Video game voice actors give the National Board "the green light" to vote strike if needed

[ShadowCaptain]

For the purposes of discussing that specific topic of conversation, yes familiarity and enjoyment is key. I do not make it a habit of considering the music taste and opinions of someone who listens to pop music when discussing Death Metal and why should I? That doesn't means that you're intrinsically wrong for not reading books, it's just means that I don't consider your opinion on the subject of reading books vs audio books valid.

 

Then you are not wrong for not enjoying or caring about voice acting, it just means I don't consider your opinion on voice acting valid

[Misanthrope]

Look under animations.

 

Ok:

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/searchresults/?src_cat=51

 

Out of the first 30 results by endorsement, a total of 1 mod does anything for lip syncing. Plus it has to my knowledge, never been featured on the front page of Nexus, on any of the many mod videos I've watch on youtube, on any of the top mods lists I've seen from numerous people and publications. Plus the main draw of that mod is facial expressions it was made for it to have more realistic expressions and lip movement was edited too but not to sync with dialogue.

[SpaceNugget]

 

I have perfectly fine reading skills, I just don't enjoy it as a past time, I occasionally read, but rarely, its just not a medium I enjoy

 

So if somebody doesn't enjoy something that invalidates their opinion? that means that your opinion is invalidated since you don;t care about voice acting, therefore anything you say against it, is because of your bias of not caring about it

 

See how that works?

 

 

 

Wait - i agree its not at the expense of the people who MADE the game

 

Programmers should get a fair wage too.. but that is a different union, differ net discussion and something else that needs addressing 

 

How do you not enjoy reading? that's like not enjoying water.

 

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I much prefer reading subtitles even when the original content is in English. I always mishear things, I never misread things.

 

But back to the original topic. Voice actors are not integral to the creation or consumption of video games. They may your enjoyment of a game, but they are very much not a requirement for a game.

[Misanthrope]

Then you are not wrong for not enjoying or caring about voice acting, it just means I don't consider your opinion on voice acting valid

 

Right, and if we were talking audio books, radio plays, anime or other animated motion pictures and series you'd have a point. We're talking games, the things you play for the game part mostly with just very few exceptions of mostly dead genres like point and click adventures (that still relied heavily on puzzles and were rarely an interactive story only kinda deal) and a few walking simulators (that do not exactly shine in the voice acting department, when there hardly is any talking at all)

[ShadowCaptain]

How do you not enjoy reading? that's like not enjoying water.

 

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I much prefer reading subtitles even when the original content is in English. I always mishear things, I never misread things.

 

But back to the original topic. Voice actors are not integral to the creation or consumption of video games. They may your enjoyment of a game, but they are very much not a requirement for a game.

 

Just not something I enjoy, like some people don't enjoy Coca Cola, or motorbikes or blue cars, idk people like different things, reading books is not essential to life, where water is

 

I never have subtitles on unless its something in a different language that I cannot avoid - do you have subtitles on during English speaking movies?

I do read stuff online but rarely large articles and rarely proper books, I might read a bit about cameras, or cinematography, and I write stuff and read for my reviews that I write

 

Voice actors are integral to games that have voice actors.... as in, if your game is story and character driven, then I think the voice actor is just an integral a part as anything else, yes the game wont exist without the coder, but the character would not be the same without the talent bringing him to life

[ShadowCaptain]

 

Right, and if we were talking audio books, radio plays, anime or other animated motion pictures and series you'd have a point. We're talking games, the things you play for the game part mostly with just very few exceptions of mostly dead genres like point and click adventures (that still relied heavily on puzzles and were rarely an interactive story only kinda deal) and a few walking simulators (that do not exactly shine in the voice acting department, when there hardly is any talking at all)

 

No I feel the same way for games, my favourite game series in MGS, known for LONG cutscenes and hours of codec dialog

 

Mass effect/Kotor etc long conversations, the game is more about story and conversation than gameplay considering the gameplay is quite simplistic

 

thats why I feel voice acting is just as important as the game mechanics

[SpaceNugget]

Just not something I enjoy, like some people don't enjoy Coca Cola, or motorbikes or blue cars, idk people like different things, reading books is not essential to life, where water is

 

I never have subtitles on unless its something in a different language that I cannot avoid - do you have subtitles on during English speaking movies?

