Narrator Poll - Specific Feedback Requested!

[kindofdoon]

Woah! Is there anywhere we can watch a clip of your local news?

[Rosella]

Woah! Is there anywhere we can watch a clip of your local news?

That's probably the only time that statement has ever been said non-ironically.

Also, seconded.

[kindofdoon]

Rofl, very true.

[Marlene55M]

I do think having the option to turn the narrator off is a pretty good idea, though.

It's the best function in the game.

[ThunderChild]

The narrator is becomming more and more annoying then Cedric ever was (and that means a lot!). Never thought it was possible, it apparently it has . . .

[drunkenmonkey]

The best narrator was the one from King's Quest 6. You could play through the whole game and not get tired of his voice. Plus in that game every interaction with any object had unique dialog. Mostly due to the brilliant mind of Jane Jensen, I'll bet.

However in TLS most of the phrases are generic, there's almost no point in using anything with anything as you are almost certain to get the same response. This is something that needs to be looked into to make the episodes re-playable.

The narrator's sarcastic voice is anything but soothing, I felt. Not very helpful and slightly disrespectful given the nature of the story. There were some funny moments with the narrator in ep 1, but nothing I could pick out for ep 2. Convention dictates that an old guy narrates (preferably more King's Quest 6 than 5)

Anyway, I would say the narration needs a complete overhaul rather than a couple of annoying phrases taken out. There's a brilliant writing team on the TSL project, it shouldn't be difficult.

[Novem]

In that game every interaction with any object had unique dialog.
However in TLS most of the phrases are generic, there's almost no point in using anything with anything as you are almost certain to get the same response.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I would say the narration needs a complete overhaul rather than a couple of annoying phrases taken out.

I agree 100%.

[KatieHal]

A complete overhaul won't be happening. It would be FAR too time-consuming to do that at this point. We can re-record some lines, which is why we're trying to get back specific feedback like this so we can do that for the most problematic ones.

[KQ5Fan]

Or just have reptitive lines that aren't sarcastic. That'd be over 9000 times better.

[atec123]

Or just have reptitive lines that aren't sarcastic. That'd be over 9000 times better.

true.

maybe throw in a sarcastic one once, but not much.  it gets annoying after a minute or 2.

repetitive lines aren't great, but they aren't that bad.  then as soon as you hear the first syllable you can click to skip it and look for something else.

the KQ3 remake had the "what would you do with it?".  I don't like that much but it's not bad.  something like that would be better.

[Lambonius]

Yeah.  It's not the repetitiveness that's the problem as much as it is the sarcastic tone.  That's the part that makes these narrations frustrating.  In an adventure game, you expect to hear generic failed action responses ad infitum, so that's not a huge deal.  Being openly MOCKED ad infitum however, is another issue entirely.  

One or two sarcastic ones that pop up occasionally wouldn't be a big deal.  Or creating sarcastic responses that are specific to particularly stupid actions.  Those would be understandable and probably funny.  

PS: For what it's worth, I think you guys are doing a great job addressing all of these specific player complaints.  Keep up the good work.    The game will just keep getting better and better.

[atec123]

Yeah.  It's not the repetitiveness that's the problem as much as it is the sarcastic tone.  That's the part that makes these narrations frustrating.  In an adventure game, you expect to hear generic failed action responses ad infitum, so that's not a huge deal.  Being openly MOCKED ad infitum however, is another issue entirely.  

One or two sarcastic ones that pop up occasionally wouldn't be a big deal.  Or creating sarcastic responses that are specific to particularly stupid actions.  Those would be understandable and probably funny.  

PS: For what it's worth, I think you guys are doing a great job addressing all of these specific player complaints.  Keep up the good work.    The game will just keep getting better and better.

yes.  example: That is not going to work.

if it was said without the sarcastic tone, it would be atotally normal response for when something... isn't going to work.  problem is almost everything she says when you do something you can't gets on your nerves after a while.  I agree that they would be really funny if you added the sarcastic comments to when you do really stupid things.

[Damar]

Normally, these kinds of responses drive me crazy regardless of whether it's sarcastic or not.  The repetitiveness gets to me, even if it's the calm narrator from KQ6, so I typically click through those narrations, particularly if I'm just randomly trying stuff in a pique of frustration.  That said though, the "Tic Toc..." line and the "Who taught you that logic," line did get to me mainly because the first goes on too long and the second's tone of voice is just derisive.  So those are my picks.

[Haids1987]

Or just have reptitive lines that aren't sarcastic. That'd be over 9000 times better.

Good idea.  Suggestions:

That won't work.
That item won't work there.
Please try something else, King Graham.

..etc.

[AdumbroDeus]

TBH, I really enjoyed the sarcasm, it made the game so much more amusing to play.


However having the SAME sarcastic line is a bit of a problem. If we have to have a default line, make it rare, or have a couple of "default lines" (like a few for each item or several for each island, etc) depending on the circumstances, cause the joke wears thin quickly.



We're hoping for a cult classic, remember, has to have a good sense of humor.

[crayauchtin]

I think maybe a generic response that was sort of complimentary but maintained the narrator's less-than-serious personality might work, as the narrator has become a character of its own in a way.

Along the lines of....
"Well, it was good in theory."
"When you played that out in your head, it worked fine! In reality.... at least you tried."
"If it makes you feel any better, I would have tried that too... if I hadn't read the script!"
"Must be nailed down... and there's no loose nails either!"
"It'd be crazy for someone who wasn't an adventurer to do that. Good thing you're wearing your cap!"

See, those are much less mocking but still keep the same sarcasm and sense of humor.
It'd probably be good to have some bland "That didn't work" ones as well, I guess.

[koko_99_2001]

ooh! I like these! Great ideas!

[Rosella]

I really like Q's ideas.

[crayauchtin]

Cause I'm brilliant. How about one like this...

"That idea was pretty good, but it would take someone even more awesome but also named Graham to accomplish it!"
Or.... "If only you were Cray Auchtin, he could have pulled off that crazy stunt! He's so incredible!"


....no? Oh, come on!

[Lambonius]

Along the lines of....
"Well, it was good in theory."
"When you played that out in your head, it worked fine! In reality.... at least you tried."
"If it makes you feel any better, I would have tried that too... if I hadn't read the script!"
"Must be nailed down... and there's no loose nails either!"
"It'd be crazy for someone who wasn't an adventurer to do that. Good thing you're wearing your cap!"

See, those are much less mocking but still keep the same sarcasm and sense of humor.
It'd probably be good to have some bland "That didn't work" ones as well, I guess.

It really depends on how they are read though.  All of those lines could EASILY be just as mocking as the ones currently in the game.  It'd be a lot safer to just go with some explicitly neutral responses and readings.  If the team is going to go out of their way to make these changes anyway, they'd want to make sure they were fixing it properly, rather than taking the risk that the "fix" could be just as bad as the original issue.