[Suggestion] Better direction work for voice actors

[Ashantara.8731]

I created another Charr character last night and am currently playing through the personal story. I've noticed what a great job the Rytlock voice actor (as an example) did at the time and how painful it is to listen to his later work (or the voice acting in general these days), for the following reasons:

• Back then, the tempo and articulation sounded natural. These days, the tempo is too slow and there is a heavy exhaling at the end of each sentence and before each pause, as if the character (or their actor) was asked to sound super annoyed or short of breath 24/7 (something that goes for almost all the character voices these days, not just Rytlock).
• Back then, there wasn't as much of that terrible "I'm still chewing on my lunch and half of it is stuck in my throat" sound effect that is being added to all Charr dialogue as there is these days. It was a lot more decent and properly used back then, nowadays it's overused and making me cringe.

I hope we will see progress (or rather regress in this case) towards better quality spoken dialogue in the future. Cheers. :)

[Ultramex.1506]

Inb4 people says "i never notice". I agree with you about gw2 voice acting, Taimi and Gorrik are two examples of great voice acting since they sounded natural, nothing against Steve Blum but whenever he speaks he sounds tired and so am i from hearing him talks. And Braham! Oh boy. And Kate Miller after HoT? Dear oh dear.

[ugrakarma.9416]

rhinitis cause this problem of looking tired(or heavy exhaling) when speaking.

[Vavume.8065]

I've never liked the voice acting in this game.

[Dawdler.8521]

Director to Asuran voice actor:"No no no... more superior!"

[Ashantara.8731]

@"Ultramex.1506" said:Inb4 people says "i never notice". I agree with you about gw2 voice acting, Taimi and Gorrik are two examples of great voice acting since they sounded natural, nothing against Steve Blum but whenever he speaks he sounds tired and so am i from hearing him talks. And Braham! Oh boy. And Kate Miller after HoT? Dear oh dear.

I so agree on all of the above! Thank you for confirming my perception. :)

@"Dawdler.8521" said:Director to Asuran voice actor:"No no no... more superior!"

LOL, exactly! :p

@Vavume.8065 said:I've never liked the voice acting in this game.

Well, there were times when they had actually perfectly good results. Those are rare, though, I admit (worst early example: Trahearne).

@ugrakarma.9416 said:rhinitis cause this problem of looking tired(or heavy exhaling) when speaking.

...and >50% of GW2 voice actors these days have it? ;)

[Trise.2865]

Yeah... because Steve Blum suddenly forgot how to act. Okay then.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Trise.2865 said:Yeah... because Steve Blum suddenly forgot how to act. Okay then.

Please read more carefully, especially since the title already explains that it's about the directions given to the actors - no actor is at fault here regarding the results, I am sure.

[Randulf.7614]

I have no exhaling in my clients dialogue? Is this the English language client or a diff one?

[Ashantara.8731]

@Randulf.7614 said:I have no exhaling in my clients dialogue? Is this the English language client or a diff one?

English, yes. And it's there, very loud and clear, depending on whether you are playing the parts of the game we were referring to (HoT, LWS3, PoF and LWS 4, it's been getting worse with each new release - check out Braham and Rytlock for good examples of the phenomenon).

[starhunter.6015]

You do realize often times many VA's across many dubbing platforms tend to be able to ad-lib most lines. Also that Rytlock is worn out and tired specially in the last season. He comes across as someone who just wants it to end.

[Linken.6345]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@"Randulf.7614" said:I have no exhaling in my clients dialogue? Is this the English language client or a diff one?

English, yes. And it's there, very loud and clear, depending on whether you are playing the parts of the game we were referring to (HoT, LWS3, PoF and LWS 4, it's been getting worse with each new release - check out Braham and Rytlock for good examples of the phenomenon).

Is it present in this video?

[Ashantara.8731]

@"Linken.6345" said:Is it present in this video?

I've watched all the videos, and in this case, when he talks, he talks normally. The Rytlock clips are pretty short, so you can't tell as clearly as you can in-game. Furthermore, don't forget that they are also adding an effect to charr voices, which I loathe.

Again, I would like to make it very clear that GW2 has fantastic voice actors. If you have not watched the clips yet, you should -

!

I strongly believe that the things I've listed in my OP are a results of the directions given to the actor(s): to speak slower (which does drag out your breath, so to speak, resulting in said loud exhaling), to intonate differently etc. That can become a real issue, because it can lead to negative results. A more natural speech flow is preferable.

What I also don't understand is why they are putting voice morph filters over the voices of the male Charr and Norn PCs. They have perfectly fine voices and are doing a great job in the recording studio, the additional effects only ruin their work (like making their voices sound way too deep). Perhaps reduce the effect levels?

[crepuscular.9047]

give Rytlock a break, the kitty is getting old

maybe someday we will finally see Rytlock Jr