Quote from: Rift on June 18, 2023, 08:16:52 AM

Quote from: Shipyard Locked on June 18, 2023, 07:57:18 AM
Well, If I want a campaign to feel somewhat serious, I avoid using special character voices. I've been complimented on my impressions, but there's just something about doing that around a table which creates a mildly goofy atmosphere no matter what my intended tone was.

Quote from: Rift on June 18, 2023, 06:52:01 AM
In his world a perfect way to play and the long winded theatrics was for him the most important thing. For me, acting/theatre is the least important aspect of roleplaying games, I would be bored to death.

So, I was wondering if this is expected/normal, and if so, loud RPG theatre is simply not for me.

I wonder if this is another manifestation of the videogame / tabletop overlap problem? That is to say, videogames are so good at doing the tactical, mechanical stuff that a lot of people think tabletop should just move on from that and focus on what videogames don't do well (yet), which includes the drama club stuff your player prioritized.

I think both coming from later computer games with loads of crappy voice acting has an influence, and also perhaps LARP, as they (understandably) are more immersed and try to create a total illusion - they bring this total illusion ideas into tabletop games.

Here's a story: I've trained martial arts for most of my life, and one day this guy showed up (turned out he was very much into LARP), and we did some extremely light boxing with almost no contact as I wanted to go very easy on him. Everytime I had contact, he shouted very loudly "AAAAARGH!!", "URRRGH", "HUUUURRR", knocked his head wildly to the side, and then stumbled backwards as we were in a bad movie looking like a drunkard his head all dangly and dazed looking. It was extremely odd and very distracting. After a few strikes I got annoyed and asked what the hell he was doing. He answered his aim was to "make the fight as realistic as possible".

Point being: He made it realistic for himself, but unrealistic for everyone else in the hall.

I can understand why that would be annoying in the moment, but that's funny as hell.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on June 18, 2023, 05:19:15 PM

Quote from: Rift on June 18, 2023, 08:16:52 AM

Quote from: Shipyard Locked on June 18, 2023, 07:57:18 AM
Well, If I want a campaign to feel somewhat serious, I avoid using special character voices. I've been complimented on my impressions, but there's just something about doing that around a table which creates a mildly goofy atmosphere no matter what my intended tone was.

Quote from: Rift on June 18, 2023, 06:52:01 AM
In his world a perfect way to play and the long winded theatrics was for him the most important thing. For me, acting/theatre is the least important aspect of roleplaying games, I would be bored to death.

So, I was wondering if this is expected/normal, and if so, loud RPG theatre is simply not for me.

I wonder if this is another manifestation of the videogame / tabletop overlap problem? That is to say, videogames are so good at doing the tactical, mechanical stuff that a lot of people think tabletop should just move on from that and focus on what videogames don't do well (yet), which includes the drama club stuff your player prioritized.

I think both coming from later computer games with loads of crappy voice acting has an influence, and also perhaps LARP, as they (understandably) are more immersed and try to create a total illusion - they bring this total illusion ideas into tabletop games.

Here's a story: I've trained martial arts for most of my life, and one day this guy showed up (turned out he was very much into LARP), and we did some extremely light boxing with almost no contact as I wanted to go very easy on him. Everytime I had contact, he shouted very loudly "AAAAARGH!!", "URRRGH", "HUUUURRR", knocked his head wildly to the side, and then stumbled backwards as we were in a bad movie looking like a drunkard his head all dangly and dazed looking. It was extremely odd and very distracting. After a few strikes I got annoyed and asked what the hell he was doing. He answered his aim was to "make the fight as realistic as possible".

Point being: He made it realistic for himself, but unrealistic for everyone else in the hall.

I can understand why that would be annoying in the moment, but that's funny as hell.

Yeah, I laugh at it still to this day. He's a nice guy though and stopped doing it after some time.   

Quote from: Grognard GM on June 18, 2023, 06:09:33 AM
Hey look, another "people that game differently to me are wrong" thread.

30+ years ago I started with just changes in inflection or tone, and over the years I've realized I can do a few accents and personas that players and GM's like, so I do. I consider it part of my maturing skill set, like producing better handouts and soundtracks.

