Graha Voice Actor Change?

I really hope that it was a temporary thing, Bailey's voice acting is a big part of why G'raha is my favourite scion.

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Originally Posted by peachsyder

Well said. There are things about the game that are incredibly important to others but not to me, yet I've never had the instinct to join in their discussions and complaints to shout about how much this doesn't matter, how it's not a big deal because I don't care about it, how they're insane for saying their interest in the game might disappear entirely over this. Different things matter to different people, and as someone whose main reason for playing and being invested in the game is the story and characters, of which the voice performances are a crucial part of—of course this matters a lot to me. Especially when it comes to my own favorite character and my favorite voice performance in the game.

I made a couple of posts on social media doing little more than encouraging people to post here instead of just on their personal accounts, since the forums are supposed to be the place where Square Enix actually reads feedback, and was quite stunned by how strongly many people reacted to it. As in, throwing insults, saying I was delusional, parasocial towards Bailey, a danger to myself and to him, even. All of that because I said if people care about this huge voice discrepancy in this patch and want to let SE know Bailey's performance as G'raha matters to them, they should post here.

That said, I don't regret doing so. A lot of people here have voiced their sentiments incredibly well as well as provided some very interesting insight on the UK voice acting industry, what Bailey's schedule was like this year, and other bits of information I wasn't aware of myself. I wish we didn't have to be speculating among ourselves, but it's been heartening to know I'm not alone in the way I feel.

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So sorry you went through this. Social media is a cesspool these days. It seems people just want to argue and put others down for fun. I’m glad this forum thread has been constructive and supportive mostly.

I’m really concerned that SE hasn’t said a word about this despite many people asking for clarity. I know earlier in the thread there was a discussion about NDAs and contracts, but I still hope this can be resolved soon. I *really* hope they didn’t replace JB, because as many in this thread will attest, G’raha is beloved in part due to his strong vocal performance. I’m really concerned that SE would do something as drastic as replace a major actor for such a prominent character when that character is a huge draw for their game—G’raha was on the big paintings they did on buildings to advertise for DT, for gods sake! And he wasn’t even around much! If it IS still JB, they really need to allow him to re-record.

I hope this isn’t too much of a tangent, but I’ve been concerned about SE’s treatment of XIV’s main characters since 7.0 dropped and the graphics update involved some weird shifts in Thancred’s facial features, resulting in several cutscenes where he looks *very* off. Some Thancred fans have been trying to get this addressed and fixed too, but with little response from SE and a lot of shrugging or negative reactions from people who aren’t big Thancred fans. My point here is that I really sympathize with a lot of the worry in this thread—a lot of us play this game for the incredible characters, and to see things like their literal facial features or voices being treated as if they don’t matter—or reactions implying you’re weird or crazy for caring about those things!—is really disappointing, from both other fans and from the devs. I hope this gets resolved for G’raha fans in a satisfactory way.

I really hope he’s not replaced. He’s been an absolute favorite since ShB. So please, Square Enix, clarify what you can, and do what you can to ensure he comes back. He loves the role too, and we know this.

Probably not in the budget anymore, too big of a name for this game.

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Originally Posted by Oizen

Probably not in the budget anymore, too big of a name for this game.

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"Muh budget"

Please read the full discussion that explains why this angle doesn't make sense.

I really hope SE reads these forums and says something soon because the lack of explanation is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I love G'raha and Jonathan's voice acting of him, but I would also feel this way about any main character suddenly having a different voice. I love this game for the story and the people who tell it, everyone does a fantastic job making it such an immersive experience. Suddenly having a new voice is like replacing an actor on a tv show and everyone pretending nothing changed. How can I enjoy it when I am wondering who this new character is the whole time? I don't think it is a big ask for SE to make a simple statement of whether or not Jonathan will continue to voice G'raha. I really hope he is, I can't imagine playing this game with anyone else voicing him.

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Originally Posted by CosmosNovaRose

"Muh budget"

Please read the full discussion that explains why this angle doesn't make sense.

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What argument could possibly exist against it when Yoshida himself touted the game's limited budget over everyones heads back when the mare ban happened
And even cited it as a reason Occult Crscent sucked. We're well past the content they'd have set aside made before Dawntrail even launched, anything recorded for the setup of 8.0 is likely far newer.

as its nearly xmas i doubt we will hear anything. i know the contact centers are open until last minute but that doesn't mean the press office is open. or at least for this. i doubt it registers high enough to warrant an immediate response. we do feel like we need one but feelings do not mean fact. plus if its an NDA thing .. contracts etc might be delayed until after the new year.

