Me (Voicing an NPC) – “What is it that you want from me?”
Player – “Woah, is that (BBEG)?”
Me – “What? No, he’s just a guy. Just a friendly guy.”
Player – “He sounds a bit like (BBEG).”
Me – “… dammit.”
Voicing NPC’s have never been something I’ve been particularly strong at. It takes practice, a level of comfort with your players, and some tricks and tools to draw from. I myself try to practice voices when I’m commuting and stuck in traffic. Sure I may look like a crazy person, but we’re in the 21st century. Maybe people look at me talking to myself and assume I’m on the phone (hands-free of course) rather than voicing a psychotic henchman for my campaign’s BBEG.
DM Dave put up a great video discussing this very topic. Check it out, won’t you? Hopefully, it helps you as much as it will (probably) help me.
PVP is no joke. Most people know this, given the amount of folks who actively avoid getting involved with it if at all possible. I dabble in the digital violence now and then, but I prefer to watch those skilled at it while they do their thing. Two such individuals are PVP icons Bajheera and Swifty. As recognition for their contribution to the World of Warcraft community, Blizzard will be giving them their own NPCs in Warlords of Draenor – Jackson Bajheera and John Swifty.
It made me consider the question – if Blizzard turned my character into an NPC for Warlords of Draenor, what kind of NPC would they make him – not what I would make him. The NPC would reflect the character’s in-game activity. Auction House vendor? Pet Battle Trainer?
I had a couple of thoughts. Maybe he could be a quest hub NPC, but that role is already taken.
If you smell what we’re cooking.
There’s not really one thing I do in-game. I can’t pigeonhole my playstyle. I quest and PVP, I run dungeons and scenarios. I play the Auction House and pet battles. I do everything but raid, and that’s due to a mix of inexperience and having a computer that probably would drop a big poo as soon as the boss was pulled.
So my NPC would probably be a rare spawn mob. He’d walk alone, but he could show up anywhere. Silver dragon elite, and his drop table would be extensive and random. You’d loot “Rokk’s Box” and there could be anything in it – from gold (reflecting the AH and gold farming aspect) to dungeon/pvp gear (that would reflect the iLevel of the applicable unlocked dungeon given the level/zone he’s found in). He could also drop a rare battle pet which would be a miniature version of himself called Smackdown.
It’d definitely be a hoot to go one-on-one with the Main Monk in WoD. I think a therapist could clarify if that would make me suicidal or just “a little off.”
What kind of NPC do you think your character would be?
Anyone who has even looked at PVP sideways knows Bajheera. Good PVP’er, great dude. Fellow gym rat. Even got his own WoW NPC (coming soon!).
So you just know a guy like that is going to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
And he’s going to do it in a most epic fashion.
What I like the most about this video is that he not only does the challenge, but he actually tells (and shows) people that he’s donating as well as raising awareness. I haven’t seen any other Ice Bucket Challenge videos where the person admits that they’re also donating.
To learn more about ALS and/or to lend your support to the cause, check out http://www.alsa.org/
Rokk Talk 