Filed under: Fan stuff

As much time as we spend inside World of Warcraft listening to character dialog, we don't always stop to think about the actors who are lending their voices to the pixels. It takes a lot of actors -- no, not just Chris Metzen -- to bring the world of Azeroth to life, and some of them may surprise you. Did you realize that the voice of Lorewalker Cho was also the voice of Winnie the Pooh? Or that a certain fictional president voiced Nozdormu in Cataclysm?

The voice actors behind some of our favorite characters are full of surprises... even though, yes, a surprising number of characters are still voiced by Chris Metzen. To get an idea of who's playing what, check out this series of videos from TeddyKGaming, which pairs images of the actors with the characters they voice -- and has a ton of WoW's most memorable lines, to boot.

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World of Warcraft, by its nature, is a very social game -- you have to group up and work with other players to accomplish many in-game goals. Maybe you play WoW with your friends or maybe you've made friends through playing it. Plenty of players know each other or meet each other in real life -- some have even met their future spouses in WoW. With that in mind, Valentine's Day -- or, if you'd rather, Love Is in the Air -- is a great time to visit Because of WoW.

The website collects photos and tweets with the #BeacauseOfWoW hashtag, compiling them into one grand story of community connections. So why not take today to join in on the lovefest and tweet about the friends and connections you've made because of WoW?

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We've already seen the winners of this year's costume contest, but that's a long way from all of the cosplay that there is to see at BlizzCon. Just wandering around the show floor, you'll encounter plenty of talented cosplay -- and the occasional Deadpool, because Deadpool canonically fits in any universe. So without further ado, here's some of the very impressive cosplay we've run into in and around the convention center this year. And stay tuned, because we're sure to run into more costumes and cosplay during day two of BlizzCon.

Just can't get enough World of Warcraft in your day? Then you're in luck, because the Crafting Azeroth project has created a full-scale reproduction of Azeroth, Kalimdor, and Northrend inside Minecraft. The replica spans over 500 (virtual) square kilometers and is constructed of over 100 billion -- yes, billion -- blocks. So what's the secret to creating such a large-scale copy of WoW? It's in a custom piece of software that converts WoW data into a detailed Minecraft replica. And we have to admit, the results are stunning... in a blocky, Minecraft-chic sort of way.

The beta version of the map is available for download now -- but if you're not feeling that bold, you can check out their before and after gallery or explore the map online.

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Too often gamers get a bad rap for being unwashed masses, more concerned with getting to the next level than with hygiene. But we don't see why that has to be the case, especially not with these gaming-themed soaps from British soapmaker Soapasaurus. So far there are four game-centric soaps on offer: the lemon verbena For the Alliance! soap, the spicy For the Horde! soap, the tropical Health Bar soap, and the minty Mana Bar soap. Though some of these sound good enough to eat (especially this cupcake-scented My Little Pony themed soap), remember that soap is for getting clean, not eating.

If you need a bit of extra gaming flair in your life, these soaps cost £5 a bar (that's about $7.50) and will deliver to UK addresses for £2 or internationally for £5 (again, about $7.50). And if you're a crafty sort who's interested in geeky soaps with a slightly lower price tag, we do have some DIY instructions for making your own healthstone or Halaa token in soap form.

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I have to confess: Scholomance and its spiritual successor Karazhan are still my favorite dungeons in the game. I must just have a thing about creepy castles full of necromancers, undead, and ghosts. Which would also explain why I like Bethesda's Skyrim so much, because everywhere you turn there are necromancers and their undead servants, just waiting for you to put them out of their lifeless misery.

So I can't even begin to explain how pleased I am to see that an intrepid modder has created a version of Scholomance within the world of Skyrim using the Skyrim Creation Kit. Mod-maker AquariusLAD says he tried to stay as close to the original as possible, and, judging by these screenshots, it really looks like he's succeeded. To enjoy Skyrim's version Scholomance, you need to be playing on the PC (sorry, console gamers!), where you download the mod file, unzip it, and drop it in the /data/ folder in your Skyrim directory. Once it's installed, you should find the entrance to Scholomance just inside the Markarth Emporium.

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We've seen plenty of cool WoW screenshots in our day, but these bird's eye view images of Dalaran, Kun-Lai Summit (above), Lordaeron, Stormwind and most recently Orgrimmar still caught our eye. To capture these stellar views, Masserah of Arthas takes anywhere from 65 to 95 screenshots (at 1366 x 768 resolution on ultra settings), which he stitches together using the free app Hugin. This is the time-consuming part of the process, as Hugin can take two or three hours to piece a large scene together. Once Hugin has done its thing, Masserah manipulates the scene to give the fisheye effect and then goes into Photoshop to smooth out imperfections and correct colors.

These aren't the first WoW panoramas Masserah has made -- he has a gallery of panoramas, tilt-shifts, and other cool shots dating back to 2006. "I tend to come and go, and do these in waves," Masserah says. "I'm always on the lookout for the next scene, but I rarely get off my butt to do so."

So why take WoW screenshots in the first place? "I'm from Ireland, and more often than not the weather didn't cooperate with my photography," Masserah tells us. "I realized one day that I spent hour upon hour staring at a virtual world through a camera, and just started snapping scenes from around Azeroth. The small mercy is that a screenshot is about one-eighteenth the size of a professional photograph, and loads and processes much faster."

And, while we aren't professional photographers ourselves, we definitely approve of these results.

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Though we've seen a lot of fan art in our time, the retro charm of Josh Atack's Azerothian travel posters struck us. So far there are two: one for Undercity and one for Thunder Bluff, both styled after vintage rail posters. It's hard to say which of the two we like better, but fortunately we don't have to decide, because they're both for sale on his society6 page. So if you're looking to decorate your office -- or your desktop -- with something that expresses your love of WoW without being too overt about it, Josh's art may be just the thing.

