We, refined our demand for ‘archaic English’ already.
So, please, no more referencing to the subpar English of the stream. 
Also, till now, there wasn’t made any official mention of ‘Authentic’/‘Lingua Franca’-thingy option, as described above and several people would like to see implemented.
I feel like this should be a stretch goal: option in menu to select Old English or Modern English. I mean, we can change the language in games to other languages, so why not different English languages? Then everyone wins!
Ok, but let’s stretch goal ‘Authentic’ first.
I think, why go for as much authenticity as possible and then stop when it comes to language?
Why don’t go all the way while we have the chance?
I would like to have a feel as authentic as possible in the game. So I think, if there are characters with another mother tongue, they should also speak it in the game. But I also think I wouldn’t understand much, if they spoke like people did at the time. However, I’d like to go in that direction as far as possible. Like in Stronghold using old words and some old phrasing would be a good idea.
Subtitles will take care of that.
€dit:
Just for the record, the languages included in ‘Authentic’ could be in their early 20th century form because even the English version won’t be 100% accurate after all. So, no hassle in this regard.
For the langue/s I do not speak, that might be right and ok. But I think not many people would understand the people of that time, even if it were their mothers tongue.
If the speech flows then I will be happy. It’s so bad when you really get into a game and then the speech sounds like someone is reading it from a script.
I think that having the game use middle English would be a nice touch but if you’ve ever tried giving ‘The Canterbury Tales’ a ‘quick’ read through (without being a language expert) then you’ll realise that it is almost like a foreign language compared to how we speak today haha 
so I don’t know, it’d be nice to have it all old English-ey but then it would get boring if you missed half of what a character meant so maybe some where in between???
I’ve talked to a linguist and some actors regarding old vs modern style. Their experience (working with the german language) matched the tone of this discussion:
Use modern tongue, stick to a limited set of older words/phrases and mix in a few short idoms in local language of that time when expressing hard feelings or glee.
It is way more important to have a clear distinction of the articulation between a well educated and a simple minded character. Aside from choice of idioms and capability to shape longer sentences this could also happen by using middle english pronunciation for those characters the player is ought to understand harder.
I like the idea to use Latin in religious/educational environments, e.g. to show that most attendees of a liturgy did not understand a word.
Can you understand this (14th century Czech)?:
Otep myrrhy mněť mój milý,
milujeť mě z své všie síly,
a já jeho,
zmileného,
proňžť netbám nic na jiného.
*
Mój milý mně biel, červen, krásen,
jako leteční den jasen,
to div z diva,
žeť sem živa,
proňžť se mé srdečko znímá.
*
Vstanúc i pójdu toho dle,
Poptám sobě, proňžť mé srdéčko mdlé
Řkúc: Batíčku,
zmilelíčku,
zjev mi svú tvář, sokolíčku.
*
Jehožť má duše miluje,
viděli ste, zda kde tu je?
Milost silná,
žádost pilná,
k němužť má mysl nemylna.
*
Když diech právě o puolnoci.
stržeť mě jeden z jeho moci
tak neznámě
vzezřev na mě
veceť: Přenes mě v svém prámě.
*
Tehdy já naň vzezřech nice,
domněch se svého panice.
Řiech: Kam koh?
A on: Toho,
jehož ty hledáš přemnoho.
I understand it about as well as I understand Polish, which means I probably get the general meaning and grasp some words and rarely even full sentences. I think medieval Czech is about as far from today’s Czech as medieval English is from modern day English (of course the word medieval is rather vague, but anyway).
Also, Moravian hantec dialect is perhaps harder to understand than Slovak language…it seems to me kind of like the difference between English English and Scottish English.
I absolutely enjoyed the voice acting in the live steam, it reminded me of dragon age origins. As far as subs go they are immersion breaking for me, I love old samurai movies but I find myself too often watching the action and not paying attention to the text. Sorry I’m too dumb for subs.
This is for me on par with Slovakian or Slovenian. Polish seems bit more complicated for me (Well spoken Polish I blame stress in the word). There is sometimes few words where I hesitate for a while, but nothing to hamper overall understanding.
I see main problem with English in few centuries after William the Conqueror that there was mixing of two unrelated languages.
Slovenian seems to me much more difficult than Slovakian, basically on par with Polish. Also, I meant written language where you don’t have to bother with pronouciation and have a lot of time to read each word. I don’t understand written Polish almost at all.
I’ve just seen the livestream and was relieved to hear that you will probably change the voice acting. Of course the voice acting should suit the setting of the game but the shakespearean style was just too made up. Make it more natural, find a balance and I think that most of the players will be happy with it. Just my opinion, though.
I think WH should leave the game just in english with a bit use of historical words. Translating the text’s and the voices into other languages will be pretty expensive - but the translation with historic style is a great idea for a mod.
