Voice Actor Announcement Tomorrow

[Nicol Bolas]

Just because someone "rocks ass" is no reason to cast them as a certain character, in fact, it's the crummiest and shallowest reason possible. There must be more to a casting choice than that.

So let me get this straight. You have a voice actress who is very good at her job. You've done appropriate testing to make sure that this actress is capable of delivering the performance that you are looking for.

And this is the "crummiest and shallowest reason possible". What would be a "good" reason? A decision made 11 years ago?

Let me amend it then to "in the middle of a story".

SC1 was a complete story. SC2 is a new story.

As an artist you can't just go and erase the past, or disregard your former works because you consider them inferior.

Bull. That's a modern belief, born of the codification of art that comes with prolonged information storage and copyright.

Retcons, different interpretations, out-and-out rewrites, etc, all have been part of various forms of storytelling in the past.

This modern need to see a work as a finished product that cannot be changed, redacted, and must be followed to the letter by any story that comes after it is exactly that: modern. It isn't true, it isn't good for art in general, and it limits the freedom of the artist to tell the story they want to tell.

[Eligor]

So let me get this straight. You have a voice actress who is very good at her job. You've done appropriate testing to make sure that this actress is capable of delivering the performance that you are looking for.

And this is the "crummiest and shallowest reason possible". What would be a "good" reason? A decision made 11 years ago?



SC1 was a complete story. SC2 is a new story.



Bull. That's a modern belief, born of the codification of art that comes with prolonged information storage and copyright.

Retcons, different interpretations, out-and-out rewrites, etc, all have been part of various forms of storytelling in the past.

This modern need to see a work as a finished product that cannot be changed, redacted, and must be followed to the letter by any story that comes after it is exactly that: modern. It isn't true, it isn't good for art in general, and it limits the freedom of the artist to tell the story they want to tell.

What I was talking about was integrity and standards, quite different from copyrights and codifications. Retcons, interpretations and re-writes are wonderful when you make them your intent from the get go (and are clear and candid about it). Claiming to honour a previous work and provide impeccable continuity and then failing to do so has very little to do with artistic freedom and much with artistic fallibility.

[Aldrius]

Consistency is an important storytelling tool for any long-standing franchise. It helps make the characters seem more real and fleshed out. Retconning and be a useful tool in small doses, when you have a MUCH, MUCH better idea in mind, but Blizzard overuses it big time.

Claiming to honour a previous work and provide impeccable continuity and then failing to do so has very little to do with artistic freedom and much with artistic fallibility.

They are honoring their previous work, it's got nothing to do with fallibility. They have an actress who's performance they feel is better or more fits what they want. Does that make them justified? No, absolutely not. But they're the creators, it's their decision, they made this decision as artists, not as weird, evil, hateful people.

So basically...

Consistency is important. (And I think consistency is held here, Tricia's Kerrigan doesn't have the same inflection as Glynnis' but she still sounds quite a bit like her, as far as the core voice is concerned.) But it's Blizzard's prerogative to recast if they want. And doing so isn't damaging their integrity.

[n00bonicPlague]

Retcons, different interpretations, out-and-out rewrites, etc, all have been part of various forms of storytelling in the past.

Yes -- and they show a complete lack of skill on the part of the writer. If you are constantly relying on changing the rules in your work in order to have the freedom to express whatever the fuck you want, then that, no matter how "cool" or "pretty" or "neat" the changes are, can only mean one thing.

YOU SUCK

This modern need to see a work as a finished product that cannot be changed, redacted, and must be followed to the letter by any story that comes after it is exactly that: modern. It isn't true, it isn't good for art in general, and it limits the freedom of the artist to tell the story they want to tell.

Actually, this is a very old concept -- centuries old in fact. Artists, writers, and musicians of the past have always enjoyed the challenge of maximizing the beauty of their creations while under the limits enforced by the genre in question. It's a challenge that shows unique skill and talent. It's even almost like a game.

It's one thing thing to write rules for an entirely new genre, but trying to totally break the rules of an established genre just shows a lack of talent and an abundance of stupidity. The same could even apply to gameplay. Quality devs can add gameplay mechanics that are absolutely amazing while under the limit of strict lore. Devs that add random shit and then write in some cheap lore excuse are worthless.