I do read stuff online but rarely large articles and rarely proper books, I might read a bit about cameras, or cinematography, and I write stuff and read for my reviews that I write

 

Voice actors are integral to games that have voice actors.... as in, if your game is story and character driven, then I think the voice actor is just an integral a part as anything else, yes the game wont exist without the coder, but the character would not be the same without the talent bringing him to life

See legend of zelda for a story driven game with no voice acting.

 

Whenever I care about something being said, I prefer subtitles, even when the speaker is speaking in English. It is so much easier to follow writing than an oral presentation. Same goes for games.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Vaas is probably one of the most iconic characters in video games, no? "Making farcry 3" was not literally. You need to comprehend that even if you don't care about the story it is an equally important as gameplay.And Vaas was the defining character in the story.

TlDR: Just because you dont care about a part of the game doesn't mean it is unimportant

 

I love stories in games. Stories means a lot more than the voice acting. Stories are the writing and the missions too. And yes, this fat piece of shit said Far Cry 3 sucked except for Vaas and that he was the reason for the game's success, which is bullshit, Far Cry 3 is one of my favorite FPS games because of the game mechanics. I didn't find Vass' voice acting to be anything special. Now graphically the look was pretty cool though. I can't believe this guy defends Niko Bellic's actor's bitterness at being paid only $100,000 for his work on GTA IV. LOL the actor is even more whiny than the guy he played in the game.

[SteveGrabowski0]

LOL Kim Dotcom complaining that voice actors are like movie stars, like anyone goes out and buys a game because it's voiced by a specific actor.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Voice actors striking would end up worse for them than the air traffic controllers in the 80s, How many people even know the voice actors' names in the games they play?

[Bouzoo]

Can't remember the last time a video game had properly lip synced voice acting.  

 

The Last of Us

Arkham Series did that pretty great iirc

Until Dawn (Dr.  Hill scene,  someot her characters ade not so great) 

 

Games can be enjoyed w/o proper voice actors? Absolutely, I can name ton of them, but then again there are those where voice actors make the game feel completely different. Alan Wake w/o Alan narrating the game? You kidding me? DMC w/o sarcastic Dante? Hell no. Portal w/o Glados? I can't even. You see, there are great examples. Talking that performance matters, don't want to go into whole payment thing.

[Misanthrope]

The Last of Us

Arkham Series did that pretty great iirc

Until Dawn (Dr.  Hill scene,  someot her characters ade not so great) 

 

Games can be enjoyed w/o proper voice actors? Absolutely, I can name ton of them, but then again there are those where voice actors make the game feel completely different. Alan Wake w/o Alan narrating the game? You kidding me? DMC w/o sarcastic Dante? Hell no. Portal w/o Glados? I can't even. You see, there are great examples. Talking that performance matters, don't want to go into whole payment thing.

 

I could play portal without any fucking voice at all: puzzle games are about the puzzles, not the jokes or the silly robotic voice. Most of your other examples are questionable but ok but again: I can enjoy 3d spectacle fighters without top notch voice actors. I can also enjoy narrative driven games with just average or even no voice acting at all. I have done so for years, voice acting is actually a relatively new development. 

 

Sorry but I must say I mostly disagree with you: like others you're over stating the value of a voice actor for the sake of argument.

[Bouzoo]

 

I could play portal without any fucking voice at all: puzzle games are about the puzzles, not the jokes or the silly robotic voice. Most of your other examples are questionable but ok but again: I can enjoy 3d spectacle fighters without top notch voice actors. I can also enjoy narrative driven games with just average or even no voice acting at all. I have done so for years, voice acting is actually a relatively new development. 

 

Sorry but I must say I mostly disagree with you: like others you're over stating the value of a voice actor for the sake of argument.

 

And I think you are undermining them to a point, some game like Alan Wake where he narrates the game when you play gives it a great atmosphere, and it's a game about storytelling, and that's ok, we can't all have the same opinion.

 

And I agree to a point, some can be enjoyed, many actually, but some games are far better with it. 

[Misanthrope]

And I think you are undermining them to a point, some game like Alan Wake where he narrates the game when you play gives it a great atmosphere, and it's a game about storytelling, and that's ok, we can't all have the same opinion.

