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  1. #1
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    What do you think of WoW's Voice Acting and Dialogue?

    Hello, everyone.

    I'm a hobbyist Voice Actor and so I spend a lot of time listening to voices and reading dialogue lines. Over the seven years of my playing WoW I've taken notice of pretty much every voice I've ever heard in game. That's led me to some amazing voice actors, but it's also made me grow incredibly tired of the writing of WoW's characters, and made me very conscious of the bad side of it all. My argument is, while I know that there are so many bosses that need lines, they are so devoid of creativity that Blizzard really need to start upping their game. There can be so much done to each boss, but they are given stock lines. Even in MoP we are introduced to so many 'I will consume you!' lines. I know that it's not important to most of you, but it is important to some, and it's key to giving bosses soul.

    I've got a video here that I spent A LOT of time making. It should showcase how absurdly repetitious things were, and still are. There's a few interesting things in there that I managed to find.


  2. #2
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    Most of the voice actors are very amateurish and you can easily notice they recite words and not put any feeling into it.

  3. #3
    Bloodsail Admiral Msi's Avatar
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    Do people play with sound?

  4. #4
    I'm pretty fond of voice acting in general and am one of those people that gets a bit butthurt over the current film industry's trend of hiring "live-action actors" to do voice acting even if it costs exponentially larger amounts than hiring professional VAs.

    That said, one of my favorite things about Pandaria is the spoken dialog. The immersion from Lorewalker Cho, even at your first meeting, is wonderful.

  5. #5
    Most of them are horrible.

  6. #6
    The Lightbringer
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    If they didn't use the same woman for almost every single damn female character in the game I would appreciate it. When it's Alleria Windrunner and Sylvanas and they sound alike, okay then. They're sisters, that makes sense. When almost every single female character in the game sounds the same, it just hurts my brain. There are at least a couple of male voice actors so it is less noticeable and far less annoying. The game doesn't so much need more talking and cut scenes, it just needs more voice actors of any kind so that different characters sound different.
    Paladin Bash has spoken.

  7. #7
    Its gotten better, thats for sure, but its still just mediocre. The fact that almost all boss quotes are the same with different synonyms shows you Blizzard doesnt put too much effort in them.

    That said, there are a few stand outs. Wrathions voice suits him perfectly, and the 5.4 Garrosh audio gave me chills.

  8. #8
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    Horrible. Absolutely horrible. B-movie horrible.

    Don't know if it's the actors or the crappy dialogue and lack of directorial guidance. There are some pretty big names in there, but it all turns out like crap anyway.

    Every time they try to get "dramatic", it comes out cringe inducing bad.

  9. #9
    The Insane Feali's Avatar
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    I like Wrathion and Lorewalker Cho. But you are right. Most of them are pretty bad.

  10. #10
    I, for one, love when I hear a boss saying something, and something zaps me "I heard this voice somewhere, maybe even saying the same thing"
    Heart of fear bugs are Mimiron, noticed when Amber Shaper says something of his creations.
    Or Elder Stonebark has Malygos' voice...
    Or when you hear at the opera event the Headless Horseman. And I do think that Sha of Anger is also voice acted by him...
    As for dialogues. I don't know what else could they say which is short, because mostly they talk when they do something special, but fitting. Hm.

  11. #11
    A lot of the time I was not happy with the dialogue, sounded cheap and cheesy. But now I shall never hear all the above phrases in the same way. Consuuuuummme....PERISH!!!!!

  12. #12
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    It's hit and miss for me. Some of their major characters have amazing voices (Metzen does a great job with Thrall, whoever voices Garrosh is brilliant, and Gideon Emery does a killer Lor'themar), but others do leave a bit to be desired. I don't think it's that bad.

    Some of the bosses do have repetitive dialogue though.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zaelsino View Post
    It's hit and miss for me. Some of their major characters have amazing voices (Metzen does a great job with Thrall, whoever voices Garrosh is brilliant, and Gideon Emery does a killer Lor'themar), but others do leave a bit to be desired. I don't think it's that bad.