Who plays for any length of time and still talks in third person? It's a ROLEplaying game, not a Wargame.

I encourage my players to attempt accents and such, and some blossom, but the terminally embarrassed are under no pressure to do so.

PS - Using ham acting clowns from Critical Role as examples of people that do voices during a game is, at best, disingenuous. That's like equating people that sleep in coffins and change their name to Orloff, with LARPers.

What's interesting is that our person who does the best voice, uses I and me while in-voice, but says she or the character name while not in-voice.

A lot of people confuse role playing and acting. They are not the same. Acting is the ability to convincingly portray emotions that are not real. Role playing is simply reacting to imagined stimuli as if it were real. You don't even need to be a character to role play. Have you ever participated in a fire drill at school or work? If so you were role playing. You were playing yourself as if a fire or other emergency were taking place. So adopting a different voice is not required to role play. They can be fun if desired but entirely optional. Voices or not, I do prefer first person interaction in the game. It is so much more fun to have natural conversations with npcs than to constantly say " my dude tells the bandit leader to fuck off". That is so much more work than simply saying "fuck off". I absolutely prefer first person role play for social interaction over just a die roll and saying " I intimidate him". That is a yawnfest. Some of the best moments in gaming is stuff that is thought up and spouted out on the spot. Sometimes its brilliant and other times its downright hilarious. Either way it is entertainment at its finest.

Using specific voices for characters is enormously helpful when each player has multiple characters, which I prefer.  It lets everyone know which character is speaking when the player speaks in first person.  Much faster and smoother than the alternative methods

Quote from: Mishihari on June 19, 2023, 01:57:37 AM
Using specific voices for characters is enormously helpful when each player has multiple characters, which I prefer.  It lets everyone know which character is speaking when the player speaks in first person.  Much faster and smoother than the alternative methods

That is also a more utilitarian approach, which I understand. As I mentioned in my OP I'm perfectly ok with subtle voices, pace, change of tone etc. that comes naturally for many if they're invested in their character and talking in first person.

It's the overdramatic theatre perfomances that I'm talking about, it's just too much for me and evidently also too much for many others - even those who disagree with me stated it.

Why is that?

It's just not realistic, just like my sparringpartner in boxing, so even though they try to make it as realistic as possible by overacting, they just try too hard ending up being a centerpiece of a bad theater performance. It ruins it for many as it breaks the illusion as it suddenly becomes about them and their exaggerated parody.

Quote from: Exploderwizard on June 18, 2023, 11:09:47 PM
A lot of people confuse role playing and acting. They are not the same. Acting is the ability to convincingly portray emotions that are not real. Role playing is simply reacting to imagined stimuli as if it were real. You don't even need to be a character to role play. Have you ever participated in a fire drill at school or work? If so you were role playing. You were playing yourself as if a fire or other emergency were taking place. So adopting a different voice is not required to role play. They can be fun if desired but entirely optional. Voices or not, I do prefer first person interaction in the game. It is so much more fun to have natural conversations with npcs than to constantly say " my dude tells the bandit leader to fuck off". That is so much more work than simply saying "fuck off". I absolutely prefer first person role play for social interaction over just a die roll and saying " I intimidate him". That is a yawnfest. Some of the best moments in gaming is stuff that is thought up and spouted out on the spot. Sometimes its brilliant and other times its downright hilarious. Either way it is entertainment at its finest.

You sum it up very well.

Quote from: Grognard GM on June 18, 2023, 06:09:33 AM

PS - Using ham acting clowns from Critical Role as examples of people that do voices during a game is, at best, disingenuous. That's like equating people that sleep in coffins and change their name to Orloff, with LARPers.

but but but muh immershun!

Quote from: Exploderwizard on June 18, 2023, 11:09:47 PM
A lot of people confuse role playing and acting.

Storygamers love to trot that one out. "Well acting is really real Role Playing!" and "Reading a book is really real role playing!!!" ad nausium.

I have no problem with it, as long as it's not taken to excess. I as a DM have done several accents to help differentiate between NPCs. It makes the NPC a bit less generic. I'll sometimes base it upon people I know (work is a perfect example. LOTS of different people from around the world).

As long as people are having fun, it's fine with me.