 

And I agree to a point, some can be enjoyed, many actually, but some games are far better with it.

Yes I undermine voice actors only because they're over stating their importance asking for game residuals when they know game devs do not get that.

As I said earlier: most games don't need voice acting and some can benefit from it. I could potentially go back to play games without voice acting.

Can you go back to text only games? How about no 3D games at all just platforms and isometric games? Because without game developers that's what you would be looking at. Almost everything that's REALLY and universally important about games nowadays is done by game developers, not voice actors.

[Samfisher]

Yes I undermine voice actors only because they're over stating their importance asking for game residuals when they know game devs do not get that.

As I said earlier: most games don't need voice acting and some can benefit from it. I could potentially go back to play games without voice acting.

Can you go back to text only games? How about no 3D games at all just platforms and isometric games? Because without game developers that's what you would be looking at. Almost everything that's REALLY and universally important about games nowadays is done by game developers, not voice actors.

 

Witcher would be massively different without the current voice actors, as is the Mass Effect series.  Femshep is way and above the real reason I enjoyed the series as the male voice was generic-male-voice-261.  Games with strong oral narrative MAKE the game reach it's heights, but is obviously not the ONLY thing that makes games great.

 

Would I have enjoyed Mass Effect 1-3 less if I played as male shep?  Yes, cos I've done it before and I hated it, and Femshep made ME great for me.  Would any other voice for Geralt make less sense to me? Yes, and it would have affected my enjoyment of the game.  Would I have enjoyed Vice City if it wasn't voiced by Ray Liota?  Probably, but his mafia voice is perfect and made the game that much more enjoyable.

[Misanthrope]

Witcher would be massively different without the current voice actors, as is the Mass Effect series.  Femshep is way and above the real reason I enjoyed the series as the male voice was generic-male-voice-261.  Games with strong oral narrative MAKE the game reach it's heights, but is obviously not the ONLY thing that makes games great.

 

Would I have enjoyed Mass Effect 1-3 less if I played as male shep?  Yes, cos I've done it before and I hated it, and Femshep made ME great for me.  Would any other voice for Geralt make less sense to me? Yes, and it would have affected my enjoyment of the game.  Would I have enjoyed Vice City if it wasn't voiced by Ray Liota?  Probably, but his mafia voice is perfect and made the game that much more enjoyable.

 

1) Fuck Mass Effect. Sorry find someone who actually values the franchise to discuss it, I don't give a shit. Others do though, to me Bioware might as well be dead after Knights of the Old Republic.

 

2) Witcher 3 that's an interesting case: yes it is quite extensive but it's mostly does use the same tricks as RPGs like Skyrim: there's 3 dudes doing shitty Scottish (I think) accents for most of the NPCs. A few major NPCs get their own voice actors but for example you would take maybe 3 hours to record the 3 small scenes for Emyr's voice. Zoltan you just need someone to nail the line "Geraaalt!" and after that is back to some sort of Great Britain accent denomination or another, pretty generic.

 

Most peasants is the "Aye, what shall I do about me house!" women and men version and the gravely voice dude that does old men and the "Dried cuuuuurls!" and "It's me last cow, it's dying!" voice (Which btw wasn't a wise choice to select such particular voice so close together in the story). Yes they have a lot of lines. Not a lot of actors or particularly talented ones, they were just good at distracting with a decent number of accents but there was like 5 voice actors + Geralt for most of the time who can be pulled off by anyone doing a Batman impersonation "Hmmmm, blood....I am the night! Oh...no I mean...Blood, looks like nekkers blood, make sure you got that player, NEKKER so ready your yrden" 

 

And yes I do enjoy the Witcher 3 a lot, 130 hours of playtime on record and counting. It was not because of the voice acting. It's serviceable, but I could read it. In fact I am actually looking into switching all the dialogue to Polish + subtitles.

[Samfisher]

1) Fuck Mass Effect. Sorry find someone who actually values the franchise to discuss it, I don't give a shit. Others do though, to me Bioware might as well be dead after Knights of the Old Republic.