    Some of the bosses do have repetitive dialogue though.
    Interesting fact: Patrick Seitz is the voice of Garrosh and Arthas. (Not to be confused with the Lich King) It's actually pretty easy to tell. Garrosh is Arthas but deeper and more aggressive.
    Last edited by mmoc6dd45b8008; 2013-07-21 at 01:40 PM.

  14. #14
    Just tossing this out there because I feel this distinction isn't being pointed out clearly enough: There's a difference between "bad voice acting" and "bad writing" and also "bad voice direction." All three are separate issues.

    As a prime example of "this is bad but the VA did a good job with what he was asked to do," I'd point out Sha of Anger. He has cheesey dialog and sounds nothing like a creature of anger. He's just "the element of trolling." It's sort of like Bane from Dota 2. The VA did a fine job, but the creative team decided to give him a nasally "henchman voice" rather than a haunted, echo-y reverb voice.

  15. #15
    I got no clue about voice acting but i like most of it lol. Except its pretty repeating when you listen to it like this, i dont find it that way when i am playing the game.

    Like watching the paragon nefarion/onyxia kill from cataclysm - love that voice bit.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zaelsino View Post
    It's hit and miss for me. Some of their major characters have amazing voices (Metzen does a great job with Thrall, whoever voices Garrosh is brilliant, and Gideon Emery does a killer Lor'themar), but others do leave a bit to be desired. I don't think it's that bad.

    Some of the bosses do have repetitive dialogue though.
    Sylvanas' VA is pretty bad.

  17. #17
    I never noticed until now, very informative.

    In my personal opinion, the line is a bit repetitive. Some are good, some are bad. Overall though, its much better than the dialogue and lines I would hear in Rift, Tera, and to some small extent, some in SWTOR.

    I think Blizzard is really good at the effects, which can also help cover up bad voice acting. If they lack professionals, then maybe like Keaunu Reeves they can onlly handle one liners, or maybe its just not in the budget to hire a full fledged voice actor for less than a paragraph of dialogue. Considering how similar some of these lines are, I wonder if they have a stock vocal bank that they take through a digitizer for various effects? I mean seriously, I can't imagine a full time professional voice actress doing Sindragosa (shudder, the one thing I hate about my weekly ICC runs)

    Boss lines aside, once you get into lengthy dialogue, like Lorewalker Cho, thats when I think they start bringing out more professional grade voiceactors.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheWindWalker View Post
    Just tossing this out there because I feel this distinction isn't being pointed out clearly enough: There's a difference between "bad voice acting" and "bad writing" and also "bad voice direction." All three are separate issues.

    As a prime example of "this is bad but the VA did a good job with what he was asked to do," I'd point out Sha of Anger. He has cheesey dialog and sounds nothing like a creature of anger. He's just "the element of trolling." It's sort of like Bane from Dota 2. The VA did a fine job, but the creative team decided to give him a nasally "henchman voice" rather than a haunted, echo-y reverb voice.
    I think it's the latter two that is screwing it up. The VAs have done other roles without too much issue.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by SodiumChloride View Post
    I think it's the latter two that is screwing it up. The VAs have done other roles without too much issue.
    That is the crux of it. I'd say most of the voice actors themselves deliver average or good quality acting, with a handful being very good, but most of the writing is bad. There are always exceptions, though. The video, I think, shows both. Usually, when the acting is bad, and when the voice sounds bad, the writing is also bad. Illidan, voice by Liam O'brein has a fantastic voice and has great lines, as one example. Which is to be expected from a main villain. My ultimate wish in regards to this subject is if they could tighten up the voice acting (especially females) and really improve the writing for most, if not all, none important (end boss/main villain) bosses.
    Last edited by mmoc6dd45b8008; 2013-07-21 at 02:05 PM.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Noggis View Post
    Most of the voice actors are very amateurish and you can easily notice they recite words and not put any feeling into it.
    I disagree - Jaina is a perfect example. I have yet to hear anything dry or amateurish about it.

    Laura Bailey is fantastic, and you would be surprised at how many characters she has been the voice behind.
    “What was God doing before the divine creation? Was he preparing
    hell for people who asked such questions?” - Stephen Hawking


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