Danish Accents

[Gorm]

Anyone else find the Danish accents in the game strange? They sound more slavic or Russian than Danish. Mind you, most of the accents in the game seem a bit contrived.

Any comments?

[Amon_Zeth]

They gave the Spanish, Portuguese, Italian factions, and the Byzantines the same accent...

[LegioScythia]

Yeah Danish Polish and Russian ascents sound exactly the same

[Comrade Alexeo]

While admittedly it's not an ideal situation to have, realistically we can't really argue too much about it like these two fellows here:

Because it all comes down to this: - that is to say, money.

I'm glad that CA rather spent their money on vastly improving the RTW AI than making sure they found a Danish voice actor That's not to say that I don't think the Danes deserve their own voice actor, but the sad reality of it all is that nobody except the Danes or those with too much time on their hands will really care...

-shrug-

[Sir SillyDuck]

Not entirely true.. I aint Danish, and I dont have too much time on my hands.. Forgive me, but are you North American? I think people in Europe are much more accustomed to different languages, and have a feel it. In my ears too, a Russian accent coming out of the Danes is, well, odd.

I agree that it aint the prime point to spend money on, and it doesnt ruin the game, but, it does sounds wrong.

[Comrade Alexeo]

Not entirely true.. I aint Danish, and I dont have too much time on my hands.. Forgive me, but are you North American? I think people in Europe are much more accustomed to different languages, and have a feel it. In my ears too, a Russian accent coming out of the Danes is, well, odd.

I agree that it aint the prime point to spend money on, and it doesnt ruin the game, but, it does sounds wrong.

Yes, I'm from the US, but you'd be surprised how much we can tell accents apart - barring the stereotypical Southern hick who can't tell the difference between, say, German, Russian, and British English ("Gee, they all sound like Devil-speak, Clem! REPENT! REPENT!"). I wouldn't put myself up against a European, but...

I can't comment on the Danish accent because I haven't really heard the Danes in my campaign yet but if it does sound like Russian, then that's just stupid - if only because it sounds vaguely more like German anyway

(Which is, of course, like saying French sounds like Spanish sounds like Portuguese sounds like Italian, but my point is that they all sorta sound like Latin )

Again, I don't like it, any more than I like people who think all us he-uh Am-ur-i-cuns speeiak in a Suthun druawl, bo-i...

...but it's just a question of bang for your buck. I mean, you CAN go the Age of Empires 2 route and have every country speak for its own country in its own native tongue, but while admittedly very cool it's also something most people don't care about. And for the most part CA in M2TWdoes a better job of languages than, say, EA did with C&C Generals (where all the Americans sounded like the unholy spawn of R. Lee Ermey and a college student hopped up on caffeine, da Chwinese sounded wike steweotypes ahahahahahahaha vewy fwunny!, and the GLA sounded more squeaky than intimidating).

[Sir SillyDuck]

As I said, it aint a priority, and it doesnt break the game in half. It's just, off mark.

I can imagine that you can tell accents, that's not what I meant. I can imagine the US having lots of dialects, and Canada even has a French speaking part of the country. And there's a lot of Spanish immigrants of course. But in Europe, with numerous of languages, and myriads of dialects, one grows more accustomed to it, IMO. I live in Holland, where there are dozens of dialects. We are very Anglo-oriented, generally spoken. Besides that, there's Germany 100 kms to the east, Flanders (technically Dutch, but that says all) 100 kms to the south, Wallonia 50 kms further and France 50 kms further. Into Germany, when u go left, you end up in Scandinavia, with 4 major languages, all kinda related, but all different. Then take Switserland and Austria. Technically they speak German, but you can tell by their speech who's Austrian easily. Everywhere you come in Europe, you have to be prepared to speak another language (and that's rarely done these days), or speak English (which is pretty easily done nowadays, except maybe in ultra chauvanistic places like France :)). And allmost everyone who speaks English back at you, well, does it with an accent!

It's just that in Europe you're far more confronted with accents in daily life. And not dialects, but people of other nations doing their best to speak English.

