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Gaius Selan's voice actor is annoying.

benoliverwillockbenoliverwillock Member Posts: 99 Arc User
edited April 2015 in Star Trek Online General Discussion
Who voiced him? it sounds very amateurish.

Reminds me of the posh kid at school that wears a blaiser (blazer?) and gets picked on mercilessly for it.

Not that I endorse that sort of thing.

I know the devs have a tight budget but surely they could've hired someone who has some experience voice acting? This guy reads his lines like they're the first time he's seen them.
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Post edited by benoliverwillock on
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    westx211westx211 Member Posts: 42,237 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    benoliverwillock wrote: »
    Who voiced him? it sounds very amateurish.

    Reminds me of the posh kid at school that wears a blaiser (blazer?) and gets picked on mercilessly for it.

    Not that I endorse that sort of thing.

    I'm sorry what? Everyone I know loves Gaius Selan's voice actor. You are the first person I've heard say he didn't like it.
    Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.
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    hyplhypl Member Posts: 3,719 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    benoliverwillock wrote: »
    Who voiced him? it sounds very amateurish.

    Reminds me of the posh kid at school that wears a blaiser (blazer?) and gets picked on mercilessly for it.

    Not that I endorse that sort of thing.

    I know the devs have a tight budget but surely they could've hired someone who has some experience voice acting? This guy reads his lines like they're the first time he's seen them.

    Lucky for you, Gabriel Wolf is no longer voicing him since Cryptic is now only using California based SAG actors. Also, he does play STO apparently.
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    jodarkriderjodarkrider Member Posts: 2,097 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Gaius Selan is one of the most likeable characters in STO, created by Cryptic, for me definitelly a favorite one... But then again, everyone has a different taste. <.<
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    benoliverwillockbenoliverwillock Member Posts: 99 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    jodarkrider wrote: »
    Gaius Selan is one of the most likeable characters in STO, created by Cryptic, for me definitelly a favorite one... But then again, everyone has a different taste. <.<

    Oh, Im not saying I dislike the character, I think he fits the spock/data/tuvok achetype well, Im just saying I don't like the voice actor's performance.
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    taylor1701dtaylor1701d Member Posts: 3,099 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    The Guardians voice from "City on the Edge of Never" is laughably bad.
    Someone had said in an earlier thread, that the actor sounded sick/congested, and after replaying the mission shortly after reading that, I too, noticed the the same.
    Its a really poor effort.
    And you would never find that kind of quality in AAA console games.

    Furthur to that, the actual sfx files dont sound as if they were ever compressed and normalized and its causing the wave to clip, this creates a crackling/distortion from my speakers.
    A lot of the sound in game seems to me raw and unedited.

    I have the in-game sound effects at 70% and the Music at 50%, now, if turn my laptop master volume up past 70% almost any sound fx will crackle/distort my speakers, not too mention a constant buzzing in the background.

    As a comparison, if I play War Thunder on max master volume on my laptop and max volume in-game, the sound is tight and big, but doesn't distort my speakers. I can unload eight 12mm and two 30mm cannons from cockpit view, and it causes no distortion or buzzing. And sounds terrifyingly awesome.
    But here, the sound design is a bit of a mess.
    I mean no offense to the sound department, but I took sound design in college, and I know a thing or two about recording audio/folley and sound editing.
    And what I hear ... Could be vastly improved.
    Sound is one of the easiest/cheapest things you could add to game, and yet, we may not think of it as a primary player in our experience, but sound plays a HUGE part in enhancing any visual experience.

    For me its not so much the actors as the sound quality in general.

    They are capable of better here.
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    qziqzaqziqza Member Posts: 1,044 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    i think the voice suited the character very nicely, may not have been everyones cup of tea, but it was a piece of work i rather enjoyed.
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    a3001a3001 Member Posts: 1,132 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    benoliverwillock wrote: »
    Who voiced him? it sounds very amateurish.

    Reminds me of the posh kid at school that wears a blaiser (blazer?) and gets picked on mercilessly for it.

    Not that I endorse that sort of thing.

    I know the devs have a tight budget but surely they could've hired someone who has some experience voice acting? This guy reads his lines like they're the first time he's seen them.
    ^The whinge...
    hypl wrote: »
    Lucky for you, Gabriel Wolf is no longer voicing him since Cryptic is now only using California based SAG actors. Also, he does play STO apparently.
    ^The result...