And if you're not fond of Undercity or Thunder Bluff? Josh plans to keep making these as long as he's having fun with them and he's aiming to get all the faction capitals and Dalaran done, plus a few personal favorites like Zangarmarsh and Winterspring.

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Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. Welcome to the quarter-finals of the Original Five-Man Wrath of the Lich King season. Grab a seat, and let's get ready to rumble!

When the magical energies had died down, it was indeed Loken who remained standing in last week's Thunderdome matchup against Xevozz. The Dark Titan fought for every vote, claiming his victory with 52% spectator approval. We'll review how things went down after the break, plus you'll get a chance to vote in the last quarter-finals match of the season: Ymiron versus Krik'thir.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.

It came from the Blog is holding its second Battleground Bonanza today:

• When: Saturday, January 16th, 4:30pm EST (1:30pm PST, 2:30pm Server time)
• Where: The Hall of the Brave (where the Battlemasters are), Orgrimmar, Zangarmarsh U.S.
• Who: Any level 10 or above Horde character.
• How: Ask any It came from the Blog Lurker or Robinator for a guild invite.
• What: Battleground premades

We will be forming groups and hitting as many level/group-size appropriate BGs as we can for an hour or so. If you can't make it to the Hall of the Brave in time for the event, you will miss out on the first screenshot, but will still be able to participate. We will also be doing some BG related quests, so there will be some traveling for certain level ranges.

If you are unfamiliar with Battleground play, please do some homework so that it will be more fun for both you and your teammates. Also, if you have any questions about the WoW.com guild, please read our FAQ.

Come join the fun!

We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.

• Youtube superstar MrVoletron has released another remix, which you can see embedded above or over on his channel. Be warned, the beginning of this one is a little ear-shattering. Turn your volume down.
• Here's yet another review of the World of Warcraft magazine, this time from Azure Shadows.
• Empowered Fire compares Icecrown Citadel trinkets for mages.
• Shades of Grey connects a few lore dots and speculates on what the Cataclysm may bring. Is it just the beginning?
• With the introduction of the dungeon finder, could that design be used to improve queueing for battlegrounds? Cynwise thinks so.

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. Welcome to the quarter-finals of the Original Five-Man Wrath of the Lich King season. Grab a seat, and let's get ready to rumble!

In a barrage of wings, Ley-Guardian Eregos confronted Skadi the Ruthless in the skies over the Thunderdome last week. Let's just say it was no party for Mr. Skadi. Eregos took the match with a stinging 75.3% of the spectator vote, sending the hapless Frost Vrykul plummeting from the match. We'll get a view of the beat-down after the break, plus we'll set up this week's battle between Loken and Xevozz.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.

The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild recruiting, rankings, splits and merges, progression and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail The Classifieds.

Welcome to our first installment of The Classifieds, an evolution of our former Guildwatch feature. As more and more players move into endgame raiding, we thought it fitting that our guild news should evolve, too. The Classifieds gives you more of the news you can use: who's progressing, who's marking milestones, who's recruiting. But it's not only about guilds. Because we're all down there in the trenches of Dungeon Finder groups at every opportunity, The Classifieds lets you send a shout-out to that player who made your last PUG a thing of real beauty (whether through pure technical finesse or a winning attitude). And if you're curious about how WoW intersects with the world at large, we'll be passing along links to academic research studies seeking participants, as well.

Editor's Note: One thing you might notice missing in Guildwatch's new incarnation is the "Drama" section. In the interest of fostering community growth and positive interaction, we're checking the drama and negativity at the door.

Let's open the Classifieds!

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; contact our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.

New from the Department of Old News (wait ... wut?): We're still nuts about papercrafting. While we've spotlighted papercraft before on the site, we haven't featured it specifically on World of WarCrafts. Never let it be said that World of WarCrafts left a creative stone unturned!

Papercrafting is not the same thing as origami, which is the Japanese art of folding paper into intricate representations, preferably without cutting or glue. Papercrafting, in contrast, is the process of creating scale models from heavy, pre-printed paper or stock. Craftsy types download patterns rated by difficulty from sites such as World of Warcrafts Unofficial Papercrafts. Site manager Pascal was profiled last year by the Blizzard's official European WoW community site. We talked to Pascal recently for a fresh spin on WoW papercrafting.

Some of the coolest contests happen in the EU, and unfortunately, sometimes completely under our radar. World of Warcraft in Europe recently announced the winners of a contest held between November 23 and December 6, 2009 (that's a period of two weeks, so even the folks in Europe might've missed out on it) which asked folks to design their own World of Warcraft trading card. We told you the coolest contests happen in the EU.

Winners were announced last December 18, 2009, with Blizzard apparently selecting the best entries according to language. Five winners were selected, with J. Hoermandinger winning the top prize for English submissions with the Boo'Yah "Brickhead" card; D. Klenk was the German winner with Shilanya; S. Mariez won the French top prize with Perséphia Tristombe; A. Fuentes Garcia was the Spanish winner with Nairies; and A. Kirsanova won the Russian prize with a thankfully nameless but awesome-looking card (Cyrillic would be a little troublesome to jot down here).

The contest awarded a veritable Upper Deck treasure trove that included a Death Knight deluxe starter kit, a World of Warcraft miniatures game starter kit and booster pack, and the ScourgeWar epic collection which has the Tiny loot card. The loot card enables Horde characters to mount a miniature raptor and Alliance characters to ride a miniature pony to move at unmounted speed. Congratulations to the all the winners! For those of you who missed out on the fun, you can always make your own TCG cards by downloading their Horde or Alliance templates. Enjoy!