[Darth Nihilus]

I noticed that too that they made all of the faction's languages in groupings. I did find it annoying that the Danes all sounded like Dracula. Oh well, I guess if it came down to it, I too am glad that they spent their time on other stuff rather than spending all of their money on voice actors. It does bug me a little however.

[Vlad Tzepes]

I did find it annoying that the Danes all sounded like Dracula.

No it doesn't! Trust me, I'm the one speaking Dracula's native language! But it does sound like Russian.

And the Spanish in MTW2... well the Spanish merchants remind me of Taco Bell's commercials - "ay! yo quiero Taco Bell"...

[Darth Nihilus]

Vlad, you had me rolling on the ground with that Taco Bell comment

[justme]

erm... it's not just the accent thingy that spoils the general's speeches, it's actually the content that makes it absolutely terrible. For example my Byzantine general saying something about Santa Lucia (pronounced in his castillian accent) really makes me wonder if I've been playing some other faction than the one I actually thought I was playing...

[Gorm]

justme, your Byzantine general is really a Spanish mercenary!

No, the accents don't break the game. In fact, dialects and accent do change over time. Who is to say that the Danish emmisary was really an immigrant from Russia? That is stretching it a bit, though.

People from different parts of the globe will have biases as to distinguishing accents. The Australians and New Zealanders, for example, get mis-identified all the time by Americans. They do sound alike because they are in the same region of the world, but don't you dare say a New Zealander sounds like an Aussie to their face. (I know, I lived in NZ for over 10 years!)

And it would seem that English actors can mimic an American accent better than Americans can mimic English accents (and there are so many!) I think it is because of American cultural isolation. When I lived in NZ, I could see TV from England, Australia and NZ. In the US it is rare to get programming from other English speaking countries, unless you watch BBC channel on cable or PBS. You can't even watch Canadian TV unless you live in a border city like Detroit. It would appear that TV execs are afraid that Americans would not understand the accents, eh?

If I had the power, I would change the accents in the game. But I will still play the game, even if I do cringe from time to time.

[Vladimir]

I've read that the Polish accent sounds goofy. This immediately prompted some nationalist to say that it sounded fine (and requested an edit). Is the Polish accent correct? I'm assuming that this was in the North American version of the game.

[Dave1984]

justme, your Byzantine general is really a Spanish mercenary!

No, the accents don't break the game. In fact, dialects and accent do change over time. Who is to say that the Danish emmisary was really an immigrant from Russia? That is stretching it a bit, though.

People from different parts of the globe will have biases as to distinguishing accents. The Australians and New Zealanders, for example, get mis-identified all the time by Americans. They do sound alike because they are in the same region of the world, but don't you dare say a New Zealander sounds like an Aussie to their face. (I know, I lived in NZ for over 10 years!)

Sorry, how do you say 6? ;)

And it would seem that English actors can mimic an American accent better than Americans can mimic English accents (and there are so many!) I think it is because of American cultural isolation.

I agree, and I find English accents done by American actors in US films and TV shows so cringeworthy that I have to leave the room, and the only time I can watch a British character in a US show is when they are played by British or antipodean actors. I'm sure people must feel the same about their accent being done poorly in-game, but I'd presume not to the same extent.

[Headlocked]

try being Irish and listening to the most twee, back-of beyond, clichéd accent being done by a crap american actor....

makes ye wanna go out and hit someone..hell, iw anna do that anywasy! and drink! (see siggy:) )

HDD

[Dave1984]

try being Irish and listening to the most twee, back-of beyond, clichéd accent being done by a crap american actor....

makes ye wanna go out and hit someone..hell, iw anna do that anywasy! and drink! (see siggy:) )

HDD

Actually, having been forced by the mrs to sit through a couple of Irish themed "Murder, She Wrote" episodes recently, I'd have to agree that they're just as bad!

[Gorm]

Well, at least you can turn off the speech in the options panel! I am playing the Danes right now and could not stand the phony slavic accent used.

I was wondering why Arhus (which today is spelled Aarhus) was made the first capital in the game. I thought Roskilde should have been chosen (it is where Danish royalty are buried). I did some research and found that Arhus was the largest Danish city of the era.

