Some Common Fallacies and Problems

Some game designers and writers justify their poor NPC dialogue by claiming that most games have weak dialogue and, therefore, gamers won't object.

Sometimes, doing the writing is considered the "fun part," and those in the game studio don't want to turn it over to someone who might do a more professional job. This would be fine if they took the time to study and master the art of writing themselves but the state of game writing lets us know this has rarely been the case.

Sometimes the justification is that weak doesn't matter, because the voice actors will add the emotion in the way they pronounce the lines. The truth is, there's only a limited amount a talented actor can do with poor dialogue.^[2]

^[2] Even still, what a good actor can do with weak or well-written dialogue shouldn't be minimized. Poor voice acting can annihilate emotional immersion by the player. Most developers have finally conceded that it's worth spending the money to hire pros.

People who hold fast to these beliefs and behaviors are hurting the chances for good buzz and good press, and thus are restricting game sales and costing their publisher money.