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Originally Posted by Oizen

What argument could possibly exist against it when Yoshida himself touted the game's limited budget over everyones heads back when the mare ban happened
And even cited it as a reason Occult Crscent sucked. We're well past the content they'd have set aside made before Dawntrail even launched, anything recorded for the setup of 8.0 is likely far newer.

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Originally Posted by paradisea

"Bailey clearly is just too expensive for Square Enix to keep on their payroll."
Here's a post about voice acting fees in the UK, where Bailey is based on, compared to the US, and why it's unlikely Bailey has just "priced himself out" of Square Enix's price range.

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Everyone is tired of arguing this, so I'll just encourage you to read that and everyone else to move on.

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Originally Posted by paradisea

Everyone is tired of arguing this, so I'll just encourage you to read that and everyone else to move on.

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Adding that the new character at the end of 7.4 in JP casted by SAORI HAYAMI, a very established, talented, and popular actress who has big roles in popular media and anime. Square also can afford Yuma Uchida as G'raha in JP, who is an even bigger star and is also a singer.

To say that the JP cast is full of popular and talented actors is putting it lightly. To say that Bailey is too big for FFXIV is a very uninformed slap in the face to the hard work Bailey put in for FFXIV when he was at his busiest. There's no good excuse for Square to say Bailey is now too expensive when he isn't priced under the US guidelines. And even then, they can shell out enough money to hire well-regarded actors.

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Originally Posted by Oizen

What argument could possibly exist against it when Yoshida himself touted the game's limited budget over everyones heads back when the mare ban happened
And even cited it as a reason Occult Crscent sucked. We're well past the content they'd have set aside made before Dawntrail even launched, anything recorded for the setup of 8.0 is likely far newer.

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Originally Posted by peachsyder

I'm just tired of this "Bailey is too big for XIV" debate like having such a big name among your cast is a detriment and not a boon SE ought to be clinging to. Imagine hitting a goldmine like this before his breakout and instead of trying to keep your treasure you hit yourself over the head with the pickaxe.

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^^My personal favorite response from this thread to "muh budget" concerns.

Hi,
this is my first post ever here in the forum. I registered myself, because I thought it is very important to voice this topic. And since there is a whole thread about ... that's amazing!
I am a very big fan of the game, I love it! G'raha is (with other characters) my favourite. If I have to decide, it would be him, because he is such an amazing, important and wonderful written character and soooo important for the story. Not only his story, his behaviour or looks - his voice is one of the biggest parts of him, what makes him himself! Jonathan Bailey gave him such an unique way of speaking, he brings him to life - in my opinion - like no one else ever could; at least not like JB does. Even imitating the way he speaks (his speaking patterns, emotions - all of it); all of this is not easy to imitate. And as we saw in the recent update: it's as good as impossible to replace JB. At least not without losing the uniqueness of what makes G'raha G'raha.
Of course there are so many talented voice actors out there and I don't mean it in a bad way and I am not about to complain, no. It is just ... I am so very sad. I don't want to have another voice actor for this amazing character - not if not necessary. JB has such a unique way of speaking him, bringing him to life. And that makes G'raha the wholesome amazing character he is. I know, I repeat myself, but ... The uniqueness ... everything. JB is the one and only voice for G'raha for me, he just lives this character. Replacing him - whatever reasons that could be - would make the whole game different for me. It would be like a giant punch in the face - and in the feelings of course. So ...
I read a lot of your comments and I am totally with you! And I spoke a lot with my bestie about this too. It is just so sad and unsettling to think about future patches and expansions without having our G'raha the way he always was and is.
If there is no other choice, of course we have to move on with it as it is - but if there is ANY chance, that there will be a revoice of the recent patch and/or JB will be back to be our amazing G'raha ... So please, don't leave us hanging in there :)
That's it, just some honest and worried thoughts about the recent changes.

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Originally Posted by CosmosNovaRose

Adding that the new character at the end of 7.4 in JP casted by SAORI HAYAMI, a very established, talented, and popular actress who has big roles in popular media and anime. Square also can afford Yuma Uchida as G'raha in JP, who is an even bigger star and is also a singer.

