We talk about personal preferences here, but I still think dubbing it to different languages would bring in more money than it costs. Many folks are way more comfortable when games/movies are in their language. In the USA they even remake movies, so they don't need subtitles.
I am comfortable with subtitles myself, when I don't understand the language, but it's pretty irritating for me, when I hear them speak in English but read it in German. So when I played PoE for example I just turned off the English Dub.
I sincerely think you underestimate the amount of VA that's recorded for this game. They mentioned roughly the runtime of Game of Thrones in cinematics. Thousands of interactable NPC's. How many more Germans do you reckon will need to buy it - besides the ones that will buy it regardless - to offset that cost? Nah.
Edit: On top of that, German uses *way* more words than English to convey the same message, as it is a far more literal language. That would mean that many scenes would have to be reworked, just to get timings right and everything. It's a *huge* job.
And yeah, Americans make movies off of foreign movies - because the rest of the world consumes American movies. No one outside the German speaking world sees Commissar Rex.
Always the same old bullshit story about language learning. If I want to do that, then I do it differently and above all more practically and not with texts that I read faster than the English synchro has finished speaking... And then the dice rolling on top of it.... But the latter is a game mechanic one have to come to terms with.
The main reason for the native language always remains "immersion" and that's what this is about, not non-Germans trying to talk one out of it. Leave this thread alone and then play in English. And yes, of course, there are also unsolidary Germans. They are full of arrogance and language skills and hence argue the same way. But please stop with well-intentioned advice. There are (also) Germans who have a hard time learning English or still can't (sufficiently), so they are never represented here in such a forum and this thread gives them a voice. Whether the whole thing is successful is secondary for now.
The suggestion was in fact, to stop dubbing entirely and to learn to use subtitles. You get used to it, you learn something useful and before you know it, you can turn them off entirely.
It's precisely the dubbing that keeps the Germans back.
I understand your point of view, but this is a huge amount of work, because if BG3 uses German voice acting, then it means Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, etc. Because larian has to treat all players equally.
I won't even bother with the thread anymore, but as a last pointer: the fact that the developer is from Belgium and STILL they aren't releasing the game dubbed in THEIR native language should tell you all you need to know.
Party control in Baldur's Gate 3 is a complete mess that begs to be addressed. SAY NO TO THE TOILET CHAIN
The suggestion was in fact, to stop dubbing entirely and to learn to use subtitles. You get used to it, you learn something useful and before you know it, you can turn them off entirely.
It's precisely the dubbing that keeps the Germans back.
Nope stop derailing it, the bottom line from the OP is clear:
Originally Posted by a.g.letters
The dubbing in a German version, can also be gladly added via patch.
Originally Posted by liuyuncangye
I understand your point of view, but this is a huge amount of work, because if BG3 uses German voice acting, then it means Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, etc. Because larian has to treat all players equally.
And you have my solidarity for that. If you look at the link to my first answer on page 1, we also had a first approach to funding the German dubbing. Of course, everything is still weak, but at least we are not only clamoring for something, but also thinking about how we could best make it happen.
Originally Posted by Tuco
I won't even bother with the thread anymore, but as a last pointer: the fact that the developer is from Belgium and STILL they aren't releasing the game dubbed in THEIR native language should tell you all you need to know.
We are well aware of that. There are also German companies like Minimi Games that release Shadow Tactics and now Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew in English only. But that should not be an obstacle to advocate for German dubbing. If I'm not totally wrong, full multilingual dubbing is only available for MMORPGs anyway, with mobile games replacing them more and more as well. But I don't know anything about mobile games.
As a Dutchman, I grew up with Subtitles for everything, but we had the ZDF just as the BBC.
And holy crap is German dubbing the worst, I can't believe the Germans are still rooting for this.. I guarantee you that if you're not [yet] too comfortable with listening to a foreign language, subtitles are the way to go. That way, you still do justice to the original acting and writing- and properly learn a second language to boot. It's a *lot* cheaper, too.
I mean, come on, fellas.
