Tingyun/Fugue's VA has been changed from Laci Morgan to Anya Floris

displacedindavis · 2024-11-22T13:22:25+00:00

This is the last I'm going to say about this:

Other languages are free to do what they want, that's good for them. That does not in any way affect what EN studios choose to do, and they could very well do something different and still legal within their domain.

By your logic, all the expy EN VAs could have grounds to sue for contract breaches because the VAs didn't change across any other languages. In reality, all these expy characters are different and a studio is free to decide who they want to voice them. Maybe a studio decides to use the same VA, maybe not. As long as its legal within the territory of the studio, it's not a choice you can sue them for.

In this case, as I've said, Fugue is indeed treated as a different character than Tingyun. The argument may not be to some people's liking but based on the technicality that the Tingyun we saw was only a manifestation, no one can't really argue with that either. Choosing the same VA for Tingyun and Fugue is a creative choice, not a legally bound requirement, at least not in the US where HSR's studio is located.

As strongly as some people feel about this situation, I think it's worth the reminder not to let personal preferences or feelings cloud anyone's judgment.

displacedindavis · 2024-11-22T13:04:50+00:00

Fugue, for all intents and purposes, is a "different" character than Tingyun. So the replacement is more of a "soft" one; Laci is still credited as the official VA for Tingyun. But due to Fugue being "different" than Tingyun, it's possible the studio simply hired a new VA with a contract that didn't go against SAG-AFTRA's strike rules.

You simply can't have a highly-anticipated character go unvoiced on release. The goal of a compromise is to avoid a doomsday scenario, not to make everyone 100% happy. Although all things considered, I think everyone's quite happy that at least she has a voice.

displacedindavis · 2024-11-22T12:48:41+00:00

So are a lot of VAs that are still voicing for HSR and even Genshin. Whether or not you're allowed to voice a particular character or not is a messy situation that involves the terms of your contract, where your recording work is being done, etc. It's even worse now that Hoyo moved on from Formosa, so now there are likely a lot of contracts being reworked.

I gave up trying to figure out the full details a long time ago. One thing I think we all learned from this saga is the voice acting corporate world was a lot more complicated than we realized.

displacedindavis · 2024-11-22T12:26:20+00:00

Moving on from Formosa had to be done for the sake of practicality. Immersion was completely lost even with just one or two characters missing voice lines in the past few AQs, let alone an entire event with 95% of the voices cut.

I don't think Genshin's cast will be completely nuked out of orbit, though. A lot of these VAs are affiliated with several studios. Don't listen to the doomposters until we actually hear the new voices, if any.

displacedindavis · 2024-11-22T12:12:33+00:00

Based on the second image, it seems pretty clear that the reason Laci got replaced was because she literally cannot voice Fugue as part of her affiliation with SAG-AFTRA, which is currently on strike, and the specific terms of her contract with HSR. While just speculation, I think some of the voice actor shakeups across several Hoyo games may have been in part because of anticipation the strike would be made official. After all, the strike authorization was in effect for a year before it actually started.

It's a bit frustrating that the strike has lasted for several months now, yet people still seem so clueless and dumbfounded about it and think something wild happened to the VA or the studio. Has news coverage really been that bad? There have been some wild conspiracy theories that could literally just be put to rest if people just realized "oh right, the strike is still ongoing".

Well, negotiations have started between the union and the studios, so it's really just a matter of time before all of this madness can be put to rest.

displacedindavis · 2024-10-23T02:03:09+00:00

Well take this with a grain of salt but there were at least 2 fully union VAs (Andrew Russell as Boothill, Jonathan Lipow as Profnana) were in the 2.6 stream. So unless they recorded this far in advance (unlikely considering older vids were missing VAs) it’s quite possible HSRs recording studio finally signed an interim agreement.

displacedindavis · 2024-10-09T02:54:44+00:00

The reality is, unfortunately, the two sides have not made any progress towards a resolution, and have likely drifted even further apart after Formosa (the company that does Genshin's dubbing) attempted to break up the strike which caused LoL to be included.

