Five Years Of 'Hearthstone' Remembered By Its Innkeeper, And An Exclusive Video

Blizzard Entertainment's popular digital card game Hearthstone celebrates its five-year anniversary today, and we knew just the person to tell that story.

Harth Stonebrew is the game's innkeeper, the voice that welcomes new players as part of the tutorial, continuing players each time they launch the game, and viewers to nearly every Hearthstone video. We caught up with Terrence Stone, the man who voices Harth -- along with other iconic World of Warcraft characters including the double-headed Ogre mage Cho'gall -- and Ben Thompson, the game's creative director, to discuss the milestone.

It turns out that Hearthstone's most iconic character is a cross between WoW's dwarf engineer Fargo Flintlocke and Stone's grandmother.

To start, here's an exclusive peek at a Blizzard video featuring Stone that is launching tomorrow:

Heather Newman: How did the idea for Harth Stonebrew come about?

Ben Thompson: The team felt like we needed a spokesperson -- someone who spoke on behalf of the game, who was of the game. We went to Sammy, Sam Didier here at Blizzard, and said hey dude, what is your first thought or take on a character who is seen as all those things for Hearthstone, and could you do just a couple concepts for us of what that person would look like? And he came back, because Sammy, with a dwarf.

We loved the character. We loved the feeling that the character espoused. [Sam] did a number of head sketches of the character to get some personality, and we dug him, so we said go for it. He ended up doing a single piece of finished, painted art that represented Harth in front of a table with all the different accoutrements of the game.

But there was this last additional character in the form of this white rat, which we never asked for, never thought about. We asked, "Hey, who's the rat?" And he said, "Oh, that's Sarge, that's Harth's pet. He's also a big welcomer to the game for new players." And so Harth was born, along with his pet, Sarge the Rat.

Newman: As a dwarf in the World of Warcraft universe, he's clearly going to have a certain accent and attitude toward life. How much guidance did you give to actors as you were looking for someone to be of the voice for that character?

Thompson: I think that the overarching thoughts behind the character were really pretty broad and vague. We were very specific about the tone and feeling that we wanted, but it wasn't down to like, make sure that he's got the right Scottish brogue, or make sure that he's using these words.

Really the direction was more around the idea that this is the representation of the game, the most welcoming, the brightest kind of voice that you would run into -- a very friendly, very cordial, but also very laid back type of approach. It was intended to be the first friend you met in the game, in the form of the innkeeper. That was the overarching thought and feeling when we were looking for the right sound for the voice.

Newman: A lot of the initial voices were internal. Were the final voices opened up for those people first?

Thompson: We did use a lot of internal voices for the beta, because that was where we were proving out a lot of the vibe of the characters in the minions and the game itself. But we very much knew we wanted to go out of house for the voices when we were shipping the game. So while the placeholders were internal, for basically everything, with one exception -- Chris Metzen, who would reprise his role as [Orc warchief] Thrall -- beyond that, I don't think that we did anything internally.

Newman: Terrence, you've done a ton of voice acting for video games and animated work before; what was it that brought this opportunity to your attention and made you decide to go for it?

Terrence Stone: I was asked to come in and lay down an audition or a creation based on what I was told about him. I'd been in World of Warcraft since the old, old, olden days. One of the last ones I had done was [dwarven engineer] Fargo Flintlocke, and he was a lot of fun, so I thought, what if Fargo retired from all the World of Warcraft crazy stuff and said, "I'm just going to go set up an inn and have a good time? I want all my friends to come."

So I did that attitude, and a bit of my grandmother, because the whole thing was that she was always very inviting, and friendly, and warm, no matter who she met. "Well, come on in, there's always a place. Here's a stool for you to sit! Have some food. Of course, you need anything?" You know. She was very inviting. And basically, that was what we had with Harth. The minute you're there, you're welcome. You're included. It's all positive, and it's fun, and it's very inviting and friendly. So that's the voice choice that I went with.

Newman: What other characters have you voiced for Warcraft?

Stone: There have been so many. One recent one that I had done was Cho'gall, who had a storyline a few versions back. He's a two-headed [ogre] where each head would argue with the other head, so he's pretty insane.

Newman: That's a very different voice from either Fargo or Harth.

Stone: Oh yeah. One's a very deep, growly, you can barely understand what he's saying, and the other is high-pitched and manic. Between the two, I'm sure people playing with him or against him were going oh my god, I've got to kill this boss and move on, because he's making me nuts.

Newman: Any others that folks might recognize?

Stone: I've done so many for World of Warcraft over the years; I've also worked on Diablo and StarCraft. But mostly for the last five years, it's been Harth and the Hearthstone universe. One of the most fun was Sir Finley Mrrgglton, he's a Murloc, and he only speaks with the Murloc speech. I also did the Belligerent Gnome, which was so much fun.

Newman: Harth has been around for five years now. Has he changed? Is he still the same Harth he was on day one?

Thompson: From the game side, it's one of those things where consistency in the form of this character is preferred. This is the first character that you interact with and really come to understand in your experience with Hearthstone, [so] it's important that he feel consistent and feel always trustworthy. So from our perspective, we've always wanted the tone to stay similar.

