. and hell i read all the unlocks i got in Mass Effect 1&2's respective codecies.... even the non-voiceovered ones... yes i PREFER having a voiceover... but i'll still read... read some of the books in ES4 Oblivion (i havn't played Skyrim yet) some of them are quite amusing... and others point you towards awesome stuff you'll miss otherwise