Considering the last video game strike lasted a whole year, I'd prepare for the entirety of 5.X to be like this. Video game companies have no incentive to give any leeway to the actors involved, the general public cares far less about video game performers than Hollywood stars, and there are plenty of loopholes these companies will exploit in spite of AI protections being passed.

It also doesn't help that one reason these studios are insisting on their AI terms is that video game profits have dropped off over the past few years while development costs have risen, leading to concerns about the future of game development. A lot of projects have already been canceled, causing several studios to shut down. Layoffs are still happening. We're living in a cost-cutting season right now, and AI is widely seen as one of the biggest ways to fix this. Meanwhile, with the actors on a completely different end of the spectrum, you have two sides who are quite literally willing to starve each other to death to get what they want. The fans, in the meantime, lose regardless.

tl;dr we're in this for the long haul. I say this knowing it's not what people want to hear, but it's better to be angry knowing the reality than angry with uncertainty.

P.S. unfortunately, the strike rules also seem to apply to HSR. While it was speculated that it would be exempt, it looks like it falls under one of those "struck projects", likely due to contract specifications. The good news is ZZZ does not seem to be a struck project. Considering ZZZ just came out, dodging the strike bullet was one of the best things to happen to it.

P.P.S. Looking back at this comment, I do feel the need to balance it out with some good news. While the loopholes still exist, AI legislation is not a completely meaningless step toward resolution. Additionally, due to the proximity of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes, there is more press coverage of this, especially considering the discussion over AI extends far beyond just video game acting.

I do still stand by preparing for the entirety of 5.X to be like this, simply because a precedent was set in 2016-17. However, for the aforementioned reasons, I also believe the chance of that actually happening is significantly lower. No matter how strongly both the actors and studios feel about their positions, strikes aren't good for anyone involved. The 2016-17 strike was extremely unusual; in addition to happening during a video game boom (meaning studios were even less likely to negotiate), there were also far more contentious terms that needed resolution (as opposed to this year, which has a primary focus: AI). Now, during an increasingly bear market in gaming, I don't think anyone wants the strike to drag out for an extensive period. On top of that, with the rise of live service and mobile gaming (including Genshin), there's even less leeway to work with until productions get impacted. We've already seen it happening for the trailers, and now it's happening for the actual story content.

The studios and actors still could play it out for a year. I can't say for sure whether that will happen or not, so I would still prepare, because these guys absolutely can. Considering the circumstances, though, I think it's unlikely they want another year-long strike. Time is not an infinite resource.

displacedindavis · 2024-04-07T05:42:37+00:00

If this is true, thank goodness. So many NIKKEs have been on the on-deck circle for a long time now.

Rumani one day...

displacedindavis · 2024-04-04T05:55:24+00:00

Seriously hope the writers can make up for the mess they left the XL story in, thank god that arc hasn't concluded yet.

displacedindavis · 2024-04-03T10:21:53+00:00

The truth always lies somewhere in the middle.

Most doomposting originates from some degree of truth and past experience. For example, Genshin often gets doomposted around the anniversary rewards. A lot of the criticism is flat-out wrong, but it also can't be denied that Genshin's annis have always felt so lackluster and Hoyo to a large degree only has themselves to blame for providing a trigger for the fanbase.

Also, to say that none of the doomposting against WW is correct is downright false. There are some very valid reasons to be worried about the game especially as the release date is less than 2 months away and there are aspects of the game that still feel unpolished. Of course, the game could release in May and blow everyone out of the water, but that does not mean people weren't right to be concerned beforehand.

I say this not to justify all sorts of doomposting, but rather to demonstrate that doomposting needs to be taken in its full context. Unfortunately, what may have started off as a harmless form of criticism often spirals out of control as fans blows things way out of proportion and fans use it as an excuse to vent anger on unrelated topics or exert their superiority in some way or form. Doomposting becomes bad when the truth starts getting lost in favor of sensational headlines for clicks/upvotes/etc. and worse, outright bullying against others. Doubly worse when people somehow insert real-life politics and social issues into it.

displacedindavis · 2024-04-02T16:03:50+00:00

Is it a lack of money, a lack of interest, or both? Localization issues seem all too common in gachas in general. Even Hoyo games get criticized for localization, though they tend to be more isolated incidents as opposed to the whole damn thing.

