They broke Nessa :'-(.

Nessa's voice was memorable, and for the game of this genre that's a lot. It was like "Stay a while and listen" of Path of Exile. Now it's just regular NPC and it doesn't matter how good acting is. English is not my first language so I have to agree with people that wrote abut it better.

"

Andrew_GGG wrote:

Ill make the stamp official then :P

So our reasoning for changing Nessa is something like this.

Her inflection had almost no emotion and her greeting phrases were to repetitive, we wanted to change that. I made sure to keep the MMMhmmm stuff, but now there are just a few other options.

Personally I think the new dialogue is a huge improvement!

I think most could live with the slightly changed tone of voice. What really bugs me, though, is the hastened way she talks. The new Nessa voice sounds like she is on a caffeine overdose, totally not befitting her former voiceover, the way she is portrayed from her text and what the others in the camp say about her and absolutely unbefitting the rather low-excitement environment she is in.

The same phrases in a less huddled must-finish-this-whole-thing-before-noon speed could work out much better.

PS: Some of her new lines do not match the Text.

"

Dark_Tira wrote:

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gladiatorpie wrote:

I kind of miss her mhmm now....

That was seriously my favorite line in the game.

All the different versions too.

"

Stormfox wrote:

"

Andrew_GGG wrote:

Ill make the stamp official then :P

So our reasoning for changing Nessa is something like this.

Her inflection had almost no emotion and her greeting phrases were to repetitive, we wanted to change that. I made sure to keep the MMMhmmm stuff, but now there are just a few other options.

Personally I think the new dialogue is a huge improvement!

I think most could live with the slightly changed tone of voice. What really bugs me, though, is the hastened way she talks. The new Nessa voice sounds like she is on a caffeine overdose, totally not befitting her former voiceover, the way she is portrayed from her text and what the others in the camp say about her and absolutely unbefitting the rather low-excitement environment she is in.

The same phrases in a less huddled must-finish-this-whole-thing-before-noon speed could work out much better.

PS: Some of her new lines do not match the Text.

They didn't just break her, they killed her and put a robot clone in her place.


Once we get to the point where we start to imagine connections between the characters, I'd think that was a good thing. But then they take those characters, whom we've grown to love, and just ... not alter them a little, but change them outright. I don't know, man.

I feel no emotional connection to the Nessa they have in town anymore. They could have just redone her lines a little, but nope. Whole new character, calling herself the same thing, and what's worse is that the new lines aren't even GOOD.


And of course, this is all their perogative. But fuck my actually getting attached to a game. I mean, if it were a TV show, we could still watch the old episodes. But this isn't like that. Sweet/cute Nessa is gone, and so ... fuck, so is the imagined character links, the connections, the things we love about certain aspects of the game.


Going to town and hearing "mmhmm" was like a refreshing drink or something. Something familiar and nice in the world, a feeling of being back home. Now there's just some bitch there. So okay, every once in a great while we might hear some of the old sounds ... only now they don't really fit because the voice is different. :\


They changed some of the ranger lines to the point of being kind of annoying too, but at least that wasn't an outright nerf of the whole demeanor of the character. Why not just re-record her lines with the same voice actor? Only some of them even needing changing. But nope ...


As I mentioned in another thread, this'll teach us to be emotionally invested in their game. It's not worth it if they're just going to take these beloved little gems of ours and change them so drastically. I understand that some of the old lines lacked emotion, but those could have been redone while the rest stayed somewhat the same.

"

jerg wrote:

I agree with everyone else that this change is in the wrong direction.

Nessa was memorable because her speech had a very unique melancholic and pure tonality to it (what you called a lack of emotion/inflections) that made her stand out above the sinister and mucky nature of Act 1 town and its other NPCs.

Adding a few greeting phrases is sufficient; changing the other dialogue to add unnecessary "inflections" is bad.

+1 to this.

"

Damien_GGG wrote:

Ultimately though, what I hope players can understand is that no matter what we do, some portion of the community are going to dislike it. So rather than crippling all development and improvements at some point we have to go with our own gut feeling as that is where the game many of you seem to enjoy has come from since the beginning. I can only hope those who don't like it will come to appreciate it in some way one day!

This is true, what you say here. There will always be players who won't like whatever you guys choose to do.

I think this is a little different, though, because it's not just a small change. I really think you guys just went too far with it. The feeling that Nessa was some sweetie we had to protect ... well, it's not really there anymore.

This change takes a big soft spot that man of us (not just a few) share with this game, and just takes it away...

My main problem with Nessa's new voice acting is how aggressive it sounds. When I started up a Witch and stepped into Lioneye's Watch, I was a little shocked at how angry Nessa sounded - like she was just barely pushing down the temptation to whip out that knife of hers and stick it in my ribs. I can understand suspicion or even bitterness, but Nessa has an audible cutting edge to her tongue which belies the sort of motherly reputation that Tarkleigh and Bestel laud upon her.

Or to put it another way: She's a hell of a lot less resigned.

The new voices are not an improvement. The new 'hello' and 'can I help' sound almost standoffish. The problem with the originals were that the mic was placed way too closely and it sounded like Nessa was whispering in your ear, not really the intonation.

Please reconsider the direction you're taking her. I loved the old voice acting - normally I don't notice stuff like this, but this is one of the few times I thought to myself "wow, this voice actor is really good!".

I thought it fit her personality well since there was a sense of sadness and weariness and even though she's seen exiles come and go, murderers and thieves and innocent people pass through and die in the wilderness, she still manages to feel a bit of concern... but she won't let herself care too much, because you'll probably end up dead like the others. It fit well with what the other NPCs said about her, and her own lines - like "What have you become when even nightmares fear you?" It's the kind of thing a mother would say, who cares more about your well-being than your heroics and her voice acting reflected that.

Now she just sounds irritable and snappy. The contempt she gives you in a lot of her intros doesn't fit at all, either. She was an interesting and unique character, with lines that underscore the fact that she's not an exile like the others, but the new changes ruin that.

Is it still mumbled to the point where you can't hear it properly?

I really couldn't tell the difference lol. I actually like that they added more lines to her, and most of them are character based as well.