New Horizon on 3/4/2013 at 10:26
Quote Posted by Beleg Cúthalion
They said he couldn't do
his own stunts. You say they're wrong.
No, what I said was that he was a professional and could make his
vocal performance match the physical performance.
jtr7 on 3/4/2013 at 10:37
Exactly. Working in feature films, he will have to be able to loop his own dialogue. I'll bet he does better at it than Harrison Ford. At least with crappy video game facial animation, he has a lot more leeway to push the emotion and subtext through.
Briareos H on 3/4/2013 at 10:44
Quote Posted by jtr7
Where's Briareos and his boredom?
Might as well say ennui.
As I mentioned in another thread, I am done with Thief 4. I still posted my opinion on achievements because it is a general gaming issue which touches something bigger than just Thief (they aren't inherently bad but come out as actively working against immersion when they are displayed while playing, and instead of using them as a way to have people talk more about the game they've just become an obligation with contractual requirements acting as a reinforcement loop for players who want everything spelled out for them, etc.), but I don't have anything of actual value to discuss about the new Thief.
My only interest in the recent threads has been of sociological nature, trying and failing to count the well-made points in-between the poorly-justified and venomous bile against the new game, the hypocritical attacks directed at well-respected forum individuals or even the whole of ThiefGen by people that don't even manage to make their point properly, the rare but hilarious complete apologists who wouldn't be able to formulate even a word of criticism on Eidos Montreal's work, the never-ending stream of Eidos forums moderation drama, etc.
I know you're not asking for it, but my opinion about Stephen Russell is that, although he clearly is a much better Garrett than the one we hear in the new trailer, I'm fine with Eidos Montreal choosing someone else just because it's easier / cheaper for them. Russell's name is not in my check-list ("Extremely strong audio direction, excellent voices, excellent music and atmospheric auditive backgrounds" for reference).
LGS could have chosen anyone else back in the day and, if that actor had been talented and well-directed, the quality of Thief wouldn't have went down. Of course, this doesn't mean that under my own scrutiny, EM get a free pass to do what they want with the voice acting. There is still a requirement to be talented and well-directed. I wouldn't count on it.
I can understand that some people played the original games so many times and in such an involved manner that Garrett's voice is absolutely synonym to Thief because of reinforcement. This is a subjective matter, I personally didn't have any problems with members of the community voicing Garrett in FMs for example.
What's not fine in my book is the bullshit spouted by EM (or invented by forum members) to justify the new choice. There is no technical reason why an almost completely first-person game should require voice recording made during motion capture. Beating around the bush is not going to cut it, there's either something that didn't work out with Stephen Russell (too expensive? too demanding? disinterest?) or every instance of Garrett talking (and we already know it's "much more") is done in third-person. If the explanation is the former, be honest and be done with it, I don't mind. If the explanation is the latter, well, did I write somewhere that I was done with Thief 4 already? ;)
jtr7 on 3/4/2013 at 10:51
Sorry, LGS wrote to Stephen's strengths, especially in TMA. No Benny, no Garrett, I doubt TMA would've been the same in many ways. The Bear Pits convo wouldn't have been half as funny unless they lucked on someone as funny or funnier, etc. I laugh and feel sorry for his ninny servant and Elder Hammerite, and Raoul the Hermit? Who knows how he would've been written! I know people don't like Karras's voice, even though that's kinda the point, and the number of people from non-English countries who prefer the voice-actor they heard in place of Stephen are less, ahem, vocal about their preference than those who still like Russell better. :p
They kept hiring him, between LGS and Origin, for many voices, so they liked him for more than his Garrett. With the closure of LGS and ISA can't even thank Russell enough for the fun we've had quoting him, using his sound bytes, etc. People always make sure there's a thread somewhere about favorite Garrett quotes, more so than Benny.
CloudOJD on 3/4/2013 at 11:03
Quote Posted by bikerdude
perhaps we should start a petition over on the Eidos forum to get SR reinstated, I mean what are they thinking...!? Christ, if we cant have SR then atleast get FFox, as he is far better than the guy in the above trailer.
You might want to take a look at (
http://www.change.org/petitions/eidos-montreal-square-enix-bring-back-stephen-russell-for-thief-4) this.
I am really frustrated with the lack of SR, and am hoping this thing will catch the eye of the developers.
Briareos H on 3/4/2013 at 11:03
@jtr7: You're certainly right, but my idea is that the core of what made Russell's voice-over so great can be emulated by someone else if they are good enough. I am more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a new actor who could do things right than to things we know will break Thief. A petition to remove any cut from first to third-person would be more meaningful in my eyes than this petition to hire an actor we know and love.
New Horizon on 3/4/2013 at 11:14
I've been banned from Eidos forums for disobeying a warning, that I never received, about multiple off topic posts. Either their PM system is broken or they sent it to someone else, I didn't get it.
My account was still working after I went to bed last night and it had zero messages. It could have arrived after I went to sleep but then there is no way I could have continued posting after the warning, given I was in dreamland and all.
Melan on 3/4/2013 at 11:19
Expenses shouldn't even be a thing. This is one of those $200 million AAA games. They spent money on making a gimmick compound bow and a Garrett outfit. They'll have TV spots and spend tons on ads. No way they couldn't pay Stephen a decent sum.
jtr7 on 3/4/2013 at 11:20
Quote Posted by Briareos H
@jtr7: You're certainly right, but my idea is that the core of what made Russell's voice-over so great can be emulated by someone else if they are good enough. I am more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a new actor who
could do things right than to things we
know will break Thief. A petition to remove any cut from first to third-person would be more meaningful in my eyes than this petition to hire an actor we know and love.
Is he even a voice actor? I haven't put the face in the videos to a name, yet. We've heard his work in this trailer. They had plenty of time to hone it in. His accent is already unusual and will grab my attention with every word he says in a way I've never heard it pronounced that way before. Of course I don't want to disparage the individual, so I hurl my annoyance at EM and decision-makers. The excuses they give contain an intended insult, and a really lame justification. Everything that temp logo represented to us is cropping up in one place after another. It does sum up exactly what we thought it did, and the philosophy behind it is exactly what we said it was. It's coming true more and more, not receding into the past as a joke that misfired.
Again, if giving the new guy a chance means buying the game first, forget it. They win, no matter.
New Horizon on 3/4/2013 at 11:21
Quote Posted by Briareos H
@jtr7: You're certainly right, but my idea is that the core of what made Russell's voice-over so great can be emulated by someone else if they are good enough. I am more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a new actor who
could do things right than to things we
know will break Thief. A petition to remove any cut from first to third-person would be more meaningful in my eyes than this petition to hire an actor we know and love.
This whole debacle reminds me of when Michael Bay was casting Transformers. Peter Cullen returned to the role of Optimus Prime, but Michael Bay replaced Frank Welker. Frank Welker is one of the most gifted voice actors and impressionists of our time, but Bay...not being familiar with Welker or the old show, didn't think he would make a good Megatron. Oddly enough, the producers of the Movie tie in game did and Welker sounded awesome in the role. He was also invited back to voice Megatron in Transformers Prime, where he has successfully toned down the character's flamboyance while still sounding like Megatron.
Mr. Russell is an extremely talented voice actor and I am absolutely certain he could have risen to the occasion and given EM a variation on Garrett they could have worked with.
