New music in expansion?

#0 - Oct. 29, 2008, 7:38 p.m.

Don't know about most people - but I keep the music turned off. But it wasn't always that way.

I remember the early days of WoW when the music added an extra level of awe to the game. Nothing like entering Shadowfang Keep, looking around, and hearing the "oh crap this is dangerous" music start up. Or entering Stormwind for the first time, seeing the giant statues, and hearing the Stormwind overture blaring out suddenly.

Jason Hayes and the rest of the team at the time did an AMAZING job at enhancing the emotion of the moment, while keeping the music grounded in something that was pleasing to listen to. Or at least not annoying like the Outland music.

The Outlook music was a huge disappointment to me. It seems overly disonent and complicated most of the time, aside from the blood elf music which has a nice, simple melodic theme that really invokes a feeling of both beauty and sadness. Out of all the Outland music, it's the only theme I can call to mind.

I'll be turning the music option back on for a few days after the xpac is released, hoping for the best.

Nethaera

#4 - Oct. 29, 2008, 8:20 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Don't know about most people - but I keep the music turned off. But it wasn't always that way.

I remember the early days of WoW when the music added an extra level of awe to the game. Nothing like entering Shadowfang Keep, looking around, and hearing the "oh crap this is dangerous" music start up. Or entering Stormwind for the first time, seeing the giant statues, and hearing the Stormwind overture blaring out suddenly.

Jason Hayes and the rest of the team at the time did an AMAZING job at enhancing the emotion of the moment, while keeping the music grounded in something that was pleasing to listen to. Or at least not annoying like the Outland music.

The Outlook music was a huge disappointment to me. It seems overly disonent and complicated most of the time, aside from the blood elf music which has a nice, simple melodic theme that really invokes a feeling of both beauty and sadness. Out of all the Outland music, it's the only theme I can call to mind.

I'll be turning the music option back on for a few days after the xpac is released, hoping for the best.

If you have the music off, you are really really missing out. I know that different people have different taste in music, but the music is specifically designed to involve you in the game and the region you are in. There is both simplicity and complexity in the music depending on what emotion is being evoked and even the dissonance is calculated. If it makes you feel a little off kilter, then it's doing what it's supposed to be. I don't know if you listened to BlizzCast 4 or not, but it might be something you would want to listen to for a bit more information about how the music is created and what Wrath has in store for everyone as well.

Like I say quite often, if you have constructive feedback on the music, you are always welcome to share it, but keep in mind to please keep it respectful and constructive. (Not saying that you weren't being so, but just a reminder for those that go a little overboard.)

Nethaera

#14 - Oct. 29, 2008, 8:30 p.m.

Q u o t e:

i don't buy it, I want the music to be more customizable, when i go on a killing spree it should not be a happy go lucky toon :)

There is an awful lot of music in the game. Making it "customizable" isn't really practical. However, that said, giving feedback on the type of music you would like when fighting etc, would be fine. It's not the music you don't like, it's getting the music you're looking for in specific encounters is more what it seems to me.

Nethaera

#36 - Oct. 29, 2008, 8:46 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Wouldn't it be possible to include a "Music Player" so that players could just pick a song or create a playlist with features similar to other popular music-playing softwares available? Then players could listen to whatever music they wanted, or the music for that zone. Maybe I want to listen to lament of the highborne on loop as I'm smashing undead face in. Just a thought.

You can certainly suggest something like this in the Suggestion forum if you like, but it would defeat the purpose of creating music content that corresponds with the regions it was created for.

While I understand people feel that they have legitimate reasons for turning it off, for those that have never listened at all, you are missing the added drama, beauty, epicness, and even humor that comes into the game with the addition of the music. It works in the background to help tell the story that is going on in the game and sets the atmosphere. Without it, the world is a much emptier seeming place.

Nethaera

#54 - Oct. 29, 2008, 8:59 p.m.

Q u o t e:

I see where you're coming from, but I don't really agree that it would defeat the purpose. There are many games out there that have a soundtrack option, and I have always felt that WoW ought to have one, too. It should be an added option (not default) to use the soundtrack, like in most games.

With your logic, using my windows media player to listen to music while playing WoW is defeating the purpose of creating music content that corresponds with the regions it was created for. No, it doesn't, it just adds an additional option and more customization to the experience.

It absolutely defeats the purpose of there being music created specifically for the game. Music that isn't Warcraft music, is just other music. Good or bad, it gets used in other places and has other meanings. World of Warcraft music is specifically created just for World of Warcraft and just for the areas by which you hear it in. So, yes. Using alternate music DOES in fact negate the very purpose of that music existing.

Of course, it's your choice to listen to something else, but that doesn't make that other music Warcraft music.

Nethaera

#76 - Oct. 29, 2008, 9:26 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the Mac versions of WoW have a built-in compatibility with iTunes such that you can have total manipulation of the music you are listening to in-game without having to tab out and change it? What exactly is the difference between that and what we are talking about?

You can, and you're perfectly able to listen to alternative music. It's just a capability that Macs have that people like. But it sure seems like a shame to waste all the fantastic music that has been composed specifically for the game.

We're starting to get into a bit too much with semantics here, but the point is still the same. Give the music a try. You may just change your mind about having it turned off or using the ability to listen to alternative music.

Nethaera

#85 - Oct. 29, 2008, 9:45 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Neth, I absolutely agree...I love the music in WoW and never turn it off..not even after 4 years of playing. The thing is, I want to be able to purchase the soundtrack to WoW, is it available anywhere that you know of?

You can download a lot of the music from iTunes now.