Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Regarding Minsc / Jim Cummings

Reading the news about the choice of VA for Minsc prompted me to make this account to say this.

As a long-time fan of Baldur's Gate, who got the big cardboard edition way back in 1998 and literally wore out the physical discs... And a huge Minsc fan... This is the final straw. I had my skepticism regarding Larian, seeing as Divinity and Baldur's Gate a very different kinds of games, and so often it turns out really poorly when an entirely different team has to take on something old. But I still had faith and was cautiously excited for BG3.

But not even offering the role to Jim? And not telling us why? This immediately killed any and all potential interest in the game for me. I won't pick it up on the deepest of sales (and no, I won't pirate it either - won't be playing at all). It's a matter of pure principle.

At the very least I would like some sort of statement from Larian as to WHY they snobbed everyone's favorite character's VA. But nothing... Just "HEY! Here's this new guy! YAY"

Anyway... One might say something like "this isn't an airport, no need to announce your departure", but I am saying all of this so that at least Larian can not say they weren't told.

This really feels like a huge disrespect to the old games AND their fans. Oh, and to the man who voiced the biggest fan favorite.

Can't please everyone, I guess.
I was quite content with their choice of VA.

Nobody knows the reason why the original voice actor for Minscs is not returning, so any assumptions regarding that are pointless and they don't owe telling people why, as any reasons they may or may not have regarding the decision is strictly up to them.

As for acting like it's a huge disrespect for older fans; if I was an older fan I'd be somewhat letdown sure, but also incredibly thrilled knowing that someone who is an actual DnD enthusiast and fan that breathes and lives DnD RPG like Matthew Mercer is replacing a voice actor I enjoyed in the past. Sure it won't be the original, but they did not bring in some random pantsy from the street to do the character. It's the legendary Matthew Mercer, an incredibly talented actor and incredibly nice person. I could not imagine a better actor to bring in.

That to me is quite the opposite of disrespect. To me that's huge respect done to the character by bringing in someone who is actually worthy of the role and deserves it.

People acted the same way when Roger Craig Smith (voice of Ezio Auditore) was announced to be the voice of younger Batman in Arkham Origins instead of the iconic Kevin Conroy, same as Troy Baker instead of Mark Hammil as the Joker. But they both did a phenomenal work and brought justice to both characters, by bringing in some of their own and remaining faithful to the iconic actors. So I'm sure Matthew will do a phenomenal work bringing the character to life. I jumped out of my seat when I saw him during the Panel From Hell.

Is Jim Cummings even still professionally active? He is an older fellow and I haven't heard nothing about him for a while.

Edit: Also yeah, Matt Mercer is a brilliant voice actor, am very excited that he was the one to take on the role.

Original player here and as long as they stay true to Minsc as a character I will be happy with this new VA. He (from what I can tell) can faithfully voice Minsc. It’s the writing I am worried about…

Agreed. From the Panel From Hell segment, it sounds as though Matt Mercer is going to do a fantastic job and cares deeply about the character. There are any number of possible reasons why Jim Cummings isn't reprising the role, many of which either he or Larian could reasonably want to keep private, and while I think it's understandable that we're curious I don't think either he or they actually owe us an explanation.

Why don't know if he was considered/offered the role, and if not why, and if he rejected it: why. And I don't believe we are owed an explanation.

I have learned not to judge this stuff with Splinter Cell: Blacklist. They replaced Sam Fishers VO with some bland youngster and gave an excuse that they needed someone to be able to do mocap as well. Everyone called bullshit and reached for pitchforks. And granted, the choice for the new VO was pretty poor due to the age of the character, but as it later turned out original actor had serious health problems and understandably wanted to keep things private.

So yeah Jim isn't doing it. Whatever the reasons may be they are between him and Larian.

Yes, he is still working.

On reddit someone talked to him a year ago and it sounded like he was very much interested in BG III but Larian was pretending he didn't exist.

Whether that was because of the controversy surrounding him and/or because they thought Mercer was a much bigger VA to bag is unknown, but considering the man was available, and willing to work for peanuts to play Minsc (Dragonspear, anyone?) I think it is a fair take from this to call it 'disrespect' in the absence of other information. Seems to be the takeaway JC was getting from BGIII, at least.

