Kael’thas Sunstrider has received new voice lines recorded by a different voice actor on Patch 9.1 PTR. All voice lines from Shadowlands as well as those from Burning Crusade have been completely replaced. It is currently unknown why the voice actor has been changed, although it’s speculated that this might be a result of the allegations against Quinton Flynn, the original actor of Kael’thas Sunstrider. *
What do we think? Do we like the new voice lines?
Source + voice lines: mmo champion
*allegations are that he is a groomer+sexual harassment (see gamerant)
It’s not like I play PTR. Do you have a link to a video or something where we can hear the new voice?
BTW I’d believe it’s not the first time Blizzard would throw anything that might be slightly controversial away like a game of hot potato. It’s not exclusive to Blizzard either.
I haven’t read any of the allegations or anything like that, but it seems reasonable and understandable that Blizzard would discontinue their business relationship immediately.
If you were an employee at Blizzard working in the Sound Department, then you might not feel great about working with a contracted voice actor who had such allegations made against him.
So Blizzard the employer of course has a responsibility to its own employees first and foremost, to ensure that they’re not put into a job situation that they might be uncomfortable with or which might put them into a compromising position.
It’s of course an unfortunate trend that the proverbial people’s court is so quick to judge in the digital landscape, which does undermine the right to a fair trial and the rule of law.
But Blizzard still has a responsibility to its own employees first and foremost. Beyond that it’s a bit outside the scope of Blizzard and more a matter of societal and political intervention.
The new voice actor seems fine as well. Will take a little getting used to, but he sounds smug and superior, which is Kael’thas in a nutshell. So it’s fine.
Its damage control. This is nothing new. Its in case of an what if. However if hes proven to be innocent they should have him voice every new line in the game for Kael’Thas and restore the old ones straight off the bat.
Because the backlash of the what if in case he gets convicted. To be fair in such matters a company cant ever win. Be damned if you do, be damned if you dont.
As far as i know the swifty thing was proven to be false in the end. If my information was correct they should have restored his npc after the verdict was not guilty (even if im against streamer npcs in the game). On the other side we still have that horrendous roux npc standing in the seat of the primus.
I’m not really a big fan of the new voice, it feels extremely generic. Could be nostalgia glasses but the old VA could really pull off a sinister sharp voice whereas the new one sounds like some guy putting on a slightly deeper voice.
By the way; it seems the original VA won in court. Just to show how it works in USA, exactly like in WWII : someone just make false accusations and you’re a goner.
He should take Blizzard to court tbh, since Blizzard acting like this brought an even more negative touch to his reputation and with how influential of a company Blizzard is further brings this deeper in the negative and might affect him in his future work opportunities.
I’ve listened to the old/new voice lines comparisons and the new one sounds alright i guess… it’s just that he seemed a little more dramatic at times than needed, he probably wanted to go all in and impress though.
Its disgusting really, a company is jumping the gun over accusations not even genuine proof, its really disgusting and disgraceful for them to act like that without concrete proof. As a game developer its not really their line of work to take sides in an argument until the decision is finalised by the law, they’re a game studio at best they should be taking a neutral stance and acting based on the outcome when one is reached, not before its reached.
Else it shows they’re taking sides before a lawful outcome has been reached.