I see Zojja is Back.

[idpersona.3810]

27 minutes ago, Malus.2184 said:

One thing I see no one notice is that this version of Zojja is actually emoting with her voice. The old Zojja was just reading the lines in a snarky voice.

They've made a point of saying she's grown in her time away. It will be interesting to see what they actually do with her. Hopefully something worthwhile.

Edited July 28, 2023 by idpersona.3810

[Ravenwulfe.5360]

22 minutes ago, Malus.2184 said:

One thing I see no one notice is that this version of Zojja is actually emoting with her voice. The old Zojja was just reading the lines in a snarky voice.

I mean you can say that about most of the old Destiny's Edge crew. A lot of the core game VAs always felt like they were just reading their line, though Rytlok's VA seemed to put in some effort. Trahearne especially always annoyed me with how flatly he read his lines, especially in moments when he was suppose to be upset, or expressing some emotion.

 

3 hours ago, GeraldBC.4927 said:

Surprisingly enough, it's the old one. Despite her troubled relationship with the company. Way back before HoT, there was some drama where her colossal ego clashed with Arenanet's unwillingness to fall on their knees and give her everything she demanded. 

In a move definitely not prompted by Felicia's behavior, Arenanet had her character lobotomized after HoT. I didn't believe my own eyes on that last one either, but you can look it up on the LWS3 section in Zojja's article on the wiki. I look forward to seeing how they explain her suffering serious brain damage and somehow just walking it off. 

Reading it, it doesn't say she was lobotomized, it says there was a rumor that she was "scrambled and drooling" but nothing else beyond that.

[Malus.2184]

17 hours ago, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

I mean you can say that about most of the old Destiny's Edge crew. A lot of the core game VAs always felt like they were just reading their line, though Rytlok's VA seemed to put in some effort. Trahearne especially always annoyed me with how flatly he read his lines, especially in moments when he was suppose to be upset, or expressing some emotion.

That was a result of the nature of the cut-scenes. Since they used in-game models it was limited what facial expressions could be shown and as such they were in default neutral mode so, it was difficult to portray emotions since the suspension of disbelief will be broken if the character sounds like one thing and looks like another, and the cut-scenes upscale the model and show the face in such a way that it's impossible to abstract from it. This subconsciously affects the VAs and everyone working with them as well, as a result, the delivery is flat and the voice staff is okay with it. Rytlock was the exception to this since the Charr even at rest looks angry, so, Blum and the Charr VA could deliver their lines with that emotion in them without issue.

This is evidenced by that the moment ANet went away from using those cut-scenes the quality of delivery instantly rose since people can abstract from the emotions in the voices in-game contra the expression of the faces since the in-game model is a small part of the interface. People know subconsciously that the in-game model is unable to show subtle emotions so, they subconsciously make allowances for it and abstract, this is the suspension of disbelief. If things look plausible enough then our brains will be willing to believe it.

As I said, the quality of delivery instantly improved and the characters were a lot more emotive, except for Zojja who still said everything in a rather flat voice. And this is the reason I say that Felicia Day in the past had a bad VA delivery.

[Quench.7091]

I want to know what happened with her brain injury. Zojja has got some explaining to do after getting up and leaving. It was kind of a big deal, since she was one of the casualties of the HoT expansion. We got to see the ghosts of Eir and Snaff emerge from the Mists before we got to see Zojja come to. What does she think about Eir's death? We raised the daughter of Glint from an egg! So much happened while she was sleeping! Is she going to overlook it all with no room for discussions?

Edited July 29, 2023 by Quench.7091

[babana.7521]

On 7/3/2023 at 11:59 AM, Dante.1508 said:

I'm very happy to see her return, she has been gone far too long... 😒

Did her voice actress return or is there a new one?
🥰

She dies at the end of SOTO  /runs
yeah, they did an interview and it turn into everything about the voice actress instead of about zojja. 

[Ravenwulfe.5360]

7 hours ago, Malus.2184 said:

That was a result of the nature of the cut-scenes. Since they used in-game models it was limited what facial expressions could be shown and as such they were in default neutral mode so, it was difficult to portray emotions since the suspension of disbelief will be broken if the character sounds like one thing and looks like another, and the cut-scenes upscale the model and show the face in such a way that it's impossible to abstract from it. This subconsciously affects the VAs and everyone working with them as well, as a result, the delivery is flat and the voice staff is okay with it. Rytlock was the exception to this since the Charr even at rest looks angry, so, Blum and the Charr VA could deliver their lines with that emotion in them without issue.

