Sorry but it has to be said.

michlo · October 2013

Greetings,

I really enjoyed the featured episode. I thought it was well done, adding new flavour and I'm liking the ship, especially since it is my first Carrier (Vesta and Scimitar my other mains).

Even if I hadn't had a little training in voice over work myself, however, I've always had a good ear for it and I have to say, Michael Dorn does not do well here.

He sounded stilted and unnatural (and not in a Worf way). I was very surprised. Even the Klingon captain during the mission sounds far better. I hope Cryptic didn't have to pay too much for it. It was also odd to have him read the entire dialogue of interactions whilst others only read the first line or first few words.

Just my opinion, of course.

Cheers.

fraghul2000 · October 2013

What i found to be a bit strange was the fact that the rest of the characters were only partially voiced.

Worfs dialogue-boxes were fully voiced, but whenever you spoke with one of the other named characters in the episode, only their first sentences had voice-overs.

stf65 · October 2013

It's been over 11 years since dorn played worf in nemesis. His voice has changed and he is a much older man now. Someone who is 60 does not talk with the same strength and energy as someone younger.

foundrelic · October 2013

Worf sounded fine.

The Romulan scientist, she sounded terrible.

kirksplat · October 2013

I thought Worf sounded good. It felt more authentic than Yar, IMO.

icsairguns · October 2013

I agree I don't think it was anywhere near his lvl of work. especially since he's trying to promote his Klingon trek spin off series.

I really believe its a issue with him not liking the direction the STO writers are taking. in his interview he even made a comment that appeared to me as a comment to show his displeasure with the sto writers.

ravin · October 2013

I think he did good for what he did, although I was looking for more the impatient, temperamental Worf at points.

jorantomalak · October 2013

i thought it was spot on common think people this is worf were talking about mr stern, mr starch in my underwear , the klingon that drank prune juice lol

also this is an older worf so he isnt as rash as when he was young

i thought it was very good

lianthelia · October 2013

foundrelic wrote: »

Worf sounded fine.

The Romulan scientist, she sounded terrible.

I thought Worf was okay and you gotta understand its been over a decade...I imagine Worf was the extra bit why the postponed the episode...I could be wrong but if I'm right that means he probably didn't have a whole long time to work on it.

That is assuming the episode was ready last month but they were working on getting Dorn to voice Worf...

big68earl · October 2013

stop being so friggin up tight.

admiralah1 · October 2013

Worf sounds great. It was nice to see Michael Dorn back in the roll.

It was terribly immersion-breaking though to have only partial voice work elsewhere though. That was pretty disappointing, especially considering how much voice work was done in the last Featured Episode.

kirksplat · October 2013

admiralah1 wrote: »

Worf sounds great. It was nice to see Michael Dorn back in the roll.

It was terribly immersion-breaking though to have only partial voice work elsewhere though. That was pretty disappointing, especially considering how much voice work was done in the last Featured Episode.

Well, it was better than if only Worf spoke. Personally, I wouldn't mind if all the non-celebs were voiced by Cryptic's janitorial staff, so long as it's consistently there.

michlo · October 2013

Thanks for the replies. Tis good (?) to know it wasn't just me.

Im fully aware that he is older but that wasn't it. The first thing one learns is to sound natural. He didn't. In fact it sounded quite forced at times. As I said I was just surprised. This coupled with the lack of voice from the others was the only let down for me. It really spoilt the quality.

