Nerds race across Azeroth IRL, nearly die from shame

Let's try not to read too much into this one. Here are the facts: two dweebs thought it would be a good idea to hook up treadmills to their PCs, don brightly-colored wigs and cardboard swords, and race their avatars across about a mile of virtual turf by jogging in place with only a modicum of coordination and zero athletic ability. The folks at Mana Energy Potion were complicit in the event, which failed to prove treadmill gaming is a good idea, but made great strides in proving just how low World of Warcraft addiction has brought certain members of our society. Video is after the break, we recommend you look away.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Woody @ Aug 26th 2008 10:27AM]

Haha, pretty cool.

[Techie @ Aug 26th 2008 11:39AM]

All I have to say is this bring a whole new level to PVP. I would pay to see them PVP while running, haha....

[Beastage @ Aug 26th 2008 10:30AM]

Lol, makes us none WoW players even more proud for not playing it :)

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Aug 26th 2008 11:54AM]

Amen.

Not only do I not get MMOROMGWTFBBQPGs, but I'm glad I don't.

I've never been more proud to be a nerd failure.

[Prokanda @ Aug 26th 2008 12:06PM]

You should not hold what these idiots did against the other 9,999,998 of us that play. =\

[alexmueller @ Aug 26th 2008 12:10PM]

That would be non-WoW.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Aug 26th 2008 10:30AM]

Just super DORKY!

[Will H. @ Aug 26th 2008 10:30AM]

It's not like the nerds couldn't use the exercise. I think this is a brilliant idea! Off yer arses you WoW freaks!

[Jeremy K. @ Aug 26th 2008 10:35AM]

haha... imagine if WoW only allowed this type of interface for one month.

[Ignatius @ Aug 26th 2008 10:36AM]

Exhaustion related deaths would raise by 2000%.

[Mills @ Aug 26th 2008 10:31AM]

*Facepalm*

I think I just decided to quit playing WoW because of this....

[ChuChu @ Aug 26th 2008 10:54AM]

Live a little.


I'm sure they had a ton of fun doing it.

[OnlyShawn @ Aug 26th 2008 3:07PM]

you have a modified life box as your avatar, displaying your leet-ness. you'll be fine.

[Oliver @ Aug 26th 2008 10:33AM]

Nice race... Hope the green "women" wins...

[r3loaded @ Aug 26th 2008 10:33AM]

I tried to take this seriously, but the wigs, the cardboard swords and strange ears caused me to lose interest almost instantly....

[Zak @ Aug 26th 2008 11:37AM]

LOL @ anybody who's taking this seriously enough to cancel their subscription or taking it seriously at all. It's not obvious to you that it's supposed to be funny? Did you take your sense of humor out back and shoot it?

No, the "Lightning bolt lightning bolt lightning bolt" LARPers are being serious and it's ok to be embarrassed by them. These guys are being stupid on purpose, to make you laugh. See the difference?

[Shnug @ Aug 26th 2008 10:34AM]

At least the one guy is kind of cute in elf drag.

[riggs @ Aug 26th 2008 10:38AM]

what the hell is steve nash doing

[Grant @ Aug 26th 2008 10:43AM]

heart rate over 200 from only running 6mph? he clearly needs to stop only playing wow and do something that will get his heart working once in a while.

[o29 @ Aug 26th 2008 12:17PM]

And the total distance was only a half mile. It does look like the treadmills are on a slight incline though, but still 205bpm? Yeah, pretty bad.

[Big Al @ Aug 26th 2008 10:47AM]

My favorite scene is at 3:18. Hilarious.

[cw @ Aug 26th 2008 10:51AM]

(ahem)


BWAAAAHAAAAAHAHAAHAAHHAAHHAAHAAHAAAAA!!!!

[greatsunjester @ Aug 26th 2008 10:54AM]

All I can think about this is white motion sensitive controllers that snap into plastic swords and a step sensitive plate on the floor...... introducing:

The WoWii!

[Eric @ Aug 26th 2008 10:55AM]

"...but made great strides..."

Ah, the wordsmith had his coffee this morning. Well done!

[Kelmon @ Aug 26th 2008 10:57AM]

Now I've seen everything and wished I hadn't.

[Jim Rainey @ Aug 26th 2008 11:07AM]

First laugh of the day... all in good fun and an interesting way to think about WOW.

[Kent @ Aug 26th 2008 11:15AM]

I can't actually see the video at work, but to be fair, it's nearly impossible to exercise for any length of time with something holding heat to your head. You loose half your body heat through your head, which indoors and in Summer is a good thing. Putting something like a wig on traps it all in. That's why people in animal costumes at the theme park have to be air-conditioned regularly. It's also why athletic helmets are so well vented.

Epic journeys in WoW are typically marked by virtual daylight, virtual exercise, virtual accomplishment, and virtual jobs making virtual money and virtual useful items for use in the virtual outdoors. Interesting to see how poorly even walking translates to reality.

Since I can't see the video, I'm wondering if they put that "Live to Win" song from the WoW South Park episode in the background.

[mabang7 @ Aug 26th 2008 1:14PM]

It's not "nearly impossible to exercise for any length of time with something holding heat to your head." I've been a long-haired runner for years, and every race I've run, I have a bandana completely covering my head and holding my hair down. "Nearly impossible"? I think not.

[Grey Acumen @ Aug 26th 2008 11:15AM]

"Oh no..! Spiders!"

[Matt @ Aug 26th 2008 11:23AM]

...

*cancels WoW subscription*

[tsurugi @ Aug 26th 2008 11:32AM]

Doesn't get any sadder than this.

[Michael @ Aug 26th 2008 11:33AM]

Will sites like GamerTex.com start selling running shoes for WoW soon instead of just gold?