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    aelfwin1aelfwin1 Member Posts: 2,896 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    benoliverwillock wrote: »
    Who voiced him? it sounds very amateurish.

    Let me guess ... , you made this post so it would show up on a Google search and TRIBBLE with the voice actors career?




    ... brilliant ... :rolleyes:
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    nickcastletonnickcastleton Member Posts: 1,212 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    aelfwin1 wrote: »
    Let me guess ... , you made this post so it would show up on a Google search and TRIBBLE with the voice actors career?




    ... brilliant ... :rolleyes:

    to be fair you dont know which he is on about.

    his work during delta and the rom revamp were good but he could be on about the featured episode.
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    mrspidey2mrspidey2 Member Posts: 959 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    taylor1701d wrote: »
    The Guardians voice from "City on the Edge of Never" is laughably bad.
    Someone had said in an earlier thread, that the actor sounded sick/congested, and after replaying the mission shortly after reading that, I too, noticed the the same.
    They added a voice over for the new Iconian Info that sounds exactly the same. Considering there have been years between the original recordings and those new lines, I don't think the actor is sick.
    Its a really poor effort.
    And you would never find that kind of quality in AAA console games.
    But you would find it in TOS where the Guardian sounded just as hammy.
    Personally, I don't mind the bad quality in this particular case and see it as more of a continuity thing.
    They wanted him to sound like that.
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    spacehermitspacehermit Member Posts: 356 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Personally the actor's voice I find most annoying is Denise Crosby's. She sounds exactly the same whether she is playing Yar or Sela. Followed closely by whoever played "Loriss" in the DS9 episodes.
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    aelfwin1aelfwin1 Member Posts: 2,896 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    nickcastleton wrote: »
    to be fair you dont know which he is on about.

    his work during delta and the rom revamp were good but he could be on about the featured episode.

    Hmmm, point taken .




    ... but if it is the last FE, I'm not sure what he was expecting for a Drone in diagnostic mode to sound like ... , when the Borg sound intentionally wooden even in "normal" mode ...
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    jodarkriderjodarkrider Member Posts: 2,097 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    aelfwin1 wrote: »
    Hmmm, point taken .




    ... but if it is the last FE, I'm not sure what he was expecting for a Drone in diagnostic mode to sound like ... , when the Borg sound intentionally wooden even in "normal" mode ...
    The voice in latest FE is great. Sounds believable for a Borg Drone.
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    minababeminababe Member Posts: 182 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    We're bashing voice actors because we're envious and feel we should have been picked for the job...right? That's usually how these things work.
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    rahmkota19rahmkota19 Member Posts: 1,929 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Which of Gaius' voices? In Capture the Flag or in the new episode?

    I kinda like both of them.
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    willamsheridanwillamsheridan Member Posts: 1,189 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    taylor1701d wrote: »
    The Guardians voice from "City on the Edge of Never" is laughably bad.

    .


    Now thats really true, espeically since he always says Kuvagh'mah instead of Kuvah'magh.

    i really like Gaius Selan. He`s the prefect Borg/Romulan and even sounds a bit like a Vulcan.

    I whished that we could see him more (and that Cryptic could ask the players before they kick someone off the game, we pay their bills)
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    worffan101worffan101 Member Posts: 9,518 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    valoreah wrote: »
    I take it you've never run the DS9 missions and heard Kurland?

    "Maintain radio silence!"

    "This is Kurland!"

    "Kurland here!"

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    Dude, just be quiet and let me do my freaking job...you're a nice guy, but please, I'm spacewalking across DS9 with Jem'Hadar starships all around the station because First Kar'Ukan's a jerk, don't distract me. Please.
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    medalionemissarymedalionemissary Member Posts: 612 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    That's not the actor's fault, that's the script

    Sometimes actors can only do so much with a short sentence
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    taylor1701dtaylor1701d Member Posts: 3,099 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    mrspidey2 wrote: »
    They added a voice over for the new Iconian Info that sounds exactly the same. Considering there have been years between the original recordings and those new lines, I don't think the actor is sick.

    But you would find it in TOS where the Guardian sounded just as hammy.
    Personally, I don't mind the bad quality in this particular case and see it as more of a continuity thing.
    They wanted him to sound like that.

