Have you ever played, say, Mass Effect with a black character? Or Dragon Age 2? I'm not even american and i wouldn't do either, simply because i've heard enough people talk to know the voices don't fit.
I'm not confident that's a race thing. Racial cultural segregation is very much still a thing in the US and I would argue this is responsible for 90% of what you're referring to. I've met many people from many races who I wouldn't be able to tell their race from their voice alone. For example:
(If you watch this, stick around for the non-black characters including the Earth King from Avatar and a character from Final Fantasy Tactics.)
I think it's fair to say that you might need to reflect on some of your biases if you think that there are some voices/accents that are inappropriate for members of a certain race, particularly when we're dealing with a fantasy setting where ethnicity is wholly constructed.
It might be worthwhile having voice options that are coded to a variety of ethnic groups simply for representation's sake. It'd be cool to have some (authentic) Australian voices, but that isn't really a roleplaying thing.
Originally Posted by Innateagle
Also, i'm told voice acting is like singing. Everyone's good at it in the shower, less so in a recording studio
Based on how much some people here seem to think that VOs get paid, I'm pretty sure I could justify a few years of training to bring myself to the right level of skill.
