The Narrator

[AffineConstant]

Basically, uhm, who's going to be the narrator? Do you have an opinion, do you care?

The only real thing I can think of is I hope the narrator for VII can be funny this time. All apologies to Sean Bean, an excellent actor with a name that looks like it should rhyme and be alliterative at the same time but is neither, but I'm not sure the man can deliver a joke. And I miss Leanord Nimoy's ability to be silly, getting the satellite tech and hearing "Beep... beep... beep..." always put a smile on my face, not every piece of narration in Civ has be some grand historical epic after all.

 

[pokiehl]

I don’t like the Civ 6 narration too much, both in terms of the writing and the performance. My favorite was Civ 5.

As for who will narrate Civ 7, a lot of people seem to think we’ll get a female narrator this time.

 

[InsidiousMage]

I hope they have several narrators that change/rotate depending on things like what civ you are playing.

 

[Chapel]

I would love to see a return to more Alpha Centauri-style narration, different people for different things.

 

[Futumch]

I don't know if Tom Baker is still available, he's getting pretty old (he's 90). He played the fourth Doctor in Doctor Who back in the seventies. He also recorded the voice of the talking clock in the UK which is pretty interesting.
Otherwise, that bloke who played Vision and the voice of Jarvis in the MCU - Paul Bettany - would be a good choice IMHO.
I admit to bias towards an English male voice in preference to a North American accent, or even my own local Australian accent. I found Sean Bean's accent leaned a bit too close to his Yorkshire roots. Wondering if he was about to slip off down't pub for pint.

 

[Quintillus]

I suppose my opinion would be that perhaps Firaxis should go with a professional voice actor, rather than a professional actor-actor. No complaints about Leonard Nimoy in Civ IV, but Civ VI's narration is far less memorable than Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones. Does having Sean Bean or Leonard Nimoy really draw a lot of sales? Or would really good narration by someone that isn't known have more of a positive effect via word of mouth sales?

I'm reminded of the Railroad Tycoon games, where II and III had a fantastic voice actor who sounded like your railroading grandfather, though he was actually fairly young at the time. At one point I was able to figure out who he was, maybe via the credits in the printed manual, and he had a whole bunch of samples of various styles he could do on his website, some very different than what he did in Railroad Tycoon. But his delivery became part of the iconic feel of those games, and though he remains unknown to the public at large, the developer made a great choice in hiring him.

So that's my hope for VII - that they go with someone who makes the delivery something that people remember.

 

[UWHabs]

I suppose my opinion would be that perhaps Firaxis should go with a professional voice actor, rather than a professional actor-actor. No complaints about Leonard Nimoy in Civ IV, but Civ VI's narration is far less memorable than Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones. Does having Sean Bean or Leonard Nimoy really draw a lot of sales? Or would really good narration by someone that isn't known have more of a positive effect via word of mouth sales?

I'm reminded of the Railroad Tycoon games, where II and III had a fantastic voice actor who sounded like your railroading grandfather, though he was actually fairly young at the time. At one point I was able to figure out who he was, maybe via the credits in the printed manual, and he had a whole bunch of samples of various styles he could do on his website, some very different than what he did in Railroad Tycoon. But his delivery became part of the iconic feel of those games, and though he remains unknown to the public at large, the developer made a great choice in hiring him.

So that's my hope for VII - that they go with someone who makes the delivery something that people remember.

Yeah, like I can still remember the voice quotes from Alpha Centauri basically decades later at this point, more than any specific Nimoy quotes other than "beep beep beep beep". But some of that is also the way they designed the quotes into the universe for AC. They gave the emotion and personality to the quotes that drew you in.

 

[TheSpaceCowboy]

Keith David has the gravitas for the role

 

[Xur]

I hope they get an actual narrator that does audio books. I don't care if it's a woman or man, but I want the narrator to exude wisdom that (some times) comes with age. It would require that the quotes aren't silly like in civ6. It would be cheaper, easier and better quality than some high-profile actor name. Narration is a profession like any other profession, and actors are not automatically the best. Sean Bean was a disaster.

 

[Krajzen]

Recently I've been rereading Blood Meridian (probably the darkest fictional story I've ever read) and Richard Poe is so insanely good as an audiobook voice actor. I would go crazy if someone of his quality was civ7 narrator, although it is somewhat surreal comparision due to how pitch black this book is in comparision with the uplifting Civ games. Still, there are moments where I can imagine him reading tech/wonder quotes or endings with such gravitas and power:

 

[MrRadar]

If it is Philomena Cunk and they let her and her team to write all the text and tech quotes... what the hell, I'll be buying on Day 1
(but only in this particular case )

Btw, isn't it time to "unstack" (tm) the narrators? With customer demand and preferences diverging more and more, why not to offer us an entire selection of voices to choose from, the way SatNav does?

 

[AffineConstant]

If it is Philomena Cunk and they let her and her team to write all the text and tech quotes... what the hell, I'll be buying on Day 1
(but only in this particular case )

On the one hand I don't like "nickel and dime DLC". On the other hand I might actually pay just for a Philomena Cunk Narrator pack

 

[Codeword Iroquois]

Honestly, I think it'd be interesting (complicated to wrangle) but interesting to make it possible to mod the voice lines to include voices of one's choice; might hit some issues with regards to AI generated voices though.

 

[pokiehl]

Honestly, I think it'd be interesting (complicated to wrangle) but interesting to make it possible to mod the voice lines to include voices of one's choice; might hit some issues with regards to AI generated voices though.

The last thing I want to see in a Civ game is AI-generated creative content (or AI-generated anything at this point).

You're free to make such a mod already in Civ 6 though. Just record yourself saying whatever line you want, and you can get it into the game. If modding capabilities in Civ 7 are similar, then you should be able to do the same thing.

 

[Codeword Iroquois]

The last thing I want to see in a Civ game is AI-generated creative content (or AI-generated anything at this point).

Frankly, I am of the same opinion; that was more speculation about giving players more agency with the narration. I feel like things with that would have more problems when you get people generating voice lines from their preferred voices for that. (like we've seen with OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson recently)

You're free to make such a mod already in Civ 6 though. Just record yourself saying whatever line you want, and you can get it into the game.

That is also good to know, as I don't have any real modding experience. (one of the many joys of being a Mac user, I'm afraid)

 

[Morningcalm]

I think it's high time we had a female narrator, or more than just one or two narrators generally. The Civ V teaser led me to think they would have multiple voice actors doing the narration, but alas, that hasn't really been the case has it.

 

[vorlon_mi]

I think it's high time we had a female narrator, or more than just one or two narrators generally. The Civ V teaser led me to think they would have multiple voice actors doing the narration, but alas, that hasn't really been the case has it.

Beyond Earth has a female narrator, but it didn't grab much attention. Many folks who play Civ6 and are excited for Civ7 have forgotten it.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

always wanted either Keith David or Linda Hunt.

 

[CaesarCS]

Let’s go all out. How about James Earl Jones, or Liam Neeson for male narrators? For female I would go British, so Helen Mirren or Judy Dench. Or Denzel Washington. Hopefully most of the quotes have real gravitas, with a few lighthearted ones thrown in.

 

[BackseatTyrant]

It feels like I've been ragging about this for about a decade, but my personal pick would honestly be Kyle Kallgren