Volunteer voice actors?

[insidious89]

Well, I'm sure these forums could conjur up better voice-acting (and better variety) than what Bethesda has had in their games.

[Bryy]

I don't know a lot about how this sort of thing works, but wouldn't using unpaid voice actors in a commercial product make the project non-union, making it difficult or impossible to get any professionals on board?

 

Yeah, the SAG is really, really, reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally strict about what projects their actors can be a part of.

[Karkarov]

Like I said in the original thread I don't see why so many people are totally opposed to the idea.  It isn't like the game includes sweeping dialog.  If people are willing to let obsidian use their voice free for stuff like "ugh  arrrrrr I need healing!" and or "get your potions here" level combat grunts/background noise I don't see an issue.  That is what most of the VA in the game will actually be according to info released up to this point anyway.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Karkarov

[Larkaloke]

An interesting idea, but I believe it would be far more trouble than it would be worth. Most of the people here are probably not very good at voice acting -- although there may be some who are, I shan't rule it out -- and of those of us who are actors of any sort at all, most of us probably don't have proper voice recording equipment (I know I don't). Carrying out such an audition process would be quite a pain all on its own and would take up a deal of time.

 

As I would have no problem with it even if I discovered that there was no voice acting whatsoever in the entire game, although I do find the occasional snippet now and again to add to the experience, I don't think that adding a few more snippets more would be worth all that trouble. Besides, it isn't all that hard to get enough actors together for the amount of dialogue they have (actors, as a rule, are more plentiful than the work for them), and it would be far easier for them to just do so by their normal methods -- or even a volunteer call in the studio's area specifically -- rather than trying to wrangle a large group of online volunteers into getting the right lines with the right direction and the right recording quality sent in on time.

[Abel]

I say no too. I don't like fully voiced games. I by far prefer some cool voice hooks, like in BG. In french version, many are pretty ridiculous, but hey... just some fun.

 

Furthermore, it has already been pointed. No voice actor = possibility to change and adapt dialogues when needed, even during beta. Just a little tweak needed.

[Eyeshield1625]

If it was just backer than no, but if they were able to get good voice actors to do parts then yes. Though I don't think anyone expects this game to have voice overs (which is what I voted). I honestly would rather just read the text and use my imagination for what the characters sound like. Also even if they didn't pay the actors the time in the recording studio could get costly. 

[AGX-17]

That's a 100% successful method to make sure a game is remembered for its monumentally ****ty voicework.

Edited December 15, 2013 by AGX-17

[Kjaamor]

I don't think I shall ever come across as a more maddeningly superior bell-end on these forums, but this is one of those topics where people who truly understand what this means are all voting one way, whilst people who don't understand are making it sound like there is some sort of discussion.

 

Hiring professionals is cheaper and better. Walk away.

[Walsingham]

Speaking as a member with voice training, I'm fully up for it. Bring on the posh chat there.

[Bryy]

Like I said in the original thread I don't see why so many people are totally opposed to the idea.  It isn't like the game includes sweeping dialog.  If people are willing to let obsidian use their voice free for stuff like "ugh  arrrrrr I need healing!" and or "get your potions here" level combat grunts/background noise I don't see an issue.  That is what most of the VA in the game will actually be according to info released up to this point anyway.

 

So you're saying you'd let bad VO slide just because it was a sentence?

[Karkarov]

So you're saying you'd let bad VO slide just because it was a sentence?

I have been playing BG2 recently.  I got four words for you.

 

WHAT IN THE HECK!

 

I wish I knew because this same guy in Athkatla screams it out about every 5 minutes it seems like and he doesn't really sound like a professional voice actor doing it.  And since that's what 90% of the voice work of Baldur's Gate is.... I find it really funny you guys seem to think you need VA like James Earl Jones or something.  I am talking about maybe letting volunteers do some background noise or grunting sounds.  Do you really think we need Jack Black for a "UGHHHH!!!" sound bite?  You could even have the "free" background stuff just be people reading a script that is normal conversation then they layer it like over 4 other conversations so it just sounds like people talking in a crowd.