At the same time, there's value to changing things up and creating delightful surprise as well. And one of the ways that we end up doing that is with each and every expansion, the innkeeper has an additional two or three lines that we put in that are specific to that set. So if you look at things like, say The Witchwood, the line was something akin to, "Oh, it's getting spooky outside, but it's much nicer in here." And then most recently in Rastakhan's Rumble, it was, "Oh, the crowd's getting rowdy -- but there's a place here for you."

So things would always point back to the vibe or the feeling for the set, but still sound very much in the voice of Harth.

Newman: And from your perspective, Terrence, as you're approaching the character?

Stone: For the most part he stayed pretty true to the fun, the warm, the loving guy that he's always been. Since he's the tutorial also, he's the first to welcome you in: He guides you along, he tells you how to play. He gives the information on new decks and how you use them. It has to be that same warm, friendly guy, like Ben said, that you trust so that as you're playing the game, you never ever feel that you're by yourself.

It's set up so beautifully to have him find someone for you to play or help you along with how to play. So no matter what, the person who comes in will always be able to have a good time, no matter what, from the very beginning.

Newman: How accurate a Scottish accent does Harth have?

Stone: If the tutorial was too hard to understand due to me doing too accurate an accent -- I have to be careful, you know, and make sure anybody could understand it. So of course, some people in Scotland, they may go, "I don't think that's exactly what we sound like." Well, first of all, what part are you from? But second of all, everyone has to be able to understand what you're saying or else, how does that help you?

[A discussion of the BBC's "Burnistoun" comedy show skit about Scottish accents and a voice-activated elevator ensues.]

Newman: Have you had the opportunity to use the Harth voice in different places?

Stone: We did a musical, a song that we did where we had about 18 different voice actors and we did that sort of actually like a Broadway song, and it was excellent. It was a lot of fun to do that. So they keep allowing him to stretch and branch out a bit. But at the core, he's always the trusting, loving guy. He's that father you love. That uncle, that brother. He's that one that you know, you're going to have a good time whenever you have anything to do with him.

Below: "Hearth and Home," the musical video.

Newman: As you've been working with tournaments and other live events, have you had the opportunity to meet fans in person? What's the reaction been like?

Stone: I have been able to meet some fans at BlizzCon. The last BlizzCon I did, they had a thing called fan favorites. And when I came in, I decided to go out and actually rent an entirely accurate Scottish kilt and a big red wig. The fans just loved that. And then of course when you do autographs and things like that, the meet and greets -- the fans are always so fun and positive. They're upbeat. And when you look in their eyes and they're enjoying meeting you, and they love the character that you do, that's a huge reward. There's nothing better than that feeling.

Newman: So the peril of being a voice actor is that people are always asking you to do their favorite lines. What do people ask you to do?

Stone: They want you to do ringtones for them. There's certain ones they always want, they either want you to say, "Everyone get in here!" or they want you to do a ringtone or whatever. But of course it's always, "Welcome, friend. Come in and have a seat by the fire." Because it's like this big welcoming thing. No matter what's going on out there, come in here and relax and you're going to be warm and comfortable. And then, "Well played." No matter what you've done, win or lose, it's well played. You know, you did a great job.

And then of course, "Job's done." Which means yep, everything you needed to do has been done or that's it, we're finished. So usually they do that, but when the fans come up, they always want to get their name in there. "Can you say hi to so and so?" And then they always go, "I'm going to be such a hero now."

Newman: Ben, talk about the role of Harth in setting the tone for Hearthstone. There was a deliberate attempt early on to say, this is a friendlier game to get into. Did Harth play a role in that?

Thompson: For sure. We did want this game to feel very approachable and very friendly and very lighthearted, and Harth is a huge part of that. I would say one thing in addition to that would be, there was a big focus on making this game feel physical, even though we knew we were making a digital game. The ways in which that happens is evident in everywhere from how decks open and all of the physical side of that, or the way the user interface is constructed to feel like physical buttons and drawers and boxes and cards.

But I would say Harth is a big part of that too, rather than this disembodied kind of A.I. We really wanted this very warm kind of personified character that represented the game.

Harth is of the game. He is of Hearthstone. He is a physical manifestation in the form of this character, in his own tavern, playing the game. That's just how you come to see the game. It's somewhere where I'm going, to this tavern with this character who's going to welcome me and my friends, and we're going to have a good time just like we did last night and just like we will tomorrow. And it was a very much a part of that, making a digital game feel anything but.

Newman: Hearthstone exists within the World of Warcraft universe, but there's been some cross pollination back. Is there any thought of Harth himself showing up as a character in WoW?

Thompson: I think it would be very difficult were they to try to do that. Harth being such a cross-faction, cross-race, cross all the things that makes World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft, would be very difficult to work around.Warcraft is founded on the idea of Horde and Alliance -- factions matter in that environment, and they should. That's part of what brings the epic feel to World of Warcraft.

