Peace means more drama - who cares?

At $759 for a four hour session – apparently.

That is, according to the LA Times, SAG (Screen Actors Guild) has agreed a new rate of $759 per four hour session with no residuals. So, EA et al won then.

I’ve noted previous (here and here) that games companies have been looking to punters to supply some talent. And of course there is SOEs lamentable Quest for Antonia (no I’m not going to link to it, no no no).

I wonder if the MMO market cares.

First off, we certainly don’t need stars in MMOs. Well licence based ones like SWG and The Matrix Online certainly have a case for using stars’ voices for key characters (though given the recent news of a reduction from 9 servers to 3 for to increase ‘opportunities for socializing’ The Matrix can use all the help it can get).

But, heck, do we even neeeed good voice acting in an MMO?

Have you ever noticed or cared about a bad voice part? Sure details help, but SAGing the voice seems over kill when we can grab a producer that can string a sentence together.

Comments

[Simes]

1.

I'd just like it if, when there are "Scots" characters, they used voice actors who can actually do a decent Scots accent. Some of the stuff in WoW really, really grates, and it's made worse because the NPCs all have a pretty limited set of phrases.

[Steve Williams]

2.

Voice acting is an immersion tool. We're getting what we're paying for, and I'm wondering if anyone has actually sat down with players and asked them how effective it is.

Personally, the voice acting is generally good. As in most things, however, one bad voice actor and the whole thing falls apart. As long as there isn't too much bad with the good, my immersion is definitely enhanced by the inclusion of voice.

Celebrity voices are of very limited appeal. Both Earth and Beyond and Everquest II used their celebrity voices to poor effect, making them almost easter eggs rather than critical plot advancing scenes.

Incidentally, with the coming of integrated voice in our next MMOs, this discussion will be revisited again when talking about the immersion of talking to other players...

SW

[Damion Schubert]

3.

This recording rate doesn't affect the stars. If you're Sean Connery or 50 Cent, you're getting a lot more money than the going rate. This recording rate affects the recording industry grunts, who make ends meet with small voice acting gigs.

Interestingly, most of the time, no-name actors give better voice acting than the stars. Part of it is that it's somewhat jarring when David Duchovny's voice is coming out of something that looks nothing like it. But more to the point, there is definitely an art to voice acting, and people who do cartoons and video games understand the nuances of the craft far better.

I'm glad they got their raise. It was solely their request for royalties that raised my ire.

[jj]

4.

The voice acting in Guild Wars is a great addition to the game and well worth that kind of hourly rate, considering those of us who often go thru missions repetitively with new players who don't want to skip the cut scenes. It's also just a sign of quality overall. Like music, it's part of the atmosphere of the game and tends to stick in your brain, so one can only heartily bless the actor/actress who has an appealing and interesting voice. ;)

[Galrahn]

5.

Every game already has superstars, fortunately they happen INSIDE the game where GAMERS that play the game in question.

I am willing to bet there is at least 1 very popular person in the MMOG server you play on, no matter what game it is. I don't see why they don't market those peoples CHARACTERS.

MMO gaming is about the characters, not the people or the persona.