Cheers.

felixhex · October 2013

I agree a little with op. I felt like I could tell he was reading his lines. That said, I obviously can not do what he does. There were moments where he sounded just like the old Warf. But over all I could tell he was reading. Tasha Yar's VO was bad. Whew! been holding on to that one for a while. But maybe we can't fault them. I bet they have to read what written for them exactly the way someone else wants it.

mikefl · October 2013

I agree that the it was totally rushed not to have all the lines voiced over... especially the cut scenes. I thought Worf sounded very scripted like he was reading his lines for the first time. I realize it's been some time but if you spent more than ten years playing a role I would suspect i'ts a part of your persona. I think Worf could have sounded like he was taking a TRIBBLE and die hard trekkies would have praised the work because it was Michael Dorn. Nonetheless, it is what it is, and I'm still happy to have new content. The big thing I noticed was there were no sound effects for much of the falling debris during the cut scenes. Just seems like things were rushed to get them out rather than polish but that's been typical since the games launch.

azurianstar · October 2013

I had no qualms with Mr. Dorn's voice acting. Worf's tone was appropriate for the situation.

kirksplat wrote: »

Well, it was better than if only Worf spoke. Personally, I wouldn't mind if all the non-celebs were voiced by Cryptic's janitorial staff, so long as it's consistently there.

I thought they did? :P

There is a limit of how much you can get by the Actor's Guild and California Laws with non-guilded voice acting.

zadama · October 2013

The fact that the rest of the NPC dialogues are not fully voiced is not because Cryptic "rushed" - I suspect it has something to do with keeping costs down. Consider how much Dorn may have had to be paid; do the others really have to be fully voiced, when we have an original cast member returning to his role?

If people want Cryptic to have Dorn, Crosby and other actors lending their voices to STO, I don't think it's too much of a problem to not have every single other line being spoken aloud.

rickeyredshirt · October 2013

I disagree OP, I think this was one of the better celebrity VO's in any game I've played.

leviathan99 · October 2013

I thought he did a fine job.

The material he was given wasn't exactly performance maximizing. It was fairly Trek but is the kind of writing actors from the shows complained about and I imagine Dorn was coming into the material fairly cold. The more he does and the more rehearsal time an actor gets, the better a performance is going to be.

But this was an exposition heavy mission. I felt like the lines about Kirayoshi O'Brien and Grilka's daughter and some of his early irritation about the gate, he shone a bit more on. But an actor is going to shine more when you give them more of a character arc.

I'm not saying it was BAD but he was used here much like he was used in parts of TNG. I think his reading was excellent for something likely read off a page and not rehearsed... But the script was more exposition than character. No jokes. No detours. Nothing very personal. And even his animated voice work is typically done in a room with other actors bouncing lines back and forth, which I doubt he got.

stf65 · October 2013

zadama wrote: »

The fact that the rest of the NPC dialogues are not fully voiced is not because Cryptic "rushed" - I suspect it has something to do with keeping costs down. Consider how much Dorn may have had to be paid; do the others really have to be fully voiced, when we have an original cast member returning to his role?

If people want Cryptic to have Dorn, Crosby and other actors lending their voices to STO, I don't think it's too much of a problem to not have every single other line being spoken aloud.

I agree. How much money do people want cryptic to spend on a mission that they will play a couple of times and then never do again until it comes out in special rerun 6 months from now so that they can try and get the carrier again on a new character?

It is not worth it to voice over the whole episode.

shaanithegreen · October 2013

Of all the voice overs in this game, you're picking this one to complain about?

Honestly, if I had to pick a weakness in the game's presentation, it would be the voice acting. Dorn isn't going to win an Oscar or anything, but he sounded like an older Worf. That's better than a lot of the readings in this game.

leviathan99 · October 2013

Incidentally, some of what I just said is why I'd like something to eventually use Frakes AND Sirtis. Because I think you'd get some extra warmth, humor, and humanity from two actors that's hard to get from just one.

Three is best in theatre because you can have lots of back and forth status changes: a lot of plays are written to get three actors on a stage together. With just a director and an actor running lines, you can simulate two actors but it's hard to simulate three because the one actor needs to really BUY that he's talking to two people. Three is a magic number. If you have two actors and an audio director with acting chops reading the other lines, though, you'll get the most bang for your buck.