"In medieval times, the city was called Arus, and in Icelandic chronicles, it was known as Áróss. It is a compound of the two words ār, genitive of ā "river" (Modern Danish å) and ōss "mouth" (obsolete in Modern Danish; in Modern Icelandic this word is still used for "river delta"). The city is located on the mouth of the small river, Århus Å.

"The town is relatively old. The bishopric dates back at least from 951, and archaeological findings date back some 1300 years to viking times. The city itself is presumably older than 770 AD, making Aarhus the oldest big city in Scandinavia. The favorable central position of the city within Denmark afforded it trade from Germany, the Baltic countries, the greater peninsula of Jutland and the communities on the many smaller islands in its vicinity, which meant that trade always had a great significance to the town - a significance which is still true today." (Wikipedia)

[The Spartan (Returns)]

They gave the Spanish, Portuguese, Italian factions, and the Byzantines the same accent...

I hated that. these factions should all have different accents.

[Musashi]

I wish they'd forget accents and just hire the guy who did the narration for the first MTW. He was the best, who needs accents when you have him?

[Gorm]

I wish they'd forget accents and just hire the guy who did the narration for the first MTW. He was the best, who needs accents when you have him?

Yes, indeed!

[El Diablo]

Right then. We have all bought the game so CA must be rolling in the cash (ha ha).

Sooooo who should we request CA to get to do the accents?

English have so many different accents (from village to village really) but someone posh sounding for the king/generals and perhaps a scouscer/gordie for the captains.

"Ehh like, come on lads like, lets get them like eh eh"

(BTW my Mother is a scouser so I am (apparently) allowed to mock their accent. Plus being a Kiwi we have been butchering vowel sounds for over 150 years...

If they got the actress from Braveheart to do the French princesses (Sophie Marc-something) I would probably accept whatever she wanted...

[Kobal2fr]

They gave the Spanish, Portuguese, Italian factions, and the Byzantines the same accent...

Weird, in the French dub, while both Italian and Spanish accents are somewhat corny (I must confess I have a fondness for my Venetian generals, even though they all sound like greedy pimps and used cars salesmen ), they are indeed different.

[Dave1984]

Right then. We have all bought the game so CA must be rolling in the cash (ha ha).

Sooooo who should we request CA to get to do the accents?

English have so many different accents (from village to village really) but someone posh sounding for the king/generals and perhaps a scouscer/gordie for the captains.

"Ehh like, come on lads like, lets get them like eh eh"

(BTW my Mother is a scouser so I am (apparently) allowed to mock their accent. Plus being a Kiwi we have been butchering vowel sounds for over 150 years...

If they got the actress from Braveheart to do the French princesses (Sophie Marc-something) I would probably accept whatever she wanted...

You should probably get the Kings/Generals speaking Norman French then...

...I'd pay for a scouse general though!

[Senta]

Polish accents are pretty terrible as well... sound dodgy at best. they should have left accents alone and use generic English for everyone as it would have been a better solution than screwing up like that.
if you ain't gonna do something right, leave it be.

[Senta]

EDIT: sorry, double post... some lag

[Aks K]

I am a Dane, but the guy making the voices is clearly not.

Actually I have know idea where he is from. My guess is that he is pretending to have some sort of Danish accent, which he hasn't.

Mild Danish harassment follows

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

He isn't even from Jutland or Bornholm

Aks K

[justme]

justme, your Byzantine general is really a Spanish mercenary!

hahaha Nice try, but it didn't work... the problem is my Byzantine general's name is Andronicus Comnenus (hardly spanish) and is listed as son of the Emperor (by a lady who's certainly *not* spanish - or at least that's the "official" version about his parentage )

problem is only solved one way: disable speeches or don't listen to them (they're not as inspiring as in RTW either, so you ain't losing much )

[Bakma]

we Turks never use the words like "saeeda" or "na'am" :S

but we say Selamualeykoum or yallah like in the game... and most of the turkish names are arabic in the game.

[Sir SillyDuck]

Cologne, Turkestan?? Geezz, Your Turks have come mighty far in your game

[wzup]

borat did the voice for denmark