    That last part is noted, in the TOS episode, the Guardian also sounds really corny, basically just think they couldve done a few more takes. Because some of the delivery is sketchy at best. Middle and end being pretty bad, while the opening and several lines through are passable and actually nod to TOS.
    But other parts were not delivered well, they sound like 1st takes. At least to me.
    I think he loses the character, on the longer bits of dialogue, due to trying to get it all out too fast, and breathing ccontrol.
    For recording the longer dialog, I would have done short cuts in the studio and blended them together. Rather then having him read one big chunk of information..
    That way you can listen back to previous bits, and could help the actor modulate/match his voice correctly.

    In terms of the acting overall I do think the actors are generally decent, throughout the game.

    If we compare the speech sound quality between different NPCs, you'll notice some sound crystal clear, while others sound like they're being recorded through an old phone reciever.
    This points to different gear being used for recording, which will have different quality outputs. Which is a strange practice in my opinion. Pretty sure any big game developer would have a methodology to follow, on any recording of folley or sound bites they create.
    Like for example using the same mic, and input settings for each session, regardless of actor.
    So while some is good, some is shoddy.
    They could do better. Maybe they've addressed this type of issue with the bigger named actors recently, but theres quite a bit of remastering that could happen in existing content.

    And I'm still not sure why STO' sfx distorts my speakers when turned up past 75%
    Other then the audio itself being raw and unedited (compressed/normalized) and is causing heavy clipping on wave peaks.

    Shrugs*
    Sorry for the wall. :)
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    benoliverwillockbenoliverwillock Member Posts: 99 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    nickcastleton wrote: »
    to be fair you dont know which he is on about.

    his work during delta and the rom revamp were good but he could be on about the featured episode.

    The episode I was playing that annoyed me was "Taris", I played the new FE but I didn't have my audio on.
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    chiyoumikuchiyoumiku Member Posts: 1,028 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Voice acting is not as esy as everyone thinks it is. Easy to judge and criticise that which they don't do.
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    jexsamxjexsamx Member Posts: 2,802 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    IMO Guardian of Forever is the best VO in this game. Granted it's in that "so bad it's good" category, but still. It's some god-tier bad VO and I love every syllable.

    I like Gaius. His new VO doesn't sound too dissimilar from what we get to hear of him, and the character himself is fun.
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    dongemaharudongemaharu Member Posts: 544 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Honestly, of all the other examples of bad voice acting, this one seems like small potatoes. Personally, I like the character and voice.
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    taylor1701dtaylor1701d Member Posts: 3,099 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Got a chance to hear/critique Gaius in the "Taris" mission.
    He does very good work in that one as far as I'm concerned.
    Mind you, he does sound rather chipper for a liberated Borg...that would be my only criticism.
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    artan42artan42 Member Posts: 10,450 Bug Hunter
    edited April 2015
    I loved Gabriel Wolf's work, it's a shame we lost him. The new voice sounds... okay, but completely different to how he used to sound, it was passable in that mission due to him coming out of mind control, but I can't see it working for a full role in the future.
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    medalionemissarymedalionemissary Member Posts: 612 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    jexsamx wrote: »
    IMO Guardian of Forever is the best VO in this game. Granted it's in that "so bad it's good" category, but still. It's some god-tier bad VO and I love every syllable.

    I like Gaius. His new VO doesn't sound too dissimilar from what we get to hear of him, and the character himself is fun.

    The guy who did the voice of the Guardian... is he the same one who did the voice of the Giant Snowman boss from the Winter Events?

    I think that works out better
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    ufpterrellufpterrell Member Posts: 736 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    I actually really like Gaius's voice over work. Yeah it's not the best in the business but for STO it's pretty awesome. Taris VO though, hate it. Sounds really forced.
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    cptjhuntercptjhunter Member Posts: 2,288 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    Meh, the VO work in this game isn't bad. Guardian voice was spot on with TOS episode from the 60s.

    The only ones I find annoying, is that spaz Kurland, and Commander Taggerts horrible attempt at a brogue. Like nails on a chalkboard.
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    anodynesanodynes Member Posts: 1,999 Arc User
    edited April 2015
    ufpterrell wrote: »
    I actually really like Gaius's voice over work. Yeah it's not the best in the business but for STO it's pretty awesome. Taris VO though, hate it. Sounds really forced.

    That Taris voice is just awful, and it sounds like it would be painful to do. Uneasy Allies actually got me to go back and watch the one episode that Taris was in, TNG Contagion, just to see if they were trying to replicate a really crazy voice in that episode, but they weren't. The worst that you could say about on-screen Taris was that she used some strange inflections, probably trying to give the character an "alien accent."
    This is an MMO, not a Star Trek episode simulator. That would make for a terrible game.
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