IMO the spoken ingame language should always be the games locations language, if it existed/exists in the real world. makes it more authentic. (like when I crossed the border in red dead redemption, everyone was speaking spanish) but I am fine with it, being in english. maybe there’ll be a good german sync.
I quite liked the “old English”, it gave the game more character… However, it was a bit over-the-top at times, not to the point of not being understandable but to the point of it just sounding a bit ridiculous. That opening conversation is an example of that, but it got much better as the stream went on. Obviously the voice talent is going to affect this, and even from placeholders I enjoyed the direction WarHorse were going. It actually hyped me up for the game more.
I found that Assassin’s Creed did this right, the majority of it was in contemporary English but they still threw in some older sayings to add to the overall atmosphere (“dash my buttons”). Not too sure on whether random Czech or German should be thrown into Kingdom Come though, haha. Still though, that could work if the cast were talking with native accents… Then again, it’s not an Animus.
I think using “Shakespearean” English or other ancient style dialogue would sound “off” to the modern ear. The two most popular medieval-ish settings in the past decade or so were Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and neither one relied heavily on ancient dialogue styles/language. There’s a sweet spot where the dialogue doesn’t sound too modern but also doesn’t take you out of the moment.
“Modern” English/slang really didn’t worked all that well for Stalker or Metro. Both game franchises claim(ed) to have a very hardcore fanbase.
Nothing breaks my Immersion better than a slavic merc talking to me with: Yo wassup bro.
Just add captions, keep the game “un-dubbed” and spent that saved money on better voice actors.
I’m fine with the Shakespeare version (tuned down a little) too.
This guy gets it. “A Knight’s Tale” is the easiest way to describe how the English should sound. Regardless if it is “correct” or not.
We’re making a AAA title here people. Niche things like the language being dubbed in some obscure language that would be “period” and the entire game being done with subtitles WILL NOT HAPPEN… Why? They have an investor who is trying to make money. Just because a bunch of people on this forum post that they like the option does not translate into many people liking that option when it comes time for them to sell this game.
You must be realistic in your expectations. While we have backed their vision, but we must also accept that they’re TRYING TO MAKE MONEY… this isn’t some artsy college project here.
People seems to mixing up a lot of of languages here. People say they want Old English or Shakespearian English (early modern english.) What they spoke in England around 1400 is Middle English. (yes, I know this isn’t even England, but I want the game in english.)
The Lord’s Prayer in Old English:
Fæder ūre þū þe eart on heofonum,
Sī þīn nama ġehālgod.
Tōbecume þīn rīċe,
ġewurþe þīn willa, on eorðan swā swā on heofonum.
Ūre ġedæġhwāmlīcan hlāf syle ūs tō dæġ,
and forġyf ūs ūre gyltas, swā swā wē forġyfað ūrum gyltendum.
And ne ġelǣd þū ūs on costnunge, ac ālȳs ūs of yfele.
Sōþlīċe.
The Lord’s Prayer in Middle English:
Oure fadir that art in heuenes,
halewid be thi name;
thi kyngdoom come to;
be thi wille don, in erthe as in heuene.
Yyue to vs this dai oure breed ouer othir substaunce,
and foryyue to vs oure dettis, as we foryyuen to oure dettouris;
and lede vs not in to temptacioun, but delyuere vs fro yuel.
Amen.
You want to have any of these in the game? That would be very hard on the voice actors, and it would most likely feel forced for everyone involved. I’d feel awkward hearing everyone speak words that feel like they are shoehorned in there to make it sound archaic, but it’s really not. In the video with the placeholder voices, they cramed so many archaic words in there in just a few sentences that it just sounded stupid. It’s ok if you hear a few old words now and then, but I don’t want it to feel like all characters are bad poets.
Now some say they would want Shakespearien english, which is actually early modern english, very close to what we speak today. When we say shakespearian english, we probably refer to his way of writing plays and poetry? You think people actually spoke in everyday life like he wrote? He made up loads of new words just for his plays. Early modern english sounds a lot like what we speak today - late modern english. I don’t even need to post The Lord’s Prayer in early modern english as an example since it’s exactly the same as we have today (they’ve kept the archaic words “art” and “thy”, but otherwise it sounds modern.)
So yeah, sure, Shakespearian english without all the poetry. Save that for the bards. So without Shakespears way of talking (or writing, whatever) we are left with… modern english, with some archaic words. You can keep it like that. Thous and arts, if you want. But the important thing is that I understand what people say and what feeling they convey without me getting stuck up on words or just feel like they are shoehorned in there. There needs to be a genuine flow in the language, like they grew up talking like that and not like they learnt it later as a 2nd language.
