My first character was a Norn Female Hunter. I went for a dignity-heavy character, so my norn’s loud and prideful cinematics didn’t exactly fit very well with me, but hey, i did pick a norn. Now, i thought it was just that, but then i played a Female Sylvari Warrior.
The inflexions, the great voice acting and overall the feel of the character was great as a whole. I then went back to my norn female and realised that i didn’t like the actual voice actress and not that the character’s tone was not fitting. The lines really felt strained and bad at some points, and could not transfer over anykind of ‘feel’.
Anyone else dissatisfied with the Norn Female voice?
Later edit: I just found out the Female Sylvari was done by Jennifer Hale, of Mass Effect reknown for Female Shepard and a pro in doing voice acting. I thought it felt oddly familiar, but the quality is still there.
Grandmaster Cartographer. Scraping walls like no other.
I realy hated the voice acting of the norn characters, not just female players, but npc also. I feel they are way too over the top. Lately, after spending some time on my norn character i got used to it a bit, now i still dislike some but not all of it. The most anoyed i still get is with the discovery of new areas where she would go "New land. NEW LAND. " im like yeah ….., you found new land, now shut it.
Also i find several intro areas to be somewhat cringy to me too, the priestess of dwayna telling me to help out like im a 5 year old, the foolishly bad voice acted norn scout right after the starting area, all are just to cheesy to my liking.
I also agree with the sylvari voice actress, i know her from both ME, and from i think SWTOR. She definitly knows how to bring the voice of that character in sync with what they are. Also like the asura voices, they have that smart and arogant, yet slightly childishly naive feel too it.
Yeah I felt the same. Having played with a Human Male as my first character (voiced by Nolan North) it was quite jarring switching to a character as direct and tactless as the Norn Female.
I’m sure there are plenty of people who will like the voice, particularly for a threatening warrior, but I was trying to play as a charming thief. It really didn’t match up at all =P
I rather like the tone she gave, personally. It feels appropriate for the character look and type, to me. Sure, some of the lines come off a little flat, but almost any character has that, unless the director has taken effort to make sure that every line is absolutely fantastic instead of just acceptable. Such effort is rare among VA directors.
Do you honestly think that we believe ourselves evil?
My friend, we seek only good. It’s just that our definitions don’t quite match.
-Ailanreanter, Arcanaloth
So far my female Norn is my favorite character. I don’t dislike her voice so far. She certainly doesn’t scream “For great Justice!!” as spiritedly as the human female and when she gets knocked down by an enemy she makes this weird disturbing grunt lol but overall I think it’s nice. She sounds a bit too calm for a Norn compared to everyone else around her :P
As for the dialog, which should be treated separately from the voice, all Norn dialogue is pretty cheesy and eccentric but I’m getting into it. It’s like an old school fantasy story.
And the “might makes me right!” line is super cheesy but I love it!! lmao
Female norn is the only character voice I like. It’s strong. It’s warm like the feeling you get drinking some spiced warm cider in a cold winter night. Doesn’t sound whiny when she’s attacked like human and sylvari females. Very norn indeed.
I love my norn’s voice so much I want to hug her
I wanted to have a character of every race, but whenever I have to listen to human or sylvari I just delete her… Turns me off so bad.
… I… I didnt think I was the only one to think this……. But… It sounds like she was voiced by a hentai voice actress…. ._. Ones that do the English Dubs.
I like the voice of the norn female a lot, however, it doesn’t always fit the kind of personality I have on my character. She always delivers her lines like a “fierce” character, not like my “charming” guardian would have.
Apart from that, I can’t complain about her. I like that the voice is on the dark side, and loud, like a norn should be.
Norn Female lines are really phoned in for sure. Definitely.
It’s not the loud and boisterous I have an issue with. There just isn’t much energy behind the lines.
Not to mention all the really really bad ones like “Might makes me right”
edit: Oh. I’ve actually thought a couple times of rerolling my Norn Guardian because of how… pathetic her “Shout” lines are.
“Stand your Ground/Save Yourselves”… is delivered like she’s about to fall asleep. The other guardians I’ve tried (human female, Charr Male, Asura male) all sound much bolder and much like the you’d imagine they should. The Charr barks out orders. The human offers a defiant rallying cry. The Asura sounds confident and self assured.
The Norn girl? She’s barely even paying attention. I can’t tell if she’s just a ditz or if she’s falling asleep, but it’skittenannoying.
Don’t even get me started on the atrocity that is the “New Land? New Land!” line.
I rolled a Norn cause I really liked the idéa of the race. (Or Norndic, as I call them :p )
At first I thought all the noises she made was a bit off, but ignored it. 50 levels later I just can’t stand it any more, I’m rerolling.
Plus the voice ruined the character a bit for me, as she didn’t sound like I’d imagen her to.
Shame, really, I like the Norn otherwise.
I’ll play her again when we get an option to turn of character voices!
On the plus side you don’t hear it all that often, but when you hear it, YOU HEAR IT, much like an arrow to the knee.
I’m playing a female norn mesmer and its pretty much the only voice complaint I have.
