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VO's and cutscenes: "More enjoyable than SWTOR ?"

13

Comments

  • AerowynAerowyn Member Posts: 7,928
    Originally posted by Tamanous

    I find TSW cut scenes vastly more engaging, better acted and far more stylized than TOR.

     

    I can only assume they did this on a much lower budget so I applaude them for the quality. I also do not care in the least that I can't interact. That has always been a cheap and pointless story mechanic in my view. If I have a voice I prefer it to be my own and not some scripted event with some one elses voice and personality. How it is done reminds by of the old school rpg's back in single player only days. I can also freely talk to other players I am playing with.

     

    A cutscene is only that, a portion of the story and my input that changes absolutely nothing is not important to show. The single greatest immersion breaker in SWTOR for me was when every single other male Agent in game had the same voice as me. I can imagine my own voice or type/speak in game/vent to individualize my character. There was a strange disconnect in SWTOR where the player and the character had nothing to do with each other. It annoyed me silly.

    I agree with this. For me the full VO of my char in SWTOR did more to break the immersion than make me feel part of the game.. People see things in a differn't way but that's me. While they both have lots of VO how they are presented are very differn't and for this type of game I feel how TSW did it, it works better overall. 

    I personally don't care for the your the "one" storys that much in MMOs since it just doesn't fit the overall setting at all. For single player games it's fine but not MMOs

    I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg

  • AcvivmAcvivm Member UncommonPosts: 323

    As much as I like TSW there only a few companies that can match Bioware when it comes to cutscenes...Funcom isn't one of them. Not that the cutscenes for TSW are all that bad but in all honesty they just arent that necessary, you could skip them and you wouldn't be missing anything since there is no interaction or choices to be made.

     

    The voice actors used for SWTOR are the best in the business by far, I think the only thing that TSW has over it is just the movements of the characters which convey a little more emotion but not by much.

     

    The script and general concept for the cutscenes is entirely different from each other, where SWTOR is more about detailed explanations that you would expect from space operas, lots of infomation mixed with lots of dramatic pauses, TSW is more about characters giving small monologues about the situation they are involved in and their feelings etc.

     

    All in all both games couldn't be more different in terms of quality and concept. I personally prefer SWTOR, pretty much everything revolving around the Imperial Agent and the Bounty Hunter storylines to me are gold. Watcher X on Nar Shadaa, the Star Cabal storyline and the Darth Jadus scenes are all scenes I will always remember long after I stop playing SWTOR which is the same for many of Biowares games.

    The fight with Jadus is pure space opera... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_VQllA44-k (Imperial Agent spoilers)

    edited: >,< wrong link.

     

     

     

     

    HEAVEN OR HELL
    Duel 1
    Lets ROCK!

  • elockeelocke Member UncommonPosts: 4,335

    I wonder if it's also because the quests themselves are just better.  Helps when quests are hard or diverse or just plain different to move the story along and not feel like the normal go here kill x of this come back generic stuff.  Love when they call me on my cell phone while I'm playing instead of making it a cutscene itself the way SWTOR does with the holocall.

    Storyline is just better in this, more mysterious and makes me want to learn more.  In SWTOR I never cared much for what I was being told, there was no verbal stimulation, no phrases that caught my ear.  Heck even the original Star Wars movies had dialog that accomplished this.  The new movies and games all have this stilted, boring dialog that just doesn't feel real or organic.

  • AtrusHomeboyAtrusHomeboy Member Posts: 28
    Originally posted by Acvivm

    Not that the cutscenes for TSW are all that bad but in all honesty they just arent that necessary, you could skip them and you wouldn't be missing anything since there is no interaction or choices to be made.

     

    You assume that because there is no interaction that there is nothing in the cutscenes worth hearing. That's a preeetty drastic leap in logic you're making, if not a flat out wrong assumption.

    The difference between SWTOR and TSW is that the story in SWTOR is centered around the player character, whereas in TSW the spotlight is on the locations, societies, histories and personalities of the world the PC inhabits - and what a strange and beautifully-crafted world it is!

    Approaching TSW as a personal epic is missing the entire point of the narrative: to further immerse you in the game world, and to ecourage the player to explore and uncover its stories, for they are ones worth being told.

  • Pratt2112Pratt2112 Member UncommonPosts: 1,636
    Originally posted by Acvivm

    As much as I like TSW there only a few companies that can match Bioware when it comes to cutscenes...Funcom isn't one of them. Not that the cutscenes for TSW are all that bad but in all honesty they just arent that necessary, you could skip them and you wouldn't be missing anything since there is no interaction or choices to be made

     From what I've heard and read from numerous sources, people were largely aggravated that you couldn't skip past more of the cut-scenes/dialog in TOR because they ultimately found the choices to be superfluous and largely unimportant in the long-term. To be sure, many couldn't have cared less.