 

2) Witcher 3 that's an interesting case: yes it is quite extensive but it's mostly does use the same tricks as RPGs like Skyrim: there's 3 dudes doing shitty Scottish (I think) accents for most of the NPCs. A few major NPCs get their own voice actors but for example you would take maybe 3 hours to record the 3 small scenes for Emyr's voice. Zoltan you just need someone to nail the line "Geraaalt!" and after that is back to some sort of Great Britain accent denomination or another, pretty generic.

 

Most peasants is the "Aye, what shall I do about me house!" women and men version and the gravely voice dude that does old men and the "Dried cuuuuurls!" and "It's me last cow, it's dying!" voice (Which btw wasn't a wise choice to select such particular voice so close together in the story). Yes they have a lot of lines. Not a lot of actors or particularly talented ones, they were just good at distracting with a decent number of accents but there was like 5 voice actors + Geralt for most of the time who can be pulled off by anyone doing a Batman impersonation "Hmmmm, blood....I am the night! Oh...no I mean...Blood, looks like nekkers blood, make sure you got that player, NEKKER so ready your yrden" 

 

And yes I do enjoy the Witcher 3 a lot, 130 hours of playtime on record and counting. It was not because of the voice acting. It's serviceable, but I could read it. In fact I am actually looking into switching all the dialogue to Polish + subtitles.

1) Who cares if YOU don't care about Mass Effect?  The point is the voice actors made the game for me.

 

2) It's like you never played the game.  Geralt, Ciri, Yeneffer, Dandellion, Zoltan, Emyr, Philippa, Letho, Ves, Saskia, Vernon, Iorveth, Foltest, Triss, Dijkstra, Vessemir, Keira, Lambert, 3 witches, Baron, Priscillia, Dethmold all have unique and interesting voices that convey emotions, were right for the part and lifted the games up.  Tell me how this is 3 Scottish men doing voices that don't impact the game?  Sure, a Batman voice could do Geralt, but would that voice be able to convey the world-weariness of a Witcher?  Geralts voice has a hint of sarcasm in his deadpan delivery that almost no one has successfully done before in any game without being OVERLY sarcastic, egotistical, annoying and/or just plain bad.

 

And it doesn't matter that there are 3 scenes with Emyr, the quality of the voice acting that gives you a hint of how sinister and strongarmed he can be more than makes up for his 15 lines or whatever.  Quality over quantity.  And the Witcher games have quality AND quantity.

[Misanthrope]

1) Who cares if YOU don't care about Mass Effect?  The point is the voice actors made the game for me.

 

2) It's like you never played the game.  Geralt, Ciri, Yeneffer, Dandellion, Zoltan, Emyr, Philippa, Letho, Ves, Saskia, Vernon, Iorveth, Foltest, Triss, Dijkstra, Vessemir, Keira, Lambert, 3 witches, Baron, Priscillia, Dethmold all have unique and interesting voices that convey emotions, were right for the part and lifted the games up.  Tell me how this is 3 Scottish men doing voices that don't impact the game?  Sure, a Batman voice could do Geralt, but would that voice be able to convey the world-weariness of a Witcher?  Geralts voice has a hint of sarcasm in his deadpan delivery that almost no one has successfully done before in any game without being OVERLY sarcastic, egotistical, annoying and/or just plain bad.

 

And it doesn't matter that there are 3 scenes with Emyr, the quality of the voice acting that gives you a hint of how sinister and strongarmed he can be more than makes up for his 15 lines or whatever.  Quality over quantity.  And the Witcher games have quality AND quantity.

 

1) I care if I don't care: I cannot give you an opinion of a franchise that turned me off and henceforth have not properly experienced now can I?

 

2) Out of those, Ciri, Yeneffer and Tris have more or less significant roles. Some have a bit of dialogue but not too much like Dijkstra, Vessemir and Keira and all of the other ones are basically cameos. Yes they have unique voices but it's not really that expensive to hire a voice actor who comes in 1 or 2 evenings and records all of his lines. Not as hard as coding several books worth of dialogue like Geralt which incidentally is fairly weak for a protagonist (So there's a bit of sarcasm but that's mainly the lines not his delivery). Specially now that I was just playing the game with Polish dialogue and his voice is awesomely deep and imposing without relying on that gravely gimmick. Seriously it's a fairly big patch (2.3 gb) but it's worth it

 

3) It does matter that his part is tiny precisely because that's what I was getting at: Getting a high quality voice actor to deliver just a few lines for key characters is fairly cheap and effective: I could easily play all of witcher 3 with most peasants having text only dialogue since they're so forgettable yet you spend the vast majority of the game talking to the same few voice actor in the form of all of the peasants and nobody NPCs.