A female charr shout-based warrior gets pretty old pretty quick, even though it is also fairly good voicework except for the shouts. They quickly start getting on your nerves (For Great Justice! etc), and you cast them all the time in nearly every fight.
To be frank both the male and female Norn voices are, in general, Bad. They are flat and emotionless at absolute best and at absolute wort they are a kitten good reason to delete the character.
Rather massively tempted to write down all the male lines and ask a Swedish friend of mine to say them instead :P That way I get a bloody proper Scandinavian accent and at least the same level of feeling involved in any normal communication between people.
Shame too, love the concept of the race, just loathe the voices used.
I get 100 percent put off playing the norn female but the voice acting
that voice is like nails on a chalk board compared to the other races the grunts and almost maleness of it makes me cringe
just annoying with the whole viking aspect of norn and some of the coolest racials in the game to get put off in such a bad way
For me the problem starts with writing because it’s really cheesy and grandiose so you can’t really approach it as your character. I like Claudia Christian and I think with better writing the character would have been more likable but as it’s now you can’t take it seriously at all. It’s like a cheesy B movie, if you can laugh at it you can enjoy it, otherwise you’ll hate it.
… I… I didnt think I was the only one to think this……. But… It sounds like she was voiced by a hentai voice actress…. ._. Ones that do the English Dubs.
I’ve posted this in another thread, but i also share the same thoughts with female norn voice – it’s terrible. Doesn’t sound like a real person’s voice, rather it sounds like her mouth is full of cotton.
Solution: Switch to french audio, it’s WAY better. text remains english unless you switch it as well
I’d have to agree with the OP, the norn female voice is quite painful to listen too. Which is a real shame! I’d love to explore and go through the norn story, but her voice is just so painful that I can’t bare to. All the other voices are amazing, it’s just the female norn one. My personal favourite is both the male and female asura voices. They’re hilariously perfect! <3 But anyway, ya, the female norn voice is either too deep or just doesn’t have as wide a spread of tones, etc. It’s as if the voice actress was striving so hard to keep a deep and serious tone – that she forgot about acting. It’s painfully obnoxious, could someone please do it over.
Now, before anyone say “oh, your just some kid who doesn’t like real womenly voices,” I want to say – that’s not true at all. I LOVE EIR’s voice. I think it’s awesome, fits the norn race very well, and that she does an amazing job. It’s what MADE me want to play as a female norn ranger, because I loved her voice/style so much. And let me tell you, there is a BIG difference in the acting quality of Eir’s voice, and the female norn voice. Eir’s voice goes up and down, she shows emotion, and it’s good acting for the character that she is trying to portray. The female norn voice? Just. Painful. Can ArenaNet please get someone to redo it?
I really, REALLY like the female human voice. It’s my favourite one among all characters; IMO, it has a perfect combination of acting and just sounding nice.
I also like the Norn female voice. I have set that character as a highly agressive character with high Ferocity, so the harsh way she speaks is a perfect fit for my character. Anyone who thinks there is a lack of acting should listen to the “We need to talk. NOW!” line, it always makes me feel like a Norn girlfriend wanting to break up with me D-: (and hit me in the jaw).
“I think that players are starting to mature past the point of wanting to be on that
treadmill, of being in that obvious pattern of every time I catch up you are going to
put another carrot in front of me” – Mike O’Brien right before Ascended weapons
I feel like a pompous ..donkey…whenever I play my norn character. It simply doesn’t match my choices or anything, I feel so rude and ignorant playing her.
The voice itself doesnt bother me, but the way they were done , does. More neutral would have been nice. >.<
Matter of tastes.
I actually like the Norn female voice and I dont’ find it flat. It gives me the impression of a character who can keep calm and cool and doesn’t panic even in the most tense situations.
Imo, that’s the kind of voice any serious female warrior should have.
Whether something is either wrong or right, someone will always complain about it.
If I’d complain over anything, it’s when my female norn says things with a voice that isn’t actually hers. Quite often, she will yell in a male voice: “URGE TO KILL RISING!”
That really gets to me. There are a few more examples other than that particular line, but it’s the only one that comes to mind at the moment.
The first character I levelled to 80 was a Norn ranger, and I really dislike her voice, especially in contrast to my female Sylvari’s cultured, subtle and well-acted tones.
The Norn female is flat and emotionless, which I found especially bad during a scene when she should have demonstrated some feeling. It’s odd as well because Claudia Christian voiced Aela the Huntress in Skyrim, and there she did a much better job, at least in my opinion anyway.
i absolutely love how indifferently my norn warrior simply says “shake it off.” when i use the shout. it fits the norn character so well. for everyone else it’s an intense shout, getting rid of conditions and breaking stuns. for norn, they should’ve renamed it to “shrug it off”
I have no issues with the female or male norn voiceovers for the player. I kind of like them! The human male voiceover however.. is coupled with lack of good beards, a big part of why I chose my guardian to be norn male.
Colin Johansen casts – Working As Intended
Colin Johansen hits you for 239407889 damage
Game over
Turns me off so bad.