This is evidenced by that the moment ANet went away from using those cut-scenes the quality of delivery instantly rose since people can abstract from the emotions in the voices in-game contra the expression of the faces since the in-game model is a small part of the interface. People know subconsciously that the in-game model is unable to show subtle emotions so, they subconsciously make allowances for it and abstract, this is the suspension of disbelief. If things look plausible enough then our brains will be willing to believe it.

As I said, the quality of delivery instantly improved and the characters were a lot more emotive, except for Zojja who still said everything in a rather flat voice. And this is the reason I say that Felicia Day in the past had a bad VA delivery.

What does the cut scene animations have to do with the VA emoting? Again, someone can emote in their voice, it has nothing to do with the animations or the cut scenes. The Trahearne VA read the lines flatly. Like when you are in the Orr scene being exposited the plot that he magically knows all the sudden, he doesn't express any emotion in his voice at all. Where he is suppose to be angry, or confused, or surprised, he reads the lines almost the exact same way.

I don't think you are understanding that emotion expressed in the voice has little to nothing to do with the animation.

[Eekasqueak.7850]

A lot of GW1 VA was also very rough and it's something they definitely improved on over the years. Early IBS had some amazing work. 

[Randulf.7614]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:43 PM, Malus.2184 said:

One thing I see no one notice is that this version of Zojja is actually emoting with her voice. The old Zojja was just reading the lines in a snarky voice.

It has been a couple of times, but it’s worth noting the extra efforts by both the directors of each scene and the VA themselves to raise the bar with the acting. Whether anyone likes or dislikes the story or the writing itself, the attention to detail and emotion in the delivery of dialogue has certainly improved and evolved over time. I think that’s something worth crediting Anet and their VA team for

[Malus.2184]

1 hour ago, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

What does the cut scene animations have to do with the VA emoting? Again, someone can emote in their voice, it has nothing to do with the animations or the cut scenes. The Trahearne VA read the lines flatly. Like when you are in the Orr scene being exposited the plot that he magically knows all the sudden, he doesn't express any emotion in his voice at all. Where he is suppose to be angry, or confused, or surprised, he reads the lines almost the exact same way.

I don't think you are understanding that emotion expressed in the voice has little to nothing to do with the animation.

It affects their suspicion of disbelief as well. It's really difficult to portray any emotion in your voice when the face, that everyone can see, portrays nothing since it creates dissonance in us. And what's shown in animation has a lot with how stuff is delivered. One example is when the turtles in Mutant Mayhem go "It's ooze" etc etc, their motions and voice pitch would look weird if it was a photorealistic style as the only reasonable interpretation was that they were high as a kite. The VA, due to their age and lack of experience would also find it difficult to hit the right mood. Because of the grungy animation it looks and sounds natural when they do it.

[Ravenwulfe.5360]

2 minutes ago, Malus.2184 said:

It affects their suspicion of disbelief as well. It's really difficult to portray any emotion in your voice when the face, that everyone can see, portrays nothing since it creates dissonance in us. And what's shown in animation has a lot with how stuff is delivered. One example is when the turtles in Mutant Mayhem go "It's ooze" etc etc, their motions and voice pitch would look weird if it was a photorealistic style as the only reasonable interpretation was that they were high as a kite. The VA, due to their age and lack of experience would also find it difficult to hit the right mood. Because of the grungy animation it looks and sounds natural when they do it.

The VAs are not watching the character. I don't pay attention to the animations and in the world, you aren't subject to a cut scene when running down a path while someone is talking. This isn't what's causing a disconnect. This is just not what people are talking about and the animations have nothing, zero, zilch to do with how the VAs are reading their lines.

[Malus.2184]

20 minutes ago, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

The VAs are not watching the character. I don't pay attention to the animations and in the world, you aren't subject to a cut scene when running down a path while someone is talking. This isn't what's causing a disconnect. This is just not what people are talking about and the animations have nothing, zero, zilch to do with how the VAs are reading their lines.