    So, even with their untold millions spent on getting "the best voice actors in the business", at the end of the day, many gamers had the same "meh" response to it as they would to one with a small fraction spent on voice-overs.

    I'm sure it's a killjoy for any developer to see that their time and work isn't appreciated. I can only imagine that feeling was magnified for Bioware.

  • MattDaddy10MattDaddy10 Member UncommonPosts: 30

    Definitely more enjoyable. A root canal is more enjoyable than SWTOR.

  • mcburlymcburly Member Posts: 234

    swtor by a mile. TSW overall is a very dissapointing game.

    image

  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722

    IMO the cutscenes in TSW are a bit better than Swtor, But VOs? far from it.... specially when the most important character in the game (YOUR character) doesnt know how to speak....





  • RednecksithRednecksith Member Posts: 1,238

    The dialogue is written much, much better in TSW, and it is used to greater effect. Furthermore they have (so far) gotten unique VAs for each NPC, something which always bugged me about SWTOR. Running into Jim Cummings for the 400th time really tends to break immersion ("Oh hi Jim, haven't heard from you since about 10 quest givers ago!").

    Also, I think I prefer the mute PC approach over Bioware's full voicing, if only because what I selected was often NOT what I wanted to say. I'd pick an option like, "Sorry, but you're too great an enemy of the Empire to let go. I'm afraid you'll be coming with me. Nothing personal.", and my character would spit out something to the effect of, "RAWR!! I WILL GUZZLE BLOODWINE FROM YOUR SKULL AND FORNICATE WITH YOUR WIDOW!!".  Very aggravating when that happened.

    Another nitpick is the graphics in SWTOR. Specifically, the horrible shadowing. Nothing breaks immersion like a shadow that looks like it belongs in a PS2 game cutting a jagged swath through what is supposed to be an epic moment.

     

  • AcvivmAcvivm Member UncommonPosts: 323
    Originally posted by AtrusHomeboy
    Originally posted by Acvivm

    Not that the cutscenes for TSW are all that bad but in all honesty they just arent that necessary, you could skip them and you wouldn't be missing anything since there is no interaction or choices to be made.

     

    You assume that because there is no interaction that there is nothing in the cutscenes worth hearing. That's a preeetty drastic leap in logic you're making, if not a flat out wrong assumption.

    The difference between SWTOR and TSW is that the story in SWTOR is centered around the player character, whereas in TSW the spotlight is on the locations, societies, histories and personalities of the world the PC inhabits - and what a strange and beautifully-crafted world it is!

    Approaching TSW as a personal epic is missing the entire point of the narrative: to further immerse you in the game world, and to ecourage the player to explore and uncover its stories, for they are ones worth being told.

    I dont need to assume anything, I've seen every cut scene all the way up through the Savage Coast, I've participated in 3 betas and have seen all of them multiple times...they just aren't that necessary to become immersed, the landscape can do that all its own. I dont see how its some drastic leap in logic at all many of them boil down to "something strange is going on....we need to find out what it is" and of you go. Yes they sprinkle lore in there, so does SWTOR.

    "the spotlight is on the locations, societies, histories and personalities of the world the PC inhabits" yea and SWTOR does the same thing, the Dromand Kaas storyline told through quest givers revolves around rebelling slaves at the Unfinished Colossus, the Dark Council and the many vendettas that they have against each other, Revan's cult the "Revanites", the Dark Temple and the long deceased sith lords who take over the minds of all who enter, Lord Grathan and his attempts to fight against the Dark Council. They even give you lore when you discover things of note, come on....

    There is tons of lore and storyline all over SWTOR, if you don't want to read about the lore and immerse yourself then its more a matter of you not wanting to rather then there is none to do so with.

     

     

     

     

    HEAVEN OR HELL
    Duel 1
    Lets ROCK!

  • YakkinYakkin Member Posts: 919

    Eh, I don't like this post.

  • DeeweDeewe Member UncommonPosts: 1,980

    Found the story and the writing much more compelling in SW than TOR. To me the stories blended very well with the atmosphere. They added to the feeling, while in TOR too often it felt disconnected.

     

    The NPC acting (gestures, moving, facing) is so much better too. TOR has better facial expresssions, and even...

     

    There are two things I'd like them to improve in the future.

