So something that I noticed with skyrim is the lack of personality with most npc's. Oblivion had some of the funniest dialogue and the voice actors complimented the lines really good with their over dramatic acting lol. In Skyrim we have a few big named actors but they dont really click with me. So I thought I would make this thread.

If you had the choice to have had Big named voice actors or A lot of voice actors with personality what would it be?

Linda Carter.

100% of the time.

You may keep the rest.

Az

I would prefer more voice actors period. I'm constantly hearing people who it is obvious have the same voice actor. It is irritating.

While there are a few high profile actors for important people the majority of voice actors are voice actors or character actors by profession.

I'd rather have a few hundred amateurs, each doing a single specific character's lines, than a dozen or so big names doing a few hundred different characters. The thing about digital recording is you can just keep doing it until you get it right and you can always digitally modify a track if it just doesn't have the correct timbre or something. I definitely agree with Noxious on this one. The voice acting is actually a negative drawback in this game as far as immersion is concerned.

I don't give a rat's ass who is doing the voice acting. I just want the voice acting to be engaging.

Whoever does the voice for Cicero.. that's just annoying to me, can't tell you how I just wanted to slap him silly whenever he opened his mouth..

I would say that, without a doubt, the quality of the voice acting is far more important than the name of the voice actor.

Is that really a question? Why the hell would anyone care who the voice is as long as it's good?

I don't get it ...

You would want someone who could -act- first and foremost. Some big name actors can do voice acting; others are frankly atrocious at it, for various reasons. Those who make their living on characterization are the ones you want, as tone and inflection are the tool they use to make it more than reading words on a page. Which is painfully obvious when it happens.

You can't grab just anyone.....studio time costs money. You want it done quickly and well, with as few takes needed as can be managed.

I personally think Skyrim's voices are excellent. Plenty of emotion and personality expressed ... With the possible exception of Farengar Secret-Fire, but I think that's just his character.

Second option. Plenty of big names out there svck at voice acting, but since the industry is so... limited compared to other places (such as Japan), there's really little choice at times. It's better to find REAL actors and aspiring ones with good personality to fill the roles, rather than casting go-to voices.

Honestly, half the VA's out there can't act worth a darn. Just ask any anime fan or japanese game fan.

A Voice actor with a good voice. Liam Neeson, Chistopher Walken, or Lance Henriksen. Very memorable and recognizable

Yeah people seem to think that half the cast is famous people.

They pick famous people for key roles in the main quest, and the rest are not.

Plus I love their choices. Liam Neeson from FO3 was the coolest thing ever. Close behind; Patrick Stewart from Oblivion.

Sean Bean as Martin Septim

I remember they had Dennis Hopper and Samuel L Jackson and other "mega stars" doing voices for Grand Theft Auto.

And having played them... I honestly never knew until I read it on the internet.

Az

I honestly don't know why they don't scour the anime voice acting scene, most of them do 10+ distinct voices and all with personality.

Both are important, some actors voices and talent match a role and bring it to life.

But then the person who did sheogorath I didn't know and he was great too.

Personality over name any time.

I wouldn't care if they dragged people off the street to do it as long as the personality fits the character or the person doing it injects their own personality into a general passing comment. It would probably cost a lot less having many people from the general public being paid 10 bucks each to read a couple of passing comment lines, 20 or 30 bucks each for an actual character with several lines, than paying megabucks to have a proper voice actor do several different characters.

Definitely personality!

I like both skyrim and oblivions voice acting.

Careful what you wish for. Giving someone a page of typed words means they had better comprehend exactly what the context of the words are and what they mean. Then there's the interpretation required for the emotion and emphasis. Patrick Stewart will 'get' it in 2 minutes. An amateur will often need a lot of takes and a lot of direction just to understand what the character means when it speaks the words. I'd rather pay Patrick Stewart for 2 minutes.

The talent of the actor/actress is all that matters to me. Make me believe the part you're playing and I'll be perfectly fine.

It takes some real talent to convey emotion and purpose with just speech. Some of these people are actors that we know from TV and Film, but a large number of them are people we never see. For example, on the Simpsons, only Harry Shearer (sp?) has any film or TV roles, the rest are voice actors.

As for famous people, I don't want the voice to give me preconceived notions about the NPC. Just as an example, James Earl Jones voicing a Thane, I would just know that Thane was evil and up to know good from the first phrase. I would rather the dialog and actions in the game determine that, or give me what I need to form an opinion. When I was watching Chicken Little, the claymation movie that had Mel Gibson voicing the main actor, I spent the first 60 minutes of the movie trying to figure out who the actor was, then when I figured it out, I viewed everything the character did through a Mad Max/Maverick lense. So, I don't want too familiar a voice for voice acting.

Bottom line, as long as the voice actor can make me believe the NPC I am listening to, they are doing the job they need to do. It does not matter how famous or not they are.

Well personally, yeah we need better voice actors, the only 2 voice actors are the ones who voiced Cicero and the old guy from DB questline. The old guy had enough personality in his voice for the entirety of skyrim. Did anyone else know he voiced Pluto from the disney films as well as 1 Gadflow in KOAR?