How to Use Voice Chat on WoW

With a projected player base of over 5 million more than a decade after its original release, "World of Warcraft" (abbreviated WoW) is still one of the most popular video games of all time. WoW players explore, fight monsters and join forces in parties to complete quests and specialized raids – many of which benefit from vocal communication. With a microphone installed for use with your computer, using voice chat in "World of Warcraft" is possible, but not directly through the game itself.

In an effort to minimize system abuse, World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment has not implemented open voice chat within the game itself. Voice chat in WoW is encouraged for raids and other high-level, multiplayer tasks available within the game. For the majority of the game's lifetime, however, these methods were limited to exterior programs like TeamSpeak and Skype – some of which could cause the game to slow down. Today, WoW voice chat is still done primarily in outside programs, but a Blizzard-created option is available.

Blizzard Voice Chat, introduced in late 2016, is a voice chat system built into the Battle.net client used to launch "World of Warcraft." Blizzard Voice Chat allows players to create voice chat channels with players on their friends lists, along with any friends of friends. To do this, you'll need to switch windows from WoW to the Battle.net client, then open your friends list. Select "Create a Channel," then invite players from your friends list and instruct them to add any friends of theirs you wish to play with. You'll then be able to communicate while playing "World of Warcraft" without having to use the text chat.

If Blizzard Voice Chat doesn't provide enough features or slows your computer down to the point that your play in WoW is impacted, an external voice chat client may be useful. Presently, one of the most popular of these clients is Discord, a text and voice communication program designed with game play in mind. Installed to a computer or smart phone, Discord will allow you to create a public or private chatroom for text and voice communication that will work regardless of friends lists. Within Discord, you can create a new channel by following the client's starting instructions, then send an invite link to any players you wish to chat with. You can then spread the channel from player to player and create a customized WoW chatroom.