Anyway, point is, while this new chick will probably do fine, I am astounded by the decision not to bring back Glynnis. Metzen himself said that he believed the relationship between Raynor and Kerrigan to be the heart of the Star Craft story line, so why didn't he bring back Glynnis just as he brought back Clotworthy? The whole "new direction" thing is just a bunch of bullshit. Something stupid must have happened.

But yeah, it's way too late now. You don't just fire a big timer like that chick for the sake of some fans. She would have to absolutely suck in order for that to happen, but I think she's gonna do too well for that.

However, no matter how good she sounds, she will NEVER tug on my heart the same way Glynnis did.

EVER

[Aldrius]

The whole "new direction" thing is just a bunch of bullshit. Something stupid must have happened.

Why do people assume this stuff all the time...?

This isn't the first time that a creative team has decided they'd like to go in another direction. They do have a new voice director, they are trying to step up the quality, they did hold casting calls for the parts of Jim and Kerrigan. It's not like they didn't try the part out with Glynnis, and as SHE said, every performance she did was labeled as 'an audition'.

Not everything is insidious and not everything is backroom politics.

But yeah, it's way too late now. You don't just fire a big timer like that chick for the sake of some fans.

She's not really a 'big timer'... =S She was in a TV show. James Harper is a live-action actor too.

[spychi]

Rob Pardo !!

My mom lol

[n00bonicPlague]

My mom lol

lolwut

[spychi]

lolwut

Dunno but it was funny and this thread failed to do so after the second page lol.

I agree with that statement, and I'm sure blizzard brought Clotworthy back cause everyone was pissed he wasn't reprising his role. If there's enough outcry about Glynnis they probably will bring her back.

*spychi shows himselfs from the shadows* I wasn't pissed *hides again*
P.S. I was cool with both the new Jim and the old Robie

[Apollo]

Why do people assume this stuff all the time...?

This isn't the first time that a creative team has decided they'd like to go in another direction. They do have a new voice director, they are trying to step up the quality, they did hold casting calls for the parts of Jim and Kerrigan. It's not like they didn't try the part out with Glynnis, and as SHE said, every performance she did was labeled as 'an audition'.

Not everything is insidious and not everything is backroom politics.


She's not really a 'big timer'... =S She was in a TV show. James Harper is a live-action actor too.

She's a sci-fi icon. Unfortunately ( I hate saying that in regards to Tricia)it's very unlikely they will re-consider.

What especially bothers me about this whole thing is Blizzard goes to the trouble of bringing everyone back BUT Glynnis. It really comes off as nothing more than "we really wanted someone from BSG in this!"

Like I said, Tricia is a fantastic actress and would most definitely be an great choice for Kerrigan had Glynnis been unable to reprise the role. However, she was. I adore her performance and continuity is always a huge concern of mine so this whole thing is quite a punch to the gut.

[Aldrius]

She's a sci-fi icon. Unfortunately ( I hate saying that in regards to Tricia)it's very unlikely they will re-consider.

It's impossible, I'd think, unfortunately, and even when we thought it was Karen Strassman I was really uncomfortable with arguing about bringing back Glynnis because I was basically arguing for someone to lose her job. >_<

So very uncomfortable. And I mean if she'd been brutal I wouldn't have felt bad, but she wasn't. Even in that really short clip.

What especially bothers me about this whole thing is Blizzard goes to the trouble of bringing everyone back BUT Glynnis. It really comes off as nothing more than "we really wanted someone from BSG in this!"

But it's not like that at all... like I said, the only affect that BSG probably had was that they knew her voice from that, and they knew they liked her. That was probably the only affect it had on their casting choice. There was no "OMG NOW WE WILL SELL BILLIONS MORE COPIES THANK TO TRICIA HELFER!!"

Like I said, Tricia is a fantastic actress and would most definitely be an great choice for Kerrigan had Glynnis been unable to reprise the role. However, she was. I adore her performance and continuity is always a huge concern of mine so this whole thing is quite a punch to the gut.

Oh I agree with this for the most part. I think Tricia is a great choice regardless, but yes I would have liked to have seen Glynnis return to reprise her role. (Though as far as recasting goes, we still don't have confirmation on Duran or Artanis. :P Though Duran is easy to recast I am assuming.)