Gives a whole new meaning to "Power Leveling"

If you hook up the treadmill/bikes to generate electricity for the pc's, would this be considered 'green gaming'?

[Wes @ Aug 26th 2008 12:06PM]

Given the typical methane output of a gamer fueled by Cheetos and Bawlz, I don't think they're carbon neutral.

[CraigJ @ Aug 26th 2008 11:34AM]

Why do dudes feel the need to create avatars that resemble hot Asians with pointy ears?

[Zak @ Aug 26th 2008 11:40AM]

Think about it. Everybody knows there are no girl gamers, so if everybody went with their own gender in WoW it would be a real sausagefest in there. You know what I'm saying? Variety is good.








... and yes, the girl gamer thing was a joke. Geez.

[nate @ Aug 26th 2008 12:29PM]

because if you're going to spend hours sitting around staring at a character running around for you, would you rather stare at a man-ass or a lady-ass?

[Das Boot @ Aug 26th 2008 11:49AM]

I doubt that running on a treadmill and playing wow will help your paladin level up.

[skoobouy @ Aug 26th 2008 12:05PM]

I don't quite understand the "LOL pathetic nurds Im canceling my account now" bandwagon.

Look, these are just guys with great senses of humor doing something fun, clever, and even kind of educational. Puts them a few notches above the cynical Engadget peanut gallery.

[Aaronage @ Aug 26th 2008 12:25PM]

The "WoW" starts now :P

[Aeskel @ Aug 26th 2008 1:01PM]

I play WoW, and I'm in a good shape.

And everyone who calls them nerds, your just being a HUGE hypocrite. ME and YOU and EVERYONE else are nerds in here.

About the video - it was pretty damn funny.

[Luke @ Aug 26th 2008 1:04PM]

+1 These dudes | 0 Engadget

Round 2.

[Christian @ Aug 26th 2008 1:05PM]

How can we look away when you show a photo that is of grown men wearing neon pink and green hair running on a threadmill...

[michaelportent @ Aug 26th 2008 1:19PM]

Are you taking notes, Nintendo?

Here's your next logical step after Wii Fit.

[Mustaine @ Aug 26th 2008 1:21PM]

For those interested in playing WoW:
F'k WoW. The best loot comes from raiding 'end game' and is designed for 2% of the entire WoW population. To get into an end-game guild requires a well above average player. To stay in that guild requires you to have no life. You're either raiding or farming herbs or gold to buy potions and elixirs or studying boss strategies..or you're PVPing your butt off to get gear to help in raiding. There will always be Guild master favourites, and raids will be stacked and anyone with more DKP will be sat on the bench and called in for the trash-clearing or lesser bosses where you'll be forced to spend DKP on side/downgrades in order to lower your DKP "Well, we can't let it rot!"
If there's a wipe, it costs the 25 players a lot of money and lost time and thus there'll be finger pointing and back-stabbing. This is the biggest cause of Guild drama. Likewise if you out-perform the other players and they think their raid position is in danger you'll get backstabbed "I saw him target the wrong mob/He let *name* die/He pulled aggro"
If you have a high latency, forget raiding. Your performance will come under the microscope thanks to sites like WoW Web Stats and you'll be sat for bosses of any importance.
Your loyalty will not go rewarded, it will go to some sycophant who will leave the guild after getting the best gear in the game.

If you plan on playing a caster, forget it. WoW is about cool ITEMS meaning that the ever expanding game is a one-upmanship of better weapons and armour while the casters are plateau'd out or nerfed further. The person in charge of game balance plays a warrior, his girlfriend plays a rogue. Both hate casters, especially warlocks. In the latest expansion, warlocks get a demon form at the bottom of the demonology tree, but lose the ability to have a demon pet (the whole point of the tree is to increase pet abilities) Warrior get a super jump and the ability to wield a 2-handed weapon IN EACH HAND.
Fuck Kalgan, Fuck WoW. Warhammer here I come!

[3Z3VH @ Aug 26th 2008 1:51PM]

Mustaine: You think things will be better in Warhammer ? You described any MMO out there, not just WoW. It sounds more like you got burned because you whine a lot so the guild is helping out their less selfish, and less whiny members, which caused you to get even more butt-hurt. Just find a guild you mesh with well, and play whichever game is fun for you.

[Zak @ Aug 26th 2008 2:24PM]

@ 3Z3VH : Agree. For one thing there's more to the game than end game raiding. And if your guild has a lot of backstabbing and finger pointing, maybe you should find another guild. I mean it's not Blizzard's fault if you join a guild full of jackasses, right? Get into a better guild, maybe one with adults in it instead of school kids.

[Blayed @ Aug 26th 2008 2:42PM]

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


You made me lol IRL


Thanks for the epic waste of time QQ post!

[Mustaine @ Aug 26th 2008 3:16PM]

Not all of those things happened to me BTW, they're pretty much the common grievances of WoW raiding. The problem was I was a doormat. I didn't whine and I put the guild favourite to shame in worse gear and 400 ping. That created a problem. He would have to go all out and over-aggro->soul-shatter giving me the aggro thus killing me and making me look bad. When he saw me spread damage to reduce aggro, he'd have the strat changed to single target. Oh, and he was the recruitment officer, so GG me.
My fault was that I did leave a good casual guild for a hardcore one. I could handle the learning curve, but not the drama and politics.

There will be jackasses in WAR too, as with any MMO but I foresee an older player-base in general than WoW. (I've been playing miniature and RPG for about 20 years) It's also a more PVP oriented game. Having said that, I'll be looking for an RP guild on the chaos side.

[Blayed @ Aug 26th 2008 2:43PM]

That was at Mustaine BTW

3Z3VH, I agree, +1

[Blayed @ Aug 26th 2008 2:46PM]

Meant to be a reply, sorry.