But in Hearthstone, we consciously set aside the feeling of Horde versus Alliance, and really made it a game for everyone -- one that welcomed everyone equally. I think it would be very difficult to put a dwarven character in [WoW] where that was possible. It would be an interesting challenge. I would never presume that they would take it on, and far be it from me to tell them what they should do with their game.

Newman: It feels like Harth and that overarching theme of an easy game to pick up and get into, are two of the few themes that have carried over unscathed from five years ago. Are there other parts of the game that you consider part of Hearthstone's core identity?

Thompson: It's kind of a tricky question, because I feel like as soon as I take one or two of those things to answer, somebody [at Blizzard] is gonna interrupt me wanting to improve on it, make it better or change it in some way -- which is exactly what the team should be doing. We should always be looking for ways to make better that which is already in the game.

At the same time, I will say there is always value in correctly and thoughtfully identifying the things that remain the same. That's what makes sure that your game, or the world that you're building through it, feel solid and feel like they've got a foundation for players to rely on, to trust and believe in.

I think Harth is absolutely one of those things. Beyond that, I would say the idea of [player versus player], the idea that this game at its core is a PvP type of scenario, is always a mode that we would want to support and really enhance. Any opportunity after that to change or make the game better, I think we would look at honestly and thoughtfully. But those two things I think are foundational to what Hearthstone is.

Newman: So much of Hearthstone is based on personality, the interaction of the cards and the voice acting that you all have enlisted along the way. But players can only communicate with emotes. Why is that?

Thompson: We want players to have as much of a sense as we can that they're sitting across the table from another person. Some of that comes through in the emotes, but a lot of that comes through in just being able to see players mouse over their cards, interact with things, show what they're thinking, so there's a sense that there's a life on the other side of the board.

At the same time, when it came to the emotes specifically, we tried to be very specific and very thoughtful to which ones we were putting in. Because those were the six opportunities for a player to interact with people across the board.

It's one of the main reasons we removed "Sorry" as one of the emotes early on. We really had the best of intentions with that emote, and it got weaponized. It's just one of those things where playing across from a priest when they copy or take a card or whatever and then follow with, "Sorry," doesn't feel good. And that does not play to the the spirit of what we want Hearthstone to feel like. So we changed that one out.

Newman: Why choose to go with emotes as opposed to a full chat interface?

Thompson: I think all of us have had opportunities in games where full open discourse is possible between players. And I think we all have some pretty hair-raising stories of what happens in those environments. It happened to us, early on in development, as we started to talk about how this kind of feature would play in.

We all consciously went out and played a bunch of different games where chat was very open, and very kind of say what you will -- and people do. They say exactly what they will. And we really felt like, "You know what? If we want to stand behind this idea of this game being approachable and welcoming to as broad an age range as possible, as broad a player base, player type as possible, let's use this opportunity to try and do good here."

What it's created is a really fun opportunity in some cases for when you get, say Mechazod and you're playing with the opponent across from you instead of against them in that Tavern Brawl, seeing how people would creatively use those emotes to communicate to other players what they would like them to do.

Newman: One of the playable characters we haven't seen in game yet is Harth. Any chance we'll be seeing him as a hero?

Thompson: You do play Harth early on in the tutorial. And that was conscious because he's a very approachable, very friendly, affable character and we felt like he was less imposing or threatening than another type of hero would be.

But beginning with "Hearth and Home," we started having a discussion around characters like Harth and Malto the mage and Ava and all these other characters that were featured there. And we really kind of reached a deciding point for the character as a whole, where we said, you know what? We really do want him to continue to be of the game but not in the game itself. And that goes for all the characters that you see in "Hearth and Home."

This narrative started to build around the idea that ultimately Harth is so good and so masterful at the game being that he hosts this every night and day in his tavern, the only one that he will play outright is Malto the mage. We kind of imagined that both of these characters are almost legendary players in their own right of Hearthstone, but they would never willingly like crush another player in such a heartless manner. When they look for a challenge, they look for each other. The gloves come off and maybe a crowd starts to gather around their specific table.

So we probably won't see a character of Harth in the form of a new hero, be it a card, a new hero type or a class. In that we really feel like his place is best by the fire, introducing a new player to the game, welcoming people to the tavern and making sure that there's always room for one more.

Newman: Terrance, any final thoughts in terms of how big a role Harth has been for you?

Stone: He's wonderful -- the fact that he is such a good and fun and kind and loving character. Usually I'm either playing the big warrior who is just trying to hack and slash against all the bad guys -- or usually, I am the bad guy, having people say, "Oh, so you played that character. I hated you. I could never get past you go to the next level. I hated you." That kind of stuff.

Being involved like that in a positive game, we're not out there. You don't come in my tavern and throw your stein and almost hit me or whatever. It's always just fun and friendly. The thing I love about this game, you could lose, but because the way it's set up, you still feel good about having played. There's a positive reinforcing thing about the game that is just so nice and so fun. And there are hardly any other big games out there that have that same feeling, that same effect on you.

That's something really to be proud of, and I'm glad to be part of it.