Do Video Game 'Barks' Annoy You?

by SodaHead Gaming Posted 2012/06/28 19:00:00

Related Topics: Games, Video Games, barks, arrow to the knee, repetition, The Game

360 votes
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	Yes	154 votes	43%
	No	206 votes	57%

One unfortunate aspect of writing video games is that NPCs (non-player characters) have to react dynamically to a real person. The game world is usually populated by many NPCs, not all of them important, and it would be literally impossible to have them respond differently every time a player interacts with them. As a result, players often hear the same "barks" over and over. And over.

A couple of years ago, Kotaku writer Kirk Hamilton pointed out that enemies in "Splinter Cell: Conviction" can sometimes say the protagonist's name an overwhelming amount of times in a short span of time. More recently, a random throw-out line from town guards in "Skyrim" struck players as so odd that it turned into a meme: "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee." Do these repetitive barks annoy you, or do you take them in stride?

+11

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Kyle 2012/06/29 05:04:06

No

+8
I have fun with it, besides it'd be unrealistic to expect the developers to come up with infinite responses for NPC characters.

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More polls by SodaHead Gaming

Sandman366 2012/12/10 19:31:10

No

Some are funny, some are annoying, and some are reminders of "Dude, you're awesome" (even if it's a common achievement, it sounds awesome).

Then some turn into memes! ("Let me guess - someone stole your sweetroll." Nah, I stole everyone else's though. XD)

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calvin236 2012/12/10 03:52:37

No

Fun to annoy other people.

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Dyonus 2012/12/10 00:37:24

No

Most of them are pretty funny. Once I hear them over and over, I start to tune them out.

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Corsair 2012/10/31 07:24:21

No

It doesn't bother me that much since I understand games. In hindsight, if the game developers spent a majority of time on NPC dialog, would the game really be as great? Probably not, due in part that their focus is on bringing a great gameplay experience rather than focused on what the NPC should say next. WoW (World of Warcraft) takes a huge advantage in dialog. In WoW, if a person clicks on an NPC enough times, they get annoyed and express it in dialog. "*click* Greetings. *click* what would you like. *click* how may I help you? *click* leave me alone. *click* go away *click* Don't you have anything better to do? *click* GRRRR!!!" They won't attack you, but it's quite entertaining because each NPC has something different to say. Other than that, it's not something I'm worried with.

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mikeeonly 2012/10/07 16:02:43

No

it's part of the game

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Blind guardian 2012/10/05 12:19:44

No

The people who make the games can not come up with an unlimited amount of respones for the NPCs

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Soot The Fallen 2012/08/26 03:49:48

Yes

FALCON PAUNCH!

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Lemonzerozero 2012/07/14 19:39:45

No

+2
would you rather have silent npcs? BORING.

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Michael 2012/07/11 21:31:22

No

Some are pretty funny! :D

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001 2012/07/10 21:01:27

No

+4
They're fun, especially the Skyrim ones :)

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Kid Neon 2012/07/10 17:07:27

Yes

after a while yeah

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Eyes See Wide North 2012/07/10 02:09:27

Yes

+1
Small things like this remove me from the game, the same way a mistake in a movie (you know) completely destroys my imagination.

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Gwen 2012/07/06 08:49:43

Yes

i was playing(well watching my brother) Arkum Asylum the other day and the Joker kept saying the same thing over and over(it didn't help that my brother kept dying() and it bothered me so bad. that is why i play games that don't involve much talking.

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cade oliver 2012/07/05 19:22:04

Yes

What do you mean by "Barks?"

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RawRsaurus 2012/07/04 23:37:04

No

+2

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Chris'Elia 2012/07/04 20:52:30

Yes

Freaking Whiterun

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frequent–antagonist 2012/07/04 15:12:57

No

+2
Not really. I get used to them pretty fast most of the time. Except for that one guy ranting about Talos or something in Whiterun. I killed him.

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Danny to frequen... 2012/07/27 21:31:54

I shot him in the knee along with every other no essential NPC in whiterun :-P

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Tylurr to frequen... 2012/11/28 00:34:41
Solid Snake 2012/07/04 10:33:04

No

Not for the most part, especially since it'd be impossible not to have them.

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Jada_Ringo 2012/07/03 22:25:08

Yes

Fable.

That's all I'm going to say.

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Rob Williams 2012/07/03 17:02:07

No

It's the best solution to the problem.

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aperson 2012/07/02 05:43:43

No

If i had not heard sanguine say "well if it isnt my favorite drinking buddy", and investigate who said it i would never have crashed the temple of Didelle in a drunken revelry or have gotten the sanguine rose staff. Also the barks can make stuff appear on your map.

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exsecrare 2012/07/02 05:14:04

No

You know, it's funny. I have put nearly 400 hours into Skyrim and have not once heard the "arrow in the knee" line.

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Rob Wil... to exsecrare 2012/07/03 17:00:51

I'm amazed!

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Jay to exsecrare 2012/07/04 00:30:11

You don't talk to the guards enough.

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exsecrare to Jay 2012/07/05 01:38:29

That is true. I think the only time I've talked to a guard was to start the Dawnguard quest.

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Jay to exsecrare 2012/07/11 18:44:04

Yeah that is all they are good for. Starting new quests.

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001 to exsecrare 2012/07/10 20:56:21

I think they fixed that, in the beginning I used to hear it way more often than I do lately. Or maybe it's just a coincidence.

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MB8967 2012/07/01 21:07:57

Yes

I'm voting yes on this one, just because of the "Arrow to the knee."

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Dyonus to MB8967 2012/12/10 00:35:29 (edited)

You're not actually annoyed by it in game, you're annoyed by the meme that has come from it.

Having played Skyrim, I honestly only remember hearing it a handful of times. Unless of course your game happens to play that one more than mine.

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The Mosher 2012/07/01 15:21:55

Yes

only in older games, I actually want to hear that quote in skyrim

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brutusin~ Proud Apetheist 2012/07/01 14:28:37

No

I should say in some games it annoys me but other it doesn't.

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susan BN-0 2012/07/01 13:53:08

No

Not really.

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Cunning Stunts 2012/06/30 16:55:40

No

I don't play such frivolous genres.

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Cunning... to Cunning... 2012/06/30 16:57:30

There is a bark in GTA Vice City that annoys me though, when you press attack too much the response lags and the cops and gang members etc often have a latent response.

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vetogod 2012/06/30 08:09:13

No

how many people got an arrow to the kee ? cause damn in this game there must be a crap load of unlucky knees and well placed arrows lol

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Alexander T Steward 2012/06/29 18:34:35

Yes

I used to be an internet user like you, but then I got trolled.

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Lili13 2012/06/29 18:03:55

Yes

No! ahh i keep on clicking on the wrong thing

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JackWilfred 2012/06/29 17:38:18

Yes

Although they're low on code space, hearing the same thing over and over again is annoying as hell, especially with the 'arrow to the knee' catchphrase. There surely must be a way to make the reactions more diverse?

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