Dialogue feedback

First of all I want to say that the dialogue in this game is very well written. It is fun talking to people, getting to know them and getting to know more about the lore and the world etc.
The new dialogue by community members blends in very well and gives NPCs much more depth and personality. Very well done!

This release I actually spent some time reading the dialogues, playing the game more like I would play it when it is released. Paying attention to dialogue and story which I haven't really done for some releases.

I noticed a problem which isn't that urgent at this point in development but should be considered for the future.
It was said that in SotA we won't get descriptive text about what the NPC we are talking to is doing like it was the case in the older Ultimas. For example: "The old man glares at you menacingly, chewing on his pipe before telling you..."
It was said that such animations will be shown on the NPCs.
Now when paying attention to the chat window it is very hard paying attention to the animations of the NPC, too. I think that this is a similar problem like in combat where you watch the hotbar instead of what is going on during the fight.

I don't know what the future plans for dialogues are but I think that the dialogue system should be adjusted so that the text the NPC says and his animations are the focus of the conversation and not some chat window. Maybe NPC chat should really be a separate thing and not be tied to the overall chat system. Then the text could be floating above the head of the NPC with a small window beneath in which you type in your sentences. I don't know. Maybe there is a better solution to this.
But if the team will introduce complex animations that show what the NPCs do and also show their emotions etc. then they may be wasted because everyone just looks at the chat window and not at the NPC (as it would be the case in every normal conversation - you look people in the eyes).

 

+1 for floating dialogue!

 

I never liked the "modern" approach to chat in games with a chat window that removes the speech from the actual game world. I like chat bubbles and approaches where speech actually is in the game world, relative to whom says it.