That's great, but do you think that's how the majority of people play video games? If all voice actors disappeared, people would just be "huh, oh well"?
> and I often will play the game on silent with some other source of audio playing alongside.
GP doesn’t listen to any sounds coming from games. That means sound effects, background music, etc.
That claim is so interesting to me. I don’t doubt it. But following GP’s logic, he must also think music composers for games aren’t important either.
Imagine Ocarina of Time being played without sound lol. Or even a music game being played without sound.
Or even games like Overwatch. There might be accessibility modes but if you don’t turn them on, you’re going to be SOL when someone on the enemy team does an audio cue and is about to ult and you can’t see them.
I do play games without sound sometimes. (For example, you don’t really need audio cues for League and I won’t listen to sound if my hair is drying and I don’t want to put the headphones on.) But it depends on the game and the circumstances, of course. That’s what I think a reasonable person would say lol
Back to specifically voice acting, I do recall the Overwatch voice actors having a huge fan base early on.
But I also pay for musical soundtracks separately if I am able (Bandcamp.com), those musicians can get money from me by making the album available for purchase and I do.
But if I recall the musicians are not on strike and not the topic of the article that was shared.
I know, but you said in general that you don’t listen to any sound. Maybe you shouldn’t have ended your original comment like that lol.
When I play games I turn off Music, and skip cut scenes, I want to play a game not watch a movie. If i want a movie I watch a movie...
the FPS I only leave on sounds required for the game, and most of the time I have my own music, youtube or some podcast on in the background as i am playing.
For non-FPS games, I turn off the sound completely.
I suspect my style of game play is more common that you would believe.
If voice actors disappears from gaming, I would not notice at all.
What % of people playing games do you think play it this way?
Most FPS games that have ranked competitive modes put very significant audio cues in. If you’re playing without sound, you’re freely giving up a significant advantage. Often audio is mechanically important.
However our preferences aren't the point of the article. It's the actors being cloned by the generative stuff that's in fashion without compensation that is.
As a gamer, based on the output of the image generators and chatgpt that i've seen, games making use of "AI" generated content will be borefests and I'll skip them anyway.
But then you miss out on the story. (Also, cut scenes usually aren’t that long lol.) I do sometimes speed up when NPCs speak because I can read faster. But when I do this too much, it actually begins to feel like the game is pointless.
> I suspect my style of game play is more common that you would believe.
Nope. If you read my original comment, I also acknowledged that I sometimes play games without sound. I also use YouTube while playing games.
Very rarely do I care.. I am wanting to blow things up, shoot something, etc.
if I want the story I can just go find the YT Video someone made of all the cut scenes played back to back...
//for the record, I am the type that loves spoliers, and reads about the ending of a movie while I am watching it... it does not "spoil" it for me.
But yes, a point I made in my original comment is that this all depends on the specific game and your circumstances whether and how much sound you listen to.
You'll be able to dial knobs for the voice itself - pitch, timbre, gender, age. Then adjust more knobs for emotional control (or infer it from other cues).
This will allow for fully-dynamic storytelling where the characters know your name and can respond to your infinite array of actions.
This tech already exists now though it is somewhat in its infancy.
How much better did Patrick Stewart make Oblivion? How better was the game from him being part of it?
Maybe stop and consider what led you here, and if this is really a position you sincerely believe and wish to defend.
I doubt that the working actor who is in the background of you favorite TV show does much for your experience. But he still needs to get paid.
I don't remember specific actor adding much to my experience ever.
If that's true, maybe you've only played games without quality voice actors, and they should have tapped into some SAG-AFTRA talent. Because if you had played any of the games I mentioned, it would be absurd to claim that none of voice actors added much to the experience.
To answer you new question, "Are you seriously telling me there is absolutely no as skilled people available outside SAG-AFTRA?"
No, I never said anything at all like that. I am only saying voice actors can add value and be memorable.
You could find a comparably talented person outside the SAG-AFTRA, who could do an amazing job. But that new person would also add to the experience, be memorable, and deserve recognition and remuneration.