Pretty much exactly this. Thank you, you articulated everything much better than I could have.

If he wanted more than they could pay, if he simply didn't want the job, if this and that.... All fair and well. But this is clearly not the case.

Also, to be clear, this is not a dig on Matt. I'd never even heard of the guy until this, so I have no opinion good or bad. This has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with Larian's behavior.

And no, they don't have to explain anything they don't want to. I also don't have to buy the game. But I would like for it to not be this way. I would like to be able to root for the game. Just as I would like for them to treat the franchise, the fans and the VA's with the deserved respect. Ultimatey, like I said, this is simply feedback to put it out there, so at least they can't say they weren't told.

Sorry, Jim.

They went in a different direction.

*cue sitcom laugh track*

When you have no more "maybe this or maybe that" left to defend the decision, resort to jokes.

The decision doesn't need defending.
Matt Mercer is an excellent voice actor.

Yeah, it is a shame that Cummings won't voice Minsc. Not that I don't think Mercer won't try his best, without Cummings voice is simply won't be Minsc. Of course, Cummings voice would have changed somewhat in the last two decades, so Minsc would probably sound a bit different from what we remember. Supposedly, Cummings added some lines to Siege of Dragonspear, but I never played it, so I don't know how that turned out.

If Larian really just wanted Matt Mercer in the project, they could have made him a prominent NPC, or another companion such as Gale. They didn't need to even include Minsc at all. So I'm not going to immediately assume bad faith on the part of Larian.

Damn, how will Larian survive if you refuse to buy the game?!?! Dude, get over yourself. I am an old school Baldur's Gate fan, as are many of my friends, & they couldn't care less about the selection of a different VA for Minsc-as long as said VA does justice to the original character. The simple fact is that Cummings is over 70 years old at this point, and has some significant controversy surrounding him that I'm sure Larian would like to avoid. As for these claims on Reddit, well if you believe that then I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.

Of course it's "the controversy". It's 2022. People and companies get canceled in hate campaigns people just love to snowball. Guilt or innocence doesn't even matter, your reputation is damaged anyway when accusations are made hugely public. The power of social media..yay. This thread already proved how strongly people react without knowing the facts.

Or maybe they just need a younger voice?

What I am concerned about, however, is Larian messing up Boo as a finely balanced mirror of a benevolent but deranged man's psyche and making him an actual space hamster with some stupid anime scene where he goes supersaiyan and kills 15 enemies. For me that would be ruining a great nuanced character for a cheap giggle. I hope I'm vastly underestimating Larian, but I've seen too much childish meme stuff already.

Also concerned about how they're going to explain why these epic level characters are suddenly low level again. Or if they even bother trying.

#1: I think its extremely unlikely that they'll mess up Boo, and yes you are seriously underestimating Larian.

#2: A few theories are going around that (a) he'll be high level when you meet him because you probably won't encounter him until late into Act 2 or (b) something in his past (like the petrification or the insertion of a Mind-Flayer Tadpole) has caused him to lose some of his previous levels.....or maybe it'll be some combo of the 2.

I find it interesting that whilst everyone here is up and arms about Jim Cummings not reprising his role as Minsc, nobody seems to care that Heidi Shannon isn't coming back to voice Jaheira. How odd.

Well, Heidi Shannon wasn't replaced with Matt Mercer, and we haven't heard anything about the circumstances as to why she isn't in. If Larian hadn't made a huge song and dance about replacing him with Matt Mercer then I'm sure she's get more questions about her, but that wasn't the case. We haven't heard anything to indicate she wanted to play the part but Larian was ignoring her, but unfortunately for JC fans, there is some indication that he was never in the race to begin with, despite being a big name voice actor in his own right and being interested in the part. So you have what looks like disrespect for the original actor to leverage fanservice for an entirely different setting. I can see how that's not a good look in some fans eyes.

I remember there was a whole campaign when Dragonspear was being made to try and find Jaheira's voice actress. I don't think they ever were able to.