Voices , as a DM, is a fun way to show a bit of immersion and difference in all your NPC's or monsters.  That inflection of tone, the accent of the language you are trying, and the researching of what words sound like in other languages is what keeps my players coming back.    We have people who can only 2 accents: english and southern. You would be suprirsed at the breadth of southern accents from West Virginia down to Texas are vastly different and interesting to hear people where they grew up in and where they are now.

I enjoy the challenge of using different voices and I fail miserably at it, which makes me try even harder to get it right.  I tried my hand at speaking Irish Gaelic and it was a wonderful mess of fumbling over the words. It sounded more sweedish in my head than the "ooo" and "uhh" that gaelic has going for it.    It pushed me out of my comfort zone and into an area of experimentation.  This is how I expand my RPG toolset and become a better DM.

Also, you find that if you give a specific NPC a certain accent and it changes over time that gives you a Role Playing metric to throw at your players "Why did the halflings shift from a more Afrikaan speak to another form of language?"    Who knows! I make it up on the fly which is even more enjoyable. I let the players imagination solve this puzzle for me and countless others.

Only time we used to do it many years ago was really stupid "upper-crust toffs" accents in Call of Cthulhu, set in Britain and ridiculous "French" accents in Flashing Blades. Could never take the "putting on a voice" in rpgs seriously, I'm afraid.

Quote from: Rift on June 17, 2023, 02:47:24 AM
Am I just an old boomer? When did all this change? Or did the groups I was in do it wrong in the past? Voice acting ruins pen and paper RPG.

Like many things for RPG it been there since the beginning. Before if you count the wargamers roleplaying fake French, German, British accents while playing Napoleanics.

But you raise some legit issues. Over the years I have come to learn that the only things I need as a referee for a player to do is roleplay in first person. You don't have to do a funny voice, you don't have to create a distinct personality, and you can be a version of yourself with the abilities of the characters.

All I need is that you respond directly when I look at you can say something like "So welcome to my shop, what can I help you with?"

The reason I insist on this minimum is because I found through referee different groups and individuals that those who describe things in mostly third person tend to treat their characters as pieces on a boardgame. And this leads more often what I consider to be stupid shit like trying to burn down a village so you don't have to pay a few coins for a sword or another piece of equipment. Basically players are more prone to "mad dog" behavior.

The point of first-person roleplaying is to engage one's social sense which in general leads to better decisions by players regarding their character. By better I mean they get more out of the encounter like allies and treasure than they otherwise would have.

Also to be clear I am not a jerk and lecture about this stuff. Instead, I start off with easy stuff and then as the player gets more comfortable and trusting of my refereeing expand it from there. This is especially true for players that are shy to begin with. If there is an issue in the mix like stuttering or extreme shyness then I will accommodate that.

However, at the same time, I will absolutely turn a PC into a mule who is cursed to remain a century at the gates of the Elven capital offering rides to all those who enter. Yes this is a true story and for the record, this particular player was so bad of a "mad dog" that when the elves came for him the rest of the party stepped back and let them have him. The player's next character was considerably more calm although still a bit of a hot head. But he stopped burning down villages "just because".

I generally do not like voice acting at the table because it is used as a substitute for actually having something interesting to say. It is hard to come up with witty, relevant, action-driving dialogue throughout a game and slipping in an accented voice is a mental tick devised to buy time in forming your dialogue. Much like those pausing words we all hate, um, ahh... It serves a purpose in giving the brain a chance to make connections on what should be said next. Rapid fire dialogue which elevates the game and play experience is difficult. Coming up with funny voices is an attempt to solve this play problem in the moment. A way to coast through the moment until you latch onto something more interesting to say/do. So how do you get better at play? Besides playing game sessions my go to is always the original source material. What are characters saying and doing in the comics, movies, and books I enjoy and then do that.

None of this affects me. Mainly because I don't have a lot of player-churn and my games tend to have more depth than anything in Critical Roll and what most fans of Critical Roll are used to.

I do a *lot* of RP. And while I'll do funny voices and accents insofar that I feel it matters, mostly I just RP my NPC's in my voice but I make sure I add maximal context to those scenes.

I'm wondering who this actually affects aside from people who run one-shots or play in pick-up groups?