To say that the JP cast is full of popular and talented actors is putting it lightly. To say that Bailey is too big for FFXIV is a very uninformed slap in the face to the hard work Bailey put in for FFXIV when he was at his busiest. There's no good excuse for Square to say Bailey is now too expensive when he isn't priced under the US guidelines. And even then, they can shell out enough money to hire well-regarded actors.

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Somewhere along the way I forgot the point I wanted to make:

If we already know who voices a new character in JP, why is the EN audience not allowed to know who voices a pre-established character in the same patch?

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Originally Posted by Nakashima3192

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Yeah. Though, this patch really just feels like something might be going on in the background when JB recorded, if he did.

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Originally Posted by Nakashima3192

Hi,
this is my first post ever here in the forum. I registered myself, because I thought it is very important to voice this topic. And since there is a whole thread about ... that's amazing!
I am a very big fan of the game, I love it! G'raha is (with other characters) my favourite. If I have to decide, it would be him, because he is such an amazing, important and wonderful written character and soooo important for the story. Not only his story, his behaviour or looks - his voice is one of the biggest parts of him, what makes him himself! Jonathan Bailey gave him such an unique way of speaking, he brings him to life - in my opinion - like no one else ever could; at least not like JB does. Even imitating the way he speaks (his speaking patterns, emotions - all of it); all of this is not easy to imitate. And as we saw in the recent update: it's as good as impossible to replace JB. At least not without losing the uniqueness of what makes G'raha G'raha.
Of course there are so many talented voice actors out there and I don't mean it in a bad way and I am not about to complain, no. It is just ... I am so very sad. I don't want to have another voice actor for this amazing character - not if not necessary. JB has such a unique way of speaking him, bringing him to life. And that makes G'raha the wholesome amazing character he is. I know, I repeat myself, but ... The uniqueness ... everything. JB is the one and only voice for G'raha for me, he just lives this character. Replacing him - whatever reasons that could be - would make the whole game different for me. It would be like a giant punch in the face - and in the feelings of course. So ...
I read a lot of your comments and I am totally with you! And I spoke a lot with my bestie about this too. It is just so sad and unsettling to think about future patches and expansions without having our G'raha the way he always was and is.
If there is no other choice, of course we have to move on with it as it is - but if there is ANY chance, that there will be a revoice of the recent patch and/or JB will be back to be our amazing G'raha ... So please, don't leave us hanging in there :)
That's it, just some honest and worried thoughts about the recent changes.

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I also have never posted on the forums and came here because it’s the first time I really felt compelled to do so. SE needs to know how much this means to some players.

Just a quick note re people calling others "crazy" for caring about this - or two actually.

1. It has been scientifically proven that it's rather difficult, sometimes almost impossible, to distinguish between real-life connections and fictional ones, and the longer you "interact" with a specific set of fictional characters, the harder it gets. When people think about their favourite characters, the same areas in their brains light up as when thinking about friends and RL people they like. This doesn't mean that we cannot understand the difference on a logical level - but emotionally, losing someone fictional we care about, or seeing them altered, very often feels exactly the same as if that was happening to an actual person in our circle. That's not "being crazy", that's just a fun fact about the human brain that is, in no small part, responsible for us loving and craving stories as much as we do in the first place. The entire entertainment industry wouldn't work without this little human pecularity.

And 2., for anyone who'd still argue this is crazy - or claims it's exclusively the writing that makes a character: Does anyone think Indiana Jones would have felt the same if Rick Moranis or Adam Sandler had played him? Even with the exact same script? And just to drive in the point about the impact of the voice specifically: Image Darth Vader being voiced by Jonathan Bailey. Same impact? I think we can agree on a resounding no. A character's voice matters. A lot.

+1 to this thread. Even as somebody who doesn't hold any particular passion toward G'raha anymore, I think this issue is objectively worthy of transparency and explanation from SE. At first I had presumed it was Bailey with voice strain, but the collected information brought to this thread has really made me consider otherwise and understand it as a more important matter.

And, I'm sorry, I know I frequently more than likely sound way too aggravated while posting, but holy shit is it ridiculous how many new people have felt the need to come to the forums this expansion to beg SE for literally any communication whatsoever on countless issues now. It just keeps happening and they just keep ignoring people and continue to do questionable bullshit. I know realistically it's 100% not done with malicious intent or anything, but taking G'raha's voiced lines out from only the ENG trailer feels seedy at best, given how closed off they've become in FFXIV's more recent years.