[mattebad]

see the video in my previous post. Starbound, minecraft, battlefield, games don't need voice actors to be fun (BF has them but they are hardly relevant to gameplay) lol and dota could easily go without voices.  I would love dirt3 way more if they cut the annoying voice shit out. Gameplay of a game > other things of the game

I'm talking more about games that actually have a story to them, like The Witcher 3 and The Phantom Pain. Battlefield is built to be a multiplayer only game even if there is a campaign with it, Minecraft is, well minecraft, built to appeal to younger children but fun for all ages, again no story. I'm not familiar with starbound so I can't comment on that. Lol and Dota again, have no story to them. Don't know much about Dirt 3 but I do know it's a racing game so it literally can't have a story to it (the exception being the glory that is Need For Speed Most Wanted 2005).

 

Like I said, games that don't have voice actors in them generally don't have a story to them, with the exception being Journey which I stated earlier

[mattebad]

If that is the case, why are we having this argument then?

Ok, so that was worded pretty badly. I meant we really should be looking at how much they should be making. The figure they are being paid right now does matter, but it matters more whether or not they are being paid enough for their work.

[Samfisher]

1) I care if I don't care: I cannot give you an opinion of a franchise that turned me off and henceforth have not properly experienced now can I?

 

2) Out of those, Ciri, Yeneffer and Tris have more or less significant roles. Some have a bit of dialogue but not too much like Dijkstra, Vessemir and Keira and all of the other ones are basically cameos. Yes they have unique voices but it's not really that expensive to hire a voice actor who comes in 1 or 2 evenings and records all of his lines. Not as hard as coding several books worth of dialogue like Geralt which incidentally is fairly weak for a protagonist (So there's a bit of sarcasm but that's mainly the lines not his delivery). Specially now that I was just playing the game with Polish dialogue and his voice is awesomely deep and imposing without relying on that gravely gimmick. Seriously it's a fairly big patch (2.3 gb) but it's worth it

 

3) It does matter that his part is tiny precisely because that's what I was getting at: Getting a high quality voice actor to deliver just a few lines for key characters is fairly cheap and effective: I could easily play all of witcher 3 with most peasants having text only dialogue since they're so forgettable yet you spend the vast majority of the game talking to the same few voice actor in the form of all of the peasants and nobody NPCs.

 

I'm not specifically mentioning Witcher 3.  All these characters listed were major characters in 1 and 2.  Also to your point 1, it doesn't matter whether you like Mass Effect or not, the fact is quality voice acting DOES matter.  The fact that you agreed (somewhat) with Witcher makes my point.  It doesn't make or break EVERY game, but it DOES break some games, and that's the point here.

[Misanthrope]

I'm not specifically mentioning Witcher 3.  All these characters listed were major characters in 1 and 2.  Also to your point 1, it doesn't matter whether you like Mass Effect or not, the fact is quality voice acting DOES matter.  The fact that you agreed (somewhat) with Witcher makes my point.  It doesn't make or break EVERY game, but it DOES break some games, and that's the point here.

 

Didn't agree in fact I said it could have been fine without a lot of the voice acting. If it was choosing between fully voice acted game or a game the size of Witcher 3 without it I'd take it without it. Point is that the voice actors are forcing that choice by abusing their Hollywood Union allies to basically steal what little money publishers could give away from game developers.

 

No self respecting gamer will ever trade voice acting for quality game developers who are already mistreated and supporting this fucking bullshit automatically adds insult to injury.

[Samfisher]

No self respecting gamer will ever trade voice acting for quality game developers who are already mistreated and supporting this fucking bullshit automatically adds insult to injury.

 

Sure, I'd take gameplay over voice acting any day but would that be the full and best experience available to me?  Hell no it wouldn't.  Great voice acting elevates games, and adds a lot to my experience.  Doesn't matter if it doesn't for you.  It's not a sum zero game, publishers are the filthiest richest people of all game development.