Unless they're in early production and then they have a VA director directing them. They do know what they're voicing to prepare them for their role. VA is acting like any other acting gig. They need to know to be able to portray stuff to the best of their ability. I find it amazing how you can express that nothing changed when the objective reality has a clear distinction in performance. You can also experience it for yourself in the Core game. When Destiny's Edge meets in LA you can hear the weight of their past history in their voices, except for Zojja, and when they interact in the cut-scenes the same sense of the past history is gone. You can see the same thing when Logan and Rytlock interact in the cut-scenes and then the difference in how they emote in the animated cut-scene where Logan falls, and Logan is voiced by Troy Baker who had a long career before he voiced Logan and was considered a skilled VA who knew his stuff already before then. And he's still flat in those "talking head" scenes.

[Ravenwulfe.5360]

7 hours ago, Malus.2184 said:

Unless they're in early production and then they have a VA director directing them. They do know what they're voicing to prepare them for their role. VA is acting like any other acting gig. They need to know to be able to portray stuff to the best of their ability. I find it amazing how you can express that nothing changed when the objective reality has a clear distinction in performance. You can also experience it for yourself in the Core game. When Destiny's Edge meets in LA you can hear the weight of their past history in their voices, except for Zojja, and when they interact in the cut-scenes the same sense of the past history is gone. You can see the same thing when Logan and Rytlock interact in the cut-scenes and then the difference in how they emote in the animated cut-scene where Logan falls, and Logan is voiced by Troy Baker who had a long career before he voiced Logan and was considered a skilled VA who knew his stuff already before then. And he's still flat in those "talking head" scenes.

VA lines are typically recorded long before animations are finalized. You are trying to create a scenario that just isn't happening. Outside of mocapping and facial reading they do, which I don't think ANet is using for the VAs, most recordings take place well in advance for the actual scene has been programmed fully into the game, and even finalized. Not to mention changes and such that can happen as a result between inception to finish due to issues that crop up like the scenario just won't work the way you want when programmed in.

It's why in a lot of games what is said doesn't match the sub titles since when the lines were recorded versus the script for the subtitles being completely different. I know a lot of Disney documentations and such like to make it seems the animation and VA work are happening side by side, but they often aren't.

[Malus.2184]

6 hours ago, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

VA lines are typically recorded long before animations are finalized. You are trying to create a scenario that just isn't happening. Outside of mocapping and facial reading they do, which I don't think ANet is using for the VAs, most recordings take place well in advance for the actual scene has been programmed fully into the game, and even finalized. Not to mention changes and such that can happen as a result between inception to finish due to issues that crop up like the scenario just won't work the way you want when programmed in.

It's why in a lot of games what is said doesn't match the sub titles since when the lines were recorded versus the script for the subtitles being completely different. I know a lot of Disney documentations and such like to make it seems the animation and VA work are happening side by side, but they often aren't.

That's the reason there are voice directors and that people are called in for reshoots if there are problems getting it to match, the same thing is done with physical acting. And if the VA is given no references then the voice director will be their reference and if the voice director's reference is something neutral then that will be their direction and will accept a neutral performance.

[Dante.1508]

23 hours ago, babana.7521 said:

She dies at the end of SOTO  /runs
yeah, they did an interview and it turn into everything about the voice actress instead of about zojja. 

I wouldn't put it past anet..

[Dante.1508]

On 7/29/2023 at 12:43 AM, Malus.2184 said:

One thing I see no one notice is that this version of Zojja is actually emoting with her voice. The old Zojja was just reading the lines in a snarky voice.

Where are you seeing that?

[Malus.2184]

4 hours ago, Dante.1508 said:

Where are you seeing that?

In the video, I linked. There are actual, contextual emotions in the voice lines for Zojja.

[Dante.1508]

On 7/28/2023 at 12:48 PM, Ravenwulfe.5360 said:

Curious how many would stop caring if Zojja wasn't voiced by Felicia Day. Honestly, never found Zojja that interesting, just conspicuously absent compared to others.

I like Felicia Day a lot but if Zojja was re-voiced i'd still love her, shes literally the first main Asura you meet at the beginning of the Asura life story. And to me she was pretty great.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Dante.1508

[Dovienya.6597]

On 7/18/2023 at 1:14 PM, Gamhuin.6914 said:

He already voices the male norn player character.  😛

He also voices Canach now.