Please, even if you don't like G'raha or care about Bailey, at least consider supporting this to continue pushing for more transparency from SE.

Also, although I said I don't hold any passion for G'raha myself anymore...I get it. I'm a lifelong Tales Of fan who never got over Yuri Lowell's lame voice splicing or Lloyd Irving's entire VA change to this day... I'm hoping for the best.

Don't get me wrong, I get that a potential recast for a beloved character is something that can be disheartening.

But also I feel I've gotta urge a lot of you to tone it down a bit. Analysing every facet of this guy's life in a bid to prove it's not because he's busy is a dangerously high level of obsession, well into the territory of being parasocial. Same with clamouring for a response from SE when they are, unfortunately, under no obligation to give any at all. As for the thing about how he's not taking questions about XIV, that's pretty common? Busy guy possibly under an NDA doesn't want to engage with a site that routinely farms drama for clicks, wowee. Finally, voice lines aren't recorded the literal day of the patch. We've no idea how far back this was recorded, the conditions and so on.

Y'all need to chill out a bit. Like, genuinely, I'm saying that from a place of good faith.

People don't need the most base of online armchair psychoanalysis as a counterargument in these threads. When quality isn't up to expectations in a product (especially one that is paid for monthly...) the company absolutely should be expected to give a response in regards to it. Also it's not hard to find googleable information about a guy who is literally, nationally famous. I apologize for sounding aggressive but it's tiring to see people in every other thread basically telling others who want to see the game get better or the team's reputation improve to shut up actually and continue taking the status quo.

Does that really, truly sound like the reasonable response to you? In one of the most contentious states of the game to date? People have to speak up; perhaps even "whine"--god forbid--for things to change.

It's hardly psychoanalysis when you've got people apparently feeling sick about the fact he sounds different. I understand it may be exaggeration on their parts but there is a very obvious line between "I respect this voice actor and like their work as this character" and "My life has been genuinely impacted by a casting change to the point it is causing me genuine distress."

Being in the latter camp, unfortunately, reeks of parasocial obsession and isn't healthy. Hence why I'm suggesting people chill a bit instead of continuing to feed into each other's bad feelings by doom and glooming for thirty consecutive pages.

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Originally Posted by claustromania

^^My personal favorite response from this thread to "muh budget" concerns.

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I guess I just think you and I have different expectations for Square Enix and how they treat their products.

For me those expectations are "none" and yours are clearly higher than that.

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Originally Posted by Emerest

It's hardly psychoanalysis when you've got people apparently feeling sick about the fact he sounds different. I understand it may be exaggeration on their parts but there is a very obvious line between "I respect this voice actor and like their work as this character" and "My life has been genuinely impacted by a casting change to the point it is causing me genuine distress."

Being in the latter camp, unfortunately, reeks of parasocial obsession and isn't healthy. Hence why I'm suggesting people chill a bit instead of continuing to feed into each other's bad feelings by doom and glooming for thirty consecutive pages.

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At the risk of sounding cruel: How people here conduct themselves within their personal lives should be none of our business. What actually matters is not using that information to tell them they have no reason to seek transparency in regards to a product they paid for. People are well within their right to expect transparency from SE, regardless of how emotional they may or may not feel in the moment.

I apologize, again, if you truly are speaking your concerns from the heart, but to me your post had read as using a select few responders' personal emotions to be dismissive about the issue at hand. Still, I'll try to take your word for it and leave my reply at that. I don't want to be the cause of another derailing.

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Originally Posted by Emerest

Don't get me wrong, I get that a potential recast for a beloved character is something that can be disheartening.

But also I feel I've gotta urge a lot of you to tone it down a bit. Analysing every facet of this guy's life in a bid to prove it's not because he's busy is a dangerously high level of obsession, well into the territory of being parasocial. Same with clamouring for a response from SE when they are, unfortunately, under no obligation to give any at all. As for the thing about how he's not taking questions about XIV, that's pretty common? Busy guy possibly under an NDA doesn't want to engage with a site that routinely farms drama for clicks, wowee.

Finally, voice lines aren't recorded the literal day of the patch. We've no idea how far back this was recorded, the conditions and so on.

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I don't think that looking for reasons as to what could have caused a voice actor change in a game when all parties involved remain silent is even remotely the same as being "parasocial" with the VA - which is the feeling of somehow being intimately connected to a person who doesn't even know you.

