The Shroud on 18/10/2013 at 20:18
Honestly, I think the developers' stated reasons for not hiring Stephen Russell are a load of BS. I don't think it has anything to do with lip-syncing or capturing a full-motion performance. I think Steven Gallagher doesn't like the way Russell's voice sounds in relation to his vision of how Garrett should sound. I think he wants Garrett to sound younger and more robust, and that he thinks Russell sounds too old and lethargic. And I also think he wants to distance the new Garrett as a character from the version we remember, since he's intent on doing this as a reboot. I think he wants to disassociate the theme and tone of this whole game from the way it was before because he thinks classic Thief is stuck in the past and unfit for our modern climate. But he's reluctant to just come out and say that because he knows it would completely alienate the Thief fan community.
There is only one Garrett, and that man is Stephen Russell. Thief doesn't need a reboot -- it needs a resurfacing.
New Horizon on 18/10/2013 at 20:33
Quote Posted by The Shroud
Honestly, I think the developers' stated reasons for not hiring Stephen Russell are a load of BS. I don't think it has anything to do with lip-syncing or capturing a full-motion performance. I think Steven Gallagher doesn't
like the way Russell's voice sounds in relation to
his vision of how Garrett should sound. I think he wants Garrett to sound younger and more robust, and that he thinks Russell sounds too old and lethargic. And I also think he wants to distance the new Garrett as a character from the version we remember, since he's intent on doing this as a reboot. I think he wants to disassociate the theme and tone of this whole game from the way it was before because he thinks classic Thief is stuck in the past and unfit for our modern climate. But he's reluctant to just come out and say that because he knows it would completely alienate the Thief fan community.
There is only one Garrett, and that man is Stephen Russell. Thief doesn't need a reboot -- it needs a resurfacing.
I have also suspected that it has to do with getting funding assistance from the Canadian government for using a certain percentage of Canadian actors.
Vae on 18/10/2013 at 20:38
No matter how you slice it, it's obvious that EM has been dishonest with the fans...:tsktsk:
The Shroud on 18/10/2013 at 21:11
It's all just very frustrating and sad. Because there's that strong sense we all have of how Thief is meant be, how it deserves to be, and if modern developers and gamers only knew and understood just how unique and captivating that kind of game can be, they'd discover such a gem that they've never experienced before -- just like we all did when we first played TDP and TMA. How could anyone who never experienced the Thief series understand what they're missing?
They say we're stuck in the past. But you know, when you really consider it...I think it's actually the opposite -- it's they who are incapable of breaking out of the modern trend in gaming and looking into the past (out of a kind of arrogant pride that the world has progressed so far since then) to discover ideas and concepts which were far ahead of their time -- so far ahead that we in the present still have yet to arrive at a time in which the world will be ready to appreciate them.
Vae on 27/10/2013 at 06:09
Quote Posted by The Shroud
It's all just very frustrating and sad. Because there's that strong sense we all have of how Thief is
meant be, how it
deserves to be, and if modern developers and gamers only knew and understood just how unique and captivating that kind of game can be, they'd discover such a gem that they've never experienced before -- just like we all did when we first played TDP and TMA. How could anyone who never experienced the Thief series understand what they're missing?
They can't...that's part of the problem...and EM is perpetuating this problem by misrepresenting the THIEF experience.
Quote:
They say we're stuck in the past. But you know, when you really consider it...I think it's actually the opposite -- it's
they who are incapable of breaking out of the modern trend in gaming and looking into the past (out of a kind of arrogant pride that the world has progressed so far since then) to discover ideas and concepts which were far ahead of their time -- so far ahead that we in the present
still have yet to arrive at a time in which the world will be ready to appreciate them.
Quality is timeless...and hopefully in time, the world will awake to realize this.
*** October 26, 2013 - Reached 5400+ signatures ***...:thumb:
Cigam on 27/10/2013 at 09:08
Just seen a Thief 4 preview trailer.
Without Stephen Russell Garrett isn't Garrett.
If SR himself had not been interested in returning that would have been one thing, but for the devs to have had him but rejected him because they think they "know better" is another.
The Sean Connery comparison by the devs is not a good one. If SC was in a Bond film now you would be looking at a man in his 70s who would not look like anyone's idea of the character James Bond. Whereas characters in a game look like whatever arrangement of pixels the devs care to present them as.
"Pasting" SR's voice onto a mo-cap performance by another actor would inhibit immersion? So all these years I have been playing games with a voice actor's words pasted over a talking bunch of pixels that have nothing to do with the voice actor's own body, I have just been deluding myself? I thought I was immersed but in reality I wasn't? Thank heavens the devs are here to point this out to me or I might never have realised.
OK, the world won't end and the sky won't fall in, but as a huge fan of the original trilogy - games which have provided me with some of my all-time greatest gaming experiences, and which I strongly associate with a particular voice and characterisation of my character - I do feel disappointed that Garrett won't be returning in Thief 4.
Instead I'll be playing some different character that will have no real connection for me with the earlier games. Even if they have "pasted" the name Garrett onto him.
There, I doubt I have said anything particularly original or fresh here, but I just wanted to add my voice to those of other disappointed fans.
Vae on 27/10/2013 at 09:42
Thanks for posting your thoughts...:)
...and yes, that is the community sentiment.
dbrilliant on 4/11/2013 at 00:32
Lol! Great picture.... Unfortunately, I will be boycotting the game for 2 reasons, I. It got delayed/pushed out until late February, instead of December 31st, 2013. II. The most important reason: There is no Stephen Russell... Plain and simple.. And not to add the reasoning why Eidos doesn't make sense. I am done with Eidos... I'll continue playing the originals w/Stephen Russell and hope it fails.... Long live Stephen Russell!
I completely agree with Cigam, it's not Garrett without Stephen Russell.
Shinrazero on 4/11/2013 at 06:45
Me too buddy. I think I could be much more forgiving with other things but SR is the immersion factor. While he's able to do it, no one else should be playing that role.