    1) Too often the dialogs felt like a narration, not a discussion between our character and the NPC

    2) The start and the ending of the dialogs need more smoothing in and out.

     

    In short thumbs up!

     

     

     

  • Lord.BachusLord.Bachus Member RarePosts: 9,686
    Originally posted by dangle

    I liked making decisions in SWTOR, and especially, making them in a group.

    But overall I'm enjoying TSW cutscenes a lot more; mostly, as has been pointed out, because the script is much better.

    This one...

    Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)

  • FaynthFaynth Member Posts: 237

    I like how they implemented the story telling with VO cutscenes. The dont feel so generic like SWTORs, i actualy watch then and dont go for a coffee or a piss. Also they are only introducing main quests. I think they got the right balance. I think TSW is the second try of 'story-telling-mmos' and for that genre VO-Cutscenes will be pretty much the backbone. Opposed to your standart 'rush-and-flush' mmo (WoW,Tera, Rift...)

  • ValuaValua Member Posts: 520

    The Secret World's voice overs are great, very well done.

     

    But they are nothing compared to The Old Republics, TSW or GW2 don't even come close to comparing to The Old Republics.

     

    For a start there is no interaction with The Secret World's voice overs, which I consider a negative.

     

    Secondly, your character never ever speaks, did the Bee's make everyone mutes? This ruins immersion for me.

     

    Lastly, The Secret World has a more believable and straight forward script, but it lacks "epicness" which The Old Republic's was full of. I don't consider this a negative, but not a plus either, for either game. 

     

    The Old Republic's voice over had you involved (even if most of the options led to the same outcome) and immersed, so does the voice overs from TSW, but not to the same extent, not even close.

     

    Also The Old Republic incorparated group play into their voice overs, in The Secret World when you enter a voice over everyone around you just dissapears, including your group, which again ruins immersion somewhat.

     

    So, I think The Old Republic's voice overs reign all over The Secret World's (and Guild Wars 2's) by a longshot. Voice overs were the only thing I really, really enjoyed in The Old Republic, I can name many, many more for TSW (and GW2.)

     

    Just my two cents.

  • Asuran24Asuran24 Member Posts: 517

    I agree with tsw having overall better vo's and cutscenes compared to swtor, even gw2 really. The fact your character  is mute i like since it gives the writer's the ability to flesh out more story, while you can rp how your character would react on your own, since really having several choices of repsonses to things in a cut-scene would take away alot of choice in how you can role play kinda your character. Like if you hade only thress opitions for responces it might actually have none that match your character's rp based personailty, where as being mute allows you as a player to insert your own responces for your character instead.

  • CaldrinCaldrin Member UncommonPosts: 4,505

    I think the acting is some of the best I have seen in an MMORPG..

    I have probally gone through the kingsmouth stuff about 3-5 times now due to beta and i still dont mind watching it..

     

    Now I only beta tested SWTOR but i fonud myself wantnig to skip everything even if ti was the first time i had seen it..

  • plescureplescure Member UncommonPosts: 397
    Originally posted by Atlan99

    I'd say the voice-acting is on par with SWTOR.

    I'd say the script for TSW is superior to SWTOR.

    The reason the voice-acting sounds better in TSW all around is because they have a better script to work with imo.

    The characters have more charcter in TSW.

    this^

     

    was saying to my friend yesterday that im enjoying the cutscenes and voice over so much more in tsw than i ever did in swtor. and im pretty sure that tsw voice actor budget was a fraction of swtor's

    If someone is talking in general chat in a language you dont understand, chances are they're not talking to you. So chill out and stop bitching about it!

  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910


    Originally posted by Acvivm
    Originally posted by AtrusHomeboy Originally posted by Acvivm Not that the cutscenes for TSW are all that bad but in all honesty they just arent that necessary, you could skip them and you wouldn't be missing anything since there is no interaction or choices to be made.  
    You assume that because there is no interaction that there is nothing in the cutscenes worth hearing. That's a preeetty drastic leap in logic you're making, if not a flat out wrong assumption. The difference between SWTOR and TSW is that the story in SWTOR is centered around the player character, whereas in TSW the spotlight is on the locations, societies, histories and personalities of the world the PC inhabits - and what a strange and beautifully-crafted world it is! Approaching TSW as a personal epic is missing the entire point of the narrative: to further immerse you in the game world, and to ecourage the player to explore and uncover its stories, for they are ones worth being told.
    I dont need to assume anything, I've seen every cut scene all the way up through the Savage Coast, I've participated in 3 betas and have seen all of them multiple times...they just aren't that necessary to become immersed, the landscape can do that all its own. I dont see how its some drastic leap in logic at all many of them boil down to "something strange is going on....we need to find out what it is" and of you go. Yes they sprinkle lore in there, so does SWTOR.