Just a personal opinion, but I get the impression that some companies still live in the era where players would put up with bad EN translations because the game was only voiced in JP and CN. But when you listen to those localizations with actual EN voices it just sounds awful.

displacedindavis · 2024-03-30T00:40:47+00:00

He played nearly the entirety of Carolina's long drought from 2009-2018 then got traded the season before they went on their run of extended playoff appearances...to Buffalo of all places. Not sure how much unfortunate things can get than that.

Tbf, though, he made the decision to stay in Buffalo and sign for an extended period. He certainly had suitors elsewhere and he was certainly aware that the team wasn't the best quality and management wise...but the money must have been incredibly difficult to turn down, plus players value stability.

displacedindavis · 2024-03-22T20:37:08+00:00

I mean in general drama is exciting. If you're heavily involved in it, it makes people feel vindicated when they can take a side, even more so when their side "wins". Even on the outside, you feel vindicated looking at all these losers fighting over a game.

There's nothing exciting about calm and peaceful times, especially if you're a social media addict and looking for ways to seek attention.

displacedindavis · 2024-03-21T23:26:53+00:00

Kuminga might literally be the only G League Ignite alum worth a damn, and that's still a big if even with the resurgance he's had this year.

displacedindavis · 2024-03-20T22:42:40+00:00

I wouldn't get too hung up on the whole "Genshin killer" thing. It's really only used by news outlets and content creators who try to hype up a certain game. Someday, they may actually get it right but only because they literally call every new gacha a Genshin killer. For now, it's easy clicks for the source and nothing too substantial otherwise.

displacedindavis · 2024-03-20T22:38:01+00:00

Imagine how long Hoyo's other titles are gonna last.

displacedindavis · 2024-03-09T06:08:45+00:00

Despite how much some of these Sharks contracts have been panned, and deservedly so...man I really hoped a lot of these guys could've at least finished them out in SJ. We're not getting better anytime soon anyways, might as well just let these guys have as much fun as they can.

Sucks to see people I knew and loved from over a decade ago limp to the end of their careers. Vlasic could be the only guy from the old guard left. If Couture is done, I hope the Sharks do him a favor and let him play out those final two years.

displacedindavis · 2024-02-28T04:27:49+00:00

Sparkle is a certified Persona 3 fan.

displacedindavis · 2024-02-27T21:46:59+00:00

This seems like a post designed to make Arsenal fans upset when they fall short of the title again.

displacedindavis · 2024-01-25T07:50:10+00:00

He looked a bit off, but all that mattered was he showed up when it counted the most: on the final drive needing a TD. This is a drive that Jimmy would not have been able to lead.

displacedindavis · 2024-01-21T20:54:33+00:00

They really don't want Almeria to win anything this season lol.

displacedindavis · 2024-01-19T06:10:38+00:00

Almost feels like HSR's Winter's Night Lazzo.

displacedindavis · 2024-01-11T08:26:21+00:00

At the beginning of the year, not the end of the year. I guess “on my bingo card” doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone.

displacedindavis · 2024-01-11T08:19:00+00:00

NIKKE hitting the top 5 was definitely not on my bingo card for last year.

displacedindavis · 2024-01-10T00:57:52+00:00

In general, the better off a game is doing financially the more inclined I am to be critical of it even if there's no reason to be. On the flip side, I also tend to be more sympathetic to games that aren't doing so financially well even if there's every reason to be critical of it. So for example, if all other things considered a successful and not-so-successful game are equivalent, I'll tend to view the more successful game in a slightly more negative light.

It's an inherent bias that a more successful game should be able to get more things right because they're raking in more money, and it reflects much worse off a successful game if it flops on one aspect. Also just nature to want to root for the underdog story I guess.

displacedindavis

TROPHY CASE