 

 

Hiring professionals is cheaper and better. Walk away.

This is the part that really leaves me scratching my head.  Hiring professionals to do voice work is cheaper than someone doing it for you for free?  What????

[Tamerlane]

1: Professional doesn't equal famous person. Professional literally means "person that is paid to do things". And yes, you should have professionals working for you, because what are you, some sort of scab?

 

2: Trying to organize a bunch of random nerds from around the world would be a nightmarish prospect, and you would have to pay someone to waste their time herding all those cats. All those terrible, stupid cats with no actual obligations to the project and with no real organization or direction and oh god no no no no no no no

 

3: No no no no no no no no no no no no

 

4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ

[Karkarov]

1: Professional doesn't equal famous person. Professional literally means "person that is paid to do things". And yes, you should have professionals working for you, because what are you, some sort of scab?

Fair enough but I was just pointing out that other than the narrator I doubt there was any "professional" VA in BG for example.  Half of Bethesda's voice work is even now Dudes from Accounting.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

 

Fair enough but I was just pointing out that other than the narrator I doubt there was any "professional" VA in BG for example.  Half of Bethesda's voice work is even now Dudes from Accounting.

 

 

You would be wrong. There were many professional voice actors in BG1/2.

[Tamerlane]

 

1: Professional doesn't equal famous person. Professional literally means "person that is paid to do things". And yes, you should have professionals working for you, because what are you, some sort of scab?

Fair enough but I was just pointing out that other than the narrator I doubt there was any "professional" VA in BG for example.  Half of Bethesda's voice work is even now Dudes from Accounting.

 

Well, we saw how well that worked for the ending slides of NWN2 (though to be fair, Brian Mitsoda sounded a lot less out of place in VTMB).

[Cubiq]

They would also need to record it at a professional recording studio unless everyone at home has recording equipment of up to 5000 eur.

Or everyone will sound like they have clogged noses.

 

If they want some untrained random people they can easily get some of their own friends or family or even other people in the building to help, but i doubt that's how they do things.

[Karkarov]

 

 

Fair enough but I was just pointing out that other than the narrator I doubt there was any "professional" VA in BG for example.  Half of Bethesda's voice work is even now Dudes from Accounting.

 

 

You would be wrong. There were many professional voice actors in BG1/2.

 

I sure hope they didn't pay the "Nyuggghahaha I kicked him in the head until he was dead Nyuggggahahahaha" guy.  If they did they really need to get their money back.

[Cubiq]

I sure hope they didn't pay the "Nyuggghahaha I kicked him in the head until he was dead Nyuggggahahahaha" guy.  If they did they really need to get their money back.

Opposed to what?

The strained **** voice acting that came with the npc mods? I'll take the bandit quote any day of the week.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

 

I sure hope they didn't pay the "Nyuggghahaha I kicked him in the head until he was dead Nyuggggahahahaha" guy.  If they did they really need to get their money back.

 

 

I suggest doing some research on voice actors on BG1/2 and voice actors in games in general.

 

For instance Jim Cummings who did voices for Interplay/Black Isle such as Fallout - Set, Gizmo, The Master. BG1/2 - Minsc, Gorion, Mulahey, Lord Jierdan Firkraag, Red Dragon, Ogres, Genie. He was also the voice actor in Transformers.

 

Also voice actor Frank Welker who did Megatron, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Frenzy, Ravage, Rat Bat, Mirage and other transformers in the 80s also did Elminster, Eltan, Korax, Werewolves, Durlag, Greater Dopplegangers, Terminsel, Lord Cor Delryn, Avatar of Amaunator and others for BG1/2.

 

You don't need to get many untrained people to do many voices. You can get one professional voice actor to do many voices.

[CaptainMace]

The problem with the bandit quote is that you hear it, sometimes, 8 times in a row in 5 seconds...

