LOTRO: Voice Acting
One of the most noticeable things that ages the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, is the lack of comprehensive voice acting throughout the game. If a player interacts with an NPC, they will provide generic greetings or ambient dialogue. Phrases such as “hello there” of “our mission is dire” occur regularly. However, the majority of quest text is not spoken, unless it is part of the Epic Story line. If it is, the first sentence is usually voice acted but no more than that. Cutscenes within instances have dialogue, as are those that occur at key parts of the Epic Story. Overall, LOTRO does not have the extensive voice acting that a similar MMO such as Star Trek Online has. This is a shame, considering how much time and effort has been taken with other aspects of the game.
Video Games and Voice Acting
I think it’s a fair assessment that here are several genres of game that don’t have any requirement for in-depth voice acting. If there is no substantial narrative to tell or a necessity to deliver a lot of complex instructions, then plain text or simple audio soundbites will suffice. However, games such as an RPG or an MMORPG, which tend to have complex stories and multiple characters, benefit immensely from good quality voice acting. Now some gamers are not interested in intricate plots and find dialogue and cutscenes an impediment but I do not believe them to be a majority. If they want to skip dialogue and such like, then that is their prerogative and I support their right to do so. I actually think that both dialogue and cutscenes should wherever possible be “skippable”. But I am often heavily invested in the narratives of the games I play. I enjoy good dialogue when its available and feel that voice acting reinforces the plot and credibility of the various characters. I sorely miss it when it is not present.