No one here claims they know Jonathan Bailey.
No one here feels any sort of intimate connection to him or claims knowledge of his personal life.
Everything discussed in here is based on public knowledge/timelines and things he has publicly said in interviews, and it's being discussed with the sole intention of gaining an idea about what could be the reason for the different voice in 7.4.
People have even stressed multiple times that there's a degree of doubt regarding his previous statements exactly because we don't know him and can only assume in good faith that he indeed meant what he said.

The people here aren't obsessed with JB at all.
We are a bunch of people who are worried our gaming experience might significantly change and who came here looking for reasons to believe that won't happen after all.

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Originally Posted by Emerest

. Hence why I'm suggesting people chill a bit instead of continuing to feed into each other's bad feelings by doom and glooming for thirty consecutive pages.

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We aren't trying to feed anyone's bad feelings. We already felt bad the moment we listened to the acting in this patch, and are trying to share information and keep up visibility in hopes of being addressed by SE - like it would have had this happened in JP.

I'm sure the EN/NA audience pays a good portion of this game's bills, and we should receive the same polite consideration as any of their other markets.

For some gaming companies based in Asia, the EN/NA market spends even more money than the market in their home country. I don't feel like digging through a financial right before bed, but if it broke down this information I would not be surprised if that was the case with FFXIV as well.

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Originally Posted by KiraRavens

I don't think that looking for reasons as to what could have caused a voice actor change in a game when all parties involved remain silent is even remotely the same as being "parasocial" with the VA - which is the feeling of somehow being intimately connected to a person who doesn't even know you.

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Sometimes I get the impression that people recently learned the term "parasocial" and are now at the point where they keep trying to use it in a sentence. The number of people who fling that around regarding this issue as a buzzword is regrettably quite high on other platforms.

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Originally Posted by Emerest

Analysing every facet of this guy's life in a bid to prove it's not because he's busy is a dangerously high level of obsession, well into the territory of being parasocial.

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So I'm gonna adress this directly, because I'm aware of the fact people are sharing screenshots of my post in social media and ripping my character to shreds based on the most bad faith assumptions they can fathom.

Neither I, nor anybody here, was "analysing every facet of this guy's life in a bid to prove it's not because he's busy".

The point made was a simple one:

Bailey has always been a busy man, so while being busy may, of course, be the reason he needs to step away, be it permanently or temporarily (and that it is, obviously, absolutely fine if he needs to) it is not some great news people here aren't aware of. The reason I included anything relating to his recent projects is because people kept bringing it up like everyone here wasn't already aware, often among waves of misinformation of when these projects started and ended.

The point was clarification of frequently brought up misinformation, not some twisted attempt at directly shouting at the man "you're not busy enough to drop this voice acting role, so get back here now!". I find that to be a completely bad faith reading of a post that was doing nothing more than relay publicly available information so that people would stop coming here to derail conversations by implying Bailey finished filming Wicked two months ago.

Additionally, I want to say to people out there (which I don't know if you're included among), that neither I nor nobody here "compiled and posted his schedule down to the minute like a mob of creeps". An user here, in an effort to clear misinformation, posted on Bluesky a timeline of Bailey's publicly known projects—something you can find literally on his Wikipedia page—and laid them in a list along the release dates of the FF14 patches he participated on. It was literally separated by months and years. Not even days, let alone minutes, let alone anything involving Bailey's private life.

No one went digging into minutiae of Bailey's life to write down an extensively detailed schedule of his everyday life. That's insane.

It is, once again, people jumping the worst possible conclusions and painting the people here as parasocial lunatics based on their impression of isolated posts in thirty page thread. I think it'd do many of you well to remember that, much like Bailey is a real breathing human being, I am too. So is everyone here. I don't exist in isolation in this forum, and I see what people have said about me elsewhere. I encourage you to be more considerate of the people behind the screen, and to try and least read some of the thread to get further context as to why a post like mine was even written.

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Originally Posted by Emerest

Same with clamouring for a response from SE when they are, unfortunately, under no obligation to give any at all.

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This is where I'll simply agree to disagree. I believe costumers are owed transparency from the companies they give their hard-earned money to. Moreover, this entire debate is also heavily about the fact that the ENG community is not afforded the same transparency the JP community is. Like many have iterated, we'd never have had to speculate on anything, because SE would have reacted and communicated with their JP fanbase immediately—especially because VA work is arguably an even bigger deal on that side, and they'd be livid to be in the same situation the EN fanbase is now.