And yeah, in the french version for example, the only good thing about the voice acting was that it was hilarious (because actors didn't take it seriously at all). But yeah, it was really awful.

 

You don't need to get many untrained people to do many voices. You can get one professional voice actor to do many voices.

 

Doesn't it cost an arm or something ? I thought actors were paid by line and paid well (depending on the studio they worked with) which, in my mind, always explained why Eidos crashed in 2005 (Legacy of Kain last release).

Edited December 16, 2013 by CaptainMace

[Elerond]

 

1: Professional doesn't equal famous person. Professional literally means "person that is paid to do things". And yes, you should have professionals working for you, because what are you, some sort of scab?

Fair enough but I was just pointing out that other than the narrator I doubt there was any "professional" VA in BG for example.  Half of Bethesda's voice work is even now Dudes from Accounting.

 

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167018/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

[Osvir]

I don't really see the problem with volunteer voice acting, I mean, if it's up to snuff and the volunteer actually has good gear and all... why not? It doesn't cost Obsidian anything... volunteer, after all. Well, the only thing they would have to do would be to send out scripts to these selected few.

Otherwise, probably lots of opportunity for volunteers to add their voice post-release as well.

Perhaps even allow in the files for modders or Voice Actor Wannabes to, potentially, make the game entirely VO'd.

And some selfish promotion while I'm at it:
A) "I've" got a Studio (It's my dad's studio, so that might be a lil bit of an arrangement in itself to borrow it). Otherwise, renting a Studio is fairly cheap in Sweden (I think it ranges from about $200 to $500, depending on how big is it etc. etc. not hourly costs but total costs for 1 session). I'd pay for this myself of course.
B) My voice got a wide range of "sounds", this is something I've practiced. I don't have any of it recorded, but I hope I am believable enough:
- I can do a pretty good Smeagol/Gollum imitation
- Pingu the Finnish Penguin ()
- Pingu is pretty high pitch, and to balance that is that I can go pretty low pitch too

So if Obsidian would be interested in this, a creature, some character with a weird high-pitched voice or a low-pitched barbarian voice (I did an Orc Cleric Voice and I managed, with Audacity, to make it sound like a Grunt from WarCraft 3, almost identical ^^). Even if it's only a sound set, or a short dialogue line or whatever and they don't want to spend too much money on it. Just... feel free to use me. I also went to school for theater, if that's a merit *shrug*

I sing a lot and have been doing so for quite a long time, so I'm pretty confident and sure of what my voice can do and what it can't do.

All I'm saying is that there are free assets to use here. Maybe not me if I'm not trustworthy, or credible, or whatever Obsidian feels about it (I don't honestly care much what the fans think, because this is entirely up to Obsidian whether they want to use this or not), but I can't help but feel that there's an untapped "mineral vein" here that could be used. A voice is expensive, I've both heard and read, and if it's outsourced it's expensive as ****.

So why not?

[Mabec]

First i thought "Why not" - then i remember the blabbering in BG and how annoying it where in each battle. 

[eimatshya]

All I'm saying is that there are free assets to use here. Maybe not me if I'm not trustworthy, or credible, or whatever Obsidian feels about it (I don't honestly care much what the fans think, because this is entirely up to Obsidian whether they want to use this or not), but I can't help but feel that there's an untapped "mineral vein" here that could be used. A voice is expensive, I've both heard and read, and if it's outsourced it's expensive as ****.

 

So why not?

In addition to the previously mentioned issue of union rules, the logistics of trying to organize a bunch of strangers all over the world to get the right lines done on time and with the desired level of quality, both in terms of performance and audio quality, would be a pretty big task. It's obviously possible, but it wouldn't be "free" since someone at Obsidian would have to put in a lot of work to coordinate the whole endeavor and evaluate the resulting audio submissions. 

[Kjaamor]

*Snip*

 

See previous thread.

 

Short answer, I'm still asking everyone to walk away, and am beginning to wonder if half the people posting aren't just trolling.