Posts with tag voiceover

One of the more intriguing new characters to come out of Cataclysm was Wrathion, who took a curious journey through the Badlands as an egg and emerged with dubious intentions during the rogue legendary quest chain. Since then, Wrathion has led many a player of every class on a merry chase across the wilds of Pandaria in a legendary quest meant not just for rogues, but for all. Wrathion's motives have always been a little unclear, and whether he's working on the side of good, or with slightly more evil intentions, has been up for debate since his first appearance.

But Wrathion simply wouldn't be Wrathion without the voice that brought him to life as a sometimes petulant, sometimes angry, and sometimes touchingly desperate whelp with an apparent plan to save the world. Whether casually ordering Fahrad to break a pair of legs, pleading with Chi-Ji, or throwing the temper tantrum to end all temper tantrums in his temporary home, the voice of Wrathion has been just as distinctive as the character itself. So how does one bring life to such a strange character? We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask Wrathion's voice actor himself. Aaron Phillips may be immediately recognizable for Wrathion, but his works far exceed the vocal stylings of one angsty dragon -- and you may be surprised to note that you've likely heard him in a variety of places.

Halion the Twilight Destroyer. General Vezax. Ka'roz the Locust. You know Matt Mercer already -- he's the voice booming in your head in Ulduar, during the Siege Orgrimmar, in the nooks and crannies of Azeroth. The phenomenally popular video game and anime voiceover actor is known for -- well, let me just slide you a link to his Wikipedia page and let you delight in discovering his stamp on one of your own favorite comics, anime or video games from Sinbad to Resident Evil 6.

Behind that panoply of voices is a WoW player and fan whose GM, actress Michele Morrow, describes as a wonderfully down-to-earth and nice guy. "Every now and then, we'll have his boss [that he voiced in game] come along, and so we yell at him ... to do the voices," she recounted last week here at WoW Insider. "He's fantastic; you'll love him."

The level 75 talent option Grimoire of Supremacy grants the warlock more powerful minions, and now those minions have their own voice emotes for their actions. Every demon gets a few options for summoning, attacks, spellcasts if the demon casts, dismissing the demon, and a joke for idling or clicking on them. Wowhead compiled all the voice emotes into one video and have transcribed them all.

Each demon's general personality is reflected through the voice emotes. We have the combustive fel imp, the slow but steady voidlord, the ravenous observer, the self-serving shivarra, and the brutal but loyal wrathguard.

Fel imp: (spellcast) Yeah, it's fighting time! It's burning time! Let's heat things up!

Voidlord: (dismiss) When I consume your world, my armies will save you for last.

Observer: (joke) Did you see that, hehehe? Uh Uh Uh Uh. I see what you did there.

Shivarra: (summon) How dare you summon me? I am not some trifling toy for you to call upon as you please.

Wrathguard: (attack) By your orders! I live to be commanded.

Since warlock pets are moving from a spec-based choice to a situational decision, master and minion personality compatibility means more than ever!

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It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

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From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

There's something about meeting people in an MMO like WoW that forges connections. Maybe it's because we all share a common interest in the game. Maybe it's because so many of us share other common interests -- for instance, many players show at least a passing fancy for fantasy and sci-fi -- or come from age groups who see connecting with others via the internet as a perfectly natural, desirable phenomenon.

At any rate, this week's 15 Minutes of Fame brings us the tale of a player who built on her WoW connections to forge an entirely new career. From WoW-playing freelance writer to WoW-playing voice-over artist, Candace McCarty (aka Coriánder of Moon Guard [US-A]) knows first-hand the power and depth of resources wielded by WoW's massive player community. Read how she got from Career A to Career B with a little help and inspiration from her WoW friends.

This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

The Lion King is one of those movies that everybody ought to see before they die. One of the strongest films from the Disney renaissance, it features some of the best voice acting in animation history. Who could forget James Earl Jones' deep voice imparting within Simba the need to reclaim his place as king? Or Jeremy Irons' cold, cunning, and manipulative growl with every word Scar spoke?

Voice acting can make or break films, and games are no different. As WoW has grown older, voice acting has become far more commonplace. All bosses now come with accompanying quotes. In Cataclysm, a great number of quests feature voice acting. We're surrounded on all sides by a world that is now living, breathing, and speaking.

Players have certainly caught on and appear to love the voice acting. In Wrath, several bosses went viral thanks to their memorable quotes. From Thorim's deep voice recalling meeting players "In the mountains ..." to the juvenile XT-002 lamenting the death of his toys, voices made these bosses come to life at a previously unseen level.

Which voices in the World of Warcraft are the most memorable for you, and how have they enhanced your experience?

D&D co-creator Dave Arneson passed away earlier this week. While you might not have played D&D, know that he and the late Gary Gygax were the pioneers of this genre of games. I would not be surprised to hear from Blizzard on this in the upcoming days.

On a personal note, I ran into him around the age of 10 while in a St. Paul, Minnesota comic book store (Schinders, for those of you wondering). I was looking at Magic cards mainly, but he was browsing around and came over and talked with me when he saw I had turned my attention to one of the D&D 2e books. The clerk later told me as I was checking out who he was.

• Mystic Chicanery gives a good step-by-step guide on how to make voice overs for WoW movies.
• Teeth And Claws has a nice discussion looking at a feral raiding spec for patch 3.1.
• Derevka of Tales of a Priest has a very good rundown of the Acutioneer add-on. We've covered it a few times as well.
• Our own Matticus has thoughts... about Val'Anyr and "stuff."