Besides, it seems that "cop" might simply refer to the act of capturing so. or sth. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cop#Etymology_2), so it's as valid in a fantasy setting as any other word that's related to some real-world-language.
Dorn's quest title does refer to the good cop, bad cop dynamic.
I think it just happens to be a small minority. I'm ambivalent on her, myself, but that's just me. I'm the rare person that likes Jaheira, for instance. Anyway, who cares what others think? If you ( @Alexisisinneed ) likes her writing, then 'good on you if you save the day'
You can't really judge how popular Neera is based on the relative "loudness" of her detractors. Although I know people like to use the "well, all five of my friends on this small forum I created for myself and my five friends hate that thing, so that proves that EVERYBODY hates that thing! It's statistics. man! You can't fight the math!" Anyway, there are indeed fans of Neera around here.
@kcwise is basically my god right now, just for having a basic understanding of real-world statistics. That's all it takes people. Learn a small amount of statistics (and actually apply it) and you too can be my god.
I will say, on the subject of Neera, I'm ambivalent towards most of her writing, but I adore her romance. You can fool around and be a giant goof and that's okay because she's not gonna dump you over the slightest imperfection like most of the others will.
@Jarrakul you like her romance?!? That makes you an outlier to the bgee player population. Don't fall for that false advertisement folks! Noone likes Neera.
I am intentionally not adding a sarcasm smiley here so people will take me seriously.
I like neera. She's alright in my book. But like all bgee npcs chatty compared to the vanilla npcs. They need dialogue expansions too and not just from a mod.
I have plenty of issues with the new content, but none of them has to do with the quality of the writing or voice acting.
I agree with everything you said except for this, the VA part specifically. When I first ran into Senjak and Dorothea I inmediately thought of the infamous Chaos Wars for the PS2. Same with Neera, although some people have posted that her VA gets better in BG2EE, havent played that one yet. For those of you who havent heard the CHaos Wars voice acting before, BEHOLD AND DESPAIR!:
Wow, that's really bad... They all sound like they're maybe 15-16 years old and clearly just reading off a piece of paper. This is the kind of stuff I'd expect to see in a high school drama class scene reading only this time it's in a game people paid for. That said, I still think Neera's voice acting (and the voice acting of many characters in the EE version of the game) is pretty bad... just not this bad.
In terms of 'modernisms and Americanisms' Imoen's voice acting really stands out for me. That dreaded line "Heya it's me, Imoen" sounds like she's walked straight off the set of "Grease" and makes me immediately categorise her as superficial and frivolous - which she's obviously not. Personally I prefer to read her lines rather than listen to them.
Yes! Was Tranzig's voice was recorded with a cell phone?
While we're at it, was the line several minor characters say--"The fair folk rarely have time for small talk"--lifted from someone's answering machine or something as a joke? Because that's what it sounds like.
As for the whole "Americanisms in BGEE" thing, ever since I heard Xzar say "Smiles everyone! Smiles! (This is like some great fantasy)" I can't take the discussion seriously. It's a Fantasy Island reference, for gods' sakes, and it's been there from the beginning.
She's actually one of the stronger Beamdog characters overall, especially in comparison to some of the other women in BG2 - the only real complaint I have about her is that
her endgame is a literal repetition of both Rasaad and Hexxat: you face off with an established D&D character and fail to defeat them only because canon dictates otherwise.
I cracked up when I encountered Larry, his brother Darryl, and his other brother Darryl way back in 1998, and I still chuckled when I encountered them yesterday in my current play through.
These games don't need to be super serious and never contain any obvious anachronisms. Having grown up playing Ultima, Might & Magic, Wizardry, and Hero's Quest/Quest for Glory, it's kind of the norm. Most pencil and paper D&D games that I've played in were full of Monty Python and Star Wars references.
It's kind if weird for me when CRPGs play it totally straight.
I've always taken that in stride. D&D folks are sarcastic and funny, to me, and that shouldn't change. There's a bit of Monty Python in the humor. I think it's because they don't take it too seriously. The amazing dart thrower is amusing, not realistic. And Shar Teel is a caricature, too - sort of a poke at the extreme man-hating typecast. Then there's Minsc - who can take him seriously (although I love him!). Jaheira - the eco-friendly nutjob with a temper? (love her, too!)
I am so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that she kind of breaks the mood... She's like a sarcastic teenager from our time and world.. Annoying. But I always try to avoid any of the new characters as much as I can, since they don't really fit into the game and story imo. It's ok that they added them, but they're not for me
Comments
There're people who like Neera's writing:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/412698/#Comment_412698
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/405858/#Comment_405858
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/520725/#Comment_520725
I will say, on the subject of Neera, I'm ambivalent towards most of her writing, but I adore her romance. You can fool around and be a giant goof and that's okay because she's not gonna dump you over the slightest imperfection like most of the others will.
I am intentionally not adding a sarcasm smiley here so people will take me seriously.
Why is that dudes name Nicole, anyways?
As for the whole "Americanisms in BGEE" thing, ever since I heard Xzar say "Smiles everyone! Smiles! (This is like some great fantasy)" I can't take the discussion seriously. It's a Fantasy Island reference, for gods' sakes, and it's been there from the beginning.
These games don't need to be super serious and never contain any obvious anachronisms. Having grown up playing Ultima, Might & Magic, Wizardry, and Hero's Quest/Quest for Glory, it's kind of the norm. Most pencil and paper D&D games that I've played in were full of Monty Python and Star Wars references.
It's kind if weird for me when CRPGs play it totally straight.