The War Within 11.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Reive]

blizzard likes to make characters sound like re****ed teenagers. i really wonder who's pushing for this

[AOL Instant Messenger]

But you know .... not every blood elf is the same? It's a bit racist to say they should use stereotypical voices for their npc's, imo.

Saying "it's racist to say fantasy elves should act like fantasy elves" is something that should be more baffling and funnier than it is. It's a bad sign for where the discourse is these days that this comment at worst got a double take out of me instead of baffling me like it should.

[GeometryWizard]

The actual audio quality of their voiceover is very strange anymore. They're starting to use extremely heavy digital reverb effects on male orc voices and it sounds like they're cyborgs talking to you over the phone in the middle of a storm. Eitrigg has this effect on his voice in TWW and now Thrall has it too in the 11.2.7 PTR which sounds incredibly jarring when his old click lines sound like normal Metzen but then his new lines sound like an AI Metzen. The trolls desperately need to sound deeper and more menacing they're supposed to be a bitter enemy when we meet them but they sound like one of the friendliest races we've ever met

[milkmustache]

But you know .... not every blood elf is the same? It's a bit racist to say they should use stereotypical voices for their npc's, imo.

I don't even know if this is something I should bite on or not, but I just want to say that I think you are entirely missing the point and it's frankly ridiculous for you to claim it's a racist take. That is an incredibly slippery slope to even begin with... let's all remember this is a fantasy game. I'm simply saying that I believe some of the new voice lines given are not parallel to the presentation of the race from their introduction in TBC.

[micwini]

Finally people are starting to see these people for the weirdo's they are. Thank god.
It. is. a video game. Not real. Fiction.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

Two things that weirds me out is how weird the voicelines sound as if they were not directed by any human being. But, the other thing is it does feel like they took the actual TBC lines and then just diaeld up the stereotypes of Blood Elves by 200% which is a really weird direction.

[Santandame]

Saying "it's racist to say fantasy elves should act like fantasy elves" is something that should be more baffling and funnier than it is. It's a bad sign for where the discourse is these days that this comment at worst got a double take out of me instead of baffling me like it should.

I’d love to say the comment you quoted astounded me but seeing some of the posts from this poster before, it doesn’t surprise me at all. Par for the course at this point.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't even know if this is something I should bite on or not, but I just want to say that I think you are entirely missing the point and it's frankly ridiculous for you to claim it's a racist take. That is an incredibly slippery slope to even begin with... let's all remember this is a fantasy game. I'm simply saying that I believe some of the new voice lines given are not parallel to the presentation of the race from their introduction in TBC.

Personally I wouldn’t even bite. The poster in question constantly makes absolutely outrageous, ludicrous claims.

[Xilurm]

But you know .... not every blood elf is the same? It's a bit racist to say they should use stereotypical voices for their npc's, imo.

So instead we make them all the same... humans. Just with different color, length of ear, and fur. Right?

[Lady Atia]

So instead we make them all the same... humans. Just with different color, length of ear, and fur. Right?

I mean, if the choice is between making them "all like humans" or only having one personality for an entire race ..... I know what I would want to choose? Like, it's boring if they just go with the stereotypes, and something they said they wouldn't want to repeat like they did with tuskarr or trolls in the past. I'm sure there will be enough sassy bloodelfs in the expansion, doesn't mean they all have to be like that?

[rainhard]

Founder's Point music, finally?

I assume that's one long track filled with sub-themes that will be played on various biomes where they fit? Sounds nice imo.

Like all modern WoW music it's quite orchestral and demands a fair bit of attention from the listener, and I guess it would've been nice to hear them pay more of an homage to the zone music of old which was more ambient and in the background.

Still nice, though.

Edit:

They really go all-in with the "welcome home"-vibes in this music, don't they? Sounds like a cross between a Christmas film directed by Tim Burton and the trailer music for BlizzCon.

Not bad, but very much steeped in that kind of thing so if it's not something you enjoy, it might end up feeling a bit overwhelming.