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Originally Posted by Emerest

Finally, voice lines aren't recorded the literal day of the patch. We've no idea how far back this was recorded, the conditions and so on.

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I'm unsure why you're pointing this out like we aren't aware of it. We know patches are recorded in advance, but we certainly don't know when 7.4 precisely was recorded, hence why my post literally has the sentence "We can't account for how the guy was through the whole year, nor do we know when precisely 7.4 was recorded" in it.

The point of giving sources to moments throughout this year where he made public appearances and his voice sounded fine was twofold: to clear things up to people who said that he was, through this whole year somehow, still with his voice strained because of Wicked, which finished filming nearly two years ago, as well as the "swollen tongue" incident from the BAFTA interview that people kept bringing up as a possible recent cause to this when it was explicitly a 2018-2019 issue.

Lastly, I want to emphasize to all the people who are coming here from other social medias, that nobody here wants to keep Bailey hostage to this role. However, we'd like to be informed of his departure from the company we give money to instead of simply booting the game one patch and finding G'raha's voice to be not him (whether you agree that's the case or not goes beyond the point), after seven years of consistency.

If it truly comes down to Bailey stepping away from G'raha after all these years for his own reasons, I, at the very least (and I feel confident in saying this applies to everyone here), will only wish him the best in the future of his career and thank him deeply for what he's already given us. You can find this sentiment echoed multiple times through this thread, if you take the time to even skim through it. The uncertainty and anxiety most express here is of Square Enix's side, the fear of a Troy Baker situation, among other shady company practices that may have led us here and may have nothing to do with Bailey.

Our expression of how much Bailey's performance means to us is not intended to put pressure on Bailey, but on Square Enix, in the case Bailey does wish to continue but there's any sort of corporate barrier on SE's side that's stopping it from happening. Hence why we are addressing Square Enix, in their forums, and not doing something truly deranged like spamming Bailey's personal social media.

Have a good night, everyone. I'll certainly be taking a bit of a step back from here after the absolutely vile things that have been said about me over that post, but I'll keep the post up all the same, because I know many appreciated the publicly available, repeatedly iterated information compiled in it in a more digestible, organize manner for their own reference.

(As a last note, if you shared my post in your social media with the good intention of spreading the information in it to those who may be interested in it, that's alright! If you could add this post as an addendum to it, I'd appreciate it—even if I doubt it'll dissuade people who have already decided I'm a deranged, parasocial stalker who wants to cage Bailey to the voice recording booth.)

Again, I'm not here to bash on the people genuinely trying to figure out what's going on with a beloved character and everything I say is out of genuine concern, as unbelievable as it may be.

So I will start with addressing my use of the term "parasocial" since that's being debated. A person can, in fact, be parasocial towards fictional people and if you are genuinely so negatively affected by a character sounding different due to reasons we don't currently understand and reacting as if this is the worst thing to ever happen to the game, then maybe that's what it is. I would like to assume it isn't, but there has been a level of fuss about this that strays far past what might be considered acceptable.

Yes, it's not my place to pry and it certainly isn't my place to judge but damn if it ain't concerning nevertheless.

As for the second thing I'd like to address, expecting transparency from SE about any issue is expecting far too much at present. They still haven't said a word about the connectivity issues affecting NA since 7.4 released and I'd assume that's a much higher priority than this is, since people being unable to play the game is far less healthy for their profit margins and so on. Shit just kinda sucks for getting answers at the moment, and being NA is suffering.

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Originally Posted by Emerest

Again, I'm not here to bash on the people genuinely trying to figure out what's going on with a beloved character and everything I say is out of genuine concern, as unbelievable as it may be.

So I will start with addressing my use of the term "parasocial" since that's being debated. A person can, in fact, be parasocial towards fictional people and if you are genuinely so negatively affected by a character sounding different due to reasons we don't currently understand and reacting as if this is the worst thing to ever happen to the game, then maybe that's what it is. I would like to assume it isn't, but there has been a level of fuss about this that strays far past what might be considered acceptable.

Yes, it's not my place to pry and it certainly isn't my place to judge but damn if it ain't concerning nevertheless.