Yeah, I agree, German dubbing is the worst and I say that as a German. I mostly watch movies and series in English same with books and videogames. I don't think, a German dubbing for this game is doable. Plus as someone pointed out, if German gets dubbing , other, more common languages ( like Spanish for example) should get dubbing too and that would not only financially ruin Larian, but also take years to do - even for only one language.
"We are all stories in the end. Just make it a good one."
Ich spiele grundsätzlich nur Spiele die eine deutsche Sprachausgabe haben. Boykottiere deswegen auch den Gamepass von Microsoft, weil ich nur gezielt Spiele kaufe die eine deutsche Sprachsusgabe haben. Denke die KI wie zum Beispiel Chat GPT 6,7 oder 8 ... wird das Problem in wenigen Jahren lösen und sowas in kurzer Zeit komplett vertonen ... Die Ki Entwicklung wird unglaublich schnell voran schreiten ...
Ich spiele solange Cyberpunk 2077 und The Wichter 3 mit deutsche Sprache und warte bis Baldurs Gate eine Sprachausgabe in Deutsch hat. Ein so großes Spiel wo man so viel Zeit verbringen kann, spiele ich niemals ohne deutsche Sprachausgabe ....
As I understand Germany really likes their dubbings (including assigning specific VO actors, to cover specific movie starts), so I can understand how for someone not used to subtitles it might be a bigger obstacle than for others.
I detest (polish) dubbings in movies, but I used to enjoy those for animated films - less so these days, when I am way out off touch with jokes or references a Polish translation might use. As cinematics barely sync with english VO, I think other languages could work well as well. That, however, still would be a massive undertaking, on top of what is already an insanely ambitions amoung of VO. Not an unreasonable request, though I don't expect for Larian to even seriously consider the suggestion.
Originally Posted by rodeolifant
Well, aside from The Witcher, I don't think I ever have played an RPG that was dubbed *into* English. And, I think in that series, only the first one was actually written in Polish, the rest was dubbed *from* English. I could be wrong. Still, English VA in Witcher series was *excellent* imo.
I do believe that is correct. From what I understand translation of W1 into english was very dodgy - especially before the Enhanced Edition. It seemed to work well for them - I played Witchers1-3 in polish and I haven't sensed it feeling off at any point.
Interestingly, games seem to shy away from a "lector" style translation - a neutral VO on top of original. I don't know if it's mainly a Polish thing, but in television most films are translated like that. Personally, I think it works rather well - gives you the original performance underneath, while providing translation at the same time. The only time I have seen it applied in games, was Polish VO for Stalker. Maybe it's too weird for mass market, by to me it really enhanced the grim, easter eurpean feel of Stalker.
edit: If two overlapping eastern european languages are too much for your delicate ears, here is a bit of Die Hard2 with the lector to illustrate the idea. On a side note, those being usualy TV cuts, they tend to omit a lot of vulgarities. It can be hilarious at times. I am sure it is very werid for Western audience, but I do wonder how many european countries use this type of translation, and if it would be valiable for some european markets. I will always prefer subtitles if needed, but for those needing VO, this could be an interesting option if full dubbing isn't a possibility.
Interestingly, games seem to shy away from a "lector" style translation - a neutral VO on top of original. I don't know if it's mainly a Polish thing, but in television most films are translated like that.
Ah, yeah, when I said German redubs are the worst, I meant that figuratively. In truth, Polish redubs are the worst, lol.
Originally Posted by Odieman
Maybe you should learn English instead? Countries who dub movies and games really baffle me.
That, but even more so - one learns best through exposure. This redub culture is literally *keeping* the people from learning another language.
Interestingly, games seem to shy away from a "lector" style translation - a neutral VO on top of original. I don't know if it's mainly a Polish thing, but in television most films are translated like that.
Ah, yeah, when I said German redubs are the worst, I meant that figuratively. In truth, Polish redubs are the worst, lol.
Polish redubs can be pretty darn bad. That reminds me of a time, when I accidently bought a ticket for dubbed Attack of the Clones. What a double whammy of awfulness.
I saw that in Luxembourg City, actually. And whilst I *am* used to subtitles, subtitles in three separate languages at onceI find quite difficult, too. I tend to read everything, even if I can just understand the movie's audio.
