Poll: Voiced protagonist or silent protagonist?

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Kulingile

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Oct 13, 2010
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Voiced protagonist or silent protagonist. Either is fine with me, but if you are going to have a voiced protagonist, the voice actor and dialog for the protagonist had better be good otherwise just don't even bother.
 

ReaperzXIII

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Jan 3, 2010
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I prefer voiced because it is pretty damn annoying when say in a RPG

Villager: Will you save my dog from a demon in a very dangerous cave?
Me IRL: F*ck no!
Villager: Oh thank you!!!

Silent protaganists serve no purpose to the story, sure big silent guy is alright but even they talk at least once in a while, and don't give me the immersion crap because when I have just fought through 15000 enemies and a new AI is rude to me for getting there late and my character says nothing I am stuck wondering: "WHY CANT I KILL THAT GUY?! Why do you do nothing! He is an arsehole we got what we wanted lets kill him!!!"

But that is no excuse for bad voice acting I am looking at you Star Ocean The Last Hope oh how you make my ears bleed so
 

thebighead01

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Sep 9, 2010
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I would have to to voiced is best. I play Fallout 3 after playing Mass Effect, and I felt a disconnect with my avatar. Sure I could select my responses but not having a voice felt limiting and reminded me I was playing a game. Although if you start out with no voice, don't go giving you lead character a voice later (I'm looking at you Other M)
 

gbemery

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Jun 27, 2009
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I like both. Voiced because I get a better feel for what the developers were going for and I like silent because then I get to fit in my mind whatever voice I feel fits best.
 

Yureina

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May 6, 2010
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Depends on the game and the kind of voice actors they can get. It varied upon the situation. :)
 

XT inc

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Jul 29, 2009
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do it karaoke style, dialog won't progress unless you speak, line for line, the script in cinematics and dialogues.
 

BENZOOKA

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Oct 26, 2009
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Either one is fine, but it does depend on the game. Mainly I do prefer a silent protagonist as I very much prefer him to be a character I can specifically create myself.
 

Admiral Stukov

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Jul 1, 2009
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I tend to prefer Silent for FPS's and some RPG's and voiced for the rest of the RPG's.

Unless Jennifer Hale does the voice. I'm a sucker for Hale's work.
 

Ashcrexl

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May 27, 2009
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cant stand silent portagonists. that one less potentially interesting character in the game and you have to see him ALL THE TIME. but Black, i hear you say, its for projecting your own personality onto the character, it's immersive. no. i have a terrible personality! the less people with my personality the better.
 

Merkavar

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Aug 21, 2010
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depends on the game i guess. like an rpg i prefer silent. more emersive and all that. but other games like fps it doesnt matter.
 

IBlackKiteI

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Mar 12, 2010
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skywalkerlion said:
Sanguinius- The Angel said:
I prefer voiced, so there's some actual characterization. That's why I don't like Gordon Freeman, he's literally a cardboard box with guns.
And not the good kind. [http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://media.gamerevolution.com/images/misc/solid_snake_box.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.gamerevolution.com/static/index.php%3Fsection%3Dsponsors%26sub%3Dbox_o_games%26page%3Dsolid_snake&usg=__rjSEzrAUPVDyZMOW3pfUFfeFodU=&h=320&w=449&sz=502&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=pBvdxveFoPIvqM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=160&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsnake%2Bin%2Bbox%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1152%26bih%3D683%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=595&vpy=73&dur=522&hovh=189&hovw=266&tx=129&ty=85&ei=p4zITKn8EIL6sAPX-4S4CA&oei=p4zITKn8EIL6sAPX-4S4CA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0]
Yeah, people complain about Master Chief's characterization..but compared to Gordon Freeman? *sigh*
Gordon Freeman is characterised by his actions and the world around him that he shapes.
Master Chief is characterised by being that big quiet dude with all the guns who kills aliens.
 

Chechosaurus

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Jul 20, 2008
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Definatly depends on the game. In Mass Effect, a voice works really well whereas in Dragons' Age and KoTOR, it works really well when your protagonist doesn't talk.

As far as FPS' goes, a silent protagonist is essential in my opinion. It allows you to project your own thoughts into the game and create your own one-liners.
 

Nouw

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Mar 18, 2009
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Depends on character.

Example:
Voiced Badass: Duke Nukem.
Silent Badass: Gordon Freeman
 

shemoanscazrex3

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Mar 24, 2010
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I prefer voiced protagonist. I feel like guys like Gordon Freeman are just mindless drones following orders for reasons unbeknownst to me. i think Yahtzee said it best about how everyone loves Gordon but he doesn't say anything. I've concluded he wears a great set of trousers or throws incredibly epic birthday parties. Now systems like fallout I don't mind.
 

ShotgunSmoke

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Apr 19, 2009
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Voiced. Always voiced.

I've been expressing my dislike for silent protagonists in countless threads. It doesn't increase the immersion, it only makes me angry when NPCs ask the protagonist a question and he/she doesn't answer.

I want protagonists with personalities, I want to see them interact with other characters. How can I symphatize with a mute brick?

The usual excuse for mute protagonists is "The character is YOU". No, if I was the character, I would be talking to people. Why do you give him a name if the protagonist is supposed to be me?
I am playing a story, not my life.

And people actually think that Gordon Freeman is one of the best characters of all time. Umm, no. He's a pair of arms with a name.
 

Polaris19

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Aug 12, 2010
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I feel it depends on the game.

Games like Mass Effect, Uncharted, and Assassins Creed really require it for the game to feel right and flesh out the character you play. However, games like Fallout and Half-life function BETTER when you play a character without a voice to hear.

Contrary to what people may think, I feel some games need the old book method of "imagine the voice in your head". Not to mention the fact that not every character needs to speak to be great. Actions speak louder than words, and no one exemplifies it more than Gordon Freeman.

Then again, Commander Shepard saved humanity, but seems to to be able to get a word in quite nicely.

There's room in games for both.
 

Amethyst Wind

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Apr 1, 2009
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Voiced protagonist so long as you don't get to name him, or else it just starts to grate with the 'creative' ways they get around saying the name (looking at you, Final Fantasy X).

Mass Effect did it right where you did the first name but it ended up not being even slightly relevant.

Silent protagonists can be done badly too (Fallout 3), but for the most part they work (Half Life 2/Grand Theft Auto 3)