Jerykk wrote on Jul 9, 2010, 02:09:

To be honest, I am one of those that felt like the wide option of characters made the main character more shallow than the other way around. Sure, some guys treated you with somewhat less respect when you were and elf.. or with more respect when you were a noble.. but that was it. Was that shit (plus the 20 minutes unique starting chapter) worth not having a voiced character, really..?

Voiced character = fewer dialogue options and less potential for personalization. This is why DA2 only lets you play as a human. Bioware doesn't have the time or resources to do full voices for an elf male & female, human male & female and dwarf male & female player character.

I also don't really understand how you can view the lack of voice-acting as shallow. Voice acting is completely superficial. Conversely, the ability to choose from more dialogue options + more character customization = more depth. In an RPG, your character is defined by the choices (whether it be the manner in which you speak or your actions) you make and if you have to sacrifice choice for full voice acting, that results in a more shallow character.

One could also argue that voice acting actually detracts from the overall immersion because your character's voice likely isn't the same voice that you'd imagine your character would have. RPGs have always required a certain level of imagination from their players and that's the way it should be. Your character should represent you, not the other way around.