So if a voice actor quits/is fired/dies/whatever.... then what?

bleed0range

For this game to continue on, I assume that after your "story" has ended they intend to add further new stories or expand upon that initial set of class stories with a "sequel" of sorts in an expansion.  So, this means that in the lifetime of the game, for your character that you initially create, you need the voice actors who represent them to continue working with the game.

So if the game becomes hugely successful, the actors may ask for a ridiculous amount of money to be compensated for their work.  What if BioWare won't/can't pay them and they refuse to do it?  What if a voice actor gets fired for some reason, or in the worst case scenario dies in the next decade or so that the game may last?  Then what happens?

To a point they can maybe find someone who sounds similar to the original character (like with those who do bugs bunny, daffy duck), but it will never be dead-on similar.  So will there come a point in the leveling and progression of your character where their voice suddenly changes?

That would kill immersion a tad.

Kendane

Than they find someone who sounds close to them, people NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERDRAGE, and everyone moves on with their lives.

artemisentr4

You would have to shut down the servers and cancel the game.

 

It really wouldn't be that big of a deal. They could just have you get injured or something. You would have a mask or a new voice box. But I doubt it would be a huge change that many would question if that happened. Just hire someone else and move on. It is a great aspect to the game to have all the VO. But who is doing the VO in the future won't kill the game. Well, unless they add Jar Jar.

Omali

I imagine they'll write based on what they can get. Like how in Harry Potter when that one kid (Crabb) was arrested and subsequently fired from the cast, they wrote in another character to take his place. 

The game's voice actors are professionals, remember. Ellen McLaine, for instance, didn't hold the GlaDOS in Portal 2 hostage because Portal 1 was such a success, so I doubt that will be the case here. Now, if an actor dies, they'll just have to find someone else. 

VikingGamer

As much as possible they  will try to get all the voice acting for a character done in one set of sessions so that it wont be a problem. This is what they will do with most minor character. The major character may have ongoing parts as the story progresses but again you try to keep these to a minimum. Then if something happens you either write that character out if you can or you get a similar voice or worse case you get someone with a voice that is close enough and have them revoice all the parts so it sound consistent. most people will not notice a wholesale change from one actor to another if all parts change at once. Unless it is a huge part like the voice for one of the player characters. Then they are probably screwed.

apollobsg75

I'm sure no one will log in at patch day of a new expansion and find their bad ass max lvl bounty hunter going from sounding like Vin Disel to Richard Simmons.

xKingdomx

Voice ACtors change all the time, and sometimes, most players won't even realise. Most recent one comes to mind is Hayley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City.

bleed0range

Originally posted by VikingGamer

As much as possible they  will try to get all the voice acting for a character done in one set of sessions so that it wont be a problem. This is what they will do with most minor character. The major character may have ongoing parts as the story progresses but again you try to keep these to a minimum. Then if something happens you either write that character out if you can or you get a similar voice or worse case you get someone with a voice that is close enough and have them revoice all the parts so it sound consistent. most people will not notice a wholesale change from one actor to another if all parts change at once. Unless it is a huge part like the voice for one of the player characters. Then they are probably screwed.

Player characters are what I was mainly talking about.  I feel you will notice since you'll hear the voice over and over for a long period of time.

In any case, don't let this thread/question make me look like I'm anti-TOR or something.  I'm quite excited, but I was thinking about a legitimate question.

Tardcore

Originally posted by bleed0range

For this game to continue on, I assume that after your "story" has ended they intend to add further new stories or expand upon that initial set of class stories with a "sequel" of sorts in an expansion.  So, this means that in the lifetime of the game, for your character that you initially create, you need the voice actors who represent them to continue working with the game.

So if the game becomes hugely successful, the actors may ask for a ridiculous amount of money to be compensated for their work.  What if BioWare won't/can't pay them and they refuse to do it?  What if a voice actor gets fired for some reason, or in the worst case scenario dies in the next decade or so that the game may last?  Then what happens?

To a point they can maybe find someone who sounds similar to the original character (like with those who do bugs bunny, daffy duck), but it will never be dead-on similar.  So will there come a point in the leveling and progression of your character where their voice suddenly changes?

That would kill immersion a tad.

I actually doubt that many people would even notice a change in an NPC voice as there will be so damn many of them. Also it is unlikely that most of the actors they hired were vetran or top salaried so are infinitely replaceable.

jpnz

As someone who somehow got involved in the entertainment industry a few years ago, there is something called a 'retainer'.

This is actually fairly common in the game industry now as well, esp concerning voice actors.

Pretty sure the VA for GLADOS from Portal had a contract like that.

If something RL happens then you find someone else and proceed. I mean at the end of the day we are talking about video games.

If someone's mortality is in question then the game studio will probably go 'that's life' and no one reasonable will raise that as an issue. You can also see this in TV/Movie as well where an actor/actress has to leave due to RL stuff like illness.