    "the spotlight is on the locations, societies, histories and personalities of the world the PC inhabits" yea and SWTOR does the same thing, the Dromand Kaas storyline told through quest givers revolves around rebelling slaves at the Unfinished Colossus, the Dark Council and the many vendettas that they have against each other, Revan's cult the "Revanites", the Dark Temple and the long deceased sith lords who take over the minds of all who enter, Lord Grathan and his attempts to fight against the Dark Council. They even give you lore when you discover things of note, come on....

    There is tons of lore and storyline all over SWTOR, if you don't want to read about the lore and immerse yourself then its more a matter of you not wanting to rather then there is none to do so with.
     




    SWToR's entire focus is your character. It's the entire point of playing the game. Yes, other lore exists, but it doesn't matter, outside of what your character does. The Revanite story only moves forward because your character moves it forward. The story wouldn't move forward for anyone else and nobody else really matters that much because you are the hero.

    TSW's focus is the story itself. Your character is important, but you're a cog in a machine, doing your part while many, many other people do their part. Yes, the story moved forward because you did something, but it didn't require you, it just required someone with sufficient skill to complete the mission.

    It's a distinct difference in how the lore is presented and how the stories play out. In SWToR you matter, the locations, stories and other members of your faction are incidental. In TSW you matter, but the locations, stories and other members of your faction are just as important as your character.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • jpnzjpnz Member Posts: 3,529

    I always find these 'comparison' threads to be odd.

    I like steak and pizza.

    Do I always have to choose which one is 'better'? :(

    Gdemami -
    Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.

  • HammerbeardHammerbeard Member Posts: 2

    I agree 100% with OP. I beta tested SWtOR and the thing that sent me away were the drawn out cutscenes. Now in TSW I love them. So I guess it just comes down to interest in the source material or lore.

  • WickedjellyWickedjelly Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 4,990
    Originally posted by SpottyGekko

     

    Maybe I'm just not enough of a SW fan...

     

    I found SWTOR's VO's and cutscenes very professionally done, but they never really grabbed me. It was almost as if they were too full of "epic" and ended up being lifeless and... sterile. And the "conversation options" tended to distract me, most likely because I was too focused on manipulating my dark/light ratings. Perhaps somehow the knowledge that my "answer" was only relevant to my alignment points made it all trivial.

     

    I really feel that the voice acting in TSW is often better than in SWTOR. The dialogue is delivered with more emotion but less drama. There is no "epic" in TSW, it's just ordinary people talking. Perhaps it's because they are more gritty and real. If anything, the survivors in Kingsmouth could show a bit more terror, lol

     

    I actually don't mind repeating quests in TSW, and I'm currently doing my second run through Kingsmouth. The XP is good, and the quests themselves are fun. I'm even happy to watch some of the cutscenes a second time, which is something I cannot say for SWTOR.

    Somehow, the voice acting and cutscenes in TSW just feel a million times better than SWTOR, even though the cutscenes themselves are not technically as good. 

     Never in a million years would I have ever believed this to be the case. If someone would have made this statement as a prediction I probably would have mocked them to no end.

    ...and would be eating crow right now because amazingly I completely agree. Stunning that this game is leaps and bounds better in both vo and story than SWTOR. You couldn't pay me to go through those planet story lines again. In this game? I've started from scratch every time and enjoyed it.

    1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.

    2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.

    3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.

  • elvenwolfelvenwolf Member UncommonPosts: 146

    What i really really like is rhe game approach to the story. I like the 'you are one of the many others around' that came out of the cutscenes. sure star wars voceovers and cutscenes are sure goid. As personal taste i prefer TSW approach. Make me feel more part of the game world not being THE ONE or THE ONLY SAVIOUR of the world. I find both games deliver good curxcenes, just for me the TSW theme is the preferred one.

  • FeydawayFeydaway Member Posts: 122

    I think the story here is better than most (Imp Agent is quite good) in SWTOR.  Voice acting is on-par and sometimes better.

    If they didn't have the annoying problem of my character not speaking or showing ANY emotion, the cutscenes in TSW would DOMINATE over SWTOR (except for the excellently done Imp Agent).

  • CorthalaCorthala Member UncommonPosts: 283

    I love the TSW monologue.

    "you are like the world revenge on sarcasm, you know that?"

    One of those great lines from The Secret World

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