I'd also consider letting any of the main Trek actors improvise some lines or do alternate takes, time permitting. Maybe give them character notes and let them improvise a monologue as a warmup and open things up for improvising jokes and sudden reactions along the way. Again, time permitting.

A lot of the Doctor Who catchphrases and bits of late were improvised by Matt Smith. Bowties are cool, fezzes are cool, whenever he's kissed anyone on the show. A lotof the memorable original trilogy SW lines were improvised as well and even some TOS bits like "Klingon D-7s" were improvised by actors. Obviously, what's happening here is fixed but how the characters react isn't necessarily.

roxbad · October 2013

michlo wrote: »

Even if I hadn't had a little training in voice over work myself, however, I've always had a good ear for it and I have to say, Michael Dorn does not do well here. He sounded stilted and unnatural (and not in a Worf way). I was very surprised. Even the Klingon captain during the mission sounds far better. I hope Cryptic didn't have to pay too much for it. It was also odd to have him read the entire dialogue of interactions whilst others only read the first line or first few words.

Did your training in VO work include the involvement of direction and editing? As we have a decent body of work to reference, with regard to Dorn's portrayal of Worf, I'll lay the blame for any lackluster results at the feet of the directors and editors.

szerontzur · October 2013

I thought the performance was fine. There were a few moments here and there that were a bit awkward, and other moments that really did feel like a grizzled ol' Worf.

The only one that literally made me cringe was the Captain of the Romulan flagship. She sounded a little too 'Cali" and it honestly felt quite out of place.

michlo · October 2013

roxbad wrote: »

Did your training in VO work include the involvement of direction and editing? As we have a decent body of work to reference, with regard to Dorn's portrayal of Worf, I'll lay the blame for any lackluster results at the feet of the directors and editors.

A very valid point and notice I didn't lay blame. Since you bring it up, though, actors do usually have SOME leeway and input. In this case, Dorn certainly would have had it given the awe Cryptic and fans seem to have for him. He didn't sound as though he cared.

Excuses about time restraints are sad. This will be one of the selling points so should have been done carefully and well.

It was just so glaring compared to the rest of the production values here.

Cheers.

sunfrancks · October 2013

Dorn was fine, it sent me straight back to TNG and DS9 days of nostalgia...

Crosby sounded more scripted in her vo, but then who cares, we got frigging actual Star Trek actors in the game!!

Sometimes I wonder.....

broadnax · October 2013

michlo wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Tis good (?) to know it wasn't just me.

Im fully aware that he is older but that wasn't it. The first thing one learns is to sound natural. He didn't. In fact it sounded quite forced at times. As I said I was just surprised. This coupled with the lack of voice from the others was the only let down for me. It really spoilt the quality.

Cheers.

I noticed it being a bit off at the beginning, but he really seemed to get into the swing of things as the mission progressed.

He did a fine job overall.

elemberq333 · October 2013

I thought Worf's voice over was done well, just the Romulan scientist was poorly done, seemed like they grabbed a secretary from the office for that part and if they did well I guess that she did ok too

Unknown · October 2013

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timezarg · October 2013

One thing folks really have to take into consideration is that it's been years since Michael Dorn has had to extensively talk like the Worf character. His last 'acting role' as Worf was Star Trek: Nemesis. . .in 2002. Not only is he 10-11 years older, but he's probably 10-11 years out of practice for the mannerisms and whatnot, if you discount whatever random 'Worf-style' speaking he's done at conventions, etc. He's done a bunch of other voice roles since then, as well.

Unless they're gonna give him a ton of time to 'warm up' his old Worf voice and speaking style, he's probably gonna sound a little off in parts.

rickeyredshirt · October 2013

elemberq333 wrote: »

I thought Worf's voice over was done well, just the Romulan scientist was poorly done, seemed like they grabbed a secretary from the office for that part and if they did well I guess that she did ok too

The Romulan scientist sounds a lot like the Caitian who was on Enterprise-F

Sorry but it has to be said.

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