True ... except:
1) This only apply to games where you have Voiced
Protagonist ...
Wich we dont have so far, and i personaly see no evidence (nor any reason) for that being planned in the future.
Also if that would be the case ... just by giving us Origin characters, Larian would blow this budged bubble 6 times biger allready (amoung of text * amount of voice actors) ... and Swen himself allready told us that we still dont have all followers ... so probably even more.
So if their goal is to cheapen the game ... maybe scratch out few sentneces wouldnt be so effective as reducing number of voice actors needed?
Well, it also matters if you're having NPCs responding with voiced, unique dialogue as well. Which leads into...
2) It was allready discuised abowe, that people would mostly dont mind if several responces would lead to same outcome ...
Meaning (again as long as our protagonist stay silent during dialogues ... wich i hope they would for various reasons) all we would add for nuances would be some text.
I dunno if this would be good example but try to imagine it as it is with when Withers asks you about cost of single mortal life ... it dont really matter what you say to him, his responce is allways the same "
Very well. I am satisfied" ...
Yes i know there are some comentaries aswell, but are they really needed?
But yeah, I hear you on that. And that's one of the "creative" options they could have pursued - either have responses be the same even with multiple options or have subtle permutations that wouldn't require them to break the bank on the VA budget. One thing I will say, however, is that a lot of developers express that they don't like this approach i.e. if the choices you make result in the same outcome then the choices are bad and should be changed or streamlined. It's one way of cutting the dreaded "bloat" and making "choices matter" and all those other cliches. What is missed is that even if the end result is just 'flavor', that adds something to the world if the clear choices and decision points are still there. I liken it to a completely different kind of game (Morrowind), where all of these tomes and small details exist to create a cohesive and interesting world. Nowadays a lot of developers would see that as unnecessary bloat and so touches like that are fewer and farther between.
There's something to be said for using such details to create an atmosphere and a mood, but I'm afraid it's a hard skill to master. Typically it's easier to just say "nope we're just going to stick to the cut-and-dry, this one or that one" and attempt to create an atmosphere via more grandiose (or extreme, as you say) means. As a bit of an aside, I absolutely love "moody" horror films (think The Thing) for this reason. The tension and the "grip" of the film isn't based on the action set pieces, it's based on all the seemingly benign interactions and movement of the players that combine to create an overwhelming sense of dread/anticipation.
Yeah ...
I gues that was the original point i was trying to make.
Just chill out from time to time, not everything needs to be question of life and death ... not everyone needs to be kept on edge from falling to both metaphorical or litteral abyss everytime they are questioned if they want Ketchup or Mayonaise.
Yeah, that was mostly me agreeing with you and adding context. Unfortunately, especially for writers who are not exceptionally skilled, it can be hard to do nuance and the mundane truly well. So if it's something that you feel is just adding bloat and the "bad kind" of ambiguity to your story you're often just going to leave those elements out. What a lot of writers/writing struggle with and overlook is that people, events, environments are defined just as much by the small, seemingly insignificant moments as they are by the loud, in-your-face, exceptional ones. People often get more out of a subtle tilt of the head, a small gesture, or simple question/statement than a bombastic display. It's part of the reason a lot of people love games like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing. There's beauty and texture - a lot of it! - to be found in mundanity, subtlety.
But I can't really harp on Larian too hard for this because even well-known and respected authors struggle with this kind of writing. And video game writing rarely reaches even the level of pulp fantasy/scifi.
