Genshin Impact‘s trademark new 1.3 patch, which was released earlier this week, added new characters, new activities and a whole new opportunity, but it also took something away: Barbara’s voice. Barbara is a playable character who is basically a pop star, and before 1.3, her witty attitude reflects that. Now her delivery is more muted. Many fans are very opposed to this change, but instead of kicking developer Mihoyo’s doors over it, they go after the target that makes the least sense: Barbara’s voice actor.
Although the new Barbara sounds like she was voiced by a completely different person, Laura Stahl, the veteran of the anime and the video game, voiced both versions. As some fans have noticed, it’s impressive! But many others looked at her references and DMs to ask why she personally made the decision to change the voice of a character over which she had no real control and actually harassed her because she was good at taking notes of to make director.
“I can not ask them to change it back,” Stahl wrote on Twitter. “I do not know why the change was made. I could not tell you either if I did. Plz just enjoy the game and stop asking me. Thank you. ”
The change is relatively small but striking. Barbara’s lines in fights – consisting of simple buzzes and short calls for larger attacks, such as, “Come on, we can do this,” now sound less enthusiastic. Where before, it almost sounded as if Stahl was using her voice here and there to come across exactly in it Barbara was, the new version sounds nicer and darker – a vocal type Genshin Impact clearly has a thing for, based on how many other characters speak the same way. Barbara’s voice is not badly off, but in the context of the character’s exuberant animations, it’s a little strange. However, her voice is now align more with the way she is spoken in plays and promotional material since the game was released.
Wwhile some rules may not sound like much, keep in mind that players hear them repeated thousands of times as they slam and blow them. Genshin‘s gigantic world. Train, inis it worth harassing someone – especially a voice actor? No.
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Kotaku issued Mihoyo to ask why it made this change, but they did not respond. Stahl also did not respond to a request for comment.
Fans created memes about nu-Barbara and portrayed her with dead eyes and depression, amongst other things. A highly regarded thread about the Genshin Impact subreddit compares her to ‘a grandma on bingo night’. But many fans think their comrades in big anime arms should cool it down.
“While I think almost all of us agree that the old voting lines were better, everyone should remember that it is not the VA’s fault for the change,” it reads. another highly regarded Reddit thread, this one begs Genshin Impact players to stop harassing Stahl. ‘Mihoyo is the one who changed it … No matter what you’re in the new voting lines for Barbara, do not bother her VA. The people who target her for this are disgusting. ”