As for the second thing I'd like to address, expecting transparency from SE about any issue is expecting far too much at present. They still haven't said a word about the connectivity issues affecting NA since 7.4 released and I'd assume that's a much higher priority than this is, since people being unable to play the game is far less healthy for their profit margins and so on. Shit just kinda sucks for getting answers at the moment, and being NA is suffering.

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Perhaps it shouldn't be "expecting far too much" and we should actually expect far more consideration from a company who asks us to give them money every month. The status quo of being overlooked doesn't mean we have to just shut up and accept poor customer relations and communication on their part - which this is along with the issue regarding connectivity issues.

Sitting quietly doesn't communicate that at some point their customers will just get fed up, in regards to issues like this or simply having their time wasted / mats wasted due to being booted out of the game.

Your account is from 2013, and I didn't start the game much later than you. This is a story many of us have been coming back to for over a decade of our lives. So of course we will have some attachment and interest in how it is going, like we would with any other ongoing piece of media.

No - it's not life altering, but that doesn't mean it's something we can't care about.

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Originally Posted by paradisea

Have a good night, everyone. I'll certainly be taking a bit of a step back from here after the absolutely vile things that have been said about me over that post, but I'll keep the post up all the same, because I know many appreciated the publicly available information compiled in it.

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Thank you for your work in consolidating information into an easily digestible read, and I'm sorry to see bad faith actors jumping at the chance to smear the community, and to call you all sorts of things for it. We are here in the forums in the hopes that we can express to Square Enix that yes, we noticed the voice changed, yes, we noticed the audio quality, and *yes*, we prefer transparency. We *do not want what happened to Troy Baker to happen again.*

I get the feeling that people see the opportunity to bash fans of G'raha Tia/Bailey because catboy popular and get tunnel vision about it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Emerest

So I will start with addressing my use of the term "parasocial" since that's being debated. A person can, in fact, be parasocial towards fictional people and if you are genuinely so negatively affected by a character sounding different due to reasons we don't currently understand and reacting as if this is the worst thing to ever happen to the game, then maybe that's what it is. I would like to assume it isn't, but there has been a level of fuss about this that strays far past what might be considered acceptable.

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My honest, good-faith opinion on this:

If you prefer to only enjoy media on a level superficial enough that it never affects you emotionally, that's great for you. And your choice.

I'd rather care about the characters in the stories I consume - deeply and unapologetically, cause ultimately it brings me way more joy than it could ever distress me, even if I am occasionally distressed because of it.
And this is my choice.
And since I assume we're both adults, I don't know you and you don't know me, you voicing your potential concern about it is rather inappropriate.

I would just like to voice support for the concerns about G'raha's EN VO, Jonathan Bailey, potentially being recast.

I'm unsure if the 7.4 lines are due to Bailey being unwell/recording with a different microphone, or if it's a new actor myself. (I saw a video on twitter from someone with recording experience shifting the pitch a bit and it did sound a lot closer to G'raha's normal voice.) But I definitely empathise with not wanting a character's VO to be replaced, as that's a core part of their identity and appeal, and generally speaking from experience with other games' recasts I find the replacement never captures the 'magic' of the original.

It would be very disappointing to hear that he's been recast, I hope Bailey is able to maintain his role as G'raha (especially given the character's smaller role/line count post-6.0.) Hopefully whatever issues are around 7.4's lines are temporary, and there isn't a permanent recast.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Emerest

Being in the latter camp, unfortunately, reeks of parasocial obsession and isn't healthy. Hence why I'm suggesting people chill a bit instead of continuing to feed into each other's bad feelings by doom and glooming for thirty consecutive pages.

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the only doom and gloom here is the fact SE Refuse to clear up the matter.
you are right. there shouldnt be over 30 pages here. cuz there should already be an answer. even a 'will look into this - please look forward to it' would have been better instead of utter silence.
instead we have to continue to flag there is an issue. expect more comments and pages until this is addressed.

honestly since DT release any sort of criticism towards anything within the game has been over hyped then repeatedly squashed down using buzzwords like parasocial. his voiced lines sounded so off they removed them from an official trailer. people are augmenting their sound systems to make it even sound like him. if it is JB then why on earth didn't SE do that themselves since folks can apparently do it. its lines in a major game patch. this for me is a continuation to the things that has been lacking since DT released. considering 7.4 addressed "some" of my original issues ref the game itself .. this has added on extra issue which quite frankly was not needed and is quite irritating.