Honestly i expected a more durotaresque feeling from the horde house island and not whatever i just listened to was, not everything needs to be grand and orchestral.

I am sure i will grow to like the themes but they feel a bit overkill for the activity presented, hopefully an old world revamp does not result in the same state.

[Xilurm]

I mean, if the choice is between making them "all like humans" or only having one personality for an entire race ..... I know what I would want to choose? Like, it's boring if they just go with the stereotypes, and something they said they wouldn't want to repeat like they did with tuskarr or trolls in the past. I'm sure there will be enough sassy bloodelfs in the expansion, doesn't mean they all have to be like that?

It's the voice lines you hear when you press them, they're supposed to represent the core of the race. And then you add characters that have different personalities and goals and explore how they live with that combined with what their race is like. Then every player can build their own character from that if they want.

That's literally how you do worldbuilding and create races.

[Alanar]

I don't think it is the actors, as much as it is the direction. I'm pretty sure Brann is still the same actor, but compare it to his WotLK/cata lines. Wildly different. Correct me if im wrong on this.

Voice "acting" these days feels more like stageplay/musical acting than real acting.
It feels overly performative, mimicking old medieval stageplays in which they exaggerate their voices. Compare this to older voicelines, where it felt like people were talking in a more serious matter. No matter the emotion (anger/pride/calm/sad) it felt more sincere.

Not sure how to describe it well, but this is the best I can do.

Ye, I completely agree and yea I also dont know how els to say it then what I said before. Which was that the previous voices sounded more natural. The new ones indeed sound very overly peformative. One other actor that really does that, is that Laura who does Jainas voice. Its always with this heavy breath or moan rather, even when there is no danger. Its cringe.

[Raetary]

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be any actual direction.

The guard voices sound relatively fine only because their deep voice is nice to listen to, but the line delivery is just "i'm being paid minimum wage, so i'll just read this off the script"
There is no confidence, no assuredness, no personality like the old voice lines.

And the thalassian phrases all sound so forced and butchered, with the emphasis on all the wrong syllables.

It just sounds like they put the VAs in a booth, handed them the script and told them to figure it out while the team went on lunch break.

Just listen to the old voice lines, they had significantly more character:

[Hugnomo]

I like the blood elf civilian voice lines ...

[milkmustache]

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be any actual direction.

The guard voices sound relatively fine only because their deep voice is nice to listen to, but the line delivery is just "i'm being paid minimum wage, so i'll just read this off the script"
There is no confidence, no assuredness, no personality like the old voice lines.

And the thalassian phrases all sound so forced and butchered, with the emphasis on all the wrong syllables.

Each Thalassian phrase is enunciated differently per VA. Even regardless of the personality behidn it, there's no consistensy in the delivery. I really does feel like they just went for a 30 minute recording session and called it good enough.

[Count Zero]

Each Thalassian phrase is enunciated differently per VA. Even regardless of the personality behidn it, there's no consistensy in the delivery. I really does feel like they just went for a 30 minute recording session and called it good enough.

Lack of direction / cohesion / vision appears to be a growing issue with Blizzard. The Midnight presentation heavily received that criticism; Ion has acknowledged their recent messaging has been all-over-the-place to the point of incoherence.

[Hitei]

Lack of direction / cohesion / vision appears to be a growing issue with Blizzard. The Midnight presentation heavily received that criticism; Ion has acknowledged their recent messaging has been all-over-the-place to the point of incoherence.

These two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other. One is an ostensible cdev issue, the other is an issue with whatever marketing exec was in charge of event planning.

[Count Zero]

These two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other. One is an ostensible cdev issue, the other is an issue with whatever marketing exec was in charge of event planning.

The common link is these are failures of leadership.

[Hitei]

The common link is these are failures of leadership.

This is a non-statement. Literally everything that can ever be considered a mistake or problem in the game is a "failure of leadership", because everything is the purview of some form of team lead.

[Nymrohd]

I think an issue is more about an absence of leadership and direction. Whether because of incompetence or because of a choice to just let people to do whatever is the concern.