Voice actors union authorizes strike! - now if there is no agreement it will happen

[fireburn95]

czecherychestnut said:

bananaking21 said:
what are they pissy about exactly?

They want to be paid royalties based on game sales, like actors get for movies, instead of short term contracts. The problem with their argument is that actors are a significant draw for people to watch a particular movie, they are a significant part of the marketing. You get Brad Pitt to play a part, a lot of people go see it *because* it has Brad Pitt. As a result, a movies successful relies heavily on the actors used, so they get paid based on the success of the movie. Voice actors aren't the same for games, you don't buy a game because a particular voice actor was used, indeed there are many examples where different voice actors have been used for the same character across games. They play less of a role than many of the developers when it comes to a games success.

On the one hand I feel bad for them, but on the other hand....they are easily replaced. And I don't think a strike will help, because there is no shortage of junior actors/actresses trying to get a start that would jump at a chance to do voice acting for games.

How can you feel bad for them? They do less work, less harder work and earn more than a game developer who actually made the game. Often many of them have concurrent jobs, so their income can be pretty big. A game can be made without performance actors but it cannot be made without the developers. The actors get their name all over marketing, and as you say it's not a draw, but if the game is good, it can be good recognition for their career. If a game sells bad, actors still get paid, but developers get made redundant. There's absolutely no logic in their and wil wheatons point