I did want to ask as I've seen it mentioned time and time again- as someone who doesnt use Twitter and doesn't wish to create a Twitter account, where might I be able to listen to this bass adjusted clip of his 7.4 dialogue?

I'd like to think that JB will not be replaced.

No matter how high profile an actor - having a steady paycheck for the most part is something that I'm sure every actor likes to have as a safety net. Not only that but it's good exposure.
Recent credits is a big deal.

That said I couldn't have blamed him for skipping a patch.

G'raha Tia has been set up as a major character since Shadowbringers and they've used him so sparingly this whole expansion.

I feel like 2.0 - 6.0 was our story for the first half of FF14. Which continues Louisoix's legacy through the twins.

I always felt like the Scions needed to step aside and that the Twins now mature and grown themselves could handle nation building in Garlemald that we could return to them at a later date. (I was thinking of maybe a fully fledged Ivalice expansion, since just because the Empire lost doesn't mean people forgive them.. etc)

I digress to say; our travel companions going forward ought to be characters like Krile and G'raha Tia. They should be the heart and focus of our band of adventurers going forward. They are dropping the ball with both but especially G'raha Tia. If we are to keep Johnathan then the effort has to be worth it or we might lose him. If we give him something to really chew on then we ought not to worry.

I'm hoping that nothing has happened and that we'll get the news to ease our minds.

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Originally Posted by KiraRavens

My honest, good-faith opinion on this:

If you prefer to only enjoy media on a level superficial enough that it never affects you emotionally, that's great for you. And your choice.

I'd rather care about the characters in the stories I consume - deeply and unapologetically, cause ultimately it brings me way more joy than it could ever distress me, even if I am occasionally distressed because of it.
And this is my choice.
And since I assume we're both adults, I don't know you and you don't know me, you voicing your potential concern about it is rather inappropriate.

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Absolutely. It’s likewise inappropriate to go onto any other forum topic where players are upset over changes like job identity or gameplay mechanics and to call their concerns invalid also for any reason. It’s not fair to try to invalidate anyone’s concerns or willingness to voice them due to a preconceived notion of their character or mental state. It’s not the point of this thread, as many have already stated. So, I think it’s best to keep our conversations about the changes and clarity we want to see regarding the topic at hand from the company that creates a game that we all love and enjoy. Let’s leave the condescending “calm down” comments out of here. They are already all over social media.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CosmosNovaRose

I did want to ask as I've seen it mentioned time and time again- as someone who doesnt use Twitter and doesn't wish to create a Twitter account, where might I be able to listen to this bass adjusted clip of his 7.4 dialogue?

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Here is a version you can view without an account. Whenever you want to view a post on X without an account, you can add “cancel” to the URL so it becomes “xcancel.com.”

Thank you for sharing this!

...Hrm. Yeah. That's. Hrm.

My jury's still out on this one. My ears still aren't hearing Bailey. But its a lot closer.

So, they not only recast G'raha and replaced him with someone else, they also had the new guy record his lines for a beloved character in his car through his phone, from the sound of it?

If the above is all true (it's a new voice actor AND the recording quality sounds terrible), it must have been a total scheduling disaster and a last-minute scramble to get some guy to do lines for G'raha before they had to ship.

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Originally Posted by Tidrek

So, they not only recast G'raha and replaced him with someone else, they also had the new guy record his lines for a beloved character in his car through his phone, from the sound of it?

If the above is all true (it's a new voice actor AND the recording quality sounds terrible), it must have been a total scheduling disaster and a last-minute scramble to get some guy to do lines for G'raha before they had to ship.

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That’s one theory. Many other players think it’s still JB and just exhausted/sick/recording out of a tin can. Whatever the truth is, it’s yet another instance of a recurring problem with Dawntrail’s lackluster voice direction and Square’s refusal to address any sort of issue players have with their gameplay experience when they pertain to the EN or NA playerbase, whether it be frequent DDoS attacks or G’raha sounding like he’s been body-snatched.

I'm not a Jonathan Bailey Expert, but just listening to a random recent Seth Meyers interview, I can hear G'raha in the way he just casually chats with the host.

I'm just as cynical as the next guy (or maybe not cynical enough), but I would have expected them to give Jonathan Bailey the chance to deliver the sad news of a recast before just ambushing the playerbase like this.